Cardinals clinch first pennant in franchise history - Hamilton Cardinals

HAMILTON – Sixty-eight years in the making. The Hamilton Cardinals are pennant winners for the first time in franchise history. It just took a couple extra days to get there. After the Welland–London game was postponed Sunday and again Monday, the Cardinals had to sit and wait for the result they needed. On Tuesday, the Jackfish finally delivered it – an 11-3 win over the Majors that locked Hamilton into first place in the Canadian Baseball League and sealed the regular-season crown the franchise has chased since 1958. The Cardinals close at 31-17, good for a .646 winning percentage – the best mark the franchise has ever posted over a full season, and it comes one year after a 24-23 finish and two years removed from a 16-23 campaign. The climb has been steady, and now it's at the top of the mountain. Put it in perspective and it gets bigger. Between 1958 and 2004 – across the Beavers, Cardinals, Red Wings, Marlins, Real McCoys and back-to-Cardinals years – the franchise went 525-965, a .352 winning percentage. There was one Intercounty playoff title to show for it, a 4-2 series win over London back in 1978. But a regular-season pennant, the best record in the league wire to wire? Never. Not once in 68 years of franchise history. The drought got uglier before it got better. From 2012 through 2017 the Cardinals won 53 games in six seasons combined, bottoming out at 6-30 in 2012. The fans who stuck it out through those years at Bernie Arbour earned this one as much as anyone in the dugout. Fast forward to 2026 and the math speaks for itself. A plus-148 run differential, an 18-6 record at home, and a six-game winning streak to slam the door in September. London and Welland both finished 31-17 as well, but the Cardinals hold the tiebreakers, and the pennant – the first one with HAMILTON stitched across the chest – is coming to the Hammer. Now the real work starts. The Cardinals will host Game 1 of the Semi-Finals at Bernie Arbour Memorial Stadium on Friday night at 7:35 p.m., with Game 3 back at home on Sunday at 4:05 p.m. Their opponent will be decided Tuesday night when Guelph and Barrie meet in the wildcard game — the winner moves on to face the pennant winners. Get your playoff tickets here