Roger Lajoie Blog: Anything is possible in baseball - Hamilton Cardinals

By Roger Lajoie Make no mistake about it – the Hamilton Cardinals have dug themselves a huge hole. The 2026 Canadian Baseball League pennant winners find themselves in dire straits for sure in the CBL Finals, trailing their best-of-seven series 3-0, with Game 4 in Welland on Wednesday night. It’s a really tall order for any team to come back from being down three-nothing in a series, but there are two things Cardinals fans should keep in mind as the series heads back to Welland for a potential series clinching game for the defending league champions. First thing – if there’s any team that can make improbable comebacks, it’s the Hamilton Cardinals. Second thing – coming back from a 3-0 deficit has happened before in this league and not that long ago either. First off, Hamilton trailed the London Majors by five games with six games to go in the regular season. That’s probably an even tougher hole than the one they are facing in this series. But as Cards fans know, the improbable happened. The Cardinals won their last six games of the season, the Majors lost their lost four, and thanks to the tie-breakers Hamilton captured the inaugural CBL pennant, and the first one in franchise history to boot. What are the odds of that happening? Pretty long! But as the Cardinals proved, sometimes the longshot does occur. That was the regular season of course. This is the playoffs. This is the Finals. It’s completely different, you might be saying. It is. And it’s dire straits being down 3-0 in a series for sure, especially against a very talented Welland Jackfish team that won it all last year. But the 2013 Brantford Red Sox found themselves in exactly the same spot in the Intercounty Baseball League Finals against the Barrie Baycats. And in that era, the Red Sox were the ultimate IBL powerhouse. Brantford had won five consecutive playoff titles and were looking for a record setting sixth crown. But the Baycats were on the verge of becoming a dynasty themselves and played great baseball in the first three games, racing off to a 3-0 series lead. What happened next will live in IBL history forever. The Red Sox stormed back to win four in a row, including a 9-7 thriller in game seven, to win the championship for a sixth straight time. Incredibly, after that heartbreaking loss, Barrie then reeled off six straight playoff championships of their own to tie Brantford's record! What are the odds of that happening? Pretty long! But sometimes the long shot does occur. It is never easy to pull off comebacks like this and a Hamilton comeback in this series won’t be easy either. Welland is full value for the 3-0 series lead. Their hitting has been timelier. They have gotten better pitching. Their defensive play has been better for the most part. They have been the better team. Hamilton’s hitting, a staple all season, went missing in the first two games of the series. The usually reliable starting pitching that goes deep into games wasn't there either. Several costly errors didn’t help the cause as well. Game 3 was an improvement and a pretty good ballgame, which featured the Cards clawing back from a 4-0 deficit to take a 5-4 lead. But the Jackfish rallied late to close it out, and now the Cardinals have dug themselves a huge hole. There's no more room for error and it’s dire straits for sure for the Hamilton Cardinals heading into Game 4 Wednesday night at The Pond. Game 5 if necessary is in Hamilton Friday, Game 6 in Welland Saturday and Game 7 back in Hamilton Sunday. What are the odds of that happening? Pretty long I guess. That is a HUGE hole to climb out of for sure. But it has happened before, and if there’s any team that could pull it off it’s the 2026 Hamilton Cardinals. -30-