Author Description

When and where was the first game of baseball played? Which Canadian minor league team did Wayne Gretzky play for? Who originated the "emory pitch"? Answers to these questions, and many more can be found in this fascinating book on what, according to well-known baseball writer, Bill Humber could be viewed as "Canada's favorite pastime." As this fascinating history shows, baseball actually developed in Canada long before ice hockey appeared on the scene.From the first baseball game ever played in Beachville, Ontario in 1838 (one year before the date claimed for the game's invention in Coopertown, New York) to the Toronto Blue Jays' 1993 and 1994 World Series wins, Diamonds of the North vividly depicts how baseball gained popularity throughout Canada. Humber covers every interesting aspect of baseball in Canada, such as why Québécois came to play the game, how the Gold Rush brought baseball to the west coast, women's baseball in Saskatchewan after World War I, and the story of Japanese Canadian, black, and native baseball players in Canada. Also included are appendices listing every Canadian major league player, all the Canadian women in the All American Girls Professional Baseball League, the names and records of every Canadian minor league team, the roster of Japanese Canadian members of the Asahi baseball team of Vancouver, and the records of the Montreal Expos (1969-1994) and the Toronto Blue Jays (1977-1994). With over 100 photographs (many of them rare) and filled with many colorful anecdotes about fatal baseball brawls, women's teams, games on roller skates, and nicknames, Diamonds of the North is an entertaining glimpse of Canada's rich baseball heritage.