Canadian Baseball Challenge

MickMcCann · 01-02-2014, 02:11 PM

It was winter time in late 1870 when long time Toronto businessman and Winnipeg native Greg Rodgers, ran into Montreal businessman Jean-François Nicolas at a fancy party in Toronto. The two men found out that they shared many common interests. They loved Irish whiskey, pubs, theatre, and sport. They also possessed a similar competitive nature. When talk turned towards the sport of baseball, they discussed what they had seen in the United States and at a lower level within Canada.

After a few drinks, they discussed a serious competition in Canada, and agreed to assemble squads to represent their respective cities for the summer of 1872. Their wives thought they were being silly by the time they said their goodbyes and went home that night, knowing how stubborn their husbands were but not expecting the other lady's man to be equally so. Contact information had been exchanged, and it was on by that alone.

They both searched for a place to put their ball grounds, using their connections and interest in the game to secure suitable land. Coaching staffs were hired, and they would help build the squads going into this challenge.

Leading up to this challenge, the following stipulations were agreed on:

Three games will be played in each ground, making for a total of six. Whoever wins the series will take home the Challenge Cup, an award commissioned by both Rodgers and Nicolas. If the series ends in a draw, then the cup remains with the holders.

Both clubs will be allowed to compose active squads of up to 30 players, and no more. Players can e listed on reserve, but only 30 can suit up for each game.

At the end of the series, red and white ribbons will be awarded to the best players of the series. The Hurler's Ribbon and Batsman's Ribbon will be given to the best in those areas, while a Fielder's Ribbon will go out to the best in each position. A Youth Ribbon will be awarded to the best young player. Finally, the Manager's Ribbon will go to the best manager during the challenge. The voting will be put in the hands of sports writers from all over Canada.

Both clubs will do their best to start each game at 1:05 pm, with weather taken into account. The ball game will be delayed or postponed only after a meeting between umpires and managers.

THE CHALLENGE CUP

MickMcCann · 01-02-2014, 02:12 PM

For this fictional world, we'll pretend that all the statistics have been around the entire time.

I don't know how fast this will go, to be honest. I could go through some periods where it's been awhile since I've posted, and then follow it up with a flood of updates.

My inspiration for this comes from just wanting to start a league from the very beginning, with few teams, and to work up to more clubs. I wanted to do Canada just because it intrigued me. That's pretty much it. That, and it's close to America, so it's not too hard to imagine how something like this could have realistically happened. I previously did a German league, and toyed with an Irish one that I still play with but don't intend to do any write-ups on.

Even when more teams are founded, the number of games will probably remain pretty small. I don't even plan on doing any playoffs. The Canadian Baseball Challenge will be a simple race for the cup.

MickMcCann · 01-02-2014, 02:14 PM

Nicolas Field
Location: Montreal, Quebec
Capacity: 1,800
Distances (ft): Left Line - 319, Left Field - 348, Left-Centre - 388, Centre Field - 431, Right-Centre - 401, Right Field - 364, Right Line - 328
Wall Heights (ft): Left Line - 7, Left Field - 7, Left-Centre - 7, Centre Field - 12, Right-Centre - 11, Right Field - 15, Right Line - 15

The City Grounds
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Capacity: 1,800
Distances (ft): Left Line - 321, Left Field - 337, Left-Centre - 363, Centre Field - 412, Right-Centre - 357, Right Field - 329, Right Line - 314
Wall Heights (ft): Left Line - 9, Left Field - 9, Left-Centre - 9, Centre Field - 15, Right-Centre - 9, Right Field - 9, Right Line - 9

MickMcCann · 01-02-2014, 02:22 PM

Montreal manager: Lionel Jacquin
Toronto manager: Peter Roland

Montreal captain: Mike MacDormond, left field
Toronto captain: Tom Wentzell, centre field

GAME ONE – SATURDAY, JUNE 1
Toronto: 8
Montreal: 6

Ballpark: Nicolas Field
Weather: Clear skies (70 degrees), wind blowing out to center at 14 mph
Start Time: 1:05 pm EST
Time: 2:44
Attendance: 1,753

Toronto jumped ahead right away with three runs, but Montreal pulled back within one by the end of the first. Toronto would put on five more runs over the next three innings, with two apiece in the second and fourth, and a lone run in the third. Right fielder Alexis “Junkyard” Pascal brought in three of those runs in a Player of the Game performance that saw him go 3-5.

