Two New Westies are now members of the BC Sports Hall of Fame.
Justin Morneau and Dr. Bob McCormack were among the inductees recognized at a May 15 reception hosted by the BC Sports Hall of Fame Foundation at BC Place Stadium. That’s when members of the 2024 induction class were welcomed into the Hall of Champions.
Morneau, born and raised in New Westminster, currently lives in Medina, Minnesota. He was inducted as an Athlete.
“Considered among the greatest Canadian players ever to appear in Major League Baseball,” said a notice from the hall of fame. “Fourteen-season MLB career (2003-16) playing 1,545 regular-season games at first base with the Minnesota Twins, Colorado Rockies, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Chicago White Sox. During his career he accumulated 1,603 hits, 247 home runs, 985 runs batted in, and a .281 batting average.”
Some other highlights from Morneau’s baseball career:
- Winner of the 2006 American League MVP award, one of only three Canadians ever to win an MLB MVP award (Larry Walker and Joey Votto are the others).
- Two-time winner of the American League Silver Slugger award (2006, 2008) as the top offensive first baseman in the league.
- Four-time American League All-Star (2007 to 10).
- 2014 National League batting champion with a .319 average.
- Three-time winner of the James ‘Tip’ O’Neill Award as Canada’s top baseball player.
In February 2008, the City of New Westminster named the number 5 baseball diamond in Moody Park in Morneau’s honour. Hundreds of people attended the dedication ceremony, including Morneau and many of his family members. (Morneau, who attended the ceremony before heading off to the Twins’ training camp, brought about $4,000 worth of bats and 300 pairs of batting gloves for the New Westminster Little League."
McCormack, a New West resident and a physician who specializes in sports medicine, was inducted as a Builder-Coach. His credits include supporting Canadian athletes at 10 Olympic Games.
“Hugely influential in Canadian sports medicine over the past 25 years as an orthopedic surgeon specializing in athletic injuries,” said the hall of fame’s notice about McCormack. “Worked with dozens of organizations and teams at the varsity, provincial, national, international, and professional levels.”
Here are a few of the highlights from McCormack’s career in sports medicine:
- Served as the Canadian Olympic Committee’s chief medical officer at six Olympics, as well as team orthopedic surgeon, assistant chief medical officer, and a member of the Canadian Olympic medical team, covering nearly every Winter and Summer Olympics from 2000 to 20, 10 Olympics in total.
- Served as Canada’s chief medical officer or team doctor at the Pan American Games, Commonwealth Games, and World University Games. Appointed the Canadian Football League’s chief medical officer in 2021.
- Active in various roles internationally in anti-doping including as a member of the World Anti-Doping Agency list experts group and National Olympic Committee liaison.
