Rywak remembers Cambridge Terriers last IBL title 40 years ago
August 15, 2023
By Peter Rywak
Former Cambridge Terrier
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Cambridge Terriers winning the Intercounty Baseball League championship in their last season.
An interesting fact, as pointed out by the Hamilton Cardinals broadcaster last season during 2022 Cardinals’ playoff run, is that the 1983 Terriers are the last team to win an IBL championship from the last playoff-seeded position.
In the winter of 1982, I was contacted by the Terriers general manager Cam Allan. He asked if I was interested in pitching for the Terriers that season. They would pay my room and board and get me a summer job as well.
Cam mentioned that the team was given my name from Baseball Canada’s Bill MacKenzie, manager of the Canadian Senior National Team. Bill had seen me the previous summer as an 18-year-old pitching for the Ottawa-Nepean Canadians senior team, for coach Art Nielsen, against a strong team of college and ex-pros from Syracuse.
Once my exams were over at Carleton University, I arrived the first week of May in Cambridge. I recall walking into Dickson Park for the first time and was in awe of the history and what Terrier baseball meant to the City of Cambridge (formery Galt). The locker rooms and showers were still under the old grandstand which was built in the 1920s. I also remember looking at the short porch in right field (287 feet I believe) and then left field which was the only park in the league without a fence.
It didn’t take long to figure out to keep the ball away from lefties and in on righties.
I roomed at Mike Callan’s house, a member of the Terriers executive, about five blocks from the ballpark. Teammate RHP Blake Karasiuk (Burlington, Ont.) roomed there as well. And INF Rand Rassmussen (Edmonton), captain of Team Canada, stayed there for about a month before Team Canada opened training camp in Windsor. It was great fun and was a gathering place for the other players: Scott Mann (Oshawa, Ont.) Team Canada; Gary Borg, a Minnesota native attending the University of Illinois and Steve Campau, from Michigan where he attended St. Clair College.
The other gathering place for “Hot stove” ball talk was at Terrier executive Ed Heather’s store, The Trophy Depot. We would spend hours talking about the history of the Terriers and the IBL. And of course we talked about Jesse Orosco who had just been called up to the New York Mets and had pitched for the Cambridge Terriers five years earlier in 1977.
And Cambridge native, Ron Smith (assistant coach for the New York Rangers at the time) would drop by often and talk ball and hockey with us. Ron was a star player for the Terriers in the 1960s. Also, there was a young 16 year old player, Rob Ducey, who was working for Ed at the store. Ed would marry Rob’s mom the next year.
Rob got into a few games with the Terriers in 1982 and in 1983 he played for the Terriers on the nights his Junior Cambridge Bulldogs were not playing.
I remember when I first met Rob, he was still catching as he had while playing softball a couple of years prior. I was pitching one night against the London Majors in Labatt Park and Randy Collins put Rob in to catch me for the ninth inning.
The next day Dick Groch (before he was known as the Legend) was running a mini camp in Waterloo as a New York Yankees scout and Team Canada’s pitching coach. Ed took Rob Ducey, Steve Campau (who pitched for Dick at St. Clair) before transferring to the University of Detroit, and myself. Rob Thomson was there from Stratford as he also played for Dick’s St. Clair College team that year. Rob now manages the Philadelphia Phillies, won a National League pennant in 2022 and has his team at the Rogers Centre this week.
I had only seen Rob Ducey catch prior but I recall Ed saying that Rob was not going to bring his catching gear and was going to try out as an outfielder.
Dick had a few outfielders go into deep right field and wanted them to throw to third base. I remember a couple of senior players from the Leaside Leafs could barely hit the cutoff man near second base.
Then it was Rob’s turn. He threw “frozen ropes” on a short hop to third. I think just about everyone’s mouth dropped in the park including mine.
Rob Ducey (Cambridge, Ont.), then a Philadelphia Phillies coach re-unites with former Terriers teammate Peter Rywak.
My wife, Lori, and I had a nice visit in Clearwater with Rob back in 2017 when he was minor league instructor with the Phillies.
In 1982, our Terrier regular season record was a very strong 21-13. It was the best of any Terrier team since 1959.
We lost in seven games in the quarter final round to the Toronto Leafs who went on to win the IBL title.