Montreal would chip at Toronto's lead with three runs in the bottom of the fourth, making it an 8-5 ballgame. RHP Stan MacArtney would pitch 5.1 innings from the bullpen after starter Mark Guffin conceded eight runs, with only four of them earned. MacArtney only gave up two hits and keep the home side in the game.

Toronto's starter, RHP Rui Prigent, went the full nine, but almost fumbled the lead at the very end. With two outs and runners at second and third, a wild pitch allowed Maxwell Chute to score. Prigent threw the next pitch for a ball, but got Innis Pritchett to whiff at the next three to win the game.

GAME TWO – SUNDAY, JUNE 2
Toronto: 5
Montreal: 0

Ballpark: Nicolas Field
Weather: Clear skies (61 degrees), wind blowing out to center at 12 mph
Start Time: 1:05 pm EST
Time: 2:33
Attendance: 1,642

Rui Prigent was the Player of the Game after pitching another complete game, this time without conceding any runs and only allowing five hits and no walks. He wouldn't receive any help until the third inning, when back-to-back RBI singles from Mark Symons and Alexis Pascal put Toronto up 2-0.

Toronto would score one run in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings to bump the lead up to five runs. Symons' flyball RBI opposite way double off the wall in right-centre would be his second run driven in that day.

Montreal RHP Mark Guffin went the full game that day, giving up ten hits, two walks and two earned runs.

GAME THREE – MONDAY, JUNE 3
Toronto: 3
Montreal: 2

Ballpark: Nicolas Field
Weather: Clear skies (70 degrees), wind blowing left to right at 12 mph
Start Time: 1:05 pm EST
Time: 2:34
Attendance: 1,313

Prigent turned in another Player of the Game effort with another complete game, giving up eight hits, two runs and striking out two.

Guffin, his opposite, gave up nine eights, three runs and struck out one batter in 9.0 IP. He kept Toronto off the board until the top of the fourth, when an Alexandre Perrin groundball double up the middle brought in two runs.

Montreal got a run back in the fifth off a Maxwell Chute groundball single through short. They would get a tying run off a throwing error by Alexis Pascal in the bottom of the ninth, scored as an E9.

Pinch hitter Mel Smart would make the most of his at-bat in the top of the ninth. He pulled Guffin's 1-1 pitch and sent it sailing well over the fence in right field to score the game-winner for the visitors.

The Toronto club took the first three games of the series away from home. With the series going to the City Grounds, the best Montreal could do was win the remaining three games and make it a draw. Club owner Jean-François Nicolas didn't ease the pressure on his team, telling the coaches and players that he wanted nothing less than three straight wins to deny Toronto from claiming the Challenge Cup.

GAME FOUR – TUESDAY, JUNE 4
Montreal: 8
Toronto: 6

Ballpark: The City Grounds
Weather: Clear skies (66 degrees), wind blowing in from center at 14 mph
Start Time: 1:05 pm EST
Time: 2:42
Attendance: 1,785

After going with the same start pitchers in all three games at Nicolas Field, both clubs opted to give their main pitcher a rest. Montreal's RHP Ernie Meilleur pitched the full game, giving up twelve hits, six earned runs and a homer. RHP Larry Gallagher started for the home side, also going a complete game, and gave up eight hits and one walk. Only one of the runs allowed was earned. He struck out one batter.

Montreal jumped ahead 6-0 in the first. Toronto's fielders committed four errors in the inning, and a wild pitch allowed one of the runs. It was just what Montreal needed to try and get back into the series.

Toronto wouldn't go away though. The bottom of the third saw the guests score four runs, with two of them coming from hot-hitting Mark Symons and his 2 RBI groundball single past his fellow third baseman.

