Last night the OSBA Board of Directors officially cancelled the 2020 season.

We hope everyone enjoys the rest of their summer. Stay Safe, Stay Healthy and we'll see you again in 2021!

The OSBA Board will be having a virtual meeting tonight and a decision will be made on whether to hold a shortened season in 2020 for the 5 teams that at this time still want to play baseball this summer.

The Ontario Senior Baseball Association will be having a virtual meeting on Saturday June 13th at 10:00am to discuss and decide whether or not there will be a 2020 OSBA season.

Today Baseball Ontario announced their Return to Sport protocols and also announced that June 16th centres in Phase 2 of the Ontario Governments plan to re-open Ontario, could resume In Person Baseball Activities of groups in groups of 10 and only for training purposes.

Stay tuned for more news after the OSBA meeting on June 13th.

Season preview posting was halted as we await the OSBA Boards decision on the upcoming season.

As of May 25^th, the OSBA is still committed to playing baseball in 2020. At the moment, we face five sets of challenges;

     1 - Province of Ontario allowing the return of team sports. Team sports such as baseball are currently not a part of the              stage/phase 1 of the Province’s re-opening, however the expectation is that they would be a part of stage/phase

     2 - Baseball Ontario has suspended all in-person baseball actives thru June 15^th. They are currently working on a plan            to present to the Ontario Government for the safe return to play. Once the restriction has been lifted, insurance will              be active for 2020.

     3 - Local municipalities allowing the use of their facilities. Currently permits for several municipalities across the GTA                have been pulled until the end of June. As the OSBA extends across southern Ontario, we will need the cooperation            of multiple municipalities in order to obtain the required permits/home dates for each team.

     4 - Local associations permitting baseball activities. If minor associations are not allowing kids to return to the field for              house-league, rep, or select seasons, they may not be willing to allow senior teams to return to the field either. 

     5 - Umpire Supply. Until the above issues can be resolved, we really cannot predict what the supply and demand for                umpires will be like.

Under the assumption that baseball will resume in early to mid-July, the association’s current plan is to run an 8-10 week regular season. As the schedule will most likely be unbalanced, all teams will make the playoffs. The top five teams will automatically advance with three weekday wildcard games (6 vs 11, 7 vs 10, and 8 vs 9) deciding the final three spots of an 8-team double knockout tournament spanning two weekends.

As we await further instructions from the government and Baseball Ontario, we will continue to provide further updates and baseball content here until our hopeful return to the diamonds in July. In the meantime, everyone please stay safe and help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Pat McEnroe

OSBA President

By Paul Freeman

Paul - So you and the three other coaches have got everything set for the inaugural season, what were some of the memorable moments that first year?

Rodney - Well for starters just the fact we actually had a season opener. Even though I knew everything that had gone in to making it possible, it was still a feeling of great pride and relief when that first pitch was thrown between the Whitby Chiefs Blue and Whitby Chiefs Red. Sadly I don't remember the final result of the game, though I do know Jeff Canning, (long time member of the Whitby Chiefs Blue/Brooklin Dodgers) threw the first pitch in OSBA history. Sadly there are very few other distinct memories from that first year, it doesn't help that we also don't have any stats from the first four years of the leagues existence. It really was all a bit of a blur. I was happy that I was correct in my prediction that the four original teams would be evenly matched. Since the vast majority of games were played in Whitby, due to the fact the Mississauga Stars were playing at E.A. Fairman in Whitby, it was expected the Whitby teams would have the advantage with so little travel for away games. Stars coach John Harvey and his players were great in the fact they never complained and would always have a full squad at their games, considering the closest games for them were away games in Richmond Hill, I feel it was a great testament to their professionalism. While the Stars would finish the season in first place they definitely did not run away with it.

PF - The Stars finished the season in first place. How did you run the play-offs that first year? Who was the eventual winner?

RH - Since we only had four teams and we also had limited diamond time in either Richmond Hill or Whitby, it was decided that the first ever play-offs in OSBA history would be a double-knockout tournament held on one weekend in Whitby at Iroquois Park Sports Complex. The two finalists were the Mississauga Stars and the Whitby Chiefs Blue (my team). We had to beat the Stars twice on the Sunday, which we were unable to do. The stars would not only win that first OSBA Cup but also the next one the following season.

