Norm Hemstad
BIRTHPLACE Brandon, MB
BORN May 9, 1942
INDUCTED 2005
Norm Hemstad was born in Brandon, Manitoba on May 9, 1942. Hemstad was a player and builder of baseball within Manitoba. He impressed early, by playing senior ball with Birch Hills and Crystal Springs as a 16-18 year old. Hemstad later joined the Saskatoon Joes juniors from 1961-63, and then played for the Virden Oilers from 1964-71 in the Manitoba Senior Baseball League (MSBL). He was a player coach in 1972, won the Manitoba Senior B Crown with the Neepawa Cubs in ’73, and was instrumental in getting Neepawa to join the MSBL in 1974. Hemstad played with Neepawa in 1975 while living in Brandon, helped the Cloverleafs win the MSBL title in 1976, and he was an MSBL all-star on 3 different positions. Hemstad led Virden for several years in home runs, triples, doubles, and batting average. In 1974 he led the MSBL with only one strikeout. Hemstad also coached extensively in the Brandon Minor League from 1978-88, and was the organizer and founding president of the Brandon Intermediate League. He was the chairman of Brandon Simplot Millennium Park from 2000-01, which is a 1.25 million dollar facility with eight diamonds for minor ball (two with lights). Hemstad also excelled in wrestling, football, golf, and curling, where he was deeply involved administratively.
