When Reno Lizzi first brought professional baseball to Lethbridge, little did he know he was on a collision course with the team he grew up idolizing.
The Coalhurst native first brought the Alberta Major Baseball League to town in 1972 with the Lethbridge Lakers, before shooting for the stars with the first Alberta-based Pioneer Baseball League team in 1975.
The Lethbridge Expos served as the Rookie League affiliate of the Montreal Expos for two seasons, 1975-1976, before Lizzi had to go searching for a new Major League Baseball club to sign on with.
“He loved the Dodgers,” his son, Mark, told the Lethbridge Herald after Lizzi was inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame earlier this year.
“They used to have a Triple-A team in Spokane and we used to go there.”
He recalled conversations his dad would have with former Dodgers player and manager Tommy Lasorda.
Lizzi lived out a dream by bringing his favourite team to his home province from 1977 to 1983, including three championships in four seasons.
As the present-day Los Angeles Dodgers celebrate their second-straight World Series championship and third in six years, we wanted to pay tribute to the Dodgers’ dynasty that lived out in Alberta.
MEMORABLE FIRST IMPRESSION
Expectations were high heading into the Dodgers’ inaugural season in Lethbridge.
After two underwhelming seasons with younger Expos managers, the Dodgers decided to send someone with a boatload of baseball know-how to the Windy City.
Thirty-year veteran Gail Henley was announced as the team’s new skipper on Feb. 14, 1977.
“You might call it a gut feeling that the Los Angeles Dodgers and Lethbridge Dodgers will have a very good working agreement,” Henley told the Lethbridge Herald. “I feel we will provide Lethbridge and area fans with a good baseball club.”
With a few players who suited up with the Low-A Bellingham Dodgers the previous season and a good core of first-year pros including future MLBers Mitch Webster and Ron Kittle, the Dodgers were poised to be a contender.
Heading into the final game of the regular season, the Dodgers held a one-game lead over the Great Falls Giants.
In what would be the circuit’s final season without playoffs, the pennant winner would also claim the championship.
Up against the Billings Mustangs, Mike Zouras delivered with his Pioneer League record 21st home run of the season while teammate Tim Jones also hit a round tripper in a 13-6 victory.
“It’s a great feeling – this season has been a success for us,” Lizzi told the Herald.
“As a matter of fact, had we not even won the pennant it was still an excellent season. Our fans saw some great baseball and we had a good group of people to work with in the boys, Gail Henley and Dennis Heron.”
For the first time in Pioneer League history, the championship pennant would fly north of the border.
SOPHOMORE SLUMP
A year to the date after Henley was named the Lethbridge skipper, his successor was named in Jim Lefebvre.
It was the first managerial job for the former big-league player, who would later go on to manage the Seattle Mariners, Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers.
Henley, meanwhile, had taken on a new role with the Dodgers.
“I hope I can add to what Gail has done,” Lefebvre said. “I feel the situation in Lethbridge is ideal. It’s a great city with great people, and it is associated with the greatest organization in baseball.”
Despite a roster filled with future MLB talent including Steve and Dave Sax, Candy Maldonado, Mike Marshall, and Dann Bilardello, the Dodgers had a tough time on and off the field.
The team posted a 33-35 record to finish out of playoff contention while the Mustangs, led by star outfielder Gary Redus, finished 50-18 before sweeping the Idaho Falls Angels in the best-of-three championship series.
Off the field, the Dodgers were rained out seven times while only drawing about 17,000 fans during the season, which was nearly 10,000 less than the previous season.
“Maybe we share in the blame,” Lizzi told the Lethbridge Herald.
“Maybe we didn’t go out and sell the game the way we should have. Possibly we felt complacent after winning the league pennant in 1977.”
Added Lizzi: “I really don’t have all the answers. I know I can put a lot of the blame on myself.”
Despite the challenging season and some rumours about the team folding and moving south, the Dodgers signed a new affiliation agreement to continue operating in Lethbridge.
BACK IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT
A familiar face would return to the Dodgers in 1979 as Henley was put back in the managerial role.
While expectations were high after his debut season, he entered the summer wanting to field an exciting team while focusing on developing the next generation of major-league stars.
“I just hope the talent we are given is good enough to help us be competitive,” Henley told the Lethbridge Herald.
“We will try and create a winning atmosphere; I think by winning , players have a tendency to learn more because they’re happy and they develop spirit. Nobody wants to be a loser.”
With Maldonado returning as an 18-year-old, as well as future MLB infielder Greg Brock and pitcher Rich Rodas, the Dodgers had a regular season record of 38-30 to win the North Division pennant.
Rodas was particularly outstanding with an incredible record of 12-0 with a 1.12 earned run average in 13 starts, logging 113 innings while striking out 148 batters.
The Dodgers met the Helena Brewers in the best-of-three league championship, after the Brewers won a tie-breaker with the Mustangs as the top team in the South Division with identical 43-26 records.
