Gallagher: Dinelle new owner of Chatham IC franchise
New Chatham owner Dom Dinelle, former London Majors hitting coach.
November 28, 2022
By Danny Gallagher
Canadian Baseball Network
Dom Dinelle is a Quebecer, a former Montreal Expos amateur scout, who has been a lifer as a coach.
He was the hitting coach of the Intercounty Baseball League’s London Majors in 2006 and that’s when he first felt a passion for owning an Intercounty team.
Now, Dinelle is the new kid on the block in the Ontario-only league after he was approved for a franchise to begin play in Chatham in 2024 with home games at Fergie Jenkins Field.
Fergie Jenkins Stadium named after our national treasure and Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins.
In the historical context of Chatham, it’s the ideal place for Dinelle to operate his new baby.
The Chatham Coloured All-Stars were a famous team that played in the 1930s, Jenkins is the city’s most revered athlete, former Expos pitcher Bill Atkinson was born there and so was Doug Melvin, who was a general manager for the Rangers and Brewers.
Jenkins will be the honorary president of the new franchise and he will be on hand when Dinelle holds a news conference Dec. 9 to officially introduce the new organization to the Chatham-Kent community. Atkinson will also be on hand and he will be a team ambassador and looks forward to schmoozing with fans at home games.
“It’s a baseball community for sure,’’ Dinelle said, as he talked about Chatham’s diamond history.
Dinelle is very passionate about this new project in his life. He is so organized he figures he will need to hire 88 people to run his franchise.
Many of those 88 will be part-time but his plan is “very detailed’’ like the “very detailed,’’ 15-page proposal he submitted to the league’s board of directors three years ago for approval as a franchise.
“I’m very organized, I want things to go smoothly,’’ Dinelle said in an interview. “It’s a great project. It’s a great challenge for sure. The project gives me drive. I know what the team can bring to the community. Chatham is a terrific sports town and we look forward to making it a fantastic baseball town. The facility is a stunning venue, a very nice field, a very nice ballpark.’’
Dinelle thanked the league, mayor Darrin Canniff and city council for support, saying he’s indebted to be given the opportunity to pursue a dream he’s had for a long time.
“All I know in life is baseball. My profession for the last 28 years has been to teach baseball fundamentals,’’ he said. “Teaching baseball, that’s all I do. I owned an international camp company for 20 years and taught in seven countries on three continents.’’
After rhyming off all the credentials he has on his resume, he said, “And now, I am officially an owner of an IBL franchise. Ouff! What a ride.’’
Soon to be 51, Dinelle took a studious look at his team’s facility at Rotary Park and was impressed but came to the conclusion the concession stand is too small and to rectify it, he will install custom-made, 40-foot ‘’containers’’ on the first- and third-base lines where fans can buy beer, pop, food and the like.
Dinelle estimates his budget for Year 1 in 2024 will be about $100,000 with some of the costs incurred by the municipality in the form of capital projects.
“Costs will include equipment, uniforms, the expansion fee, the yearly fee, administrative costs. We need an office, a ticket office, VIP areas. There are a bunch of things we need to purchase,’’ Dinelle said. “We’re going to go after sponsors. We’ll start knocking on doors in the new year. For now, we’re going to operate on the administrative side and the business side. I think we have a good vibe from the community already.’’
Dom Dinelle with his spouse Mélina Long.
Dinelle currently lives north of Montreal with his spouse Mélina Long and four kids. He plans to move permanently to Chatham in April of 2024.
“The IBL is excited to welcome the city of Chatham as our newest member,’’ said Ryan Harrison, an IBL executive and owner of the Welland Jackfish. “We have a great working relationship with Dom and his management group.’’
Dinelle said he’s planning on running his franchise along the lines of a ‘’minor-league affiliate,’’ meaning “we’re going to run it like an Instructional League. Our players will be younger. We’ll be into fitness. Every day, we’re going to be practising. That will be a different approach.’’
Dinelle said it’s too early to know who will make up his roster. He hopes to use several players from the Chatham area and perhaps some imports.
The team is expected to create rivalries with the Majors, Brantford Red Sox and Kitchener Panthers in southwestern Ontario. The IBL hopes to add a 10th team in 2024 in conjunction with the arrival of Chatham.
Outgoing commissioner John Kastner had a number of chats with interested parties in Aurora, Ajax, Oshawa and North Bay. Ideally, the league would like to operate with 10 teams in 2024 with two divisions of five teams each.
Photos supplied by Dom Dinelle. The lady with him is his spouse Melanie Long.