I started the first game against the Leafs in Cambridge and remember being locked in a pitching duel with LHP Tom Dejak, who was a former Blue Jay double-A pitcher and IBL star.
I pitched into the 10th inning with the score still 1-1. Unfortunately, we lost in extra innings.
I was fortunate though the next week to be invited by Blue Jays scouts Bob Prentice (Toronto, Ont.) and Walt Jeffries (Paris, Ont.) to pitch in the annual top Ontario-NY state prospect game at Exhibition Stadium, and attend the Blue Jays-Cleveland game afterwards as guests of the Jays.
In 1983, our Terrier team did not have a very good regular season record due to injuries and a shortage of players on many nights.
However, we did manage to get the last playoff spot and then everything clicked with a quarter final win against Guelph Royals.
Then down 3-0 against Stratford Hillers we came back to win in seven games.
And then beat the Kitchener Panthers in five games to win the IBL title.
That final game was so memorable. Veteran RHP Jim Martel pitched an amazing game into the 12th inning for the win. And Cambridge native Darrell Wilson hit a three-run homer in the 12th inning off Oklahoma native Mike Yearout, who had just signed with the Blue Jays a few weeks earlier for the next season, and ended up reaching triple-A Syracuse in 1988.
All the players on the 1982 team and 1983 IBL championship team and some additional/key player info:
1982 Terriers Team Photo
Front row (from left): Jim Martel, Mike Hannusch, John Smrke, Greg Cranker, Rick Emmett, Pete Rywak, Scott Mann, Rand Rasmussen
Second row: Ray Brownlie, Randy Collins, Dan MacDonald, Darrell Wilson, Mike DeClara, Gary Borg, Blake Karasiuk, Marty Chapman, Bob McCullough, Jeff Callan (ball boy)
Third row: John Allan (bat boy); Cam Allan GM; Art White, executive; Mike Callan, executive; Herb Schiel, secretary; Bill Hammer, treasurer
Missing:Jim Wojcik, Ray Jablonski, Mike Tanev, Don Clarke, Rob Ducey.
Some info on the players:
OF Jim Wojcik (Buffalo, NY) – Joined the Terriers in 1982 after being released from double A with the San Francisco Giants organization in June. He hit .473 average which would have been best in the league but he only had 55 at bats.
Jim also played for the powerhouse semipro Buffalo Voyageurs. Jim was drafted by the Giants from University of Buffalo. He went on to a long-time IBL career with the Toronto Maple Leafs and was voted a top 100 player.
C-OF Ray Jablonski (Buffalo, NY) – A key member of the 1979 Terrier IBL championship team when he starred at Canisus College. He was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1980 and played two seasons mostly Class A. He did get called up by the Buffalo Bisons double A team for a few games at the end of the season. Doug Frobel (Ottawa, Ont.) a former Ottawa-Nepean Canadian as well, was the star on that Bisons team. Ray also played on the Buffalo Voyageurs team after being released from pro ball.
OF Mike Tanev (East York, Ont.) – He played the previous season with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Mike has two sons currently playing in the NHL. Brandon Tanev (Seattle Kraken) and Chris Tanev (Calgary Flames).
LHP Don Clarke (Listowel, Ont.) – He was part of the 1979 IBL championship team and also the 1983 IBL championship team. Years later, Don pitched in many National Canadian 55 plus tournaments. Throwing very hard into his later years.
OF Rob Ducey (Cambridge, Ont.) – He played a few games as 16-year-old in 1982 and quite a number of games during 1983 season. Rob had a 13-year career in the majors with the Toronto Blue Jays, Philadelphia Phillies, Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners, Montreal Expos and California Angels. Then, he worked as a coach in the minors and with Team Canada. He was inducted into the Cambridge Hall of Fame.
RHP Jim Martel (Cambridge, Ont.) - Sitting in front row at left end. He was inducted into the Port Colbourne Sports Hall of Fame this past winter. Jim was a hockey star for Northeastern University in Boston. He holds the all-time scoring points record of 210. He also pitched for Northeastern and pitched for the Canadian National Team in 1982 when they went to South Korea for World Championships.
