Jim Dwyer, born in Evergreen, Illinois, on January 3, 1950, achieved baseball success at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale (SIU-C), leading the Salukis to a second-place finish in the 1971 CWS. His 18-year big-league career from 1973-1990 was highlighted by a World Series (WS) ring with the 1983 Baltimore Orioles. He helped two franchises—1976-77 Licey Tigers in the Dominican Winter League (DOWL) and 1977-78 Mayagüez Indios in the Puerto Rico Winter League (PRWL) win Caribbean Series crowns in February 1977 and February 1978, respectively. On December 16, 2023, he was inducted into Puerto Rico’s Professional Baseball Hall of Fame. Dwyer played at 5-10, 170 pounds; batted left-handed; and threw right. His SABR bio by Tom Mank at https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/jim-dwyer/ noted that Mickey Mantle was his favorite ballplayer. This blog focuses on Dwyer’s 1971 CWS, Winter Ball, and 1983 WS.

1971 CWS

Richard “Itchy” Jones, 1969 SIU-C assistant baseball coach, Dwyer’s Freshman season, was promoted to head coach in 1970. Jones was born in Herrin, Illinois, in 1938. (Herrin native Ray Chapman, 1920 Cleveland Indians, became the only big leaguer to die via a fatal beaning by the Yankees Carl Mays, August 16, 1920, at the Polo Grounds, and died on the morning of August 17.) Ohio University, featuring Mike Schmidt, eliminated SIU-C in the 1970 NCAA Regionals. The 1971 Salukis featured second baseman Duane Kuiper, a 1971 fourth-round draft pick, Dwyer—255^th pick, 11^th round, Richard Langdon (22^nd round), and Mike Eden (27^th round). The 40-7 Salukis were 1971 CWS co-favorites with the 41-10 University of Southern California (USC) Trojans, coached by Rod Dedeaux.

Omaha, Nebraska hosted the CWS, then, as it does now, with 1971 results:

• June 11—Harvard 4-1 over Brigham Young (BYU); Tulsa (5) Mississippi State (2); USC (5) Seton Hall (1)
• June 12—SIU-C (5) Pan-American (4); BYU (3) Mississippi State (1); Pan-American (8) Seton Hall (2)
• June 13—Tulsa (9) Harvard (8); SIU-C (8) USC (3); Pan-American (1) Harvard (0)
• June 14—USC (8) BYU (6); Tulsa (9) SIU-C (4); SIU-C (8) Pan-American (6)
• June 15—USC (8) Tulsa (4)
• June 16—USC (3) Tulsa (2)
• June 17—USC (7) SIU-C (2).

Dwyer, Fred Lynn, and Steve Rogers made the All-Tournament Team, per Table I. Dwyer, posted a composite .413 BA in 1971 and was named a 1971 All-American. Rogers pitched for the PRWL 1972-73 Caguas Criollos, to Bob Boone.

Table I: 1971 CWS All-Tournament Team

Source: Baseball-Reference.

                                                                                                                Jim Dwyer, SIU-C Salukis. Photo credit: https://siusalukis.com/

DOWL Success

Dwyer posted a .339 BA (65/192) for the 1973-74 Escogido Lions (30-28), managed by Jim Williams and Felipe Alou. Lions’ “Imports” also included first baseman Cecil Cooper (.276 BA), left-fielder Greg Gross (.271 BA), center fielders Garry Maddox (.210 BA) and Gary Matthews (.298 BA).  Their rotation comprised Juan Marichal (5-5, 2.12 ERA), Craig Skok (5-3, 3.65), Bob Forsch (4-5, 3.54), plus Elías Sosa (4-7, 4.23), Al Hrabosky (5-4, 3.34), and Santos Alcalá (3-1, 3.22). Dwyer went 3-for-10 in the playoffs versus Águilas Cibaeñas, a three-game sweep by the latter featuring Rico Carty and Dave Parker. In 1976-77, Dwyer helped Licey (34-26 under Buck Rodgers) finish second and win the February 1977 Caribbean Series (CS), hosted by Caracas, Venezuela. Their primary CS line-up was Rafael Landestoy (CF), Rennie Stennett (2B), Manny Mota (LF), Bob Beall (1B), MVP Rico Carty (DH), Dwyer (RF), Mario Guerrero (SS), Ted Martínez (3B), and Ike Hampton (C). Ed Halicki and Stan Wall were their top starters. César Gerónimo (CF) did not make the trip. Dwyer went 5-for-19 in Caracas; scored four and drove in two. Table II has his Escogido and Licey regular season stats.

