Gallagher: Blustery Dominico had soft heart

Jack Dominico, owner of the Intercounty Baseball League’s Toronto Maple Leafs, died on January 11 at the age of 82. Photo: Ontario Sports Hall of Fame

January 24, 2022

By Danny Gallagher

Canadian Baseball Network

An Italian Catholic, he religiously attended Mass every Friday night at one of his two favourite churches in east-end Toronto, sitting at the back where nobody would notice him.

Every Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving, he would make large donations to the Scott Mission in Toronto and a number of other favourite charities of his.

He loved Bowery Blues and had one of his dogs named after one of the band’s members.

When he would get someone to drive him to games at Christie Pits, the jazz lover would turn on a Bowery Blues CD and play the part of the drummer himself, clanking away on the dashboard.

He worked on the railroad in Northern Ontario when he was young until he realized he wanted something more meaningful to do so he worked at newspapers up north before making his way to Toronto.

What is largely unknown is that he helped out teams in the Intercounty Baseball League by giving them money so they wouldn’t go bankrupt.

He tussled with some of his players and managers, had animated discussions with officials from other teams, had disagreements with commissioners and fumed when players like Paul Spoljaric defected to other clubs.

He intimidated the media by his mere presence or his voice on the phone. No reporter dared criticize him in the paper, on air or online for fear of being ostracized.

With his passing recently at age 82 following a series of heart attacks, Jack Dominico is being remembered as a soft-hearted individual along with his reputation as a blustery, hard-headed businessman and owner of the Intercounty league’s Toronto Maple Leafs.

His legacy is tied to the Maple Leafs, a 53-year-old franchise that is one of the cornerstone flagships of a league that is more than a century old. His teams won eight league championships, establishing a stature as one of the league’s classiest, if not richest teams, an eminence that made them the envy of other league teams.

Officials from opposing teams figure the Leafs were full of richness and unlimited money. Dominico’s business model, according to league president John Kastner, will never be replicated.

"It's pretty astounding that Jack ran the team without a traditional revenue stream,'' Kastner said in an interview. “There was no paid admission and there was little in concessions. He was forever a salesman.''

Because Christie Pits, where the Leafs play, is a public park, Dominico couldn’t charge admission. Dominco and his helpers would pass a hat or pot at every game to fans to get some money into the coffers.

Yet, team revenue largely emanated from elsewhere.

As a salesman, Dominico never rented space anywhere. He sat at a table in his house, selling ads for the Leafs’ magazine/program and on the home run fence. Dominico would also sell ads for the league’s program and for years, he did likewise for the Ontario Hockey Association’s program.

Dominico called up reporters early each year and asked them to write a story on such and such a player for the program. Until 2008 when his wife Lynne died, it was a husband-wife tandem, operating the team. They would also lay out the program, cutting and pasting stuff onto sheets of paper to make it presentable for the printer.

And who would write out the cheques most of the time for magazine writers and who would send out invoices to advertisers and who would have to phone late-paying advertisers? Dominico.

With a gentle, charming touch, Dominico, a short, bald man, was able to convince large corporations such as Wrigley’s and small businesses on Bloor St. West to take out an ad, even if they got no exposure.

In any given season, Wrigley’s probably never sold many packs of Doublemint, Spearmint or Juicy Fruit at the concession stand that stood outside the centre-field fence at Jack Dominico Field.

“They would renew their ad because of Jack and his personality. He did very little talking. He knew how to talk to people. He had terrific negotiating skills,’’ said lawyer Ty Crawford, a former minor-league player, Intercounty player and executor of Dominico’s vast estate that is worth several million dollars.

“He was so unique. He was unbelievable. People say guys like (Paul) Beeston and (Paul) Godfrey and some players are superstars but in my mind, there is only one superstar I’ve seen in my life and that is Dominico. He should have been a movie actor,’’ Crawford said.

One of the ironies affiliated with Dominico’s death is that the ad selling and the programs will likely be scrapped because as Crawford said, “you would have to find someone who knows the ad business.’’

Crawford revealed that one of the franchise's marquee events is being terminated because it wasn't a money-maker, just a "break-even'' scenario. He was talking about the long-running Fan Forum and Reception held each May at an east-end hotel in Toronto.

Also known as the "hall of fame dinner,'' the gig saw fans ask questions of former MLB players and get their autographs. Fans munched on sandwiches, coleslaw, salads and desserts.

So there will be no fan forum and reception May 14, the night before the Leafs’ home opener May 15. The fan fest first began in 1988 and at the most recent affair in 2019, customers were charged $85 for food and one autograph per player.