DH John Smrke (Chicoutimi, Que.) – He played previous IBL seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs. John was drafted by St. Louis Blues and played parts of 1977 to 1979 seasons in the NHL for the Blues and also played for Quebec Nordiques in 1979-80.
C Greg Cranker (Windsor, Ont.) - The man with the big mustache sitting in middle front row.
OF-3B Scott Mann (Oshawa, Ont.) - Is in front row second from the right. He played at Alvin Junior College in 1981-82 then transferred to Indiana State. Scott often told stories about Nolan Ryan (Alvin resident) throwing batting practice to them at the college. Scott signed with Expos and reached double A. He played with Larry Walker (Maple Ridge, BC) and Andy Lawrence (Mississauga, Ont.) at double-A Jacksonville.
RHP Pete Rywak (Ottawa, Ont.) – Quickly learned to keep the two seamer and breaking ball down in the IBL. Especially with the aluminum bats used in early 80s, and very short fences. Peter currently lives with his wife, Lori, in Niagara Falls.
2B Rand Rasmussen (Edmonton, Alta.) - Sitting last on the right front row. He was captain of our National Team and a was a school teacher in Edmonton via California where he grew up played college ball and in the Alaska Summer league in the 1970s where he was a teammate of Hall of Famer Dave Winfield. Longtime Team Canada player, Rand was also on the Canadian Team in 1981 that upset the Cuban National team at the Intercontinental Cup held in Edmonton. Rand went back to the U.S. in the late 80s or early 1990s to Utah and taught coached girls Bingham High School basketball and boys baseball. Rand was inducted in Utah HS Sports Hall of Fame.
Second Row: P Ray Brownlie– He pitched part of the 1982 season with the Terriers, then with Waterloo in 1983 and later in the 1980s for Kitchener and Brantford.R ay got into umpiring also around 1982 and 1983 and then umpired in the IBL until about a year ago when he retired. Heard he might be back doing a few games though. Ray runs an umpiring equipment business — making custom products for big-league umps and minor-league umpires, and the rest of the world — and travels to Florida and Arizona spring training each year
Manager-DH Randy Collins (Cambridge, Ont.) – He was a legend in the IBL for his hitting. Randy was a great guy and coach as well. Unfortunately, he passed away a number of years ago.
RHP Dan MacDonald (Toronto, Ont.) – Third in from the left. He pitched for the Toronto Maple Leafs in previous IBL seasons. Dan worked for Harold Ballard (owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs) and was Harold’s main driver when he needed to get around. As you would expect, Dan had so many interesting stories about Harold.
OF Gary Borg (Minnesota native) - Fifth from the right. He was the 1982 IBL MVP and Triple Crown winner. Gary had just finished his freshman year at University of Illinois. He went on to be drafted in sixth round by the Minnesota Twins and reached as high as double A.
SS Bob McCullough (Cambridge, Ont.) - Sitting at end next to ball boy. He played at Seminole Community College in Sanford, Fla. and then the Stetson Hatters in Deland. Bob was a member of the national team from 1981 to 1984.
Ballboy Jeff Callan (Cambridge, Ont.) - He went on to pitch at Trevecca University in Nashville, Tenn. After graduating, Jeff moved to Venice, Fla. where he still teaches and was assistant coach at the Venice HS who were multiple Florida State HS champs.
GM Cam Allan (Cambridge, Ont.) – Back row in green shirt. He was the 1982 IBL Executive of the Year. Cam was a long-time teacher and football coach at Southwood High School in Cambridge. Cam was inducted into the Cambridge Sports Hall of Fame.
1983 IBL Champ team photo from IBL 100th Anniversary book
Top Row (left to right) INF Marty Chapman (Toronto, Ont.) – He had played with the Toronto Maple Leafs in previous seasons. Marty was a solid infielder and hitter. He won the playoff MVP award in 1983.
RHP Pete Rywak (Ottawa, Ont.) – My Summer job in 1983 was making Pizza’s at Mother’s Pizza on the nights we were not playing. Mother’s was one of the sponsors that season. Needless to say I ate a lot of pizza that Summer. Ed Heather was calling me “Pizza Pete” that Summer. I was 3-0 in the playoffs with two wins in quarter final against Guelph and in the fifth game of semi-final gainst Stratford. Probably one of the best games I threw in the quarter final against Guelph. My fastball was sinking, and my curve ball was sharp. It resulted in all the putouts in the infield or strikeouts. The outfielders did not make one putout. I did made friends with the Dickson Park groundskeeper that summer and he’d wait to cut the infield grass the day after pitched. I recall they did the same at Tiger Stadium for Doyle Alexander .