In the fifth, Alexis Pascal put Toronto within one run with a solo home run driven to right field.

Toronto would equalise in the seventh when Alexandre Perrin's two-out line drive single to left-centre found a place to drop in and give hope to lifting the Challenge Cup on that day.

The champagne would have to wait. Catcher Art Dwyer put Montreal back ahead in the ninth with an RBI double to left. A throwing error by Alexandre Perrin in the next at-bat would allow for another run, scored as an E7.

The visitors were relieved to win a game, and Art Dwyer led the charge by going 2-5 with 2 RBI's to become the Player of the Game.

GAME FIVE – WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5
Montreal: 13
Toronto: 0

Ballpark: The City Grounds
Weather: Rain (62 degrees), wind blowing out to center at 18 mph
Start Time: 1:05 pm EST
Time: 3:51
Attendance: 1075
Special Notes: Rain delay of 61 minutes in the 9th inning.

Both Meilleur and Gallagher would take the mound for their clubs in this crucial point in the series. The first pitcher would go the full game and only give up eight hits in a shutout, while the other would only go seven innings. Gallagher gave up fourteen hits and while nine runs crossed the plate on his watch, only one of them was earned. LHP Glenn Burrill would come in to pitch the last two innings, and none of the four runs that crossed were earned. Meilleur pitched a good game and was rewarded by his team in his Player of the Game efforts, while Gallagher and Burrill didn't do much wrong, but weren't as fortunate.

It was scoreless until Montreal went 6-0 up in the fifth. After Meilleur reached base on an E5, his batsman responded. Dwyer's 2 RBI double to centre to make it 3-0 was the most notable batting contribution in the inning.

Five more runs would come in the eighth. With the score at 8-0, Jeane-Pierre Babin worked up the count at 3-2 before hitting a three run homer to left-centre, which received some help from the strong wind. Montreal were up 11-0 and with rain clouds starting to make themselves known, a few dozen home fans thought it would be a good time to go home.

The hour-long rain delay in the ninth would make the decision for the rest who thought about leaving. For the few stubborn souls still around when play resumed, instead of a reward, a Claude Marin 2 RBI single hit to right field would put salt in their wounds.

The confidence shifted after the fifth game. All Toronto needed to do was win once at home to take the Challenge Cup, and the possibility of the series becoming a draw was very real going into the final game.

GAME SIX – THURSDAY, JUNE 6
Montreal: 11
Toronto: 23

Ballpark: The City Grounds
Weather: Partly Cloudy (63 degrees), wind blowing in from right at 15 mph
Start Time: 1:05 pm EST
Time: 3:20
Attendance: 1349
Special Notes: L. Cormier sets the regular season game record for runs with 4. L. Cormier sets the regular season game record for hits with 5.

A wild game at The City Grounds capped off the inaugural Canadian Baseball Challenge. Prigent and Guffin were back as the starting pitchers. Neither of them would go for long, with Prigent pitching three innings and Guffin only going 0.1 inning longer. Larry Gallagher would pitch six inning for Toronto to pick up his first win. Montreal would burn through three relief pitchers, with Stan MacArtney going 2.2 IP.

Second baseman Lee Cormier won the Player of the Game, going 5-7 with 3 RBI. Third baseman Mark Symons was just as good of a candidate for the award, going 4-7 with 4 RBI. Symons managed to get at least a hit in every game of the series. J.R. Carvalho (3-6, 3 RBI, and who also got a hit in every game), Ken Vincent (2-6, 2 RBI), and Thomas Gregoire (1-6, 3 RBI) were the other main contributors to Toronto's impressive runs tally, which greatly benefited from Montreal's fourteen fielding errors.

For the visitors, captain Mike MacDormond went 4-5 with 2 RBI. Catcher Theodore Kirkpatrick went 3-5 with 3 RBI.

The home crowd voiced their appreciation of the high-scoring affair, and took great pleasure in Montreal's fielding woes as much as they enjoyed what their own hitters did. Even though Montreal came back to make the series interesting, the sixth game was embarrassing enough to make it all seem in vain.

