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rfmcdonaldHistoricist Jamie Bradburn writes about the first day of baseball at Toronto's Maple Leaf Stadium in spring of 1926.
The bottom of the ninth inning. Trailing by a score of 5-0, the odds were terrible for a comeback by the hometown team. The rain which delayed the opening of their new ballpark for a day lingered as drizzle. Not enough to force a second postponement in a row, but it made a dent in the day’s attendance. In a field built for 23,500 fans, around 14,000 witnessed the Toronto Maple Leafs fall behind the Reading Keystones. Perhaps attendees were already headed to their cars to avoid the post-game traffic jams along Bathurst and Fleet streets.
Those who stayed for the last moments of the debut baseball game at Maple Leaf Stadium on April 29, 1926 were rewarded for their perseverance.
From 1907, the minor league baseball Maple Leafs had played at Hanlan’s Point on Toronto Island. By the mid-1920s, attendance declined due to the inconvenience of moving large crowds via ferries to and from the ballpark, and drivers who didn’t want to pay the ferry fare to catch a game. Team president Lol Solman looked to the mainland to build a new, larger stadium. A site at the foot of York Street was surveyed, and construction on a playing field started in 1924, but differences arose between the Maple Leafs and the Toronto Harbour Commission (THC). The following year, the team acquired land atop fill into the lake the THC had recently created at the foot of Bathurst Street. Plans reported in September 1925 called for a 30,000 seat venue which, besides baseball, could also be used for football, lacrosse, soccer, and track meets. Additional features included an apartment for the groundskeeper, a restaurant, and team offices. Acres of parking would be provided for the growing stream of fans that preferred driving to games. The stadium was designed by the architectural firm of Chapman and Oxley, whose works soon dominated the neighbourhood: over the next few years, they were responsible for the Princes’ Gate, the Government of Ontario Building (now the Liberty Grand), and the Crosse and Blackwell Building (now OMNI). Unlike the furor which greets modern stadium financing, Solman privately financed the stadium.
As construction began on Maple Leaf Stadium in fall 1925, motorists driving along Fleet Street (sections of which are now Lake Shore Boulevard) saw around 150 workers and 50 teams of horses prepare the field. From an estimated budget of $300,000, the price tag wound up being around $750,000. Pictures taken the week before opening day showed scaffolding still up and workers finishing the park.
Those who stayed for the last moments of the debut baseball game at Maple Leaf Stadium on April 29, 1926 were rewarded for their perseverance.
From 1907, the minor league baseball Maple Leafs had played at Hanlan’s Point on Toronto Island. By the mid-1920s, attendance declined due to the inconvenience of moving large crowds via ferries to and from the ballpark, and drivers who didn’t want to pay the ferry fare to catch a game. Team president Lol Solman looked to the mainland to build a new, larger stadium. A site at the foot of York Street was surveyed, and construction on a playing field started in 1924, but differences arose between the Maple Leafs and the Toronto Harbour Commission (THC). The following year, the team acquired land atop fill into the lake the THC had recently created at the foot of Bathurst Street. Plans reported in September 1925 called for a 30,000 seat venue which, besides baseball, could also be used for football, lacrosse, soccer, and track meets. Additional features included an apartment for the groundskeeper, a restaurant, and team offices. Acres of parking would be provided for the growing stream of fans that preferred driving to games. The stadium was designed by the architectural firm of Chapman and Oxley, whose works soon dominated the neighbourhood: over the next few years, they were responsible for the Princes’ Gate, the Government of Ontario Building (now the Liberty Grand), and the Crosse and Blackwell Building (now OMNI). Unlike the furor which greets modern stadium financing, Solman privately financed the stadium.
As construction began on Maple Leaf Stadium in fall 1925, motorists driving along Fleet Street (sections of which are now Lake Shore Boulevard) saw around 150 workers and 50 teams of horses prepare the field. From an estimated budget of $300,000, the price tag wound up being around $750,000. Pictures taken the week before opening day showed scaffolding still up and workers finishing the park.