C Greg (Cranks) Cranker (Mississauga, Ont.) – A great catcher to pitch to. Solid hitter and quick release. Spent so much time at his Mississauga ball park that it is now named after him. Gives so much of his time to Erindale Cardinals senior and Erindale Little League.
Manager-DH Randy Collins (Cambridge, Ont.) – Was a great manager and IBL hitting legend.
1B-OF Mike Hannusch (Cambridge, Ont.) – Good solid left-handed hitter.
OF Jim Wojcik, (Buffalo, NY) - He joined the Terriers in 1982 after being released from double A with the San Francisco Giants organization that June. Jim hit .473 average which would have been best in the league but he only had 55 at bats.
Jim also played for the powerhouse semipro Buffalo Voyageurs. Jim was drafted by Giants from University of Buffalo. Jim went on later to a long-time IBL career with the Toronto Leafs and was voted top 100 player.
RHP-2B Mike Power (Buffalo, NY) – He pitched for University of Buffalo Bulls and for the Buffalo Voyageurs. Mike was a very effective submarine pitcher. Mike also played second when not pitching. Had a solid bat with great inside out swing to opposite field. Understand after graduating University of Buffalo Mike moved to Southern US to teach and was involved as a coach with the US National 18U program.
Second Row: Hugh Pogue, Executive
Rene Lord, Executive
Herb Schiel, Secretary
GM Cam Allan (Cambridge, Ont.) - He was 1982 IBL executive of the year. Cam was a long-time teacher and football coach at Southwood High School in Cambridge. He was inducted into the Cambridge Sports Hall of Fame.
Bill Hammer, treasurer
Bill Buck, executive
Mike Callan, executive – Great Guy. He opened his home to many out-of-town players to live for the summer while playing for the Terriers. Sadly he passed away a number of years ago. His son Jeff as mentioned, lives in Florida.
Third Row: INF Jim Hodges (Cambridge, Ont.), – One of the smoothest left-handed swings in the IBL. He certainly took advantage of the Dickson Park short right field fence. Jim was also a key player on the 1979 IBL Terrier championship team.
1B-C Jim Mattison (Buffalo, NY) – He also played for the University of Buffalo Bulls. A solid player.
INF Darrell Wilson (Cambridge, Ont.) – He was a solid infielder and hitter. He also played on the 1979 IBL championship team. As mentioned, Darrell hit the dramatic 12th inning three run home run in Game 5 in 1983 IBL finals against Kitchener to seal the victory for the Terriers.
RHP Jim Martel (Cambridge, Ont.) – Originally from Port Colbourne, Ont., he was inducted into their Sports Hall of Fame this past winter. Jim was a hockey star for Northeastern University in Boston in 1970s. He still holds the all-time scoring points record of 210 career points. Jim also pitched for Northeastern and Team Canada National Team in 1982 when it travelled to South Korea for World Championships. Jim was a key pitcher in both Terrier 1979 and 1983 championships. Jim currently lives with his wife in Welland.
SS Bob McCullough (Cambridge, Ont.) - Played at Seminole Community College in Sanford, Fla. and then Stetson University in Deland. Was a member of the national team from 1981 to 1984. Everyone agreed that Bob had a major league level glove at short. After university worked for many years as head of the grounds crew for the Atlanta Braves. He currently still lives in southern US.
LHP Ed Howell (Mississauga, Ont.) – Ed pitched brilliantly during the 1983 season. He had great command and smarts on the mound. His motion remined me of Jimmy Key with the Blue Jays. Ed now lives in Port Dalhousie and understand he has a very solid golf game. (Editor’s note !: Spurr is often mistaken for his former Erindale 2B Rob ‘Alonzo” Scicluna until people get up close and realize that Alonzo is the handsome one.) … (Editor’s Note II: Howell points out he was Rookie of the Year .)
