The 1984 Edmonton Trappers were the first Canadian team to win a Pacific Coast League (PCL) championship. The Trappers would go on to claim three more PCL titles over the course of their existence, but this one had some strong underdog vibes to it.
Edmonton went 69-73 in the regular season, so when they met the powerhouse Hawaii Islanders (87-53) no one expected the Trappers to prevail. They did just that, however, and seized the moment when their five-game title series was reduced to a best-of-three due to rainy weather.
The Trappers took the opener 8-4 thanks to some strong plate performances by catcher Steven Liddle and outfielder Reggie West. Liddle went 3-for-5 with a triple, run scored and a run batted in (RBI), while West – batting leadoff – was 3-for-5 with two runs, a pair of RBI, a double and a triple. Starting pitcher Jay Kibbe allowed eight hits and four earned runs while managing zero strikeouts over 6.1 innings and it was good enough for the win. David Smith preserved the Edmonton victory and recorded a save by pitching two-plus scoreless innings the rest of the way.
The second game saw Canadian Kirk McCaskill take the mound to start in front of 1,685 fans at John Ducey Park. He went 5.1 innings, allowing two earned runs, to pick up the win, while the Trappers unleashed a 17-hit attack in the 9-6 victory that secured their first PCL championship.
“We were so much the underdog, it’s unbelievable,” third baseman Pat Keedy told the Edmonton Journal newspaper after smacking a three-run homer that helped the Trappers win the title.
“As far as those guys were concerned, there was no way we could beat them.”
There were several unsung heroes on this squad who helped the Trappers contribute to Edmonton’s reputation as the City of Champions.
Many of them are pictured here in this 25-card team set from Cramer Sports Promotions.
Let’s get to know a few of them better in this installment of In The Cards:
Moose Stubing (top left) – who got into five games with the California Angels as a pinch hitter in 1967 – scouted for the Halos in the early 1970s before climbing the minor league ranks as a manager. That led him to the Trappers in 1983, where he guided the Triple-A team to a 75-67 record. The unlikely PCL championship followed in 1984. The Angels liked what they saw, enough to make him a hitting coach and third base coach with the parent club through 1990. The New Yorker served as the special assistant to the general manager for the Washington Nationals in 2008. Stubing, who passed away in 2018, also worked as a referee in Division One college basketball.For several members of the team, the major leagues never did come calling. But when the opportunity to claim a Triple-A championship arose, they grabbed it with both hands. Second baseman Tim Krauss (top middle) and Dave Smith (bottom left) were among the top postseason performers. Krauss played for the Trappers from 1983 through 1985 before playing his final pro season with the Hawaii Islanders in 1987. The lefty batter from Long Beach, California was a .290 hitter with 64 runs during his 115 regular-season games with the Trap in 1984. In the final against Hawaii, Krauss went 4-for-9 with three runs, a pair of RBI and a home run …. No Edmonton pitcher was busier than Smith in the summer of 1984. The righty from Santa Cruz, California came out of the bullpen 50 times and led the Trapper pitching staff in appearances. He went 6-3 with a 3.13 ERA, and a team-best 13 saves in 69 innings. His final pro game came in the last 2.2 innings of game one of the PCL championship – Smith allowed three hits, no walks, no runs and struck out two batters in picking up the save …. Sap Randall (center) and Rick Steirer (middle right) did realize their dreams of playing in the big leagues. Randall, a first baseman/outfielder from Alabama, split time between Edmonton and the Double-A Midland Angels from 1984 to 1987 before ultimately breaking through for four games with the Chicago White Sox in 1988. During his 119 games with the Trappers in 1984, the 10th rounder was a steady hitter, batting .284 with 11 homers, 17 doubles, 71 RBI and 61 runs. In the PCL final he was 3-for-6 with three runs and two RBI. Randall later became the head baseball coach at Grambling State University …. Steirer pitched two innings of relief in the last game