the time participated – losing 36-29 in a tumultuous final wherein Guelph players endured threats of physical violence from the audience. During this time, Maple Leafs games frequently attracted attendance in the thousands, owing partly to a high-profile rivalry with the London Tecumsehs, which had caused a schism in the Southwestern Ontario baseball community. By 1869, the Maple Leafs succeeded in winning the Canadian Silver Ball Championship, and proceeded to do so repeatedly until 1871, when they were granted permanent possession of the coveted Silver Ball Trophy. Their status as Canadian champions quickly attracted the attention of George Sleeman, local owner of Silver Creek Brewery, who purchased the team then merged it with one he already owned, the Silver Creek Baseball Club, and began funding the aggressive acquisition of American players, including Pete Gillespie, Scott Hastings, and a new pitcher, William Smith. The Maple Leafs' high-profile acquisitions represented a first for Canadian baseball, and other clubs in the region soon followed suit. The Maple Leafs' prestige increased significantly due to victories accumulated by their strengthened roster, and on July 1, 1873, the Boston Red Stockings, defending National Association champions, played an exhibition game in Guelph in front of an audience of over 10,000 and won 27-8. The match is fictionalized by legendary Western writer Zane Grey – whose brother, Reddy Grey, played for the Boston Red Stockings at the time they competed against the Maple Leafs – in his short story published in 1920, "The Winning Ball", in which Guelph defeats a professional team from Rochester in spite of the opposing team's use of the "rabbit", a baseball made when a friend of the manager's "removed the covers from a number of league balls and sewed them on rubber balls of his own making". World semi-professional champions, on hiatus (1874–1895) In 1874, George Sleeman received word of a world semi-professional championship being hosted in Watertown, New York, and – thinking the Maple Leafs had a shot – began readying the team. His hopes were validated later that year when a virtuoso performance by pitcher William Smith led the Maple Leafs to three straight victories over some of the best clubs in North America, including a 13-4 trouncing of a Ku Klux Klan team from Oneida, New York. Guelph's victory in this tournament bolstered their international reputation considerably, and may represent the zenith of the franchise's success. The mid-late 1870s brought