1B-OF Floyd Davies (Brantford, Ont.) – He had a good left-handed bat. He came up in the Brantford program with Wayne Gretzky. Wayne would always get together with him and other friends when he would come into town. Floyd’s parents also had one the first satellite dishes in Brantford. Walter Gretzky and Wayne’s brothers would come over to watch Wayne’s NHL games.
Fourth Row: OF Dan Stewart (Hamilton, Ont.) – Speedy outfielder and good bat. Dan would get to so many balls that you would not expect an outfielder to catch.
LHP Don Clarke (LIstowel, Ont.) – Part of the 1979 IBL championship team, and also the 1983 IBL championship team. Years later, Don pitched in many National Canadian 55 plus tournaments. Throwing very hard into his later years.
Bat boy John Allan (Cambridge, Ont.) – John’s dad was Cam.
2B Joe Heeney (Etobicoke, Ont.) – He was an amazing ball player. He mostly played second for the Terriers in 1983. Unbelievable range and arm. And his hitting is legendary. One time in Christie Pits against the Leafs, Joe hit a line drive home run to left that was still rising 50 feet past the fence, and last we saw it rolling into the darkness toward Bloor Street. Joe played for Connors State and Pan American University. He also played with the 1982 Junior National team, 1983 Senior National Team at Pan Am games and the 1984 Olympic team in Los Angeles..
C Jim Miller (Toronto, Ont.) – He joined the 1983 Terriers part way through the season after moving from Winnipeg.
Missing players from Photo that contributed during the regular season and playoffs:
OF Rob Ducey (Cambridge, Ont.) – Rob played a few games as 16-year-old in 1982 and quite a number of games during 1983 season. Long-time big-leaguer. He scouted for the Toronto Blue Jays and coached with the Philadelphia Phillies and Team Canada as well.
RHP Pat Scanlon (Buffalo, NY) - He joined the 1983 team midway through the season. Was 4-2 in regular season but then was dominant in playoffs. Recall he was 5-0 in playoffs. Pat had graduated Monroe Community College and transferred that fall to University of Buffalo.
OF Vince Chairamida (Toronto, Ont.) – He played previous IBL seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Good hitting outfielder. And recall a great sense of humour in the dugout/clubhouse.
DH Tom Comwell (Buffalo, NY) – He also played for the Buffalo Voyageurs. Great power right handed hitter.
LHP Kevin Pearce (Ottawa, Ont.) – He was still only 18. Kevin pitched in a few games during the Terrier 1983 season. Kevin mainly pitched for the Cambridge Junior team and dominated the Junior IBL before heading to Sanford Fla. with Rob Ducey to Seminole. The former Ottawa-Nepean Canadian then transferred to Western Kentucky University the next season and had great success at the Division 1 school. Kevin currently lives with his wife, Kari, in Phoenix, Az.
And when McCullough, Heeney and Rassmussen were at the Pan Am games in South America, the IBL allowed the Terriers to pick up three position players from the two team (Toronto Maple Leafs and Hamilton Cardinals) that did not make the playoffs that year:
The players:
C-OF Jim Eliopoulos (Toronto, Ont.) – He played for Toronto Maple Leafs. Jim was an 1984 Olympic Team member and a great IBL all star catcher.
INF Mike Sanford (Toronto, Ont.) – Long-time Toronto Maple Leaf player and also managed in later years for Leafs. Very solid player.
3B Scott Gardner (Hamilton, Ont.) – Long-time Hamilton Cardinal player. Great IBL career.
And for Mini Reunion Golf Day last September 2022 at Mystic Golf Club in Ancaster
(From left: Rod MacKenzie, 1979 Terriers , IBL all star, Don Clarke, 1979 and 1983 Terriers; Cy Elvin, 1979 Terriers, 1980-1983 Brantford Red Sox; Greg Darichuk, former Detroit Tigers farmhand, reaching triple A; 1979 Terriers, 1980-1983 Toronto Maple Leafs; Pete Rywak 1982 and 1983 Terrriers; Jim Martel, 1979 and 1983 Terriers, former Northeastern University, IBL all star, P1982 Canadian National Team; Greg (Cranks) Cranker 1982 and 1983 Terriers.