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JACK BEING JACK: IBL Maple Leafs owner Dominico remembered as a 'living legend'

Baseball lifer owned IBL team for 53 seasons

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“This ain’t the f—in’ Barrie Examiner, pal!”

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Those words were hurled my way by a furious Jack Dominico a few years ago.

I was in the midst of putting together the editorial content for his annual Toronto Maple Leafs advertising supplement to be published in the Toronto Sun, and he was in the midst of losing his mind over some seemingly small detail — as those who knew him might not be surprised to hear.

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I’d worked several years for the Barrie Examiner newspaper, which no longer exists. Dominico, who died peacefully on Tuesday morning at age 82, according to the team he first built more than half a century ago, was basically trying to tell me to get my act together. The newspaper I now work for was no small-town paper such as the one in Barrie (which also happened to be home to his Intercounty Baseball League arch-nemesis, the seven-time champion Baycats.)

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It was one of dozens upon dozens of one-sided conversations I’d had with Dominico over the years. Those chats often started with Dominico, the proud owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the IBL, launching into a tirade of some sort — maybe about his team not getting enough play in the newspaper following a win, or other teams in the top Ontario amateur summer league league “cheating” their way to a championship.

But if Dominico was furious a minute ago, he was a polite delight the next, often following up a gruff rant with a question about how a colleague at the office was doing.

Rough exterior. Massive heart — if he let you in.

A baseball lifer who wore his emotions on his sleeve. A love-him-or-hate-him type whom you always wound up loving once the dust settled.

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That was Jack.

IBL commissioner John Kastner summed up the North Bay native’s character nicely in a 2017 Toronto Sun feature story on Dominico.

“He’ll call up — and Jack and I have got, I’d describe it as a wonderful relationship — but it’s not unusual for Jack to scream at me, tell me I should be fired. Tell me I should get out of baseball for all eternity, no idea why we hired you in the first place, and just say the most awful things to you,” said Kastner, who has known Dominico since his season playing for the Stratford Hillers in 1979, throughout his lengthy career as the sports editor with the Stratford Beacon-Herald and the past few years as commissioner.

“I hang up the phone and somebody says, ‘I can’t believe you put up with that.’ ‘I’ll go, ‘It’s just Jack being Jack.’

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“Five minutes later, he calls and says, ‘I’ve known you a long time.’ I say, ‘Yes, you have.’ And he says, ‘You’re a great guy.’ And I say, ‘Thanks a lot, so are you.’ And he says, ‘OK, I’ve gotta go.’ And that’s as close to an apology and contrition as you’re going to get. And that’s Jack being Jack. That’s it.”

Baseball greats from left: Tony Oliva, Jim Bunning, Ferguson Jenkins, Gaylord Perry and Luis Tiant have some fun with Maple Leafs baseball team owner Jack Dominico at the Toronto Maple Leafs Forum and Reception at the Westin Bristol Place in Toronto, Ont. on Saturday, May 3, 2014. DAVE THOMAS/TORONTO SUN FILES
Baseball greats from left: Tony Oliva, Jim Bunning, Ferguson Jenkins, Gaylord Perry and Luis Tiant have some fun with Maple Leafs baseball team owner Jack Dominico at the Toronto Maple Leafs Forum and Reception at the Westin Bristol Place in Toronto, Ont. on Saturday, May 3, 2014. DAVE THOMAS/TORONTO SUN FILES

Anyone who has ever crossed paths with Dominico — viewed by many as a baseball icon in Toronto, where his franchise played out of rugged downtown Christie Pits and won eight league championships during his unbelievable 53-year tenure as owner — knows just how competitive of he was.

Damon Topolie, the ball Leafs’ longtime manager, shared a unique kinship with Dominico as they both hailed from North Bay and meticulously put the Toronto roster together for decades.

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“He was a living legend. Anybody who knew him understands where I’m coming from when I say that,” Topolie said on Wednesday. “He was a unique character. Who owns a team for 53 years? That’s awesome.”

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While Dominico had all the time in the world to talk about his beloved Maple Leafs, he had even more time for his beloved wife Lynne, who co-owned the Leafs for the first 40 years before her passing in 2008.

The IBL championship trophy is named after Jack and Lynne.

For his baseball efforts, Dominico was inducted into the Etobicoke Sports Hall of Fame, the North Bay Hall of Fame and the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame (his official induction has been delayed to COVID-19.)

Jack Dominico, shown sharing a lighter moment at Christie Pits, had a gruff exterior but a big heart. CRAIG ROBERTSON/TORONTO SUN FILES
Jack Dominico, shown sharing a lighter moment at Christie Pits, had a gruff exterior but a big heart. CRAIG ROBERTSON/TORONTO SUN FILES

He bought the Leafs in 1969, and had been the face of the team from that day forward.

“He leaves a legacy as the most colourful owner in Intercounty Baseball League history. He will be greatly missed,” the Leafs said in a statement.

Jack hasn’t called me in a while, but I believe I speak for many when I say a profanity-laced tirade from the baseball man would sure hit the spot right about now.

ishantz@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @IanShantz

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