The scout who signed Justin Morneau (Canadian version)

As far as baseball influences go, many of the biggest are American-born. After all, it is America’s favourite pastime.

It would make sense then that the man who’s been one of the most influential people in Australian baseball and has had a huge impact on the Canadian game, was born in Madison, Wisconsin.

Howie Norsetter is in the International Scouting Coordinator for the Minnesota Twins. His current residence is in Australia, though his territory includes parts of Asia and Europe. Though the 21-year scout no longer covers Canada, for the first 10 years of his career he would spend the summers in the Great White North and the winters down under.

Though he’s found great success in several different pockets of the world, his biggest effect on the Canadian game occurred when he signed Justin Morneau.

“It’s not often you get an MVP,” Norsetter said of signing the Minnesota Twins first baseman. “That’s a career in itself. There was Morneau and also [Corey] Koskie, they were two very successful players out of Canada.”

While signing a high school player out of New Westminster, BC may have seemed like a long shot for a future MVP, Norsetter saw what Morneau could potentially bring to Minnesota, as the most advanced high-school hitter that he had ever seen. And the scout couldn’t be more pleased with Morneau’s accomplishments.

“It was great for him,” Norsetter said of Morneau’s MVP Award. “I guess I was proud. I was proud for him because I knew where he came from and how hard he had to work and what kind of individual he was. Nobody ever gave Justin Morneau anything. He had to work for everything he’s ever achieved in life. He’s just sensational. I’m just so happy for him and his family.”

While the 30-year-old Minnesota Twin is certainly the most successful sign Norsetter has had out of Canada, he’s also signed more Australian players than any other scout and has seen seven of them get to the big leagues, an impressive number considering there were only nine total Aussies in The Show last season.

“I’ve had a few [success stories out of Australia],” he said. “Grant Balfour is doing a great job and hopefully Liam Hendriks and Luke Hughes, too. [Balfour] I suppose is the most established major leaguer out of Australia.

“But it would be Michael Nakamura probably. People don’t realize what Michael Nakamura’s done in professional baseball. He made it to the major leagues and then went over to Japan and won a championship in Japan. He set a record for saves as the closer with the Nippon Ham Fighters. In the playoffs I think he got three saves in the championship series and he didn’t give up a run in those games. He was just lights out in Japan. Outside of the major leagues, it would definitely be Michael Nakamura.”

Though the weather is better for baseball in Australia, giving the players down under the potential to flourish in the game and providing access to more playing time, the sport is still bigger in Canada. The success rate is seemingly higher and Norsetter believes the biggest difference between the commonwealth countries is the approach to the game.

“Australia always had better amateur teams...but for some reason those guys from Canada just really came out in Canada in the majors, in the professional ranks and up to the major leagues,” Norsetter said. “They’ve had tremendous success. Three MVPs, they have Votto and they have Morneau. Walker was a little bit before but there are three MVPs out of Canada. And then you have Gagne, the Cy Young winner and there are all-stars left and right. They’ve got a catcher, a couple first basemen, they’ve got outfielders, and they’d have a whole pitching staff with Harden, Dempster, Reitsma, Bedard and Francis. You’d have a whole pitching staff in the major leagues with a bunch of relievers.

“Part of it is that they play a lot more baseball in Canada, even though they don’t have the climate. Morneau played 120 games in high school in his summer season. I think one year he had 44 home runs in four months. They play as soon as the ice comes out and they’re playing every day, in tournaments, on the weekends, sometimes they’re playing three or four games a day.

“Over here, all they do is practice. The kids over here don’t have the base that Canadians have. Plus a lot of those Canadians have gone on to college and universities and improved out of universities...they’ve progressed, whereas these Australian kids haven’t. Maybe that will change. Joshua Spence went to college and came out of college and now he’s in the big leagues. Maybe that will help more Australians follow that route. I don’t think they play enough over here at a very young age.”

Though the Australian scout’s coverage no longer includes Canada, his impact on both the game of baseball and the scouting game are apparent. In 2007, he won the Toronto Sun Scout of the Year award, and he still has a soft spot for the country up north.

“I have a lot of fond memories of my times in Canada and a lot of good friends,” Norsetter said. “I think the Canadian baseball community is outstanding. It’s a fun place to work, there are good people to work with and some of the best times I ever had scouting were up in Canada. It was really special [winning the Toronto Sun award], especially knowing some of the other scouts that have won that award.”

One of the biggest influences on Norsetter’s own career have come from his dealings with a Canuck. He credits Bob Prentice, a member of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in the builder category, for teaching him how to do things the right way.  

“Bob Prentice was one of the first people I met as a young scout,” Norsetter said. “He was just a wonderful human being and gentleman and I learned some things from him that have stuck with me so it was quite gratifying.”

What was the biggest thing the American took from his Canadian counterpart?

“His integrity,” Norsetter said of Prentice. “I think that was the most important thing. We had a situation where we liked a player named Rob Giesbrecht, who was a softball player and we had an agreement to sign. It wasn’t a lot of money and he was a good prospect. Bob Prentice walked in after us and the dad said, ‘Well we love the Blue Jays. They’re fantastic and we’re Blue Jays fans but we already have this agreement with the Minnesota Twins.’ Bob said, ‘Well you have that agreement, you need to stick with that agreement. Your word is the most important thing you’ve got.’

“It was pretty impressive because he could have just thrown out an extra five thousand dollars or an extra thousand dollars and gotten the player but he had integrity. Everybody had a lot of respect for him. He did things the right way. He was a fine representative for baseball in general and especially for Canadian baseball.”