Game 1: Opening Day - London Majors @ Toronto, May 5



The first person to appear is the groundskeeper.

He makes his way over from the clubhouse and lets himself in through the gate in the chainlink fence that encircles the field.  It's early morning.  The sun is still casting long shadows over the left side of the infield.

Unhurriedly, he grooms the mound, sets down the bases, paints the lines.

It is six hours before first pitch.

The Toronto Maple Leafs baseball club launches its 45th season in Ontario's Intercounty Baseball League today, playing host to the London Majors.  The IBL is a semi-pro circuit that has been around since 1919.  Its eight clubs are spread across the GTA and southwestern Ontario.

A new season always marks change.  The Leafs have a new player-manager - their longtime starting catcher - who was promoted to the job from within.

In an interview in one of the Toronto dailies, the new skipper spoke of restoring a winning culture to the club - something that was missing in last year's .500 season, and something that maybe has been elusive since the Leafs' last league championship in 2007.  Respect is the buzzword.  Respect, teamwork, unity.  The kinds of things that build winners. 

The club has brought in some new arms, too, to remedy a perceived weakness from the year before.

New mentality, new arms.  New season, new hope.

By 1:00 p.m., the sun is high in the sky on a clear day, and the shadows are gone.  Hundreds of people are at the park.  Some are early spectators, seeking out prime spots in the hillside shade.  Others congregate around the clubhouse, waiting for some MLB legends to arrive, balls and bats ready for autographing.  Both the Maple Leafs and the Majors players are on the field for warm-ups.

Shortly before the 2:00 p.m. start time, Hall of Famers Ferguson Jenkins and Phil Niekro are invited to throw ceremonial opening pitches.  Both clubs line up along the baselines.  The starting lineups are introduced, the anthem played, and the home plate umpire gives the signal to play ball.

They give out not one but two free glossy colour magazines to fans at the game, but neither of them contain a team roster.  Forgive me for resorting to jersey numbers while recounting the game action.

The first couple of innings were uneventful.  London took a 1-0 lead in the 3rd on a hit, a fielder's choice and a double that brought in a run.

In the bottom of the third, the London starter began to unravel.  The Leafs' DH, #42 Kevin Hinton walked, and then second baseman #5 Rob Gillis singled.  The baserunners advanced to second and third on a wild pitch.  A fielder's choice allowed Hinton to score, and a fielder's error brought Gillis home shortly after.  2-1 after 3 innings.

Number 34 Marek Deska, the Leafs' starter, was replaced in the top of the 4th inning by #22 Brett Lawson, a giant of a man who must surely stand 7'11" if not taller. 

The Leafs scored a couple more runs in the 4th, and Gillis blasted the season's first home run over the right field fence to give the home side a 5-1 lead.

Things got messy in the 7th.  A new reliever, #35 Cam Grey, got into a bases loaded jam and ended up walking in a runner before getting the hook.  In came #29 Scott Kelly, but he ended up plating another couple of Majors.  The Leaf's sunshiny lead of earlier was suddenly precarious.  A loud flyout to left field finally brought the threat to a close.

Just as suddenly, the Leafs put the game out of reach in the bottom of the 7th.  A home run by centerfielder #10 Glenn Jackson led things off, and a couple more runs would be driven in.  One more run would be tacked on in the bottom of the 8th to give the Leafs a comfy 9-4 lead.

By this point, the home side had already gone through five pitchers, and a sixth was brought in to close things out in the 9th.  This one, #25, threw sidearm.  His delivery got the Rogers Cable announcers clucking in their perch high above the field.  Sure enough, #25 took the Majors down in short order.  And just like that, the game was over.  There wasn't really a roar from the crowd spread across the hillsides.  As people realized it was over, a smattering of applause sounded, and the home side lined up in the infield for the customary high fives.

Don't know if the club tracks attendance or how, since admission is free and the park has no in-out gates.  An incredibly vague estimate by this observer would say there were a few hundred people on the hillsides today.  Clustered in the shade, sunning in groups, seated on the few rows of benches around the infield.  At one point I spotted the groundskeeper again as he took a stroll around the park.  Yeah, not quite a thousand, but a few hundred anyway.  That's vague enough.

So did the club live up to the new manager's hopes?  I think so.  Lots of solid, timely hitting was evident today, to give the Leafs a decent lead two times.  Seemed like almost every pitcher got into the game and for the most part they held things together.  London threatened, but they did not overtake.  Overall it was the kind of win you'd like to open a season with.  Everybody got in on the party, and a merrie time was had by all.  I may even have some colour on my face tomorrow.

Yeah, I hate the use of jersey numbers here as much as you do.  I'll try to figure out something better, or track down proper names (if they become available), although I'm torn about using that too.  I don't know, we'll see.

The Leafs are now 1-0 and tied for 1st place.  Their next game is in Guelph on Saturday May 11th, for the season opener of the Guelph Royals.