Canadian Baseball League
The Canadian Baseball League is a professional independent baseball league based in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is composed of nine teams, who annually play a home-and-away season from May to August. The top eight teams at the end of the season qualify for a postseason tournament in September that determines the league's champion, who are awarded the Dominico Cup.
The league was founded in 1919 as the Intercounty Baseball League, and was a semi-professional league for the majority of its existence. It was fully-professionalized and rebranded to the CBL ahead of its 2026 season. More than 23 franchises have competed in the league in its -year history, with the Guelph Royals and Kitchener Panthers – both charter members – being the longest-tenured. As of its 2025 season, the Welland Jackfish are the current champions, while the Stratford Nationals, a defunct franchise, have won the most championships.
History
The Intercounty Baseball League was founded in 1919 with just four cities represented — Galt, Guelph, Stratford and Kitchener, and is the oldest amateur men's league in Canada. During the early years, the league expanded to include the cities of Waterloo, Brantford, Preston, London, and St. Thomas.It was previously known as the Intercounty Major Baseball League and the Senior Intercounty Baseball League. Teams compete for the Jack and Lynne Dominico Trophy, which is awarded to the league champions. The trophy is named for the late owners of the Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team, husband and wife Jack and Lynne Dominico.
On December 3, 2024, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced they had signed Ayami Sato, making her the first female player in the league as well as the first female player chosen to play professional baseball in Canada. She began playing on May 11, 2025.
In 2025, IBL commissioner Ted Kalnins stated that league was transitioning from being a semi-professional to fully professional league and would be expanding to a total of 10 teams as a part of that effort. In addition to being a fully professional league, the league would now be known as the Canadian Baseball League and see the amount of regular season games played increase from 42 to 48, as well as a 5-team playoff structure. Further changes to the league are set to be announced in by the end of 2025.
Image:Labatt Memorial park.JPG|thumb|Labatt Park in London, Ontario, home of the London Majors.
All-Star Game
On July 8, 2006, in Barrie, the league's New Era IBL All-Star Classic game between the Barrie Baycats and the IBL All-Stars; Barrie won 7–2.On August 21 and 22, 2010 in Ottawa, the Fat Cats hosted the New Era All-Star Classic between the IBL All-Stars and the All-Stars from Ligue de Baseball Senior Élite du Québec.
Barrie hosted the league's All-Star Game on July 11, 2015, with the IBL All-Stars defeating Barrie Baycats 13–4.
Following a several-year hiatus the IBL announced they will be hosting a mid summer classic on July 20, 2024 in Welland.
All-Star Game results
| Year | Venue | Host team | Result | MVP | Home Run Derby winner |
| 2024 | Welland Stadium | Welland Jackfish | South 13 - North 6 | Matteo Porcellato | Tyler Duncan |
| 2025 | Bernie Arbour Memorial Stadium | Hamilton Cardinals | North 5 - South 4 | Yunior Ibarra | Tyler Duncan |
Transition to "Canadian Baseball League"
On November 24, 2025, the league announced that, beginning with the 2026 season, the league would be changing its name from the Intercounty Baseball League, which had been in use since the league's founding in 1919, to the Canadian Baseball League. The change was made due, in part, to the growing popularity of the league across the country, as well as the move from its former semi-professional standing to a fully professional structure. The league also announced that it would be expanding its regular season from 42 games to 48, and setting the number of playoff teams at five.Under the new playoff system, the fourth- and -fifth place teams will play in a win-or-go-home one-game playoff, followed by the remaining teams playing in two best-of-seven series to determine the winner of the Dominico Cup.
Teams
| Team | Location | Stadium | ||
| Barrie Baycats | Springwater | Athletic Kulture Stadium | 1,500 | 2001 |
| Brantford Red Sox | Brantford | Arnold Anderson Stadium | 2,000 | 1921 |
| Chatham-Kent Barnstormers | Chatham-Kent | Fergie Jenkins Field | 1,600 | 2024 |
| Guelph Royals | Guelph | Hastings Stadium | 1,400 | 1919 |
| Hamilton Cardinals | Hamilton | Bernie Arbour Memorial Stadium | 3,000 | 1958 |
| Kitchener Panthers | Kitchener | Jack Couch Park | 1,400 | 1919 |
| London Majors | London | Labatt Park | 5,200 | 1925 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | Toronto | Dominico Field | 1,000 | 1969 |
| Welland Jackfish | Welland | Welland Stadium | 3,241 | 2019 |
Awards
The postseason championship team is awarded the Jack and Lynne Dominico Cup.Other awards presented include:
- John Coppes Trophy – Awarded to the team with the best record in the regular season.
- Max Roseman Memorial Trophy – Awarded to the player deemed the Most Valuable Player of the postseason.
- John Bell Memorial Trophy – Awarded to the player deemed the Most Valuable Player of the regular season.
- Brian Kerr Memorial Trophy – Awarded to the most proficient first year CBL player.
- Reid Buck Memorial Trophy – Awarded to the hitter with the regular season's best batting average.
- Ted Earley Memorial Trophy – Awarded to the pitcher with the regular season's lowest Earned Run Average.
- Troy May Memorial Trophy – Awarded to the best manager of the regular season.
Notable players
- John Axford – Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates, Colorado Rockies, Oakland Athletics, Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto Blue Jays
- Don Beaupre – Minnesota North Stars
- Todd Betts – Yakult Swallows
- Tom Burgess
- Rich Butler – Toronto Blue Jays, Tampa Bay Devil Rays
- Rob Butler – Toronto Blue Jays, Philadelphia Phillies
- Frank Colman – Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yankees
- Scott Diamond – Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays
- Rob Ducey – Philadelphia Phillies, Toronto Blue Jays, California Angels, Texas Rangers, Nippon-Ham Fighters, Seattle Mariners, Philadelphia Phillies, Montreal Expos
- Wilmer Fields 1939–50 – Homestead Grays
- Mike Gardiner – Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, Montreal Expos, Seattle Mariners 1990–1995
- Ferguson Jenkins – Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox
- Mike Kilkenny – Detroit Tigers
- Joe Krakauskas 1937–46 – Washington Senators & Cleveland Indians
- Larry Landreth – Montreal Expos
- Lester Lockett – Baltimore Elite Giants
- Roy McKay – Detroit Tigers
- Denny McLain – Detroit Tigers, Washington Senators, Oakland Athletics, Atlanta Braves
- Jesse Orosco – New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland Indians, Milwaukee Brewers, Baltimore Orioles, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, New York Yankees, Minnesota Twins
- Pete Orr – Atlanta Braves, Washington Nationals, Philadelphia Phillies
- Lester B. Pearson – Prime Minister of Canada
- Dalton Pompey – Toronto Blue Jays
- Fernando Rodney — Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Angels, Tampa Bay Rays, Seattle Mariners, Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, Miami Marlins, Oakland Athletics, Washington Nationals
- Goody Rosen – Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants
- Dave Rozema – Detroit Tigers
- Chris Speier – San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Minnesota Twins, Chicago Cubs & Montreal Expos
- Paul Spoljaric – Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners, Philadelphia Phillies, Kansas City Royals
- Ron Stead – 1967 Pan American Games
- Fred Thomas – Wilkes-Barre Barons, Cincinnati Crescents, Toronto Argonauts
- Rob Thomson – Detroit Tigers
- Scott Thorman – Atlanta Braves
- Jimmy Wilkes – Newark Eagles, Houston Eagles, Indianapolis Clowns
Notable executives
- Bob Ferguson, league statistician and owner of the London Pontiacs