Happy Canada Day, my babies!
I missed today's game in London, which sucks because Labatt Park is a really nice place to watch a ballgame.
It is a proper stadium with nice seating and views, and is the world's oldest continually operating ballpark - baseball has been played there since 1877.
In 1838, the first recorded baseball game took place in the village of Beachville about 35 kms east of London. There's a lot of history in this part of the province, arguably the cradle of Canadian baseball.
The London Majors have played here since 1925. Last year, they were forced into an awkward situation when a second club moved in: the London Rippers of the American-based independent Frontier League. Almost from the start, the Rippers made noisy neighbours of themselves, courting all sorts of attention, and much of it negative.
It began with presenting serial killer Jack the Ripper as their team logo. The logo, and the secondary graphics that were designed looked really good, but many people found them too sinister for baseball. Uproar ensued. A local abused women's centre protested. The team owner tried to bluff his way through the fuss, then brought in a redesigned logo.*
By then the Rippers had run into other problems. They discovered that they were not allowed to sell beer at their games - the liquor license being held by the Majors, who understandably did not want to share it with a competitor. With the Rippers struggling in attendance and finances, their owner issued a challenge to the Majors, winner-take-all, for the liquor licence and the ballpark. That game was never played, because the Rippers folded halfway through the season, a sudden end to an ignominious chapter in the city's baseball history.
The Majors march on, sole tenants of their pretty ballpark once again. They have not won an IBL championship since 1975, but they are doing well this year. They sat second in the standings with a 15-7 record going into their Canada Day contest against the Toronto Maple Leafs this evening.
Recap:
Recently, the Toronto Maple Leafs have been good at jumping out to a lead, and they did it again today by going up 4-0 early against the London Majors at Labatt Park.
It looks like the tone of the game was set in the very first at bat, with Leafs centerfielder Branfy Arias facing Majors starter Brett Sabourin. Here's how the at bat was recorded on Pointstreak:
Ball, Ball, Swinging Strike, Swinging Strike, #2 Branfy Arias advances to 1st (error by the shortstop), #2 Branfy Arias advances to 3rd (error by the second baseman), #2 Branfy Arias Scores Unearned (2).
Wow, what happened there? Two errors by London on the first play of the game and it was 1-0 Leafs after the 1st inning.
The Leafs added more runs in the next inning. Third baseman Sean Mattson walked, and moved to second on a single by leftfielder Raul Borjas. Both runners moved up a base and shortstop Cody Mombourquette advanced to first on another error by London shortstop Paul Lytwynec. The next man up, catcher Damon Topolie, singled to drive in Mattson. A wild pitch by Sabourin allowed Borjas to trot home with the second run of the frame, and Mombourquette came home on a ground out by Arias. It was 4-0 Leafs going into the bottom of the 2nd.
Leafs starter Marek Deska threw a scoreless 1st, but the Majors got on the board in the bottom of the 2nd. Rightfielder Adwin Springer led off with a triple, then Deska hit third baseman Derrik Strzalkowski with a pitch to put him on first. DH Parris Austin then singled to drive in Springer. Centerfielder Ryan Lapensee singled to score Strzalkowski. Second baseman Paul Young hit another single to drive in a run and make it 4-3 Leafs after the 2nd inning.
A scoreless 3rd (the Leafs left the bases loaded) led to more scoring in the 4th. DH Sean Reilly drove in his first of four runs on the night with a double that scored second baseman Dan Marra. Mattson singled later in the inning to drive in another run and the Leafs doubled up the Majors 6-3.
In the bottom of the 4th, Deska walked Young and gave up singles to leftfielder Paul LaMantia and first baseman Cleveland Brownlee, Young coming home on Brownlee's hit. After 4 innings it was 6-4 Leafs.
A scoreless 5th led to a scoring repeat in the 6th. An error by Young allowed rightfielder Jon Waltenbury to reach first, and opened the door for Reilly to hit a two-run homer off Sabourin. 8-4 Leafs.
Lapensee got one back for the Majors with a solo home run that made it 8-5 after the 6th inning.
More runs came in the decisive 7th inning, with runs being driven in by Reilly and first baseman Will Richards to make it 10-5.
Deska was relieved by Jas Shergill to start the inning, and the Majors pounced. Springer led off with a double, then a single and a walk loaded the bases. Catcher Larry Balkwill then cleared them with a double that ended Shergill's night without him getting a single out. Franco Pace came in to put out the fire, but he let one more run get on the board when Lapensee drove Balkwill in on a ground out. Pace then got a strikeout to end the inning, but the Majors had pulled to within one run, and the Leafs held on to a 10-9 lead after the 7th.
The Leafs' bullpen shut things down the rest of the way, with Pace throwing a scoreless 8th, and closer Justin Cicatello putting the final goose egg on the scoreboard. That sealed the 10-9 win for Toronto, and Marek Deska's first win of the season. Oh Canada!
The Maple Leafs are now 10-13 and in fifth place, 10.5 games behind the Red Stockings of Brantford. Their next game is July 3, against the Barrie Baycats at Christie Pits.
*Credit to Sportslogos.net for the London Rippers graphics.
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