During a recent game at Christie Pits, I overheard a visiting player remark to his teammate: "This place is the Bermuda Triangle of baseball. It's a sand pit."
Not sure if he was remarking on the quality of the field, the playing conditions at the park, or some other weird mystery that hangs over the place. Maybe he was just stating fact.
Dominico Field at Christie Pits is located inside an emptied out quarry. Stone, sand and clay - remnants of the last ice age - were mined here in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The excavated materials were used to build some of the earliest roads and public buildings in Toronto.
That's not the only thing that was dug up some hundred years ago. According to Toronto: An Illustrated History of Its First 12,000 Years, the remains of mammoths were also found here.
The Christie Sand Pits were named for the street that runs along one side of the former quarry. Christie Street was named after William Mellis Christie, who co-founded Christie, Brown & Company biscuit and cookie makers in Toronto in 1861. Yes, he's that Mr. Christie.
In 1909 the depleted quarry was closed down for good. The city turned the site into Willowvale Park, but the name Christie Pits has endured to this day.
In 1969, the Toronto Maple Leafs of the IBL began play here, and it has remained their home for 45 summers.
As I follow the Maple Leafs during the summer of 2013, I'm trying to take in the games from as many vantage points as possible. This afternoon I lay down on the eastern slope overlooking the field, and watched amid the grass and dandelions.
The newly-minted Burlington Bandits were in town today. The team rebranded this year after being the Burlington Twins for a couple of seasons. Their flashy red and pewter uniforms take a cue from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But is the team any good?
The Bandits rolled in with a 1-3 record, not great but it's early days. They jumped off to a 3-0 lead in the top of the 1st, and it appeared as if the Maple Leafs might still be reeling from their walkoff loss in Kitchener last Thursday night. Three - three! - errors by the Leafs set an ominous tone to the day.
But the boys in blue got sorted, stormed back to retake the lead, and ended up winning comfortably 10-5.
A detailed recap of all the scoring and key plays will have to wait until Pointstreak gets updated. It looks to have frozen in the 1st inning and remains that way. I didn't take any notes during the game, and there's nothing on Twitter. It's as if the game has disappeared into a kind of... BERMUDA TRIANGLE.
Run awayyyy!
UPDATE:
Pointstreak is alive and well. Recap follows.
After the aforementioned comedy of errors, the Maple Leafs scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 1st to make it a whole new ballgame.
Hot hitting shortstop Cody Mombourquette singled, then stole second, and was driven home by rightfielder Jordan Castaldo. Castaldo scored on a double by first baseman Will Richards. Richards came around to score on a single by catcher Damon Topolie and a fielding error by Burlington. Tie game! 3-3 and both teams combined for 5 errors after 1.
In the bottom of the 2nd, second baseman Rob Gillis singled and stole second base, then was driven home by centerfielder Glenn Jackson to give the Leafs their first lead of the day.
The Bandits tied the game at 4-4 in the top of the 4th. Second baseman Jamie Lekas singled, stole second, reached third on an error, and came home on a single by catcher Bradley Bedford.
Glenn Jackson hit a 2-run home run to give the Leafs the lead again in the bottom of the 4th, 6-4.
In the top of the 5th, an error by Mombourquette allowed Bandits' left fielder Brian Sewell to advance to second base. Sewell was driven home on a single by DH Jeff MacLeod. 6-5 Toronto. The Bandits stayed close all day, taking advantage of sloppy plays by the Leafs and making them count for runs. But the Leafs' hit machine churned out enough runs to put the game away.
Will Richards had himself a day, belting a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 5th to make it 8-5. Richards would go 5-for-5 on the day with the home run and 3 RBIs, raising his batting average to .455.
The Leafs scored a couple more runs in the 6th to make it 10-5 and the Bandits had no further reply. Drew Taylor and Justin Cicatello pitched two shutout innings each in relief of starter Clay Caulfield.
The Leafs' RBI's were produced by five different hitters: Richards (3), Jackson (3), Castaldo (1), Topolie (1) and DH Kevin Hinton (1).
After taking a bad turn in Kitchener, the Leafs have corrected course and are back in the win column. Their record is 4-2, a game behind the Brantford Red Sox who lost in London today. Their next game is on the road, Thursday May 23 against these same Burlington Bandits.
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