Toronto Wolves

League Affiliation: Continental Association

Formerly Known As: Toronto Provincials 1882-98

Founded: 1882 (Border Association)

Ownership History: 

Thomas Watford: 1882-1902
Bert Thomas: 1902-29
David J. Welcombe: 1930-36
Bernie Millard: 1937-62
Robert A. Smith: 1962-

PENNANTS
1882 (Border Assoc), 1898, 1904, 09, 11, 40

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
1898, 1911, 40

ABOUT THE TORONTO WOLVES

James Tice, founder of the Border Association, was many things (some of them unprintable - if you'd have asked, say, William Whitney), but chief amongst them, he was a visionary. He was the man who put two of his fledgling league's clubs in Canada - and both turned out to be successful. The Toronto Provincials (as they were originally known) were owned by Thomas Watford, a successful Toronto businessman, whose main sporting interests were polo and hockey. Of baseball, he knew little, but he was a quick learner and came to be one of the shrewdest owners in FABL. The Provincials won the very first Border Association pennant, with Watford exclaiming "that was such fun, let's do it again next year!" - well, next year didn't come for Toronto until 1898. That 1898 season was a special one for Toronto's club - the fans referred to the scrappy group that won that 1898 Continental Association pennant "Watford's Wolves" - a moniker the owner liked so much, he made it official. The Provincials were now the Wolves. Watford died in 1902, leaving the team to his sister's son, Albert "Bert" Thomas, who had worked as Watford's right-hand man for over a decade and so was fully informed about the club he had inherited. Thomas oversaw a team that won three pennants in six years (1904, 09 & 11) and was instrumental in getting the provincial government to help fund a downtown ballpark for his club that opened to rave reviews in 1924. 

Thomas' fortunes took a serious downturn in the Crash of 1929 and he was forced to sell many of his holdings, including the Toronto Wolves. New owner David Welcombe held the reins for several years before he decided to concentrate on the Toronto Dukes hockey club and sold the Wolves to American coal magnate Bernard Millard. It was under Millard's ownership that the club snapped a nearly 30-year long cold spell and won the Continental pennant and World Championship in 1940, the first since 1911.

Millard's tenure was contentious. He became one of the most vocal - and disliked - owners in baseball. He was known to be cheap, possessing a fiery temper, and to top it off, believed he knew better than the many experts unlikely enough to be employed by him. Millard held on to the club until his death in December 1961, and his heirs, more intent upon the coal mining business, sold the team to Kingston, Ontario-native Robert A. Smith, known (and liked) as Bob Smith. One of Smith's early goals was to improve the much-loved, but now outdated, Dominion Stadium. His planned improvements included increased seating, fan amenities and additional parking, the latter an easily achievable goal as real-estate mogul Smith owned large parcels of land near the ballpark.

Dominion Stadium (1924-)

BUILT: 1924 (scheduled for 1963 refurbishment)

CAPACITY: 37592

ADDRESS: 235 Queen Street East, Toronto, ON