of the final and allowed four runs, but only one of them was earned. He held the fort enough to maintain the 9-6 winning score and preserve McCaskill’s victory. The 6-foot-4 righty was a starter during the season and went 12-4 with a 3.71 ERA in 133-plus innings for the Trappers. The Baltimore, Maryland product appeared in 30 games with the California Angels in the 1980s. Steve Liddle (top middle) was in his first of three seasons with the Trappers in 1984. In 92 regular season contests, he contributed six long balls, 51 RBI and 40 runs. Then in the championship final the catcher was 5-for-10 while batting eighth in the lineup. The Pacific Coast League was the closest the Tennessee product would get to MLB action as a player. Liddle did, however, get to the majors as a bench coach with the Minnesota Twins from 2002 to 2010. The Twins made him their third base coach in 2011-12 before the Detroit Tigers hired him as their bench coach in 2018-19.One of the fun little features of this set can be found on the back of several cards, below the player stats. Some cards include cartoons with trivia about star players from the PCL. For example, Liddle’s card acknowledges the magnificent 1982 campaign had by Ron Kittle, which saw him bash 50 homers and claim league MVP honours as a member of the Trappers …. Chris Clark (top right) was an offensive driver for the Trap in 1984. The outfielder led the PCL in runs (104), doubles (37), and extra-base hits (64). Clark was also tops on his team in hits (161), home runs (19), RBI (104), walks (89), total bases (271), batting average (.335), on-base percentage (.436), slugging percentage (.563) and OPS (.999). The Californian suited up in 376 games for Edmonton between 1983 and 1985 before playing his final pro season for the Albuquerque Dukes in 1986.After playing over 600 games for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Seattle Mariners and Kansas City Royals, outfielder Joe Simpson (top left) made his way to northern Alberta for his last professional season of play. The third-round pick out of the University of Oklahoma led the Trappers in games played with 135. Simpson was a steady performer for the Trappers. He batted .276 with 19 doubles, 73 RBI, 73 runs and 16 stolen bases. Simpson became a broadcaster with the Mariners from 1987 to 1991 and then he moved to Atlanta to cover the Braves, a posting he’s held since 1992. His broadcasting work earned him a place in the Braves Hall of Fame.Outfielder Reggie West (top right) was a dependable manufacturer of runs for the Trappers. He led the club in stolen bases (26) and crossed the plate 74 times in 94 regular-season games. When the PCL final rolled around, the UCLA alum went 5-for-10 with three runs and three RBI. He returned to Edmonton in 1985 for his final pro season.Right-handed pitcher Jay Kibbe (left) was an unlikely victor in the opening game of the PCL championship series. The 6-foot-3 hurler went 7-12 with a 6.18 ERA in the regular season. He was a workhorse, leading the Trappers in innings pitched (179) and starts (29). But he also led the team in losses and the 26th rounder surrendered more runs (152), earned runs (123) and home runs (25) than any other pitcher in the PCL in 1984. But he persevered and it paid off in the opener of the finals when he gave up four earned runs over 6.1 frames. Kibbe had good run support on that night and came away with a win in the 8-4 triumph over Hawaii. The next day he was a PCL champ.Ed Ott was a full-time coach and a part-time player with the Trappers. He also did some colour commentary on ITV telecasts. The Pennsylvania product played 567 games as a catcher in the majors, mostly with the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1970s. He won a World Series title with the Bucs in 1979. Ott got into 14 games with the Trappers and had 47 at bats In 1984. He fared well with a .319 batting average in those games. From 1989 to 1993, he was a first base coach and bench coach with the Houston Astros. Ott was involved in a brawl against the Cincinnati Reds in 1991 that saw him put pitcher Rob Dibble in a chokehold that made the reliever’s face turn blue. In the early 2000s, Ott worked as a bullpen coach with the Detroit Tigers. He passed away in 2024 at the age of 72.
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