MickMcCann · 01-02-2014, 02:26 PM

Saturday, 22 June 1872
St. Lawrence Hall
Toronto, Ontario

A few weeks after the Canadian Baseball Challenge, the Ribbons Ceremony took place at St. Lawrence Hall in Toronto. The owners, players, and coaches from both clubs were in attendance, along with journalists from around Canada. Politicians, actors, and sportsmen answered their invitations with an impressive turnout. Players and coaches were allowed to bring family and friends to the spectacular evening that drew further awareness to the great game of baseball.

The night began with Toronto's Ken Vincent being awarded the Youth Ribbon. The 23-year-old centre fielder hit .375 with 3 hits, 2 RBI's and 1 run scored.

The Fielder's Ribbons were the next to be issued. Mark Guffin (P), Art Dwyer (C), captain Mike MacDormond (LF), Innis Pritchard (CF), and Nathan Connolly (RF) were the award winners for Montreal. While Montreal dominated the outfield, the infield was all Toronto with Berry Joseph (1B), Lee Cormier (2B), Mark Symons (3B) and J.R. Carvalho (SS) representing the Blues.

Controversy came up when the Batsman's Ribbon was issued to Montreal captain Mike MacDormond. Mark Symons hit .433 in 30 at-bats, and hit in each game. He hit 13 times and drove in 9 RBI's. MacDormond hit for .407 in 27 at-bats, got 11 hits and drove in 3 RBI's, with 1 BB and even 1 HR. The 36-year-old was also credited for motivating his team to keep the series alive, but going into the ceremony, the feeling was that Symons would walk away with the ribbon. It was a decision that would spur debate into the night and carry on for months.

The Hurler's Ribbon went to Toronto's Rui Prigent, who threw 30 IP, notched 3 K's and came out of the challenge with a 3-0 record. He had a 2.70 ERA and 1.10 WHIP.

Toronto manager Peter Roland took home the Manager's Ribbon.

01-02-2014, 02:11 PM	#1
MickMcCann Minors (Double A) Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 188	Canadian Baseball Challenge It was winter time in late 1870 when long time Toronto businessman and Winnipeg native Greg Rodgers, ran into Montreal businessman Jean-François Nicolas at a fancy party in Toronto. The two men found out that they shared many common interests. They loved Irish whiskey, pubs, theatre, and sport. They also possessed a similar competitive nature. When talk turned towards the sport of baseball, they discussed what they had seen in the United States and at a lower level within Canada. After a few drinks, they discussed a serious competition in Canada, and agreed to assemble squads to represent their respective cities for the summer of 1872. Their wives thought they were being silly by the time they said their goodbyes and went home that night, knowing how stubborn their husbands were but not expecting the other lady's man to be equally so. Contact information had been exchanged, and it was on by that alone. They both searched for a place to put their ball grounds, using their connections and interest in the game to secure suitable land. Coaching staffs were hired, and they would help build the squads going into this challenge. Leading up to this challenge, the following stipulations were agreed on: Three games will be played in each ground, making for a total of six. Whoever wins the series will take home the Challenge Cup, an award commissioned by both Rodgers and Nicolas. If the series ends in a draw, then the cup remains with the holders. Both clubs will be allowed to compose active squads of up to 30 players, and no more. Players can e listed on reserve, but only 30 can suit up for each game. At the end of the series, red and white ribbons will be awarded to the best players of the series. The Hurler's Ribbon and Batsman's Ribbon will be given to the best in those areas, while a Fielder's Ribbon will go out to the best in each position. A Youth Ribbon will be awarded to the best young player. Finally, the Manager's Ribbon will go to the best manager during the challenge. The voting will be put in the hands of sports writers from all over Canada. Both clubs will do their best to start each game at 1:05 pm, with weather taken into account. The ball game will be delayed or postponed only after a meeting between umpires and managers. THE CHALLENGE CUP Last edited by MickMcCann; 01-02-2014 at 02:27 PM.

