It was the summer of 1987 that sealed Edmonton’s reputation as the City of Champions.
The Trappers had one Pacific Coast League (PCL) title under their belt by then, and the Oilers were coming off their third of five Stanley Cup championships.
But it wasn’t sporting excellence that produced the moniker.
After a tornado ripped through the Alberta capital on July 31st, it left 27 people dead and the city in shock. Mayor Laurence Decore used the term “City of Champions” to describe the response of Edmontonians to “Black Friday,” as it was known.
The signs went up along the highways entering the city the next year.
As for the 1987 season, it was a largely underwhelming campaign for the Trappers. They went 69-74 and missed the playoffs.
There were bright spots, however.
Dante Bichette, the runner up in National League MVP voting in 1995, was in his first Triple-A season with the Trappers. Bichette does not appear in this team set from ProCards but he does have a cardboard collectible in the 1988 Edmonton set.
There were plenty of strong performances from other players on the 1987 team. Let’s get to know some of those pitchers and hitters in this edition of In The Cards:
Fans of the Trappers rarely got to see local talent on the roster, but that’s precisely what Dave Shipanoff (centre) was. The right-handed pitcher from St. Albert was playing in his final season of pro ball. The 6-foot-2 hurler began his career with the Medicine Hat Blue Jays after going undrafted and signing on with Toronto. He started eight games for the Baby Jays that summer and went 1-4 with a 7.75 ERA. Shipanoff worked his way through the minor leagues and eventually broke through with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1985. As a member of the Phillies, he made 26 relief appearances and logged 36.1 innings. He was effective working out of the bullpen and went 1-2 with a 3.22 earned run average (ERA), three saves and 26 strikeouts. He was named the Tip O’Neill Award winner as the top Canadian player that year. The Wabash Valley College alum didn’t stick in the majors and pitched out of the PCL with the Portland Beavers in 1986. With the Trappers, Shipanoff pitched in 11 games and made two starts. He finished with a 1-1 record, a 6.31 ERA and 16 Ks in 25.2 innings. After he was released by the Trappers, Shipanoff signed on in the Sunburst League with the Edmonton Blue Willow Angels.Infielder Jim Eppard (top left) was an offensive catalyst for the team and he was named the MVP of the Trappers for his efforts. The Indiana-born player led the club in hits (152) and RBI (94). He also led the PCL in batting average (.341) and doubles (33). The first baseman, a 13th-round pick of the Oakland Athletics, was in his first of three seasons in Edmonton. Eppard played 76 games with the California Angels between 1987 and 1989, followed by another six games with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1990. He didn’t register a homer or a stolen base in his 82 MLB games but he did post a respectable .281 batting average. Following his playing days, Eppard was a manager and hitting coach in the minors. He worked as a hitting coach with the Los Angeles Angels in 2013 and a minor league hitting coordinator with the Oakland Athletics in 2021.Third baseman Bill Merrifield (centre) was a steady performer in his only season with the Trap. One problem with his baseball card: that’s not Merrifield. That’s a picture of infielder Kent Anderson, who played parts of five seasons with Edmonton (and another with the Calgary Cannons in 1992). The actual Merrifield was a really good player for the Trappers in 1987. He led the PCL in extra-base hits (53), including 19 homers and 30 doubles over 130 games. The second rounder also produced 79 runs 76 RBI and led the league in total bases (231). The Wake Forest University Sports Hall of Fame member played another season of Triple-A in 1988 before retiring from pro ball. Merrifield became the assistant athletic director at Wake Forest in 2012. His son, Whit Merrifield, has played over 1,100 MLB games with the Kansas City Royals, Toronto Blue Jays, Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves.Michael “Tack” Wilson (top left) had a great name for baseball. He also delivered an excellent nickname to one of his teammates. Pitcher Dave Stewart received the handle of “Smoke” from Wilson when they played Little League Baseball together. When they met up again in the minor leagues, the nickname was brought back and it stuck. As for his time with the Trappers, Wilson led the team in stolen bases (24), runs (86) and on-base percentage (.433) in 1987. The leadoff man had a cup of coffee with the Minnesota Twins in 1983, appearing in five games with the club that year. In Edmonton, he mused about leaving the sport if he couldn’t land a gig in the majors. “As far as being a minor leaguer, this is it for me,” he told Edmonton Journal reporter Norm Cowley in August. “I’ve had fun this year and I’ve had fun in my career. But 12 years is a long time to spend in the minor leagues.” The undrafted speedster did get into seven games with the California Angels that year and – despite his non-baseball ideas – he kept playing in the minors through 1990. And he stayed in the minor leagues as an assistant coach and a hitting coach until 2017. Right-handed pitcher Terry Clark (bottom left) was a workhorse for Edmonton. The Californian appeared in 33 games, made 20 starts and logged 154.2 innings for the Trappers in 1987. In those innings, he went 8-9 with a 3.84 earned run average (ERA) and five complete games. Clark also picked up four saves. He was in his first of three seasons with the Trappers and on the cusp of MLB playing time. The 6-foot-2 hurler ended up pitching in 91 big league contests between 1988 and 1997, picking up 10 wins in 232-plus innings for several teams. Clark worked as a minor-league pitching coach between 2000 and 2019.Righty pitcher T.R. Bryden (top right) had more wins than any other Trapper in 1987. The reliever was 9-1 with a 6.35 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 72.1 innings and 41 appearances. He made one start and picked up two saves, as well. The Washington native was in his final season with the Trappers. Bryden was a reliable middle reliever for Edmonton and his pitching prowess earned him 16 games with the California Angels in 1986. The Gonzaga University alum went 2-1 with a 6.55 ERA and 25 Ks in his 34.1 MLB innings.
Thanks for going down memory lane with us, cardboard style. We encourage you to leave a comment about the players and cards below.
We are hoping to create an online digital archive of Alberta baseball card sets with our In The Cards series. We are also collecting Alberta team programs for our historical baseball archives. If you have baseball cards or programs you’d like to donate to our cause, please email us at AlbertaDugoutStories@gmail.com with more information.
