New Canadian Baseball League will bring more baseball and excitement to Christie Pits
This summer, professional baseball is coming to Christie Pits.
After 106 years as Ontario’s premier semi-pro baseball league, the Intercounty Baseball League has rebranded as the Canadian Baseball League with professional status.
For fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs, it will mean more baseball and more excitement.
More baseball comes from an expanded schedule, which will see the regular season grow from 42 to 48 games. That means 24 games played at home.
It’s just a few months away. The Leafs’ season opener will be Sunday, May 10 at Christie Pits. Game time is 2:00 pm and they will face the Kitchener Panthers.
The first half of the season will be heavy on Sunday games, with seven of them scheduled across May and June.
For July and August, the schedule will flip to more night games, with twelve of them spread over Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights.
With the league’s new professional status comes a formal pay structure for players. Clubs will also be able to sign up to eight import players, up from the previous limit of five. These changes are expected to attract a higher calibre of players and make teams more competitive across the board.
A competitive roster will be a must, as fewer teams will qualify for the CBL postseason. Starting this year, the top three regular season teams will make the playoffs, with the fourth- and fifth-placed teams playing a wild card elimination game to join them.
The semi-finals and championship series will both be best-of-seven affairs.
Gone are the days when all or almost every club made it to the playoffs. Under the new format, every team will want to get off to a fast start to avoid falling behind early.
“We are more excited than ever and have been hard at work since last season ended preparing for 2026,” said a Leafs source. “We really believe that next year is going to be our best yet, on and off the field.”
One of the club’s biggest off-season developments is a partnership with the Toronto Mets of the Canadian Premier Baseball League, a development league for young players aged 13 to 18.
In December, the Leafs held open tryouts at the Mets’ brand new practice facility in Aurora. Over thirty prospects attended, along with a handful of returning unsigned players looking to crack the roster again. The session was overseen by Leafs manager Rob Butler and the Leafs’ new general manager Denis Bailey.
“Between Denis and Rob, the team has never had stronger leadership,” said the Leafs source. “We believe we will have the most competitive team in the newly-branded CBL.”
As of January, no signings have been announced but it is expected that the Leafs will start rolling them out as the season approaches.
When news broke that the league was transitioning to professional status and that clubs would be paying their players more than just an honorarium or travel money, local fans wondered if that would impact the price of admission to games at Christie Pits.
The good news is that the cost of general admission to Leafs’ home games will remain the same: free.
The club is also building on the fan-friendly experience crafted over the past two seasons.
“Fans can expect more improvements, surprises, innovations and a generally enhanced experience,” said the Leafs source. “We may look to slightly expand the [paid ticketed] members lounge, as that continues to be successful. But there will be no general admission charge, as we continue to offer the best deal for our fans in all of professional sports.”
All nine of the IBL’s existing teams will be part of the new CBL for its inaugural season. That includes the Leafs, their longtime rivals the Barrie Baycats, and 2025 champions the Welland Jackfish. The league is looking to add more teams in the coming years.
The Dominico Cup, named for former Leafs’ owners Jack and Lynne Dominico, will carry over and become the CBL’s championship trophy.
[This story was originally published in the February 2026 edition of the Annex Gleaner.]