PF - As we look toward the 20th season hopefully starting later this summer, are you surprised that it is the 20th season?

RH - Well definitely in the beginning my thoughts were always on just getting through the current season and then wait and see how the off-season went. As the years went on however and we grew in teams and with them added some great coaches who strengthened the league, I started to look towards to the future and I expect the league to carry on for quite some time past it's 20th anniversary.

PF - You mention the addition of teams and new coaches as a strength for OSBA moving forward, does this mean that you are happy with the way that OSBA has evolved over the years?

RH - Am I happy with every change that has happened over the years in OSBA, no I'm not but I also am very happy that not only are we still going strong, in my opinion but the fact that we are still a league that every coach has a say in how the league evolves gives me confidence that the league will continue to move forward. Not many leagues can say that each team has an equal voice in their own league, I think as a whole the league should take pride in that, not just myself.

PF - So after 19 years of play who in your opinion would you consider the best hitters, pitchers and overall teams in the history of OSBA?

RH - Wow now there is a question that could literally be a a complete article all on it's own. Of course making those types of list are always subjective and as you say based on each individuals opinion, so i'm sure there will be people who will agree as well as disagree with my choices but let me give a shot. I'll just do my top three for each.

OSBA has had some terrific hitters over the years. Some have had long careers while others short but they definitely left their mark. In no particular order my choice for top hitters would start with Andrew Swaggers of the Burlington Bulls a true 5 tool ballplayer and then Chris Hayes also of the Burlington Bulls. Two hitters that at any point could end a game with their bat. Next up for me when talking about the best hitters is Colin Cockburn of the Whitby Chiefs Red/Durham Chiefs. Not only could he control a game with his bat but he was a a five tool player that any team would have been happy to have on their roster. All three of these guys played in the leagues first decade but I think they would have been just as dominant in the second decade as well. My final pick is Steve Foley of the York Diamonds, up until he left OSBA a few years ago he was definitely the most feared bat in OSBA in my opinion.

Pitching in OSBA over the years seems to get better each year. There definitely are some standouts though and this is tough for me to just name four guys. No OSBA list of pitchers would be complete without the inclusion of Cam McKnight of the Bulls. He was the Bulls most dominant pitcher during their stay in OSBA and to prove he was as good as I think, after he left OSBA he continued to pitch at a high level in both OBA Rep and Inter-county at various points in time over the years. My next guy is Eric Foley of the Diamonds, while his brother could win a game with his bat, on most days when you saw Eric on the hill you could pencil in the "W" for that game. My next two picks are teammates on the Whitby Chiefs. Tristan Beadle while definitely in the conversation for top offensive player he makes my list of top pitchers for a strong consistency in just being dominant. He is joined by Chris Wotten who is just lights out on most nights when he takes the hill.

My top teams are based on their career in the league and not just a single season, in my opinion those are two different categories. You definitely can't have this list without the Scarborough Dragons who have been a powerhouse since they joined the league, Since joining OSBA in 2013 they have made the OSBA finals 5 out of 7 years, winning the OSBA cup 3 times. The Whitby Chiefs have also made 5 finals, winning 3 titles as well, as they continue to be the cream of the crop in the East. However the clear choice for top OSBA team in my opinion would definitely be the Burlington Bulls. In their seven year existence in OSBA they only missed the final in one year and won a total of four OSBA Cups. From top to bottom they had one of the strongest roster ever to set foot on the field in OSBA history. My fourth choice of course will be met with some cynicism due to their lack of final appearances the past 10 years but in my opinion the Whitby Chiefs Blue/Brooklin Dodgers deserve to be on this list as they not only won 2 OSBA Cups back to back but in the leagues first nine years they made 6 finals, always showing that when it came to play-offs they were a top team.

PF - Well thank you for agreeing to do this interview, I hope you enjoyed doing it.

RH - You're welcome, I really did enjoy this and I hope I kept my answers short enough so as not to bore the readers. I also hope that the people that read this and Part 1 will see how great this league is and how great it can and will be in the next 20 years!

by Paul Freeman

Paul - Well I'd like to start off by thanking Rodney, for agreeing to sit down with me and hopefully give us a little insight in to how OSBA came to be and also share some of his insights and impressions of the past 20 years of OSBA baseball.

