D.M. Fox

D.M. Fox

@dmfox.bsky.social

Blue Jays prospect writer for the Toronto Star, Dad, husband, owned by a dog, author, guest on The FAN 590 Toronto. Part-time mountain climber. Greater Collingwood Area resident.

1.1K followers319 following5K posts

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100 yrs ago, Torontonians were celebrating a brand new ballpark, and a team that was about to break the Baltimore Orioles’ 7 year reign as International League champs. On Saturday from 5-8 pm at Indigo’s Eaton Centre location, I’ll be signing copies of my latest book which tells the story.

Just putting the finishing touches on one of my favourite research projects for the Canadian Baseball History Conference next month: a profile of Harry Decker, who played for Toronto in the 1880s, and had what could be called a checkered career.: “The Catcher Was a Con Man.”

That night, I woke up our 5 month old to give him a bottle (helped him sleep through the night), then tip-toed down to our living room to watch the final three innings. He and our expecting daughter-in-law are moving into their first house today, 34 years later.

Kevin Glew@coopincanada.bsky.social

34 years ago today, the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Atlanta Braves 4-3 in 11 innings to become the first Canadian major league team to win the World Series. Where were you when Mike Timlin fielded Otis Nixon's bunt and tossed it to Joe Carter for the final out?

Mike has finally landed his white whale!

Toronto Mike@torontomike.com

In this 2000th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with Bob McCown about his long career in sports media, and his continued recovery following a series of strokes. www.torontomike.com/2026/10/bob-...

I bought this book in the world’s oldest bookstore in Lisbon. I enjoyed it immensely, but the author lost me at times when he switched from 3rd person to 1st. His attempts at having his English character swear missed the mark. But it was a fascinating account of the day the universe changed.

Jake Bloss’ most recent Arizona outing. He could make a strong case in spring training for a back of the rotation spot, IF………..

Here in Canada, there was an ad that made fun of a Prime Minister’s Bell’s palsy. It was easily the worst I’ve ever seen. youtu.be/QMjdp3TTTyk?...

youtu.beProgressive Conservative ad: Is this a Prime Minister? (1993)YouTube video by Canuck Politics

Chris Quinn, top editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, calls the Ramaswamy ad “the worst of the worst… Easily the most vile political ad we’ve ever seen, lowest, basest, most cruel move we’ve ever seen…“ www.cleveland.com/news/2026/10...

Tonight! Toronto has a rich 140 year+ baseball history. With the opening of Maple Leaf Stadium and the Little World Series triumph of the Leafs that year, 1926 was a huge highlight in our ongoing love of the game. I’m thrilled to be able to share this story.

There's still time to sign up for this Wednesday night's SABR Hanlan's Point Chapter autumn meeting on Zoom. At 730pm October 21st, we welcome @dmfox.bsky.social to talk about his book "The Howleyites" and baseball and Canada 100 years ago. All fans welcome! Message us for details.

I visited my elderly Dad in Edmonton often in his final yrs. On one trip, my Uber driver - an immigrant himself - complained about all the newcomers. He was unbelievably unsympathetic to their plight, and I was astounded.

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D.M. Fox reposted

Tomorrow night! Looking forward to regaling you with my favourite Dan Howley stories.

There's still time to sign up for this Wednesday night's SABR Hanlan's Point Chapter autumn meeting on Zoom. At 730pm October 21st, we welcome @dmfox.bsky.social to talk about his book "The Howleyites" and baseball and Canada 100 years ago. All fans welcome! Message us for details.

Tomorrow night! Looking forward to regaling you with my favourite Dan Howley stories.

There's still time to sign up for this Wednesday night's SABR Hanlan's Point Chapter autumn meeting on Zoom. At 730pm October 21st, we welcome @dmfox.bsky.social to talk about his book "The Howleyites" and baseball and Canada 100 years ago. All fans welcome! Message us for details.

Looked up from my book on the subway today when I noticed author Margaret Atwood sitting next to me. I just *happened* to have copies of my latest book with me, so I presented one to her.

This is a national emergency. Not quite on the scale of a peanut butter crisis, but not far off, either.

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D.M. Fox reposted

Finding it hard to get into postseason baseball? Learn about a Toronto team that opened a new ballpark and won everything in sight 100 years ago.

There's still time to sign up for this Wednesday night's SABR Hanlan's Point Chapter autumn meeting on Zoom. At 730pm October 21st, we welcome @dmfox.bsky.social to talk about his book "The Howleyites" and baseball and Canada 100 years ago. All fans welcome! Message us for details.

If his family hasn’t completely abandoned him, it’s long past time for an intervention.

The Watchdog@thewatchdog.ca

On eve of Alberta referendum vote, separatist leader alleges ‘cover up’ in deadly CFB Wainwright tragedy Alberta separatist leader Jeffrey Rath makes unsubstantiated claims that ‘DEI programs’ and ‘gender fluid’ soldiers may be to blame in CFB Wainwright tragedy

Finding it hard to get into postseason baseball? Learn about a Toronto team that opened a new ballpark and won everything in sight 100 years ago.