Despite losing Rodas to a late-season injury, Henley turned to Morris Madden – who was 6-1 with a 2.93 ERA and 106 strikeouts in 13 games) to start the first game of the series in Lethbridge.
The South Carolina native went seven-plus innings and allowed just one run on seven hits. He issued three walks while striking out eight before turning it over to Dave Daniels, who shut the door in a 2-1 Dodger victory.
Lethbridge’s only two runs of the game came in the first inning when Brock hit a two-run double off the Phillies’ Kyle Money, who threw a complete game four-hitter while striking out nine.
Then Henley looked to Casey Lindsay in game two of the series in Helena. Lindsay combined with Daniels for a 12-strikeout, shutout performance in a 2-0 victory.
Leo Mann and William Sobbe spoiled another outstanding performance from a Brewers starter, this time Jay Baller, by driving in runs in the fourth inning.
The team returned home to Lethbridge early the next morning and got Lizzi out of bed to present him with the trophy.
“I couldn’t believe it,” the team president said.
“There I am standing in my pajamas and the guys are there with the trophy. It certainly caps off a great season.”
THIRD TIME’S A CHARM
They might not have been the most star-studded roster of the championship-calibre Dodgers squads in Lethbridge, but the 1980 edition of the team was easily the most dominant.
Once again managed by Henley, the Dodgers had the most potent offensive attack by averaging 7.6 runs per game while sporting the circuit’s best team ERA at 3.33.
Four players – Jon Debus, Greg Smith, Audie Cole and Anthony Lachowetz – posted batting averages over .300 to go along with 50-plus RBI, while Lachowetz led the league with 36 stolen bases.
On the mound, a combined record of 23-3 by Charles Jones, Francis McQuade and Steve Marsden made for a formidable trio heading into the championship series against Billings.
Jones got the start in the best-of-three opener and was cruising until a wild sixth inning where three hits, a walk, a wild pitch and an error turned into four runs against.
Henley was also tossed from the game in that inning after protesting a call at second base, as the Dodgers fell 4-2.
The second game of the series became an instant classic, with the two teams trading runs through the first eight-and-a-half innings.
With runners on first and second with no one out in the bottom of the ninth, Henley “threw away the book” in what many thought would be a bunt situation and gave Cole the “hit” sign.
The team’s most valuable player came through with a single to centre field to complete the 6-5 squeaker.
“We’ve been playing terrible lately,” Henley said. “We gave away the five runs they scored, but we made them stay in town one more day.”
The Dodgers turned to Brett Wise in the final game, who delivered in a big way as the 19-year-old allowed just six hits over seven innings before reliever Orlando DeLeon threw a perfect two innings to preserve a 4-0 victory.
Cole led the way offensively with three hits and two RBI to give the Dodgers their third championship in four years.
It would also be the curtain call for Henley, who announced he was going back to his scouting role with the Dodgers.
“I’m not a manager, I’m a scout,” he said. “If I wanted to manage at a higher level, I could have done it years ago. Managing is just a hobby for me.”
GETTING OUT OF DODGE
Unfortunately for the Dodgers, they weren’t able to replicate the championship success they had under Henley.
With Gary Larocque now at the helm, they went 43-27 to finish second to the Calgary Expos in the North Division in 1981.
The following season, they mustered the worst record in the Pioneer League with a 25-45 mark.
Henley returned in 1983 to guide the team to a 39-31 record, good enough for second place again behind the Expos.
The biggest blow came just a few days after the season came to an end, as the Dodgers announced they were leaving Lethbridge for Great Falls.
“It came as a surprise,” Lizzi told the Herald, claiming in an earlier interview he thought the Dodgers would renew their affiliation again.
The MLB squad cited several reasons for the move, including dealing with the currency exchange rate and a better field in Great Falls.
Meantime, rental rates at Henderson Stadium were seen as a major issue for the Dodgers brass, to go along with the contentious ban on beer sales.
The franchise was eventually sold to David and Doug Elmore, who initially claimed they were looking to keep a team in Lethbridge but needed a working agreement with an MLB team.
However, in late-January 1984, the team was moved to Pocatello, Idaho.
Vice-president Pete Bock believed it might be a good opportunity for the community to reflect and learn from the experience of losing its franchise.
“I think the absence of professional baseball for a year in Lethbridge will allow some decision-making people to review their loss,” he told the Herald.
“I think some people that took it for granted will realize they lost something very valuable to the community.”
Bock went onto say that, if the community took a “strong stand and supported the incoming operators,” another team would work in Lethbridge.
Unfortunately, that wouldn’t happen until the independent Lethbridge Mounties began play in 1992, ending with the Black Diamonds in 1998.
The Dodgers, meantime, went onto lose two consecutive championships to the Salt Lake City Trappers in 1985-1986, then three-peated with titles between 1988 and 1990 and one more in 2002.
Lethbridge may have been a minor footnote in the grand history of the Los Angeles Dodgers, but it is one worth celebrating as one of the best stretches of minor league baseball this province ever saw.
