Jack Dominico wins Ontario Sports HOF Legacy Award
Intercounty Baseball League Toronto Maple Leafs owner Jack Dominico has been named the winner of the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame Legacy Award. Photo: IBL/Twitter
July 30, 2020
CAMBRIDGE - The Intercounty Baseball League (IBL) is pleased to announce that Toronto Maple Leafs Owner Jack Dominico has been awarded the 2020 Ontario Sports Hall of Fame Bruce Prentice Legacy Award.
Passion, longevity, and competitiveness are just a few of the attributes that make up Jack Dominico.
Dominico had a background in newspapers. He sold ads for the North Bay Nugget and Etobicoke Guardian. He met his wife Lynne at the Guardian. Their shared love of baseball led to the Toronto Maple Leafs and that little press box high atop the hill behind home plate.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a team of the Intercounty Baseball League, based in Toronto, Ont. They play their home games on "Dominico Field" at Christie Pits. They are also known colloquially as the Intercounty Maple Leafs or the Intercounty Leafs to disambiguate themselves from the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team.
The Dominicos made the Christie Pits hillside into a place to enjoy economically friendly entertainment. The phrase "economically friendly" may be an understatement considering no admission is charged to fans for pulling up a patch of grass. It’s a business model it seems only Dominico can pull off.
Dominico is passionate in his support of youth baseball and the community surrounding Christie Pits. He has held numerous weekend baseball clinics for those involved in the Toronto Playgrounds House League Baseball program where young players can learn skills from talented players on his Toronto Maple Leafs team.
Since its inception, the team has won the Jack and Lynne Dominico Cup as Intercounty Baseball champions eight times, the first in 1972. During their 2002 championship season, the Leafs were undefeated at home, a league first.
The team was owned by husband and wife Jack and Lynne Dominico for the first 40 years of its existence but has since been owned exclusively by Jack after Lynne's passing on November 8, 2008.
The Intercounty Baseball League (IBL), in its 102nd year of operation, is the best baseball league in Canada, boasting ex-major league professional and elite NCAA college baseball players. The IBL is the fifth-longest continually operated baseball league in the world and serves as a valuable training ground for coaches, umpires, and front office staff. More than 40 IBL players have advanced to Major League Baseball or returned to the IBL following their MLB careers. The league is comprised of teams from Barrie, Brantford, Kitchener, London, Toronto, Guelph, Welland, and Hamilton. For more information, visit www.theibl.ca.