First baseman Jamie Romak has won the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum’s 2020 Tip O’Neill Award.
The award is presented annually to the Canadian player deemed to have excelled in individual achievement and team contribution while adhering to baseball’s highest ideals.
London, Ontario native and 6 x National Team member Jamie Romak is the winner of the Tip O'Neill Award for 2020!
Congrats and well deserved, Jamie! https://t.co/o3dy0ssNQm pic.twitter.com/mpsOwIyc9u— Baseball Canada (@baseballcanada) December 3, 2020
Romak, who plays for SK Wyverns in the Korean Baseball Organization, batted .282 with 32 home runs in 139 games this season. The 35-year-old also recorded 85 runs, 32 doubles and walked 91 times with a .546 slugging percentage and a .945 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) -- all numbers which topped Canadians in baseball this year.
“Jamie Romak has developed into one of the most feared power hitters in the Korean Baseball Organization,” said Scott Crawford, the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame’s director of operations, in a statement. “Most importantly, Jamie is highly respected by his peers and teammates and has been a great ambassador of the game for our country. We’re proud to recognize him with this award.”
The London, Ont., native completed his fourth year with SK Wyverns in 2020 and re-signed with the team in October to become the longest tenured foreign player in the franchise's history. He has never batted less than 29 home runs in a season during his time with SK Wyverns.
Before going to Korea, Romak spent time with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2014 and the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2015.
Atlanta Braves pitcher Mike Soroka won the award in 2019.
