The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Hamilton Thunderbirds of the Intercounty Baseball League announced the formation of the inaugural Terry Steeves Cup Baseball Tournament.

The competition begins Sunday, August 8 at Dominico Field at Christie Pits, will consist of back-to-back home-and-home doubleheaders the first two weekends of this month (August), with more games to follow. Sunday’s games start at 1 p.m.

“This came about because Jack (Dominico) and I both did not want our seasons to end on the first of August. We decided we were going to put something together so our teams could keep playing,” said Larry Wood, General Manager of the Hamilton Thunderbirds.

“I will be talking to Kitchener Panthers shortly to see if they are interested in taking part,” said Wood.

Toronto finished in second place with a 23-13 won-lost record while Hamilton grabbed the last playoff spot in the nine-team league with a 12-24 record. Kitchener was 20 and 16 in fourth spot.

“Terry Steeves was one of the most devoted baseball men I’ve ever met. He truly was a different type of guy he was always a happy-go-lucky guy that brought a lot cheers to a lot of players. He had a lot of stories; he was the original storyteller,” said Toronto Maple Leafs President and General Manager Jack Dominico of Steeves who coached in the Intercounty for more than 30 years with both Toronto and Hamilton Cardinals (now Thunderbirds). Mr. Steeves passed away recently.

Next Sunday, Aug. 15 the doubleheader starts in Hamilton at 5 p.m.