For the first summer ever, Max Cacciatore doesn't want to play soccer like his dad.

After watching some of his idols on the Toronto Blue Jays win the American League East championship last year, the five-year-old picked up a bat and glove hoping to be the next Marcus Stroman.

"Ever since last October, he's been going nuts, he's been wanting to play," said Tony Cacciatore, a recreational soccer player who never expected his son would take up baseball. "He's excited because he's number six and Stroman wears six, so it's a big year."

But other would-be softball and baseball players who have been working on their swings are benched on wait lists instead of playing. Why? The city doesn't have enough baseball diamonds to play on.

Max Cacciatore, left, plays catch with his father Tony. (CBC)

"The Jays have such a powerful influence," says David Black, president of the Toronto Baseball Association. "Back in the 90s when they won the World Series, our numbers were the greatest ever and everyone talks about those as halcyon days, but this year we've had about a 24 per cent increase in Toronto and our challenge now is we're starting to run into constraints with fields."

A lack of baseball diamond space throughout the city has had a big impact on leagues like the High Park Baseball League. According to Black, that league has seen a big jump in the number of kids who want to play, but it can only accommodate two thirds of that increase because its games are confined to areas within High Park.

The Blue Jays are doing extremely well and when they do well, we do well. - Doug Hawley

Teams like the West Hill Orioles, one of eight teams that play T-Ball on Tuesday and Thursday nights in Scarborough, are forced to get creative to accommodate all the youngsters who want to play.

"We haven't had to turn anyone away because of a lack of space," says Doug Hawley, T-Ball convener at the West Hill Baseball League, one of the largest leagues in Toronto. "That's one of the things we believe in here, we'll find space."

Doug Hawley is the T-Ball convener with the West Hill Baseball League, one of the largest leagues in Toronto. (CBC)

For Colton Sinopoli's mother, Tammy Robinson, having her son play T-Ball on with the West Hill Orioles is integral to his growth. "It's an opportunity for Colton to be around other kids with different skills, different strengths, and to sort of learn from them," she says.

"The Blue Jays are doing extremely well and when they do well, we do well, Hawley said

But to keep up with the demand, the West Hill Baseball League now uses diamonds at Charlottetown Junior Public School, adjacent to Charlottetown Park's diamond, which is maintained by the city.

"Most of our parks are city parks, which are in excellent condition," said Hawley. "Some of the parks are school parks which are not as in good condition."

Today, despite the league's efforts to assist with maintenance they are using some fields without permission to meet demand.

"We're using every park and every school yard we can find, but we're pretty maxed out," said Howard Birnie, president of Leaside Baseball Association, who had to turn away a small percentage of players this year because of field shortages.

This is a feeling echoed across Toronto's baseball leagues. "We are running into constraints with fields. We just don't have enough," said Black.