Hanlan's Point Stadium was a

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

stadium and

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...

grounds in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada. It was erected in 1897 at Hanlan's Point on the

Toronto Islands The Toronto Islands are a chain of 15 small islands in Lake Ontario, south of mainland Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the only group of islands in the western part of Lake Ontario, the Toronto Islands are located just offshore from the ...

for the minor league

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

baseball club. It was destroyed by fire twice, in 1903, and again in 1909. Adjacent to the Hanlan's Point Amusement Park, the site was in use for various sports until the late 1930s.

History

Initially, a grandstand and

bleacher Bleachers (North American English), or stands, are raised, tiered rows of benches found at sports fields and other spectator events. Stairways provide access to the horizontal rows of seats, often with every other step gaining access to a ro ...

s were built on the site. When the

Toronto Ferry Company The Toronto Ferry Company was formed from the merger of the ''Doty Ferry Company'' with ''A.J. Tymon's Island Ferry Company'', two of Toronto's early ferry operators to Toronto Islands in 1890. TFC was founded and headed by businessman Lol Solman. ...

acquired the Leafs, it moved the team from

Sunlight Park Sunlight Park was the first baseball stadium in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The all wood structure was built in 1886 at a cost of $7,000 by the International League baseball team the Toronto Baseball Club (renamed the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1902). ...

near the mouth of the

Don River The Don ( rus, Дон, p=don) is the fifth-longest river in Europe. Flowing from Central Russia to the Sea of Azov in Southern Russia, it is one of Russia's largest rivers and played an important role for traders from the Byzantine Empire. Its ...

on the mainland to the Hanlan's Point field on the islands. The Toronto Ferry Company built a new semi-circular grandstand, with the old grandstand converted to bleachers. The Maple Leafs played at the stadium until 1901, when they moved to Diamond Park on the mainland. The Hanlan's stadium and the adjacent bar, both managed by

Lol Solman Lawrence "Lol" Solman (May 14, 1863 – March 24, 1931) was a prominent businessman in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Biography Born in Toronto, Solman was educated in public schools. In 1908, the stadium was replaced with Maple Leaf Park, a new baseball stand and grounds at Hanlan's Point and the Maple Leafs returned. When it was built, Maple Leaf Park had 3,000 seats, covered bleachers that could accommodate another 4,500, and uncovered bleachers with room for about another 1,800. On opening day, May 12, 1908, the Leafs came from behind to defeat the

Jersey City Skeeters The Jersey City Skeeters were a minor league baseball team which operated in Jersey City, New Jersey. The club started in the 1860s and by 1870 joined the National Association of Base Ball Players. By 1885, Jersey City had joined the Eastern Lea ...

in extra innings with paid attendance of 6,192. The stadium was destroyed by a fire on August 10, 1909 which also wiped out the amusement park at Hanlan's Point and Hanlan's Hotel, which was not rebuilt after the fire. For the rest of the season, the Maple Leafs had to return to the smaller Diamond Park. Islands - Hanlan's Point

A new stadium was built on the site, opening in 1910 and described at the time as the largest in all of the minor leagues with over 17,000 seats. It was designed by Toronto-based architect Charles F. Wagner. Initial advertising referred to the site as Hanlan's Point Stadium. It was also sometimes called Island Stadium. The first baseball game at the stadium—but not the first event in the building—took place on May 9, 1910 with the Leafs rallying to defeat the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

in the bottom of the ninth inning in front of a paid crowd of 12,867. The stadium is notable for being the location of

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

's first professional

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

on September 5, 1914. Ruth was playing for the visiting

Providence Grays The Providence Grays were a Major League Baseball team based in Providence, Rhode Island who played in the National League from until . The Grays played at the Messer Street Grounds in the Olneyville neighborhood. The team won the National Leag ...

and pitched a one-hitter against the Leafs to go along with his three-run home run over the right-field wall in a 9-0 win for Providence. A historic plaque commemorates the occasion near the Hanlan's Point dock. The Maple Leafs left the Toronto Islands for

Maple Leaf Stadium Maple Leaf Stadium was a jewel box-style baseball stadium in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located at the foot of Bathurst Street on the south side of Lake Shore Boulevard (formerly Fleet Street). It was built in 1926 by Lol Solman for his Toronto M ...

after the 1925 season. In March 1927, the parks commissioner of the City of Toronto requested tenders for the demolition of the bleachers. The city architect had deemed them to be unsafe. The field remained in use until the construction of the

Toronto Island Airport Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport is a regional airport located on the Toronto Islands in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is often referred to as Toronto Island Airport and was previously known as ''Port George VI Island Airport'' and ''Toronto ...

in 1937, when the area surrounding the airfield (where the old terminal building is now located) was converted to parkland. Two markers were placed near the site along Lakeshore Avenue.

References

External links

Article on Ruth's home run and efforts to get the site declared historical
{{coord, 43.6270, N, 79.3916, W, display=title Defunct baseball venues in Canada Defunct sports venues in Toronto Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) Defunct minor league baseball venues Toronto Islands Lacrosse venues 1897 establishments in Ontario Sports venues completed in 1897 1937 disestablishments in Ontario Sports venues demolished in 1937