01-02-2014, 02:14 PM	#3
MickMcCann Minors (Double A) Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 188	The ballgrounds Nicolas Field Location: Montreal, Quebec Capacity: 1,800 Distances (ft): Left Line - 319, Left Field - 348, Left-Centre - 388, Centre Field - 431, Right-Centre - 401, Right Field - 364, Right Line - 328 Wall Heights (ft): Left Line - 7, Left Field - 7, Left-Centre - 7, Centre Field - 12, Right-Centre - 11, Right Field - 15, Right Line - 15 The City Grounds Location: Toronto, Ontario Capacity: 1,800 Distances (ft): Left Line - 321, Left Field - 337, Left-Centre - 363, Centre Field - 412, Right-Centre - 357, Right Field - 329, Right Line - 314 Wall Heights (ft): Left Line - 9, Left Field - 9, Left-Centre - 9, Centre Field - 15, Right-Centre - 9, Right Field - 9, Right Line - 9

01-02-2014, 02:22 PM	#4
MickMcCann Minors (Double A) Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 188	1872 Canadian Baseball Challenge Montreal manager: Lionel Jacquin Toronto manager: Peter Roland Montreal captain: Mike MacDormond, left field Toronto captain: Tom Wentzell, centre field GAME ONE – SATURDAY, JUNE 1 Toronto: 8 Montreal: 6 Ballpark: Nicolas Field Weather: Clear skies (70 degrees), wind blowing out to center at 14 mph Start Time: 1:05 pm EST Time: 2:44 Attendance: 1,753 Toronto jumped ahead right away with three runs, but Montreal pulled back within one by the end of the first. Toronto would put on five more runs over the next three innings, with two apiece in the second and fourth, and a lone run in the third. Right fielder Alexis “Junkyard” Pascal brought in three of those runs in a Player of the Game performance that saw him go 3-5. Montreal would chip at Toronto's lead with three runs in the bottom of the fourth, making it an 8-5 ballgame. RHP Stan MacArtney would pitch 5.1 innings from the bullpen after starter Mark Guffin conceded eight runs, with only four of them earned. MacArtney only gave up two hits and keep the home side in the game. Toronto's starter, RHP Rui Prigent, went the full nine, but almost fumbled the lead at the very end. With two outs and runners at second and third, a wild pitch allowed Maxwell Chute to score. Prigent threw the next pitch for a ball, but got Innis Pritchett to whiff at the next three to win the game. GAME TWO – SUNDAY, JUNE 2 Toronto: 5 Montreal: 0 Ballpark: Nicolas Field Weather: Clear skies (61 degrees), wind blowing out to center at 12 mph Start Time: 1:05 pm EST Time: 2:33 Attendance: 1,642 Rui Prigent was the Player of the Game after pitching another complete game, this time without conceding any runs and only allowing five hits and no walks. He wouldn't receive any help until the third inning, when back-to-back RBI singles from Mark Symons and Alexis Pascal put Toronto up 2-0. Toronto would score one run in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings to bump the lead up to five runs. Symons' flyball RBI opposite way double off the wall in right-centre would be his second run driven in that day. Montreal RHP Mark Guffin went the full game that day, giving up ten hits, two walks and two earned runs. GAME THREE – MONDAY, JUNE 3 Toronto: 3 Montreal: 2 Ballpark: Nicolas Field Weather: Clear skies (70 degrees), wind blowing left to right at 12 mph Start Time: 1:05 pm EST Time: 2:34 Attendance: 1,313 Prigent turned in another Player of the Game effort with another complete game, giving up eight hits, two runs and striking out two. Guffin, his opposite, gave up nine eights, three runs and struck out one batter in 9.0 IP. He kept Toronto off the board until the top of the fourth, when an Alexandre Perrin groundball double up the middle brought in two runs. Montreal got a run back in the fifth off a Maxwell Chute groundball single through short. They would get a tying run off a throwing error by Alexis Pascal in the bottom of the ninth, scored as an E9. Pinch hitter Mel Smart would make the most of his at-bat in the top of the ninth. He pulled Guffin's 1-1 pitch and sent it sailing well over the fence in right field to score the game-winner for the visitors. The Toronto club took the first three games of the series away from home. With the series going to the City Grounds, the best Montreal could do was win the remaining three games and make it a draw. Club owner Jean-François Nicolas didn't ease the pressure on his team, telling the coaches and players that he wanted nothing less than three straight wins to deny Toronto from claiming the Challenge Cup. GAME FOUR – TUESDAY, JUNE 4 Montreal: 8 Toronto: 6 Ballpark: The City Grounds Weather: Clear skies (66 degrees), wind blowing in from center at 14 mph Start Time: 1:05 pm EST Time: 2:42 Attendance: 1,785 After going with the same start pitchers in all three games at Nicolas Field, both clubs opted to give their main pitcher a rest. Montreal's RHP Ernie Meilleur pitched the full game, giving up twelve