George Sleeman

Dubbed the “father of professional Canadian baseball for his role in the early organization of the game,”1 George Sleeman was elected to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame as a builder in 1999. He was one of the first baseball owner/managers to sign professionals to an amateur team, and as such set a precedent for the operation of amateur baseball in the 19th century, one that was not without controversy.

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Nestled in the heart of southwestern Ontario, the town of Guelph was founded in 1827 and so was still fairly new when the Sleeman family arrived in 1847. Among the newcomers was 6-year-old George Sleeman, the son of brewer John H. Sleeman and Anne Burrows. John was born in Cornwall, England, in 1805, and came to Canada in 1834 with his wife and three children. The family settled in St. David’s, Ontario (near Niagara Falls) and it was there that John built the Stamford Springs Brewery in 1836.2 George arrived five years later, on August 1, 1841, their first and only child born in Canada.

His initial involvement in baseball may have occurred as early as 1861, as he recounted in a magazine article in 1923. “I was always a member of the [Guelph] Maple Leaf team, from the time it was formed in 1861 by A.S. Feast, who came from Hamilton.”3 He pitched for the Leafs in the early 1860s, but as the decade progressed and the team became more competitive, George transitioned from the playing field to a more managerial role.

Baseball in southwestern Ontario expanded greatly in the 1860s, as teams formed in Hamilton, London, Toronto, and Ingersoll – but from 1865-68 none could unseat the Woodstock Young Canadians as Canadian Champions. By 1869, though, the Guelph Maple Leafs had established a solid core of local players. At the 1869 Championship for the Silver Ball (the trophy for the Canadian victors), held in London in August, Guelph defeated the London Tecumsehs in the championship game, 43-20. Guelph retained this new title for another six years.

With the Maple Leafs as the new baseball dynasty into the 1870s, Sleeman was intent on further raising the profile of Guelph as the baseball capital of Canada. He formed and managed another team composed solely of home brews4 (i.e., local players, also a brewing pun) called the Silver Creeks, for whom he occasionally pitched. Games were held on an empty lot behind Sleeman’s brewery, and George covered all expenses.5 This included the salary for good local players whom Sleeman hired to work for the brewery, who would then happen to play for the Silver Creeks.

On April 7, 1874, the annual meeting of the Maple Leaf Base Ball Club was held, and George Sleeman was elected president of the club. As president, Sleeman devised the club rules, and found a way to reward his players while maintaining their amateur status; though no salary was paid, profits were divided up amongst the team members.6 The Leafs ventured successfully into international territory that season on two fronts. In early July at the Watertown (New York) tournament, they defeated all comers, including the Ku Klux Klan team from Oneida, New York, to take home the $500 prize. This success was due in no small part to the inclusion of several imports on the roster. Sleeman had signed several American players (second baseman George Keerl, from Baltimore; first baseman Hank Myers, of Ilion, New York; outfielder William A. Jones, aka William A. Silkworth, from New York; and third baseman Harrison Leslie Spence, also of New York). This made him one of the first Canadian team presidents to import American players, and he signed more the following year (William Bevan Lapham of Cincinnati and Johnny Foley of Chicago), ensuring the team would retain the Silver Ball Trophy as Canadian champions in 1875.

In the meantime, while maintaining his management of the brewery and both the Maple Leafs and the Silver Creeks, Sleeman engaged in still other pursuits. He was elected president of the Guelph Turf Club in 1872 and remained in that position for over 20 years. A proud Guelphite, he became increasingly invested in civic matters and would be elected to Town Council in 1876. All the while, he and wife Sarah Hill (married in 1863), continued to fill the rooms of the Sleeman home; soon after the end of the 1874 season, they welcomed their sixth child, Edwin Austin Sleeman. They eventually had 12 children: seven sons and five daughters.

Sleeman sought to further elevate the status of baseball in Ontario with the formation of the Canadian Association for 1876. He was elected President of the Association and managed the Maple Leafs through another strong season. But with fierce competition from rivals 75 miles to their southwest, the Leafs’ dominance ended as the London Tecumsehs were crowned champions of the Canadian Association.

