Hamilton EH’s - 2021-present
Ed Hebscher, GM
Franchise #1
History
Brief: This Franchise #1 team was
originally settled in Wilderness, playing before spirited crowds who called
the players Wraiths, partly due to their ghostly white uniforms. The team
stayed in the Wilderness until 1908, when the team was sold to Canadian
distiller Ed Hebscher, moving to London, Ontario. Following the 1919
season, the team disbanded. One year later, original Franchise #1 owner
Gary Sibley claimed “finders
keepers,” snatching the franchise from a garbage heap near Buffalo and
racing back to the Wilderness. The team stayed in the Wilderness until
1972, when they made a sudden, and still unexplained, move to Ashburn. The
Hot Rocks, despite a very talented roster, did not draw well, and Sibley
reluctantly released control of the franchise to Dick Gorney in 1975.
Gorney quickly became legend, winning the league crown in the very next
season, his first of seven post season appearances with the Combers.
However, in 1990, after a contentious TCBA Rules battle, Gorney sold the
franchise back to Sibley and retired from active managing. Gary initially
located the team in Birdsnest before moving the
franchise to Rapidan in 1997, where the team celebrated the move to their
new home with a league championship. At the conclusion of the 2020 season,
Gary announced his retirement, releasing control of his Rapidan Rapids.
League-wide response was immediate, with well-wishes coming from all
quarters. Gary’s quiet, calm nature and sweet Sibley smile would surely be
missed.
One of the most valuable
franchises in all of TCBA, the team would not be orphaned for long.
Swooping down from the North Country to snatch the prize was Ed Hebscher, a
veteran of seven TCBA Today seasons as Franchise 14’s Newmarket EH’s, who
gathered up his Bit Coins and re-purchased Franchise #1 before a bidding
war could begin. Hebscher quickly moved the team to Hamilton, Ontario,
renewing the EH’s presence across the border in Canada.
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