hits, six earned runs and a homer. RHP Larry Gallagher started for the home side, also going a complete game, and gave up eight hits and one walk. Only one of the runs allowed was earned. He struck out one batter. Montreal jumped ahead 6-0 in the first. Toronto's fielders committed four errors in the inning, and a wild pitch allowed one of the runs. It was just what Montreal needed to try and get back into the series. Toronto wouldn't go away though. The bottom of the third saw the guests score four runs, with two of them coming from hot-hitting Mark Symons and his 2 RBI groundball single past his fellow third baseman. In the fifth, Alexis Pascal put Toronto within one run with a solo home run driven to right field. Toronto would equalise in the seventh when Alexandre Perrin's two-out line drive single to left-centre found a place to drop in and give hope to lifting the Challenge Cup on that day. The champagne would have to wait. Catcher Art Dwyer put Montreal back ahead in the ninth with an RBI double to left. A throwing error by Alexandre Perrin in the next at-bat would allow for another run, scored as an E7. The visitors were relieved to win a game, and Art Dwyer led the charge by going 2-5 with 2 RBI's to become the Player of the Game. GAME FIVE – WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5 Montreal: 13 Toronto: 0 Ballpark: The City Grounds Weather: Rain (62 degrees), wind blowing out to center at 18 mph Start Time: 1:05 pm EST Time: 3:51 Attendance: 1075 Special Notes: Rain delay of 61 minutes in the 9th inning. Both Meilleur and Gallagher would take the mound for their clubs in this crucial point in the series. The first pitcher would go the full game and only give up eight hits in a shutout, while the other would only go seven innings. Gallagher gave up fourteen hits and while nine runs crossed the plate on his watch, only one of them was earned. LHP Glenn Burrill would come in to pitch the last two innings, and none of the four runs that crossed were earned. Meilleur pitched a good game and was rewarded by his team in his Player of the Game efforts, while Gallagher and Burrill didn't do much wrong, but weren't as fortunate. It was scoreless until Montreal went 6-0 up in the fifth. After Meilleur reached base on an E5, his batsman responded. Dwyer's 2 RBI double to centre to make it 3-0 was the most notable batting contribution in the inning. Five more runs would come in the eighth. With the score at 8-0, Jeane-Pierre Babin worked up the count at 3-2 before hitting a three run homer to left-centre, which received some help from the strong wind. Montreal were up 11-0 and with rain clouds starting to make themselves known, a few dozen home fans thought it would be a good time to go home. The hour-long rain delay in the ninth would make the decision for the rest who thought about leaving. For the few stubborn souls still around when play resumed, instead of a reward, a Claude Marin 2 RBI single hit to right field would put salt in their wounds. The confidence shifted after the fifth game. All Toronto needed to do was win once at home to take the Challenge Cup, and the possibility of the series becoming a draw was very real going into the final game. GAME SIX – THURSDAY, JUNE 6 Montreal: 11 Toronto: 23 Ballpark: The City Grounds Weather: Partly Cloudy (63 degrees), wind blowing in from right at 15 mph Start Time: 1:05 pm EST Time: 3:20 Attendance: 1349 Special Notes: L. Cormier sets the regular season game record for runs with 4. L. Cormier sets the regular season game record for hits with 5. A wild game at The City Grounds capped off the inaugural Canadian Baseball Challenge. Prigent and Guffin were back as the starting pitchers. Neither of them would go for long, with Prigent pitching three innings and Guffin only going 0.1 inning longer. Larry Gallagher would pitch six inning for Toronto to pick up his first win. Montreal would burn through three relief pitchers, with Stan MacArtney going 2.2 IP. Second baseman Lee Cormier won the Player of the Game, going 5-7 with 3 RBI. Third baseman Mark Symons was just as good of a candidate for the award, going 4-7 with 4 RBI. Symons managed to get at least a hit in every game of the series. J.R. Carvalho (3-6, 3 RBI, and who also got a hit in every game), Ken Vincent (2-6, 2 RBI), and Thomas Gregoire (1-6, 3 RBI) were the other main contributors to Toronto's impressive runs tally, which greatly benefited from Montreal's fourteen fielding errors. For the visitors, captain Mike MacDormond went 4-5 with 2 RBI. Catcher Theodore Kirkpatrick went 3-5 with 3 RBI. The home crowd voiced their appreciation of the high-scoring affair, and took great pleasure in Montreal's fielding woes as much as they enjoyed what their own hitters did. Even though Montreal came back to make the series interesting, the sixth game was embarrassing enough to make it all seem in vain.

