Alas, I am busy that day! Someday I'll get out to meet the zombies I haven't met yet, I promise...

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Their first mistake was calling it the "Canadian Baseball League". Canadians generally won't buy into anything with the name "Canadian" as they automatically assume it must be an inferior version of something American. Of course, that's the case here.

I hope they can atleast make it until August, as I had planned to go to a few games with my Dad.

Mike

It's a shame if it's going to be going under.

I went to one of the local games (London Monarchs) and had a pretty good time. The game wasn't spectacular, but there was a lot more "action" than most MLB games (ground balls, steal attempts, taking extra bases).

Granted, the real fun I had was sitting in front of Joe Thorton (it was "Joe Thorton Night" at the ballpark) and chatting with him about the Bruins, NHL, his softball team and his upcoming court case. Then things got real interesting as the founder of the league (Tony Riviera) sat down beside me and chatted with Joe for a while. I got to see his sweet looking World Series Ring (Anaheim, 2003, he was a scout) and hear about the state of the game.

I should have thought things were a bit amiss as they mentioned they had their largest crowd of the year since opening day, and it was only 1050 people.

Weather played havoc with the London franchise (too many rainouts in the beginning), so that might have been a factor.

I was planning on going to another game this month when my friend came up to visit.

I'm in Trois-Rivieres at the moment (have been for just over a week and will continue to be here for another 4 weeks), which is home to the CBL's Saints. I've had a chance to attend three games over the past 10 days, all against the top hitting Saskatoon Legends. One might assume that the offensive jugernaught of a league would pull well in visiting ballparks, however the largest draw was Canada Day and there *may* have been 300 people there to witness an ugly 20-10 home loss.

On top of that, we're not just looking at bad ex-MLBers, we've also got the pleasure of watching talent that has been plagued by injuries or drug use (the latter doesn't exactly create the role-model athlete personea). Combined with the shoddy umps, who really don't desereve a pay cheque, and the overall poor execution (by the players, coaches and even the bat boy), I don't think that I would pay for a ticket. Luckly the Saints and their visitors use the dorms at the Univirsty (where I'm staying) so getting free tickets is never hard.

Montreal is here next, playing as the home team because they don't have a home field.

Canadians generally won't buy into anything with the name "Canadian" as they automatically assume it must be an inferior version of something American.

Mike, you're right--at least in Quebec and Southern Ontario. (The CFL doesn't seem to have the same problem out east and west.) They should have called it the "American Baseball League".

Meanwhile, down at Christie Pits, the Maple Leafs, led by Rob Butler and Paul Spoljaric... deserve your patronage

This is embarassing, but for the longest time I thought the Maple Leafs were the Maple Leafs. It was only when I moved down to the Annex while attending U of T and visited the Pits that I realised the folly of my error.

Unfortunately, I'm up in Don Mills now.

Unfortunately, I'm up in Don Mills now.

That's only a 15-20 minute drive away from the Pits. No excuses! ;)

That's only a 15-20 minute drive away from the Pits

Or an hour by transit.

Went to my first Leafs game last summer and made the mistake of bringing my new wife and infant son along. One was hot, the other was irritable, and we ended up staying about 4 innings. I saw about one.

Looked good though, and I play on returning this year.

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Mike, you're right--at least in Quebec and Southern Ontario. (The CFL doesn't seem to have the same problem out east and west.) They should have called it the "American Baseball League".

Yeah, I shouldn't generalize about Canada, as I've only lived in London and Kingston, and (sort of) Toronto.

One thing I really like about the United States is how much more community pride there seems to be in cities here. People seem generally proud of the fact that they're from Rochester and will support almost anything with the "Rochester" name on it. Rochester isn't *that* much bigger than London, yet Rochester has a AAA team that draws over 10,000 on a good night, where London couldn't hold onto a very good AA team.

Mind you, there's also about a million things that drives me nuts about the U.S., so I guess it evens out. :)

Mike

One thing that should be mentionned (and also proves that Canada sells out west) is that the CBL is playing infront of 4 sold out Moosejaw, Saskatchewan crowds in a "showcase series", that I assume will be the litmus test for expansion. When news of the sell out broke to Saskatoon (they're playing Calgary, the division rival whose 1 GB of the Legends for first in the west at the moment) I heard about it 4 or 5 times...from each player. So something tells me they haven't seen 1000+ fans at a ballpark since opening day.

A, do you work for the CBL?

No, no, no...I'm in Trois Riviere learning French and the dorms here house both the home and visiting teams during June, July and August so the players are dispersed around the campus. As such I've spent a good chunk of time with them talking CBL and baseball in general.

One thing I really like about the United States is how much more community pride there seems to be in cities here.

Mike, I agree with you completely about this. Whether it's a small town or big city, people just seem more proud of where they live and where they're from. I guess this devotion explains whyso many people here still go to Bengals games!

I lived in London when the Tigers were Eastern League champs, and it was very disappointing when they left, even though I'd left the city be then. How only one or two thousand fans from a city of 330K can turn out each night for pro baseball is beyond me, but it's pretty common. Their best nights hardly compared with the Junior A Knights' worst.

Hijack:

Rob Neyer has an article about Larry Dierker, who's just written a new book.

Doesn't it sound like he's campaigning for Grady Little's job? I guarantee John Henry and Theo Epstein are reading what he has to say.

Two thousand fans in a city of 330K? Heck, we barely get that in Ottawa (with at least a million within a short drive) for a AAA team. Beautiful park, a decent team, very affordable tickets (especially compared to the Senators or Renegades), etc. It's a shame the team seems destined to leave. There just doesn't seem to be much of a market for baseball around here.

(Of course, having been to exactly one game this year, and that mainly to see Jason Arnold, I should hardly complain)

Rob Neyer has an article about Larry Dierker, who's just written a new book.

The 1969 Houston Astros had the most literate pitching staff in baseball history: both Dierker and Jim Bouton were on that team.