Banquet Day

With the round robin portion of the Canadian Little League Championships complete, it was time Thursday night for all of us to gather for dinner. It was a time to highlight some of the great plays, great players, and dedicated volunteers who have made the tournament such a success.

The evening was highlighted by special guest speaker, Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins, the greatest Canadian to ever play baseball. I sat there totally captivated as he recanted some of his stories from his playing days. It was a brief look into the life of an athlete who came from small beginnings in Chatham, Ontario and rose to the top of his sportt. My one wish was that he could have had the floor all night. I love hearing these tidbits. Nobody can recall the details of their life the way a professional athlete can.

Of the stories he told, I couldn't help but laugh when someone asked how many batters he hit in his career and how many were intentional? He quickly replied "84 and everyone of them." For those not "in the know" in his playing days hitting a batter was a part of the game. It was a matter of protecting teammates for one reason or another. Another Hall of Famer, Bob Gibson, who was known to be one of the meanest pitchers of his era once said his three best pitches were, "the knockdown, the brushback, and the hit batsmen."

Some wonder why I love baseball so much because to the untrained eye it seems like such a slow moving game - Pitcher stands on mound. Pitcher throws ball. Batter swings. Batter misses. Or Batter Hits. Repeat Scenario 200 times in 3 hrs. To those that know the game though, it is so much more than this. There is so much that happens that you don't see. And it's the stories that Fergie Jenkins told last night, that so wonderfully illustrate this.

O Canada

Make no mistake, we will always be known as a country that produces athletes that wield hockey sticks and not baseball bats. The (old) HNIC theme is our second national anthem, not Take Me Out To the Ballgame. That said, there is a baseball tradition in Canada that is almost as old as the game itself.

For the average Canadian, baseball extends back as far as the Toronto Blue Jays existence and for an older generation, the Montreal Expos. I can remember where I was when Joe Carter hit his homerun in the '93 World Series or George Bell caught that flyball in '85. There are however, many other significant moments in baseball history that either happened on Canadian soil or were a product of Canadians playing the game.

Some of the ones you may be aware of:

* 1914 - Babe Ruth hit his first professional homerun at Hanlan's point on Toronto Island

*1946 - Jackie Robinson broke the colour barrier playing for the Montreal Royals (AAA affiliate of his future team, the Brooklyn Dodgers).

This pic is one of hate mail he received while playing in Cincinatti for Brooklyn. These letters can be found in the Cincinatti Reds Museum.

 

 * 1991 - Fergusun Jenkins becomes the first Canadian elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.

He will be at the Canadian Little League Championships on August 7th to throw out the first pitch.






Some you might not be aware of:
* the Pawtucket Red Sox (AAA affiliate of the Boston Red Sox) were originally the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1895-1967
* the Vancouver Asahis, formed in 1914, were a professional baseball team comprised of Japanese Canadians that played in the Terminal City League. They toured Japan in 1921 in much the same way current MLB All-Stars do.
* prior to Toronto being awarded a Major League Baseball team in 1977, the San Francisco Giants were rumoured to be moving to Toronto if not for Bob Lurie, who purchased the team to keep it in SF.
* one of the earliest baseball games on record dates back to June 4, 1838 played in Beechville, Ontario

I realize this is a VERY simple list. If you have any other interesting facts, please share.