01-02-2014, 02:26 PM	#5
MickMcCann Minors (Double A) Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 188	1872 Ribbons Ceremony Saturday, 22 June 1872 St. Lawrence Hall Toronto, Ontario A few weeks after the Canadian Baseball Challenge, the Ribbons Ceremony took place at St. Lawrence Hall in Toronto. The owners, players, and coaches from both clubs were in attendance, along with journalists from around Canada. Politicians, actors, and sportsmen answered their invitations with an impressive turnout. Players and coaches were allowed to bring family and friends to the spectacular evening that drew further awareness to the great game of baseball. The night began with Toronto's Ken Vincent being awarded the Youth Ribbon. The 23-year-old centre fielder hit .375 with 3 hits, 2 RBI's and 1 run scored. The Fielder's Ribbons were the next to be issued. Mark Guffin (P), Art Dwyer (C), captain Mike MacDormond (LF), Innis Pritchard (CF), and Nathan Connolly (RF) were the award winners for Montreal. While Montreal dominated the outfield, the infield was all Toronto with Berry Joseph (1B), Lee Cormier (2B), Mark Symons (3B) and J.R. Carvalho (SS) representing the Blues. Controversy came up when the Batsman's Ribbon was issued to Montreal captain Mike MacDormond. Mark Symons hit .433 in 30 at-bats, and hit in each game. He hit 13 times and drove in 9 RBI's. MacDormond hit for .407 in 27 at-bats, got 11 hits and drove in 3 RBI's, with 1 BB and even 1 HR. The 36-year-old was also credited for motivating his team to keep the series alive, but going into the ceremony, the feeling was that Symons would walk away with the ribbon. It was a decision that would spur debate into the night and carry on for months. The Hurler's Ribbon went to Toronto's Rui Prigent, who threw 30 IP, notched 3 K's and came out of the challenge with a 3-0 record. He had a 2.70 ERA and 1.10 WHIP. Toronto manager Peter Roland took home the Manager's Ribbon.

01-02-2014, 02:12 PM	#2
MickMcCann Minors (Double A) Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 188	For this fictional world, we'll pretend that all the statistics have been around the entire time. I don't know how fast this will go, to be honest. I could go through some periods where it's been awhile since I've posted, and then follow it up with a flood of updates. My inspiration for this comes from just wanting to start a league from the very beginning, with few teams, and to work up to more clubs. I wanted to do Canada just because it intrigued me. That's pretty much it. That, and it's close to America, so it's not too hard to imagine how something like this could have realistically happened. I previously did a German league, and toyed with an Irish one that I still play with but don't intend to do any write-ups on. Even when more teams are founded, the number of games will probably remain pretty small. I don't even plan on doing any playoffs. The Canadian Baseball Challenge will be a simple race for the cup.