There's still time to sign up for this Wednesday night's SABR Hanlan's Point Chapter autumn meeting on Zoom. At 730pm October 21st, we welcome @dmfox.bsky.social to talk about his book "The Howleyites" and baseball and Canada 100 years ago. All fans welcome! Message us for details.

D.M. Fox reposted

A hyrdro outage and life kind of got in the way of this, but I think I've finally been able to identify every member of the 1926 Toronto Maple Leafs Opening Day photo (it was also the christening of Maple Leaf Stadium along the shores of - yes - Lake ONTARIO). /1

A hyrdro outage and life kind of got in the way of this, but I think I've finally been able to identify every member of the 1926 Toronto Maple Leafs Opening Day photo (it was also the christening of Maple Leaf Stadium along the shores of - yes - Lake ONTARIO). /1

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That left only INF Andy Harrington (listed as "Pinch Hitter" in Bball Ref because that was his one and only MLB appearance in 1925), who was a late-inning defensive replacement in the Leafs Opening Day W. Photos were hard to come by, as you might expect, but I'm leaning toward him being standing 13.

I'm still awaiting confirmation of Harrington, but this puzzle is almost complete. I've been able to put names to the faces of the team I spend the past year reading and writing about. And you can read all about it in "The Howleyites," available at Amazon, Indigo, and August Publishing. /end

A hyrdro outage and life kind of got in the way of this, but I think I've finally been able to identify every member of the 1926 Toronto Maple Leafs Opening Day photo (it was also the christening of Maple Leaf Stadium along the shores of - yes - Lake ONTARIO). /1

View full thread

Slowly but surely, I had identified all but 3 of the players in that photo. An email to the Herkimer (NY) Historical Society resulted in an Ancestry screenshot of utility man Del Capes, seated to Howley's left in the front row.

An email to the Sports Information Department of the University of Georgia, pitcher Claude Satterfield's alma mater, netted a pair of yearbook photos of him, and allowed me to conclude that he is standing 12.

A hyrdro outage and life kind of got in the way of this, but I think I've finally been able to identify every member of the 1926 Toronto Maple Leafs Opening Day photo (it was also the christening of Maple Leaf Stadium along the shores of - yes - Lake ONTARIO). /1

View full thread

So, picking up this thread from yesterday.....slowly but surely, the 17 mystery players began to reveal themselves from the mists of time. At 6'3", Jim Faulkner was the tallest player on the team, and easy to pick out in the middle of the back row.

Several players on the '26 Leafs had brief MLB careers before or after that season, so several were easy to find, like (in order) Ownie Carroll, Frank Gilhooley, Lefty Stewart, and Otis Miller.

A hyrdro outage and life kind of got in the way of this, but I think I've finally been able to identify every member of the 1926 Toronto Maple Leafs Opening Day photo (it was also the christening of Maple Leaf Stadium along the shores of - yes - Lake ONTARIO). /1

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The last player who was fairly easy identify was Steve O'Neill, standing 2, a veteran big leaguer who had led Cleveland to a World Series win in 1920. He managed the Leafs when Howley was out of town. O'Neill also let Hubbell use his screwball in exhibition games vs the Senators and Tigers. /8

But after identifying those individuals, I still had 17 to go, and that's where a 2nd problem cropped up. With a couple exceptions, most of these players were career minor leaguers, with only the briefest of MLB time; finding photos of them was a huge challenge. I'll tell you more tomorrow. /9

A hyrdro outage and life kind of got in the way of this, but I think I've finally been able to identify every member of the 1926 Toronto Maple Leafs Opening Day photo (it was also the christening of Maple Leaf Stadium along the shores of - yes - Lake ONTARIO). /1

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Elected an MP but an athlete to the end, Conacher died of a heart attack in a parliamentary softball game in 1954. /6

Another player who was fairly easy to identify was future Hall of Famer Carl Hubbell, seated 5.Signed by the Tigers the previous year after learning to throw a screwball, he was forbidden to use it when sent to Toronto Detroit released him in 1928, the Giants signed him, and let him use the pitch./7

A hyrdro outage and life kind of got in the way of this, but I think I've finally been able to identify every member of the 1926 Toronto Maple Leafs Opening Day photo (it was also the christening of Maple Leaf Stadium along the shores of - yes - Lake ONTARIO). /1

View full thread

The more I studied the photo, the more some players became clear. Standing fourth from the left is Lionel (The Big Train) Conacher, football, hockey, lacrosse, boxing, and baseball (in that order) star. /4

Conacher was signed in January of '26, likely in order to boost season ticket sales. Very raw in baseball terms, he missed part of training camp due to NHL playoffs, and played in only 3 games, all as a late-inning defensive replacement. /5

A hyrdro outage and life kind of got in the way of this, but I think I've finally been able to identify every member of the 1926 Toronto Maple Leafs Opening Day photo (it was also the christening of Maple Leaf Stadium along the shores of - yes - Lake ONTARIO). /1

This was a much harder task than you might expect, for several reasons. First of all, newspaper and sports photography were both in their infancy. Many of the photos available were not of high quality. They helped with the ID'ing of some players, but not all. /2

Some individuals stood out, like Dan Howley, sitting second from the left. Two players to Howley's left was Babe Dye, a hockey star and accomplished International League ball player. /3