A smile comes easy to Bill Pegg every time he comes across a young person wearing a Kitchener Panthers cap or hoodie.

 

Pegg, the long-time Panthers president, knows his Intercounty Baseball League team doesn’t have the reach of the Blue Jays or Raptors or even the Kitchener Rangers. But to see Panthers paraphernalia makes Pegg proud.

 

Running the Panthers has been a labour of love for him.

 

“I love all sports, but I love baseball the most,” said Pegg, in his 20th year running the Panthers. “I love the camaraderie and what we do for the community. I enjoy the chase of a championship.”

 

The Panthers have been part of the Kitchener-Waterloo community for more than a century.

 

The IBL celebrated its 100th anniversary with an intriguing book, The IBL: A 100 Seasons of Baseball, and a banquet, in which 58 of its 69 living of the top-100 players attended in Kitchener last February.

 

The Panthers, in their 101st season, have been the only team to compete every summer. They have been to the league final in three of the past four years, and they’re in contention once again.

 

They sit in top spot with two final games remaining in the regular-season — visits to Brantford on Friday and Guelph on Saturday — this weekend. If they finish tied with the Barrie Baycats, there will be a one-game playoff. No matter what transpires over the next few days, the Panthers will begin the playoffs, likely on Thursday, chasing their first championship since 2001.

 

Putting together a senior baseball team always has been a challenge. Weddings or family vacations can deplete a lineup. The Panthers have been without two of their top pitchers down the stretch. Jasvir Rakkar (Canada) and Yoennis Yera (Cuba) have been away at the Pan-Am Games in Peru. They are expected to return on Tuesday, in time for the Panthers playoff run.

 

If the Panthers can end their championship drought, more players will join past legends such as Bill Bykowski, Gary Ebel, Scott Medvin, Tom McKenzie, Bob McKillop, Daniel Procopio, Harry Psutka and Ron Smith.

 

The Panthers played their first game at Victoria Park on May 24, 1919, and defeated Stratford 14-4, as documented in the IBL book put together by John Thompson. Teams from Galt, Guelph, Stratford and Kitchener competed in that first season.

 

The Panthers later became the Legionnaires and the Dutchmen, but they returned to their original nickname in 1960. They also moved their home from Victoria Park for good to Jack Couch Park in 1967.

 

They have won 13 league titles. Only Brantford has celebrated more with 15.

 

Pegg has been part of the local baseball scene for decades, beginning as minor league player in Waterloo.

 

He had some former Panthers players as coaches back then. When the opportunity came to help run the Kitchener Jr. Dodgers, Pegg was all in. The junior team was closely affiliated with the Panthers.

 

As Max Rausch and John Weber were winding down their long tenures running the Panthers, Pegg became more involved.

 

There have been financial challenges in keeping the team afloat. But thanks to people such as Pegg, the Panthers have persevered.

 

“The best marketing is winning, but the Panthers need sponsorship to survive,” Pegg said.

 

One of the excellent developments a few years back was when the entire Kitchener minor baseball system became the Panthers; an initiation Pegg played a vital role in.

 

August is the most prominent time of the summer for the Panthers. The playoffs almost are here. There will be more fans spilling into Jack Couch. There will be hope this is the year the Panthers knock off the tour de force known as the Baycats, winners of five consecutive IBL championships.

 

You can be sure there will be more fans wearing Panthers caps and hoodies as the chase gets underway.