Sleeman’s practice of importing American professionals had fueled much controversy and debate over the last two seasons; these were exacerbated during the 1876 season, as Sleeman continued to import more “amateur” players. This forced other teams to follow suit to remain competitive and required teams and leagues to enact stricter rules to restrict the use of professionals in amateur leagues and contests.

With the success of the Canadian Association in 1876, Sleeman set his sights even higher in 1877, as he sought to establish a fully international league that aimed to compete with the National League. Hence was born the International Association, wherein the London and Guelph clubs joined five American teams, but the Tecumsehs and Leafs followed very disparate paths. Though this officially elevated the Guelph team to professional status,7 the competition proved to be too much for both the team and Sleeman. He had to squash rumors in midseason of the team moving to Buffalo,8 and it was all he could do to finish the season. The Leafs finished with a dismal last-place 4-12 record.9

Guelph understandably did not return to the International Association in 1878. Rather, the Leafs languished as an amateur club, playing only sporadically over the next two seasons. Sleeman did not appear to have much involvement with the club at this time, but he did play right field for the Leafs on July 31, 1878, against the Harriston Browns. Sadly, on this same day, his older brother William died of a morphine overdose. From this point, perhaps because of this family tragedy, George appeared to relinquish any role with the Maple Leafs – the Guelph papers made little mention of him or the club for the remainder of the season. He kept a low profile until he was named Chairman of the Inauguration Committee when Guelph became a city on April 23, 1879.10 He focused his energy more on civic matters, and reflecting the respect and popularity that he had gained, was elected the first mayor of the City of Guelph (by acclamation) in January 1880.

Mayor Sleeman returned to baseball for the 1880 season as president of a new Canadian Association, which adopted the same constitution as the previous incarnation from 1876. Teams from Galt, Toronto, Woodstock, and two from Guelph (Maple Leafs and Athletics) contended for the amateur championship of Canada but played only a handful of games. By season’s end, both the Leafs and Woodstock Actives claimed that they were entitled to the championship bat. The Actives’ claim was justified by their 1-0 victory in the championship match on September 8. However, Sleeman and the Leafs countered that “during the early part of the season, they vanquished all comers,”11 and that the two losses they incurred at the end of the season (including a 3-2 loss to the Harriston Browns on August 27) were under protest – both the Actives and Browns had, in a stroke of irony considering Sleeman’s prior management philosophy, “introduced professionals into their teams.”12 The final decision of the Judiciary Committee of the Canadian Association is unknown.

The Maple Leafs returned to independent amateur play in 1881, with Sleeman still as team president. In an otherwise unremarkable season, another Sleeman signing caused yet another controversy. In early July, amateur pitcher John W. Jackson, known professionally as Bud Fowler, was engaged by the Maple Leafs, but when Fowler reached Guelph and the members of the club realized that he was a Black, they refused to play with him. The Guelph Herald expressed disappointment with the team’s action but took solace when it was discovered that only a few members of the team13 had objected to Fowler’s engagement.

Over the next two years, Sleeman was again more preoccupied with civic duties, having been reelected mayor of Guelph for both 1881 and 1882. He was asked to run again in 1883 but declined. The Maple Leafs saw little activity during this time until they resurfaced as a member of the Western Ontario Baseball League in 1884. This new amateur league consisted of 10 teams, including two from Guelph and three each from Hamilton and London. Sleeman was elected a director of the league but appears to have had little to do with league or team operations. But this set the stage for perhaps his most ambitious baseball project yet, when he was elected president for the newly formed Canadian League for 1885. He also returned to manage the Leafs during this season; they joined the Hamilton Clippers, Hamilton Primroses, London Cockneys, and Toronto Torontos to play out a full season of approximately 40 games.

Unfortunately, however noble his intentions were, Sleeman reignited the flames of controversy yet again when he signed Cincinnati pitcher George Washington Bradley. Bradley had been under contract with the Philadelphia Athletics of the major league American Association but was under suspension for jumping to the rebel Union Association’s Cincinnati Unions. And because the Canadian League Constitution prohibited the employment of players under contract with or expelled from any other club, other Canadian League teams protested the Maple Leafs’ use of an ineligible player. But Sleeman insisted on putting Bradley in to pitch on July 9 against London, anyway, arguing that Bradley was indeed eligible because the Canadian League was independent of the American Association. Regardless, the Cockneys refused to play, umpire Fred Goldsmith called the game, and a protest was filed by Guelph. This situation then recurred on July 11 in a game against Toronto.

