Our Game, Too
Description
Canadian baseball has a rich, diverse, and deeply rooted history, one that spans fully two centuries. As was true in the United States, the stories reflect the competitive and entrepreneurial spirits of a rapidly changing time. Baseball's development north of the border was shaped by the same social and economic influences, and at roughly the same times, as it was to the south. Arranged chronologically, the essays in his volume tell the tales of the influential figures and milestone events that defined and directed the game's growth in Canada. The articles shine a spotlight on the movers and shakers, the pioneers, the leagues and games and tournaments, and the regions all across the country that hosted them.
Crowds as large as 10,000 viewed matches between London and Guelph in the 1870s, at a time when the combined population of the two cities was less than 27,000. Thousands flocked to Vancouver's Powell Street Grounds in the 1920s and 1930s to watch their local heroes, the Asahi, a team of Japanese Canadians. The Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team played their first game in 1895. Almost 100 years later, over four million people would spin the turnstiles to see the Toronto Blue Jays. Canadians played in the Negro Leagues and in the All American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGBPL), and Canada has been home to both affiliated minor leagues and "outlaw" leagues.
This book is an initiative of the Centre for Canadian Baseball Research and the Hanlan's Point (Greater Toronto) Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research. It is the collaborative effort of more than 30 SABR members, almost all of them Canadian.
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Content
Map of Baseball Locations
PART I: 19TH CENTURY
The Beachville Game Andrew North
William Shuttleworth A Man for his Seasons William Humber
The First Ever International "Base Ball" Game William Humber
George Sleeman and the Guelph Maple Leafs Martin Lacoste
Jake Englehart Chip Martin
Bob Addy Peter Morris
Robert "Bob" Addy And Now You Know the Rest of the Story William Humber
Canada's First Professional Baseball League Martin Lacoste
Labatt Park Bob Barney and Riley Nowokowski
The 1877 International Association Championship Game Andrew North
Arthur Irwin Eric Frost
Black Baseball in the Maritimes 1880 - 1980 Colin Howell
Bob Emslie Larry Gerlach
Alfred Henry Spink Bill Pruden
The St. Thomas Atlantics' 1882 U.S. Tour Larry Gerlach
Early Batteries from the Great White North David Matchett
Bill Watkins Bill Lamb
Tip O'Neill A Season of Firsts Dennis Thiessen
Joe Page Patrick Carpentier
Mixed Outcomes Canada's Black Baseball Legacy William Humber
Montreal Royals Beginnings Marcel Dugas
Professional Baseball Comes to Toronto to Stay The Toronto Baseball Club in the Eastern League, 1895 David Siegel
Bill Galloway Richard Armstrong
PART II: 20TH CENTURY
Ed Pinnance Martin Healy Jr.
Bob Brown Tom Hawthorn
Brother Matthias Chip Martin
Frank Shaughnessy: The Ottawa Years David McDonald
Ernie Quigley Larry Gerlach
J.J. Lannin Bill Nowlin
Toronto Maple Leafs Play Their First Game in AA International League Warren Campbell
The Vancouver Asahi Tom Hawthorn
Batted Balls and Bayonets Baseball and the Canadian Expeditionary Force 1914-1918 Stephen Dame
Punching Above its Weight The Quebec Provincial League Christian Trudeau
Earl "Flat" Chase Heidi LM Jacobs
The Quebec Adventures of Chappie Johnson's All-Stars Christian Trudeau
The Broadview Buffaloes Daniel Wyatt and Andrew North
A Second Strike
Baseball and the Canadian Armed Forces During World War II Stephen Dame
Canadian Teams in the PONY League Pipeline to the Majors Allen Tait
Canadians in the AAGPBL Tom Hawthorn
Canada's Olive Little Tosses the First No-Hit, No-Run Game in AAGPBL History Gary Belleville
Montreal and Jackie Robinson Marcel Dugas
The Halifax & District League Postwar Baseball in the Maritimes 1946 -1960 Colin Howell
Canadians Dick Fowler, Phil Marchildon Win Both Ends of
Twin Bill for Athletics Gary Belleville
Allan Roth Andy McCue
Indian Head and Canada's Greatest Baseball Tournament 1947-55 Max Weder
The True Greatness of the ManDak League Gary Gillette
End of an Era The Demise of the Montreal Royals Marcel Dugas
Toronto Maple Leafs' Last Game Paul Sinclair
Charles Bronfman Maxwell Kates
From a (Canadian) Researcher's Notebook David Matchett
