Maple Leafs outfielder J.J. Dutton pursues baseball success at home and abroad
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| J.J. Dutton has earned All-Star honours this summer with his batting prowess. (photo: Craig Aikin) |
J.J. Dutton has been playing baseball since he was four years old.
Born and raised in North York, he learned to play catch with his dad, started playing slow pitch as a tyke, and grew up in the little leagues.
By 2023, he was playing collegiate baseball at a college in Iowa. That summer, he took ill and returned to Canada for medical treatment.
The baseball itch proved incurable and he connected with the Toronto Maple Leafs. They took him on and he made his debut playing the outfield at Christie Pits.
Dutton remembers attending a kids’ baseball camp that the Leafs hosted at the Pits. As a 20-year-old, he became one of them and made an immediate impression.
Over 35 games, he batted .357, scored 20 runs and drove in 15 more.
“My favourite moment of the season was against the London Majors,” Dutton recalls. “Our team came together and put up 21 runs on the scoreboard just two days after losing to the Majors. It was also the game I hit my very first [Leafs] home run, which I will remember for the rest of my life.”
After his successful rookie season, Dutton returned to college ball in the United States. He played at schools in Iowa and Kentucky, then his ancestry presented a unique opportunity.
“My mom is Hungarian, and it was always her dream that I would play for the Hungarian national team,” he says. After some digging into the team’s requirements and obtaining dual citizenship, Dutton reached out to the head coach and landed a spot on the roster.
Like many teams outside the Americas, Team Hungary consists mostly of players born in the U.S. and Canada.
In July 2024, Dutton suited up for Hungary at a European Baseball Championship Qualifying tournament in Belgrade, Serbia. The Magyars went undefeated against Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Türkiye. Hungary advanced to the next round of qualifiers with a chance to make it to the World Baseball Classic, the sport’s highest-level international championship which was played earlier this year.
“It was a different baseball culture out there,” he says. “The tournament was held in a park like Christie Pits, nothing super fancy.” Games attracted curiosity seekers more than hardcore followers. An announcer conducted ongoing play-by-play commentary on a loudspeaker to help spectators follow along. Instead of hot dogs, the crowd chowed down on large quantities of grilled meats.
Dutton was unable to continue with the team because of school commitments, but he remains an active member of the Team Hungary roster.
After completing his collegiate baseball career, he came full circle and returned to the Leafs for the 2026 season.
Since his first go-around, the club has undergone wholesale changes under new ownership. Dutton was impressed by the improvements to the park, seeing more sponsors, more social media presence and a better quality organization. The league has also gone pro, which means a regular monthly paycheque.
As for the outfielder, he picked up right where he left off.
Early in the season, he led the club in batting average. He has since been overtaken at the plate by veteran teammates like Yasiel Puig and Marcus Knecht. Dutton, still just 23, looks up to his teammates and acknowledges them as leaders in the clubhouse.
“Puig and Knecht, they’re both outfielders and teach me so much about the game,” he says. “They’ve been there, done that, they’re at the level I want to compete at.”
Dutton’s early season performance did not go unnoticed. He was one of three players chosen to represent Toronto at the Canadian Baseball League’s All-Star Weekend July 11-12. Joining him for the festivities in Chatham were Puig and pitcher Nick Veselinovic.
At the All-Star Game, Dutton went 1-for-2, scored a run and drove in two more. Teammate Veselinovic pitched one inning and ended up as the game’s winning pitcher.
It has been a season of great individual performances, but the Leafs have been struggling. At the halfway point of the season, they languish in last place with a 6-17 record.
“We’ve been too inconsistent,” Dutton says. “Sometimes when our pitching is on, our bats aren’t working, and when the bats are working our pitching isn’t.”
During the offseason, the Leafs overhauled their roster and brought in a lot of fresh faces.
“It’s a new team, and new teams like this are slow to start. We have a lot of games left and hopefully we can click and get a winning streak going.”
Asked to look beyond this summer and where he sees himself in the future, Dutton responds without hesitation.
“Pro baseball. That’s always been the dream.”
He hopes that his second turn with the Leafs will build his resume and provide a springboard to a return to States. With his stats, All-Star status and optimism, it may not be a difficult leap.
The Maple Leafs season continues through August.
More information about the Leafs can be found at www.mapleleafsbaseball.com.
[This story was originally published in the August 2026 edition of the Annex Gleaner.]