On July 14, the Judiciary Committee determined that Bradley was an ineligible player and ruled against Guelph, the good intentions of manager Sleeman notwithstanding. Victories were therefore awarded to London and Toronto, respectively. Sleeman criticized the ruling, expressing the view that the Leafs were dealt with unfairly and unconstitutionally. He intimated that the Leafs might abandon the league.

Three weeks later, it was reported that the Leafs management had decided to disband the club. The announcement proved premature. Instead, Sleeman resigned as manager, leaving the players to operate the club by themselves. Sleeman, however, allowed the Maple Leafs free use of his ground and stand in order to finish the season with a profit for themselves.14 Given that Sleeman lost a large sum of money on baseball that season, this generosity showed that he was “willing to make great sacrifices for the good of the sport in Guelph.”15 Third baseman James H. Hewer took over managerial duties, and the Leafs managed to finish the season.

Still president of the Canadian League, Sleeman sought to put the challenges of 1885 behind him, and at the annual meeting on November 30 in Toronto, he was reelected league president. Plans were thereupon put in place for the upcoming season. Meanwhile, “the formation of an international league [by] affiliation with the New York State League was discussed.”16 Soon thereafter, Toronto (Canucks) and Hamilton (Clippers) unilaterally withdrew from the Canadian League to join the newly created International Association. Sleeman filed suit against the Canucks and Clippers, but to no avail. Undaunted, he then secured a “first-class team for the coming season, and lovers of the game in Guelph could rely on having a good nine placed in the field.”17

The Leafs barnstormed their way through Ontario and the United States in 1886. Despite a remarkably successful 53-9 campaign, the Leafs underwent yet another dramatic transition, emerging with an entirely new club in 1887. They merged with the Guelph Royal Oaks, with mostly former Oaks players comprising the new Maple Leafs club. Sleeman was by now essentially retired from baseball, but he was made honorary president of the Leafs, even though he no longer took an active interest in the management of the club.18

With his role in baseball now relegated to being an ardent fan, Sleeman became involved in several other areas of Guelph daily life. He had been an expert marksman, one of the best rifle shots in Guelph, and he was president of the Guelph Rifle Association from 1886-1906. He also delighted in winter sports, being named president of the Royal City Curling Club in 1888. When Mayor Thomas Goldie, also a former Guelph Maple Leaf, died suddenly in 1892,  Sleeman agreed to take over and finish Goldie’s term.19 In 1894, George started the Guelph Railway Company, which constructed one of the first electric railways in Ontario20. Sadly, George’s father, having returned to St. David’s to enjoy a peaceful retirement working on his gardens, died early this same year.

Sleeman returned to the mayor’s office in 1905, elected by an all-time majority that reflected his stature in the community. By this time, he had retired from the family business and started the Springbank Brewery, which he conducted until his death.21 He continued to be held in high regard in his city, as he ran for mayor one last time in 1906, and won uncontested.

After wife Sarah passed away quietly in early 1917, George continued to surround himself with family and friends, known by many for his hospitable nature.22 Entering his eighties, he remained in excellent health, and his sense of citizenship and community pride never waned. His passion for sport, notably baseball, also remained undiminished. “In his last conscious moments his thoughts were about some on the men who were players on that famous baseball team.”23

George Sleeman died following an abdominal operation on December 16, 1926, in Guelph General Hospital. He was laid to rest in Woodlawn Cemetery, a few miles from where the old Sleeman Manor still stands, near where the original brewery and ballpark once stood. His grave is perhaps fittingly modest and not a reflection of his impact. It bears only a simple flat stone marker that merely states. “George Sleeman, husband of Sarah Hill,” along with his dates of birth and death.

Acknowledgments

This bio was reviewed by Bill Lamb and Rory Costello and fact-checked by Larry DeFillipo.

Photo credit: George Sleeman, Trading Card Database.