What will happen May 14 is a Celebration of Life for Dominico, beginning at 3 p.m., at the Turner & Porter Yorke Chapel, 2357 Bloor St. W. in Toronto.

Dominico purchased the rights to the Leafs logo and name, probably for nothing, from Alex Stanley, a former local amateur baseball star in Toronto. Stanley had acquired the logo, the rights, uniforms, bats, balls and other remnants from Leafs owners Bobby Hunter and Sam Starr, who folded the International League’s Maple Leafs when they went into bankruptcy following the 1967 season.

Stanley put a team into the Intercounty Baseball League in 1969. He was listed in team records as the owner and general manager, Leafs hockey magnate Conn Smythe was the honourary president, field manager was Jim Liness, the coach was John Krycia, and the trainers were Forbes Walkey and Bill Smith.

Who handled public relations? Dominico. His job was basically to sell ads for the program. Common lore suggests Dominico was an owner of the Leafs in 1969 but Stanley was the money man and Dominico was one of his underlings.

The team’s first signed player was pitcher Bob Smyth, who is generally regarded as the “sole mentor’’ to a guy by the name of Joey Votto with the Cincinnati Reds.

The Leafs were 5-23 in 1969 and Stanley became mired in financial difficulty. Dominico took over the team on his own in time for the 1970 season.

“Stanley had money problems,’’ Crawford said. “Dominico probably got the team for nothing. A big part of the deal was that Dominico assumed all of the debts.’’

Smyth praised Stanley for what he did in resurrecting senior baseball in Toronto in the late 1960s. In 1968, Stanley used the Leafs’ name to start the Leaside Maple Leafs, who played in the Halton league and in 1969, he founded the Intercounty Leafs.

“Alex was an ex-pro player, an umpire and he ran the Milwaukee Sporting Goods store in Toronto,’’ Smyth said. “He was really well known and respected in Toronto baseball circles. He knew baseball inside and out.

“Until Alex founded the Leaside Maple Leafs and the Toronto Maple Leafs, there had been no senior league for junior players to graduate to. He started two teams to revive senior baseball in Toronto.

“After the 1969 season, there was bad blood between Alex and Jack and all of a sudden, Jack was calling the shots.’’

During the 2020 and 2021 seasons, Dominico stopped going to Leafs games because he had been losing energy. Often, his house assistant would attend games in his place.

Two years ago, Dominico enlisted Crawford to be the executor of his estate and it’s Crawford’s responsibility to sell Dominco’s house and the ball team.

“His simple, modest house, with no variations, is surrounded by million-dollar mansions,’’ Crawford said, succinctly, with a smile on his face. That house will likely sell for close to $1-million or more.

With GM and field manager Damon Topolie at the helm, the Leafs will continue to operate in 2022 and hopefully for years beyond but it's up for sale. According to Dominico's last testament and will, he dictated to Crawford he wanted the franchise sold "within 10 years.''

"This would be an excellent purchase for Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment because they already have the hockey Leafs,'' Crawford said. "If they were smart, they would take this team over. Think about it, when you go across Canada, the biggest name talked about is the Maple Leafs.

"I have a price in mind and I'm going to work hard to get it. If I don't get it, I will try to get the best price possible. All I’m interested in is getting the best price and finding out who would be interested.’’

It's believed Crawford will be seeking at least $1-million because he said in an interview minor-league teams in the U.S. are being sold "for millions of dollars.'' That logo, that name, those hats have some sort of clout.

When a reporter suggested the Leafs were maybe worth in the "hundreds of thousands of dollars,'' Crawford laughed, meaning he was looking at more than that for the team.

Whether he would get the price he's looking for is highly unlikely, considering the Leafs play in one of the worst parks in the Intercounty. What the Leafs desperately need is a new ballpark with seating for several thousand people.

There have been stories over the years that the hockey Leafs wanted to purchase the logo rights from Dominico because they didn’t like the fact Dominico was selling hats with the logo on it. Of course, Dominico refused.

Crawford likes to counter that squabble by saying the Maple Leafs were founded as a baseball team in Toronto in 1874 and the hockey Leafs came on stream many decades later.

“You could argue that the hockey Leafs are infringing on our rights,’’ Crawford said.

So for now, Crawford will use estate funds and the team’s left-over bank money to keep the club operating. All proceeds from the sale of the team, the house and other assets will go to the estate’s beneficiaries that include Dominico’s brother Richard in Peterborough, Ont., other relatives and charities, including Scott Mission.

Dominico was a member of the Etobicoke Sports Hall of Fame, the North Bay Sports Hall of Fame and the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame and the next stop should be the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in St. Marys, Ont.

Danny Gallagher’s new Expos book Bases Loaded is available at Amazon.