Toronto Reference Library Blog

This blog post is based on a talk I gave about the history of baseball in Toronto. That talk highlighted rare and historical items from many areas of our Baldwin Collection of Canadiana, which includes books, ephemera, art, manuscripts and newspapers.

19th century items

The oldest item I discussed was an 1876 copy of Bryce's Canadian Base Ball Guide. Bryce's guides are considered to be the first significant publications which laid out the rules (which were very different in many ways from the modern game) and bylaws of the then-new sport. The entire guide has been scanned and added to our Digital Archive, so you can read the whole thing from anywhere with an internet connection!

Bryce's Canadian Base Ball Guide, 1876. View on our Digital Archive.

The second-oldest was the below poster from 1898. It advertises two games between Bowmanville, Ontario and the Toronto Athletic Club.

Poster for two upcoming games, 1898.

And here's a photo of the University of Toronto Baseball Club.

The University of Toronto Baseball Club, 1887. View on our Digital Archive.

20th century photographs

Many original photos from the 1900s that I laid out for the presentation have also been scanned:

• Hanlan's Point Stadium on the Toronto Islands (1919)
• a view of Hanlan's Point Stadium from behind home plate (190-?)
• Diamond Park, at the south-east corner of Liberty St. and Fraser Ave. (190-?)
• Opening Day of the Eastern Baseball League at Diamond Park (1907)
• a game being played in High Park (1922)
• a game on a vacant plot of land on the north side of Deforest Rd., between Kennedy Ave. and Runnymede Rd. (190-?)
• the demolition of Maple Leaf Stadium, at the foot of Bathurst St., on the south side of Lake Shore Blvd. (1968)
• two chilly fans waiting for the Blue Jays' first game to start on April 7th, 1977
• Doug Ault hitting the first home run in Blue Jays history on Opening Day, 1977
• Joe Carter leading the celebration after the Jays won'their first World Series in 1992

Memorabilia 

Most of the other items I brought out were part of a larger collection of Blue Jays ephemera and memorabilia donated to the library by a fan back in 2015.

A yearbook for the Jays' first season, and the program for their first game on April 7th, 1977.

A collection of official baseball cards featuring Jays players from 1977 to the mid-90s.

A ticket for Game 5 of the 1992 World Series, which the Jays lost 7-2 before clinching the series in Game 6 in Atlanta.

A 45 copy of the "OK Blue Jays" song, which was recorded in 1985 at Eastern Sound Studios, just around the corner from the library where the Four Seasons stands today.

Edit: Revised introduction and reformatted images (April 4, 2022)