Sources

The author consulted many newspapers, including: Guelph Herald, Guelph Mercury, Hamilton Spectator, London Advertiser, London Free Press, Maple Leaf, New York Clipper, Toronto Globe, and Woodstock Weekly Sentinel.

Ascenzo, Denise. Niagara’s History Unveiled: The Early Years; https://niagaranow.com/entertainment.phtml/1266-niagaras-history-unveiled-the-early-years/, December 15, 2018, accessed July 7, 2021.

Bowes, Lisa. George Sleeman and the Brewing of Baseball in Guelph 1872-1886,” Historic Guelph (Guelph: Guelph Historical Society, October 1988), 44-57.

Matchett, Micheal. The Sleeman Family Brewery: 19th Century Paternalism to Prohibition-Inspired Myth, Historic Guelph (Guelph, Ontario: Guelph Historical Society, 2013). Available online at https://www.guelphhistoricalsociety.ca/publications/historic-guelph/volume-52/the-sleeman-family-brewery-19th-century-paternalism-to-prohibition-inspired-myth

George Sleeman – Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, http://baseballhalloffame.ca/hall-of-famer/george-sleeman/, accessed December 28, 2020.

Timeline: Sleeman Family History and Events, https://vintageguelph.ca/2019/06/13/a-timeline-of-the-sleeman-family-in-guelph/, accessed December 28, 2020.

Census of Canada, 1870-71 (Ottawa: I.B. Taylor, 1873), digitized at https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.9_08056/2?r=0&s=1, accessed July 2021.

Genealogical and player data was obtained from a variety of sources, including: Ancestry.com, Baseball-Reference.com, census records, FamilySearch.org, vital records, minor league player files of Reed Howard, and the author’s own player database and genealogical files.

Various ledgers and correspondence from the Sleeman Family Collection, Archives and Special Collections, McLaughlin Library, University of Guelph.

George Sleeman, email correspondence with Murray Inch (descendant), 2020-21.

Notes

1 George Sleeman – Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, http://baseballhalloffame.ca/hall-of-famer/george-sleeman/.

2 Timeline: Sleeman Family History and Events, https://vintageguelph.ca/2019/06/13/a-timeline-of-the-sleeman-family-in-guelph/.

3. “The Maple Leafs of Guelph,” Maple Leaf, January 1923: 13.

4. “Old Timers Will Remember Those Famous Silver Creeks Who Played ‘Way Back When Gloves, Masks and Pads Were Not Known,” Guelph (Ontario) Mercury, July 20, 1927: 90.

5. “Old Timers Will Remember Those Famous Silver Creeks Who Played ‘Way Back When Gloves, Masks and Pads Were Not Known,”

6. Maple Leaf Baseball Club Ledger (1874-76), Sleeman Family Collection, Archives and Special Collections, McLaughlin Library, University of Guelph.

7 The newly-professional Guelph team is not to be confused with the amateur Maple Leafs club which also operated this same season.

8. “Base Ball Notes,” Guelph Mercury, July 19, 1877: 3.

9 The last-place finish does not take into account the record of the Lynn (Massachusetts) Live Oaks who disbanded mid-season.

10. “Death of Mr. George Sleeman Removes Prominent Pioneer Business man of Royal City,” Guelph Mercury, December 16, 1926: 1.

11 “The Canadian Championship,” Guelph Mercury, October 14, 1880: 2.

12. Same as above.

13. “Guelph’s Colored Pitcher,” Hamilton (Ontario) Spectator, July 4, 1881: 2.

14. “The Maple Leafs in Luck,” Toronto Globe, August 25, 1885: 8.

15 Same as above.

16 “The Canadian Baseball League,” Guelph Mercury, December 4, 1885: 3.

17 “Base Ball,” Guelph Mercury, March 8, 1886: 3.

18 Unattributed clipping from the Sleeman Family Collection, Archives and Special Collections, McLaughlin Library, University of Guelph.

19 “Death of Mr. George Sleeman,”

20 “Death of Mr. George Sleeman,”

21 “Death of Mr. George Sleeman,”

22 “Death of Mr. George Sleeman,”

23 “Death of Mr. George Sleeman,”