Week eight had it all
The league publishes a recap of every round and they are properly written. Week seven: summer officially here, the season getting hot, the Hawks, Spartans and Jacks testing themselves in a tournament. Week eight: blowouts, tie games and instant classics, with the standings getting tighter as clubs battle for top spot. Week nine: big swings, late rallies, dominant pitching and a few lopsided scorelines — some teams kept rolling, others were left searching for answers. Week ten: only two games, everyone else off for the annual Hap Walters tournament, which the weather cancelled on its second day. Then two weeks in one on the Provincial tournament, the most anticipated time of the year across the province.
That is a real weekly column about amateur baseball, and there is nothing else like it here. A league on High Cheese gets a wire on its own page where finals post themselves as the books are finalized, so the writer starts each week with the results already in front of him instead of assembling them.
Greater Toronto Baseball League in detail
- Senior AAA baseball across seven Ontario clubs, aiming at the National Championships every year.
- A month calendar per club, 7:30 first pitch, each game marked As Scheduled.
- East York 11-3-3 on 25 points, and a table with last ten and run differential in it.
- East York 9 Thornhill 8, Newmarket 11 Kendal 3, and a Latest Scores block on the front page.
- Bulldogs, Eagles, Leafs, Jacks, Hawks, Spartans and Reds — each with roster, stats and schedule.
- Individual batting and pitching by club, with seasons selectable back to 2004.
- Five named officers with addresses, and new players sent to the team coaches.
- Clubs apply in person at the AGM; players sign an OBA card and go through their coach.
- Park availability decides who gets in, and not one diamond is named.
- A disciplinary code with no appeal on a first ejection, and a ban on poaching signed players.
- A photograph of every rostered player is paid for in the bylaws — and Facebook Live too.
- Funded by fees and bonds, with no sponsor named.
- The Ontario Elimination Tournament, the Hap Walters, and a league championship of its own.
- Individual seasons on file from 2004, with a two-year gap where the world stopped.
- Five elected offices, one currently vacant, and every holder named on the contact page.
- Three of five answered, and the two that are missing are the ones a new player asks.
- A full constitution and bylaws, published in the top corner of every page.
- A January annual meeting, dues by July 1, and a wrap-up within sixty days of the final.
- Nothing is for sale.
- An Umpire in Chief who is also the scheduler, and a per-club fee for the booking.
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