Description
2019 Hall of Famer.
Comes with a letter of authenticity.
Born in 1951 in Toronto, Ont., Gord Ash began his career with the Toronto Blue Jays working in the ticket office in 1978. He would serve in several positions as he rose through the organization?s ranks, including assistant director of operations from 1980 to 1983 and player personnel administrator from 1984 to 1988, before he was promoted to assistant general manager in 1989.
Pendant cinq ans à ce poste, Ash a négocié les contrats des joueurs, travaillant même sur les importantes signatures des agents libres Dave Winfield, Jack Morris, Paul Molitor et Dave Stewart, des joueurs qui allaient aider les Jays à gagner deux Séries mondiales consécutives (1992 et 1993). Lorsque Pat Gillick, intronisé au Temple de la renommée du baseball canadien, a quitté la formation après la saison 1994, c’est Ash qui a pris la relève. Il devenait ainsi seulement le quatrième Canadien à occuper pareil poste dans les Majeures.
During Ash?s seven-year reign as general manager, the Blue Jays drafted future stars Roy Halladay (1995), Vernon Wells (1997), Michael Young (1997), Orlando Hudson (1997) and Alex Rios (1999). His finest season as GM came in 1998 when the team finished 88-74 and if the current post-season format had been in place, the club would?ve claimed the second wild-card spot in the American League.
After he was relieved of his duties as GM for the Blue Jays following the 2001 season, Ash worked as a baseball analyst for TSN before he was hired to be the assistant general manager of the Milwaukee Brewers under fellow Canadian Baseball Hall of Famer Doug Melvin (Chatham, Ont.). Ash served in that role for 12 seasons and helped build the roster of the 2008 Brewers that advanced to the post-season, ending the club?s 26-year playoff drought. He also assisted in constructing the 2011 Brewers club that finished with a franchise record 96 wins and won the National League Central Division title. Since 2015, Ash has worked as the vice-president of Baseball Projects for the Brewers.
Ash a donc passé plus de 40 ans dans le baseball professionnel. Pendant sa carrière, il a siégé sur d’importants comités des Ligues majeures, comme celui de la convention collective ou la création de standards pour les stades des ligues mineures. En compagnie de George Selkirk (Huntsville, ON), Murray Cook (Sackville, N.-B.), Doug Melvin (Chatham, ON), Alex Anthopoulos (Montréal, QC) et Farhan Zaidi (Sudbury, ON), il est l’un des six Canadiens à avoir été directeur-gérant pour une équipe des Majeures.
Il est également impliqué au sein de la fondation des olympiques spéciaux du Canada et de plusieurs causes en Ontario et au Wisconsin.