Having run a men's baseball league myself before joining OSBA, I'd like to know what your motivation was for starting a new league?

Rodney - Well first off I'd like to thank you for asking me to do this interview, it's been a great 20 years. It's actually closer to 21 years since I came up with the idea of starting a new men's baseball league. The thought process started in the summer of 2000 while I was coaching one of two Junior Select teams in Whitby. The two teams would finish 1st and 3rd at the SOBA Provincial Championships that year. The vast majority of players on both teams were in their final year of junior eligibility and the questions about what was next for them kept being asked of me. The Whitby Canadians Senior Rep. team was a pretty solid team and though a few of the guys may have cracked their line-up, it would leave many looking on from the sidelines. Another issue for many guys who might have been able to make the Canadians team or another Senior Rep team, was the fact many of the games would be scheduled on weekdays and many did not feel the desire to change from the weekend baseball they had been playing for the past several years. So an idea began to form of possibly starting up a new men's program that would check all the boxes on what my guys were looking for. Another point of motivation was that there was a large group of players moving up from the midget level to the junior ranks at select and this included their coach. So after having coached at the junior level for more than 10 years I realized it was probably time for me to move on. however I still wanted to coach and to continue coaching that group of players.

PF - So not that you had the motivation, explain the process you went through to get OSBA off the ground?

RH - The process was greatly helped by the fact I had a large variety of contacts through my memberships on several baseball boards in Ontario. At the time I was a member of the Whitby Minor Baseball Association and served as their rep to the Eastern Ontario Baseball Association, which I then served as their rep with Baseball Ontario. As well I was a member of the Select Ontario Baseball Association and also served as the General Manager of the now defunct Oshawa Dodgers Inter-County Baseball League team.

The first thing that needed to be done was to find out if there were other teams out there that were interested and ready to move up to the senior level. I became a bit of a pest at junior select tournaments throughout the summer of 2000, asking coaches over and over if they and their players would be interested. By the time we hit the SOBA Provincial tournament in Richmond Hill, I only had secured two teams, the two I originally had from Whitby. I did however have several strong maybe's that I hoped would join once the current season was behind them and the thought of no baseball the following year hit home.

So while I waited to hear back from those maybe's, I started on making  sure the league could actually become a reality. I received some great help from Baseball Ontario in securing insurance, because without that there would be no baseball for anyone. Baseball Ontario was instrumental in explaining the ins-and-outs of how to get our players insured. Luckily in our inaugural season all four teams would eventually be getting their insurance through local associations making things much easier but we were warned that in the future the league would need further insurance if it included teams that did not have a local association to get insurance from. Once the process for getting insurance with settled I turned my attention to securing diamond time in Whitby, not only for the two Whitby teams but also for a couple of other teams that had let me know one of their major issues would be securing diamonds. At the time Whitby was very helpful to our new league, giving us diamond time not only at the Iroquois Sports Complex but also a second diamond that while not a prime facility, as a second diamond it was great for what we needed. So with two items off the board the next big item was umpires and luckily this was the easiest thing to check off as the WMBA again was more than willing to schedule their umpires for our games.

So as the New Year dawned in 2001 most of the legwork had been completed and except for some grumbling from the EOBA executive board about what this new league would do to their own Senior League, that's a whole other interview, things were looking rather good for the 2001 season. We had a deadline of February 28th for teams to commit to playing and when the deadline came only two more teams were willing and able to join the Whitby teams. Luckily I was also able to secure a coach for the second Whitby team as other coach who ran the second junior team in 2000 had decided to step away. So the first season was set to begin with four teams playing a 24 game schedule, having each team play the other three teams eight times, for double-headers.

PF - So you are at the point that you will start with just four teams, tell us who the original four teams were and can you tell us a bit about them?

RH - Well as I said we had the two teams here in Whitby, luckily I was able to recruit long time Whitby Alum Chris Killoran to coach the second Whitby team. We found out quickly that not only did the vast majority of players from 2000 still want to play but we had several players who had been out of Junior for a few years that were very excited about playing again. Chris and I kept the two teams from 2000 largely intact and held a draft for the new influx of players. In the first few years of the league the two teams would be called the Whitby Chiefs Blue (now Bowmanville Dodgers) and the Whitby Chiefs Red (now Clarington Cubs).

