The Toronto Baseball Club was our city’s first professional baseball team.
In 1887, the team boasted a talented roster that included catcher Harry Decker, a con artist who later played for the team at San Quentin Prison, and pitching ace Ned “Cannonball” Crane, who was also the club’s best hitter and would soon become a notorious alcoholic who travelled the world with his pet monkey. Crane hit the city’s first legendary home run, a blast that won the second game of a doubleheader in which he also pitched all 20 innings. The day’s victories sparked a 16-game winning streak for the team that brought Toronto the International League pennant, the city’s first baseball championship.
