Fairmount Park Pick-up Baseball on Sunday Morning

Every Sunday at 10:00 AM a group of guys and gals from the neighborhood gather at Fairmount Park to play a game of pick-up ball.

Photo: Chris F. A. Johnson via Woodbine & Gerrard.com


Google Earth view

This Sunday I went 5 for 6 with 4 runs scored and I'm not sure how many RBI, around 5 or 6 I think. I'm a singles hitter and my batting average goes up with runners on. The team I was on fell short in our ninth inning comeback bid, losing 19-23. At the top of the 7th we were down by 11 runs.

The 'League' that right now consists of the two teams, has a mercy rule. In effect until the 8th inning, teams cannot score more than 5 runs/inning. That rule kept us in the game I think and when the 8th came we shut the other team down, allowing no runs in the 8th and only 1 in the 9th; while scoring 4 runs in each of our half innings. So the mercy rule didn't play a part in our late inning comeback attempt - but it seemed to get our attention - we became aware that we needed to bear down if we were to make a run at winning the match.

The diamond we play on is nestled into a hillside in the rolling topography of east end Toronto near Woodbine and Gerrard, next to Bowmore Public School. All around the back stop there's a forty degree slope that in summer is shaded by huge maple trees - a great place to watch the game from, or to get out of the sun when, like yesterday, the UV is high. I drank plenty of water all game long and came home red faced, but not burnt. Luckily the fountain at the top of the hill was working...


This is Google's Street view of Fairmount Park from Gerrard Street, about 10:00 AM. By the level of the sun on the horizon, this was taken in February or March - it's much more beautiful now in summer.

After the game, usually around 1:00 PM it's off to the local pub to watch the Toronto Blue Jays and have a beer or two.

Chris F.A. Johnson's community web site Woodbine&Gerrard.com published a link to this piece. It looks like Chris had a picture on file of Fairmount Park. He's photographer - as well as a web designer, developer, and coder, chess master, and cryptic crossword puzzle designer.

Here's Chris's picture of Fairmount Park field from Gerrard Street, looking south-east.


Thanks for the photographs Chris.



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