The Toronto Maple Leafs NHL hockey team started going by that name in 1927 when Conn Smythe changed the nickname of the Toronto St. Patrick's. Meanwhile, in the Intercounty Baseball League, a different Toronto Maple Leafs have played since 1969. On first glance, this is a head scratcher. How can there be an IBL baseball franchise called the Toronto Maple Leafs playing at Christie Pits when there was already an NHL team with the same name?
The fact is, the Toronto baseball team had the name "Maple Leafs" first. The Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team started as a high-level minor-league club of the same name, which started playing in 1896. That's right, the current Intercounty Baseball League team had the name Maple Leafs well brefore the NHL team adopted it.
The Toronto Maple Leafs baseball first played at a stadium on the Toronto Islands at Hanlan's Point. This is the same stadium where a young Babe Ruth hit his first professional home run for the Providence Grays. They moved to Maple Leaf Stadium in 1926 and folded in 1967, and then Jack and Lynne Dominico brought them back in 1969 as an Intercounty Baseball League team playing at Christie Pits.
The Toronto Maple Leafs IBL team was recently sold by the Dominico family, and I'll have an exciting personal announcement to make about this on March 1st. Stay tuned!
