It’s a Sunday afternoon in July at Christie Pits Park. Standing near the baseball diamond, Alan Ross leans back and casts his gaze around the field. “I want you to make a note that I’m doing this under protest,” he says with tongue in cheek, in response to a request for an interview. “I’m not an interesting person.” Baseball fans at the Pits would beg to differ. To many, “Al the Ticket Man,” is a living legend.

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Christie Pits set to welcome fans back to the old ballgame By R.S. Konjek The sights and sounds of live baseball will return to Christie Pits this summer, and the Toronto Maple Leafs are raring to go.  After the 2020 season was wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic, players are dusting off their spikes and […]

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SPORTS (Oct. 2020): Baseball Leafs look back on the season that wasn’t. With Christie Pits locked down, local players endured a rare summer off the diamond

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As the Toronto Maple Leafs Baseball 2020 season is cancelled, Marek Deska recounts historic no-hitter

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Shortened season possible if social restrictions lifted and parks reopen by July By R.S. Konjek  The ballpark is quiet. The grass is unkempt, drifting litter has collected around the backstop, and a tarp covering the pitcher’s mound has been flipped to one side by wind. No one is there to readjust it. The COVID-19 outbreak […]

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Ball club swept from semi-finals By R.S. Konjek When we last caught up with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the Intercounty Baseball League (IBL), they had begun a spirited quest to win their first championship since 2007. Back in early August, the Leafs faced the Guelph Royals in the first round of the playoffs. Pitchers […]

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Maple Leafs advance to semifinals after historic no-hitter By R.S. Konjek It has been a memorable summer for Garrett Takamatsu. Having completed his freshman year at Central Alabama Community College, the North York native signed up to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the Intercounty Baseball League. A new face at Christie Pits, Takamatsu […]

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The Harbord Collegiate Institute varsity baseball team will have to make do without its star catcher when it resumes play in the fall. Tillie Burlock, 15, their starting catcher, who helped lead the team to a Tier 2 championship, has moved on to Silverthorn Collegiate Institute, where she’ll participate in the Toronto District School Board’s […]

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Lengthy losing streak dulls early season momentum By R.S. Konjek July was the cruellest month for Toronto baseball fans. Over at the dome, the major league Blue Jays drifted out of contention, waved the white flag and traded away all-star pitcher J.A. Happ. At Christie Pits, the Maple Leafs plunged into a protracted slump. After […]

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The bats are back. The Maple Leafs are swinging once more in Dominico Field at Christie Pits, and marked the 100th anniversary of the Intercounty Baseball League with a home opening 10-6 win over the London Majors on May 6. The Leafs, which have won five games to two this season, play every Sunday and […]

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GLEANER NEWS FILE PHOTO BY R.S. KONJEK: The CXTO Cookie Cross returns to Christie Pits on October 28. Open to riders of all skill levels and bikes, the event will feature Try a Cross, Elite and Masters races, and Bateman’s Bicycle Company will give away a Norco Threshold Cycle Cross Bike. For further information, please […]

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Eliminated from 2017 playoffs after stunning first round defeat By R.S. Konjek “Who are these guys anyway?” It is a question often heard on summer Sunday afternoons at Christie Pits. Those nine men on the field, the ones in the blue uniforms emblazoned with maple leaf logos, are they professional ballplayers? Amateurs? Part-timers? Compared to […]

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