The next team to join was the Mississauga Stars coached by John Harvey. This team, even with several players that were still junior age, made the decision to remain together and move up to the new senior program. They were one of the stronger teams at the junior level so they added to the top quality of teams we were looking for. The Stars however were unable to secure a diamond so they would be based out of Whitby at our secondary diamond for at least the first season.

Our fourth and final team would be the Richmond Hill Phoenix coached by Brian Booth. The Phoenix as with the Stars were one of the top teams at the junior select level, having finished sandwiched in second place between the two Whitby teams the previous year. Always a fun team to play and of course Brian and myself had some great battles over the years coaching against each other and I was looking forward to continue it at the senior level.

PF - Are there any players or coaches still involved in OSBA who were part of those original 4 teams?

RH - Sadly after 20 years there are very few who are still part of the league. Besides Chris Killoran and myself, who has handed over daily running of the Cubs to Luke Leoen, the only other coach still part of the league would be Steve Smith who was an assistant coach in Whitby at the time but as you know he would serve a much larger role in the future of OSBA as league president, helping in the continued growth of OSBA. The Stars folded many years ago after a successful run which saw them win the first 2 OSBA Cups. The Phoenix would see their team name change a few times before they too finally closed up shop but not before they also won an OSBA Cup. Brian Booth had retired a few years before the team would eventually fold as the Newmarket Express.

On the player side there are none from the first year that are still playing, though there still remains one player still playing that joined my team in the second year of OSBA and that would be Mitch Dunn who had also played for me with my junior team in 2000 but remained there for his last year of Junior eligibility in 2001. Mitch played last year with the Pickering Pirates. With the recent announcement that the Pirates would not be fielding a team in 2020, it remains to be seen where Mitch will land if he decides to keep playing.

PART #2 OF THE INTERVIEW TO BE POSTED ON SUNDAY MAY 10TH

The Ontario Senior Baseball Association coaches are holding their May meeting today, Sunday May 3rd. This date was to be Opening Day for the 2020 OSBA season but of course due to the current pandemic that is affecting everyone in Canada and around the world, there will be no baseball this weekend or for the foreseeable future, as we all do our best at helping not only flatten the curve but send it on its downward turn. This will of course be the main topic of discussion at today's meeting.

This summer was to be OSBA's 20th season, so with no baseball this weekend and no 20th season yet to celebrate, we have decided to post an article each weekend that will look in to the past, present and future of OSBA. So we thought what better way to start this series of articles than with an interview OSBA Secretary Paul Freeman conducted this past off-season with OSBA Founder Rodney Holinaty. It will be posted in two parts with Part #1 today and Part #2 on Sunday May 10th. 

The next OSBA meeting will be on March 21st from 10am to 1pm and will be held at the Carruthers Creek Golf and Country Club in Ajax, Ontario.

This meeting will see the OSBA Board  discuss any remaining proposals as well as discuss and decide on the schedule format for the coming season.

Teams are reminded to send their park dates to Paul and Rodney as soon as they have them. Also if teams have days or weekend's they need blacked out then they need to be sent in as well.

The Ontario Senior Baseball Association held their second meeting of the year this past Sunday February 23rd in Vaughan. The biggest news to come out of the meeting was the acceptance of the a new team for the upcoming 2020 OSBA season.

The entire OSBA Board of Directors would like to welcome the Martingrove Sox to OSBA. The Sox were long-time members of the Greater Toronto Baseball League until they made the decision this past off-season to look in to alternate playing opportunities for their team going forward.

Well it's January in 2020 so that must mean that the Ontario Senior Baseball Association (OSBA) Executive members will be having their first meeting of the year to start planning for the coming season.

The meeting will be held on Sunday January 26th in Vaughan at the Vaughan baseball office at 10190 Keele St. in Maple, Ontario. The meeting is scheduled to start at 10:00am and is scheduled for 3 hours.

The Executive would like to let all players and coaches know that you are welcome to attend the meeting.