Great baseball is 'right here' in Hamilton, says Cardinals owner as season nears its end

When Eric Spearin moved back to Hamilton from Los Angeles, after spending several years there, he didn't yet know the next chapter of his life would involve running one of the city's oldest sports teams. 

The president of a logistics and supply chain business bought the team in 2022 after he came back to the city in 2018. He had approached one of the former owners and impressed them. 

"He kind of liked my story, the fact that I was from Hamilton and they were looking for somebody to take the bull by the horns," said 36-year-old Spearin, who grew up in Dundas, Ont.

Spearin said the Cardinals have flown under many people's radar for years even though the team had been around since 1958.

"I think a lot of people just kind of didn't know that this team existed in Hamilton," he said.

In the two years under his ownership, Spearin said he has consistently filled the stands at the games at Bernie Arbour Stadium, redesigned the team logo, hired someone to pump up the crowds during games, and introduced a game-day experience that includes chances for kids to run the bases and win prizes. The team also launched a new initiative earlier this year called Strike Out Hunger, which raises money for Mission Services of Hamilton with every strikeout that the Cardinals' pitchers record.

Throughout the 2023 season, from May to September, the team saw around 16,000 people come through the gates, Spearin said.

There are now, an average, around 1,000 attendees per game, he added — and this year, the Cardinals played more home games in Hamilton than the Tiger-Cats and Forge FC combined, he said.

"You don't have to take a trip into Toronto to see a great baseball game. It's right here in our backyards."

The atmosphere has impressed Brian Lyle and his 11-year-old son, also named Brian. 

Lyle, owner of a local HVAC business, said he never paid attention to professional baseball until last year when he and his son attended a Cardinals game for the first time. 

What left an impression was how much the fans are able to interact with the game, Lyle said, giving the example of his son being able to give high fives to the players.

"They've made themselves definitely more visible in the community, doing a bunch of events and that's how they got us there the first time," Lyle said.

"If we're available, we pretty much go to every single game."

Carter Roach, 11, who plays with the Hamilton West Mountain Cougars, was at his first Cardinals game when the team played the Kitchener Panthers earlier this week on Aug. 20. It was the last Cardinals game before the playoffs, which started Friday in London and continue Saturday in Hamilton.

"They're a great team," Carter said, excitedly, next to two of his Cougars teammates and their parents, who all attended together. "Hopefully, they get really far in [the playoffs] and hopefully they win it," he said.

Matt Teruya, who was there with his two kids Lucas, 5, and Benjamin, 7, said he started attending games as a way to introduce them to baseball. 

"They love to run the bases, that's the biggest highlight for them because they get to come out and do that kind of fun," he said.

During the evening game Aug. 20, the game was filled with breaks that allowed kids on the pitch — to run the bases, to take part in a tire race — and that prompted kids to throw their hands in the air to receive some giveaways in the stands. 

The Hamilton Cardinals are set to face the London Majors in the quarterfinals of the league, the Intercounty Baseball League, which has nine teams in southern Ontario including the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Brantford Red Sox. The Cardinals were ranked sixth coming out of the regular season. 

The team's second game in the playoffs starts at 7:35 p.m. on Saturday in Hamilton.