London Tecumsehs

London Tecumsehs je kanadski bejzbol klub iz grada London u provinciji Ontario koji je djelovao u 19. vijeku.

Osnovan je 1868. godine spajanjem lokalnih amaterskih klubova Forest City Base Ball Club i London Base Ball Club. Ime je dobio po Tecumsehu, znamenitom vođi indijanskog plemenskog saveza koga su mnogi Kanađani zbog savezništva s Britanijom u doba anglo-američkog rata smatrali svojim nacionalnim herojem.

Slično kao i mnogi američki klubovi u to doba, London Tecumsehs su prvih godina postojanja od amaterskog postajali profesionalni klub, te su početkom 1870-ih počeli angažirati profesionalne igrače iz SAD.

Godine 1876. se klub priključio Canadian Association of Base Ball, te iste godine postao prvak nacionalne lige.

Godine 1877. je za potrebe kluba izgrađen Tecumseh Park, prvo moderno bejzbol igralište u Kanadi, odnosno najstarije koje dan-danas djeluje na svijetu. Iste su se godine London Tecumsehs priključili ligi International Association for Professional Base Ball Players koju su sačinjavali klubovi iz Kanade i SAD. London Tecumsehs su osvojili to prvenstvo.

U maju 1878. klub se samoraspustio zbog financijskih problema.

1888. i početkom 1920-ih su osnovani novi, ali kratkotrajni klubovi pod nazivom London Tecumsehs koji su pokušali održati njegovu tradiciju.

Vanjske veze uredi

Literatura uredi

  • The Northern Game: Baseball the Canadian Way by Bob Elliott (Sport Classic, 2005).
  • Heritage Baseball: City of London a souvenir program from July 23, 2005, celebrating the history of Labatt Park and London, Ontario's 150th anniversary as an incorporated city.
  • Boys of Summer: Knute, Boot, Milky and Buck by Don Maudsley (SCENE magazine, London, Ontario, June 15, 2000).
  • The magic continues at London's Field of Dreams by Barry Wells (SCENE magazine, London, Ontario, June 15, 2000).
  • Canada's Baseball Capital Celebrates 143rd Year by William Humber (page 36 of the London Majors Baseball Club, 1998 Souvenir Program).
  • Diamonds of the North: A Concise History of Baseball in Canada by William Humber (Oxford University Press, 1995).
  • The Beaver, Exploring Canada's History, Baseball's Canadian Roots: Abner Who? by Mark Kearney (October-November 1994).
  • 'The 1948 London Majors: A Great Canadian Team by Dan Mendham (unpublished academic paper, UWO, December 7, 1992).
  • Diamond Rituals: Baseball in Canadian Culture by Robert K. Barney, (Meckler Books, 1989).
  • Journal of Sport History, A Critical Examination of a Source in Early Ontario Baseball: The Reminiscence of Adam E. Ford by UWO Professor Robert K. Barney and Nancy Bouchier (Vol. 15, No. 1, Spring 1988).
  • Who's Who in Canadian Sport by Bob Ferguson, (Summerhill Press Ltd., 1985).
  • Cheering for the Home Team: The Story of Baseball in Canada by William Humber, (The Boston Mills Press, 1983).
  • Old Time Baseball and the London Tecumsehs of the late 1870s by Les Bronson, a recorded (and later transcribed) talk given to the London & Middlesex Historical Society on February 15, 1972. Available in the London Room of the London Public Library, Main Branch.
  • Bill Stern's Favorite Baseball Stories by Bill Stern, (Blue Ribbon Books, Garden City, New York, 1949).
  • Some Baseball History, Both Amateur and Professional, in the City of London, Synopsis of Tecumsehs, the Renowned Champions of Early Days by Frank Adams, for 58 years a member of The London Advertiser staff, pages 214-217 of The Canadian Science Digest, March, 1938, published monthly in London, Ontario, Canada, by Walter Venner.
  • An Eight-Page Indenture/ Instrument #33043 between The London and Western Trusts Company Limited, The Corporation of The City of London and John Labatt, Limited, dated December 31, 1936, and registered on title in the Land Registry Office for the City of London on January 2, 1937, conveying Tecumseh Park to the City of London along with $10,000 on the provisos that the athletic field be preserved, maintained and operated in perpetuity "for the use of the citizens of the City of London as an athletic field and recreation ground" and that it be renamed "The John Labatt Memorial Athletic Park."