The Canadian Baseball League was an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

minor league that operated in 2003. The league's only Commissioner was

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

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and

Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (french: Temple de la renommée du baseball canadien) is a museum located in St. Marys, Ontario, Canada. The museum commemorates great players, teams, and accomplishments of baseball in Canada. H ...

member

Ferguson Jenkins Ferguson Arthur "Fergie" Jenkins CM (born December 13, 1942) is a Canadian former professional baseball pitcher and coach. He played Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1965 to 1983 for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers and Bo ...

. The league featured former major league players such as Francisco Cabrera,

Floyd Youmans Floyd Everett Youmans (born May 11, 1964) is a former professional baseball pitcher. He pitched all or part of five seasons in Major League Baseball from 1985–89. He is one of the players dealt by the New York Mets to the Montreal Expos for Hall ...

, Rich Butler, Steve Sinclair. The CBL was based in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. The championship trophy was the Jenkins Cup, named after the commissioner of the league,

History

The CBL was the brainchild of Tony Riviera, a former major league scout, and the face of the league. It was backed by former

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product developer Charlton Lui, and later by former

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president, and part owner of the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

, Jeff Mallett.

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

Baseball Hall of Famer

was brought in to act as the league's Commissioner. Riviera's vision had big goals, and he followed suit by making big promises. Riviera stated that the CBL would be "AAA quality", He was rumoured to have approached the

Winnipeg Goldeyes The Winnipeg Goldeyes are a minor-league baseball team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The Goldeyes play in the American Association of Professional Baseball, which they joined in 2011. Previously, the Goldeyes were members of the Norther ...

about switching leagues, and even nominated

Pete Rose Peter Edward Rose Sr. (born April 14, 1941), also known by his nickname "Charlie Hustle", is an American former professional baseball player and manager. Rose played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1963 to 1986, most prominently as a membe ...

for the

. The big plans initially appeared to be possible. The league announced a national television deal with sports channel The Score, while a crowd of 5,100 took in the league's inaugural game in

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.enterstageright.com, Jackson Murphy, July 21, 2003
/ref>

Quick demise

However, despite early promises that the league could, and would, average over 2,000 fans per game, it was clear that the CBL was not remotely close to projections. Only two markets averaged over 1,000 fans per game:

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

at 1,700 and Calgary at 1,000.Empty Field of Dreams, thetyee.ca, April 5, 2004
/ref> Four teams averaged fewer than 300 per game: Kelowna (271),

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Yellowhead Highway, and has served as th ...

(256),

Welland Welland is a city in the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Southern Ontario, Canada. As of 2021, it had a population of 55,750. The city is in the centre of Niagara and located within a half-hour driving distance to Niagara Falls, Niagara-on ...

(181) and

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, – 'Three Rivers') is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River across from the city of ...

(163). The national TV deal was cancelled after only six weeks after the CBL was unable to find enough sponsors to cover the production costs. The Montreal franchise never played a game in that city due to a lack of a playing field, as they were denied a lease at

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. Their home games were played at Stade Amedee Roy in

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( ; ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François and Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional cou ...

instead. The Abbotsford Saints relocated to Trois Rivieres, Quebec before the season started. The CBL's swan song was the All-Star game, held at Calgary. Unwilling to absorb any more losses, Mallett pulled the plug on the league, suspending operations the day before the game. A crowd of over 5,700 (the largest crowd to come to Burns Park all season) watched the East and West All-Stars play to a 5-5, ten-inning tie. Following the game, a home run derby was held, in which Jamie Gann of Kelowna hit the only dinger, thus giving the West the victory.CBL all-stars get one final chance to shine, Calgary Herald, July 24, 2003, p. E5
/ref> Despite losing as much as $4 million on the CBL, Mallett initially promised to bring the league back in 2004. However, the remaining assets of the league were quietly auctioned off on December 1, 2003 in Vancouver and the league never returned.

Teams

The eight teams that played in the CBL, and their record at the time the league was suspended. The Calgary Outlaws were declared the Jenkins Cup champions on the basis of having the league's best record. West Division * Calgary Outlaws (24–13) –

Foothills Stadium Foothills Stadium, formerly Burns Stadium, is a stadium in Calgary, Alberta. It is primarily used for baseball, and was formerly home to the Calgary Cannons Triple-A (baseball), AAA baseball club until September 2002, when the team relocated to Al ...

* Saskatoon Legends (22–15) –

Cairns Field Cairns Field is a stadium in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. It is primarily used for baseball and most recently the home of the Saskatoon Yellow Jackets of the Western Canadian Baseball League, Western Major Baseball League until their demise in ...

* Kelowna Heat (18–19) – Elks Stadium * Victoria Capitals (13–22) –

Royal Athletic Park Royal Athletic Park is a stadium in Victoria, British Columbia and is used for baseball, soccer, softball and football, but also hosts special events, such as the annual Great Canadian Beer Festival and previously the Rifflandia Music Festival ...

East Division * London Monarchs (20–13) – Labatt Park * Niagara Stars (15–15) – Welland Stadium * Trois-Rivières Saints (14–17) – Stade Municipal * Montreal Royales (10–22) – Amedée Roy Stadium (Sherbrooke)

References

{{Professional Baseball Independent baseball leagues 2003 in baseball 2003 disestablishments in Canada 2003 establishments in Canada Sports leagues established in 2003 Sports leagues disestablished in 2003 2003 in Canadian sports Defunct baseball leagues in Canada