Labatt Park - Tigers, Werewolves and Monarchs

Tigers, Werewolves and Monarchs

Professional baseball declined in London after the war, with mostly amateur teams playing at Labatt Park in the following decades, until 1989 when an AA Eastern League affiliate of the Detroit Tigers was established by investors/ Board of Directors, President Dan Ross, Vice President Mike Tucker, Vice President and General Manager Bob Gilson, Vice President and Assistant General Manager General Manager Bill Wilkinson and Vice President Brian Costello.

Immediately prior to the London Tigers' inaugural season at Labatt Park in 1989, numerous improvements were completed at the park costing approximately $1-million for new lights, new dressing rooms and dug outs, additional seating, field and entrance upgrades, food concession enhancements and a new 40-foot (12 m)-by-19-foot electronic scoreboard (partially sponsored by Labatt Breweries). Previously, the scoreboard was changed manually. In 1990, Labatt Park and its head groundkeeper Mike Regan, won the prestigious "Beam Clay Award" as the best natural-grass field in North America.

Broadcasting the Tigers' games on TV London with veteran local sportscaster Pete James were former Tiger greats Mickey Lolich and later, Denny McLain.

The 1990 London Tigers won the Eastern League title under manager Chris Chambliss (one of the Tigers' players was Travis Fryman), but the Tom Runnells-managed Tigers relocated to Trenton, New Jersey after the 1993 season, citing declining attendance.

On January 20, 1990, In Houston, Texas, Labatt Park was named the "Beam Clay Baseball Diamond of the Year" for "excellence and professionalism in maintaining an outstanding professional baseball diamond" -- due to the outstanding groundskeeping work of City of London employee/supervisor, Mike Regan.

The park was considered for the filming of the 1992 movie A League of Their Own starring Madonna and Geena Davis, but filming could not fit around the home schedule of the Double A London Tigers of the Eastern League.

The London Werewolves of the fledgling Frontier League played at the park from 1999 to 2001, winning the Frontier League championship in 1999; Werewolves pitcher Brett Gray tossed 25 strikeouts on June 3, 2000 (home opener), against the Chillicothe (Ohio) Paints. The game's scorecard and Brett Gray's jersey were donated to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum in St. Marys, Ontario, by Werewolves' General Manager John Kuhn.

In 2000, former MLB star Ron LeFlore was hired as the manager of the Cook County Cheetahs of the Frontier League, visiting Labatt Park several times during the season.

In 2001 after the circa-1937 main grandstand was demolished and a new, $1.97-million, wheelchair-accessible main grandstand was built (the park's fourth) and a new "pop-up" underground irrigation system was installed, the park was used as the chief baseball venue for the Canada Summer Games.

In 2003 the park was also home to the London Monarchs of the short-lived Canadian Baseball League, which folded mid-season due to financial difficulties. The team's manager was former Major Leaguer Willie Wilson and featured such stars as first-baseman Francisco Cabrera and pitcher Amaury Telemaco. The league's inaugural game and homeopener for the London Monarchs was held at Labatt Park on May 21, 2003, and was televised nationally on The Score. It also featured a fly-over by the Canadian Snowbirds flying team. League Commissioner Fergie Jenkins was also in attendance.