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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Charlie Conacher banner presented to Jesse Ketchum By R.S. Konjek Jesse Ketchum Public School on Davenport Road received a special gift from the Toronto Maple Leafs just before the holidays, thanks to one of its most famous graduates. On December 12, the school was presented with the original Charlie Conacher banner that used to hang […]

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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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A Toronto baseball institution for over a century By R.S. Konjek In some quarters of Toronto, this year’s Canada Day celebrations were a time of spirited debate. People argued whether a giant rubber ducky on the lakeshore was a whimsical tourism boon or an outrageous financial boondoggle. Some wondered what a rubber duck had to […]

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Hometown Leafs battle foes and forecasts as season gets under way By R.S. Konjek It was a rainy May. The elements proved to be the Toronto Maple Leafs’ greatest adversary in the first month of the 2017 Intercounty Baseball League season. Three scheduled games at Christie Pits were rained out, as well as a road […]

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Local nine look to take next step to winning championship By R.S. Konjek It’s a casual April evening at Christie Pits Park. A handful of locals play a pickup soccer game on one of the fields. An occasional runner pounds up the slopes near the baseball diamonds. Walkers amble past, many of them joined by […]

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Toronto to host First Nations youth from across the continent By R.S. Konjek A recent exhibition at the Royal Ontario Museum called Toronto Underfoot, presented a collection of Indigenous artifacts that have been unearthed from numerous locations around the city. Tools, projectile points, carvings, and beads all provide evidence that for thousands of years Indigenous […]

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READ MORE: CHATTER: Bells ring a perfect offering (October 2016) NEWS: Bikes blessed for another season (June 2016) FOCUS: An early advocate for bike lanes (June 2016) NEWS: Second phase of park revitalization to begin (May 2016) NEWS: Christie Pits renewal set to begin (July 2015)      

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Leafs’ playoff run thrills the Pits By R.S. Konjek Stepability. Grindertude. These are not actual words, but they well describe the Toronto Maple Leafs baseball club, which took its fans on a rollicking romp through the 2016 Intercounty Baseball post-season. It was an unexpected trip. All summer long on the parched slopes of Christie Pits, […]

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Fans celebrate another up-and-down season By R.S. Konjek Baseball won’t be rushed. It is a pastime to be sipped and savoured. The game will outlast all manner of hindrances en route to its conclusion — be it a rainstorm, a tie score, or a lopsided blowout demanding a show of mercy. With few exceptions, the […]

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PHOTO BY R.S. KONJEK: Jon Waltenbury patrols the outfield at Christie Pits during the Toronto Maple Leafs’ game against the Brantford Red Sox on May 22. Waltenbury’s three-run homer put the Leafs ahead for good, and ensured an 8-6 victory. R. S. Konjek summarizes a month of Maple Leafs in his baseball column.

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