Table II: Dwyer’s Escogido and Licey Statistics

Source: Winterball data.

PRWL Heroics

Dwyer’s five PRWL seasons culminated in his 1978-79 MVP Award, based on a league-leading .309 BA, 15 homers, 53 RBIs, and .574 SLG. In 1977-78, he posted a .350 BA and led the loop with 66 runs, 78 hits, and 14 doubles. His 1977-78 hitting helped fourth place Mayagüez (29-31) qualify and winning, the playoffs. The 1977-78 Indios’ performance salvaged a moribund franchise. Leadoff hitter Ron Leflore (.396 BA, 34 SB), edged Bayamón’s Art Howe (.394 BA) for the batting title, and Santurce’s Iván de Jesús (31 SB) for the SB crown. Dwyer’s 22 steals were third best and his .350 BA put him fourth, in front of teammate José Manuel Morales’s .331 BA. League MVP Kurt Bevacqua (10 HR and league-best 64 RBIs) gave the Indios additional firepower. Ramón Avilés was an integral part of the 1977-78 “Tribe.” He noted that: “We had seven players at .300 [BA] or better. Venezuela [Caracas] and the Dominican Republic [Águilas Cibaeñas] were favored to win the [1978] CS, but we won it.” Danny Darwin was one hurler who came through for Tribe skipper Rene Lachemann. “It was a great atmosphere, and we were ready for the playoffs. We picked up some pitching help for the CS [Tom Bruno and Dennis Kinney] and no one could beat us. I won a series game.” Mazatlán, Mexico hosted this February 4-9, 1978, event. Mayagüez won five of six games to win it all.

Table III summarizes Dwyer’s PRWL regular season stats.

Table III: Dwyer’s Arecibo and Mayagüez Statistics

! Unofficial (excludes HBP, sacrifice flies). Source: https://safabpp.com/inmortal/jim-dwyer/

The 1983 WS

Baltimore upended Philadelphia, four games to one, in the 1983 Fall Classic. Dwyer went 3-for-8 with three runs, a double, a homer, and one RBI. His slash line was .375/.375/.875, with a 1.250 OPS! Benny Ayala, his Baltimore and 1974-75 Arecibo Wolves teammate, went 1-for-1. Other 1983 Orioles who played in the PRWL included: WS MVP Rick Dempsey (1975-77 Mayagüez), Eddie Murray (1976-79 Caguas), Cal Ripken Jr. (1980-82 Caguas), Ken Singleton (1970-71 San Juan Senators), Jim Palmer (1968-69 Santurce Crabbers), Mike Boddicker (1980-81 Caguas), and Scott McGregor (1976-78 Caguas). Dennis Martínez (1976-79 and 1980-81 Caguas; 1984-85 Santurce; and 1997-98 Mayagüez) did not pitch in the 1983 WS nor did reliever Tim Stoddard (1978-1980 Crabbers). Garry Maddox and Gary Matthews—Dwyer’s 1973-74 Escogido teammates—played for Philadelphia, who had 10 players with PRWL experience: Larry Anderson, Steve Carlton, Iván de Jesús, John Denny, Von Hayes, Willie Hernández, Sixto Lezcano, Tony Pérez, Mike Schmidt, and Ozzie Virgil Jr.

      Jim Dwyer 1983 Donruss #583 card. Photo credit: Donruss.

Postscript

Dwyer earned his accounting degree from SIU-C in 1973. Craig Anderson, ex-Crabbers hurler, 1961-63, earned his master’s from SIU-C in March 1966. Some other ex-Salukis in the majors were Ray Rippelmeyer (San Juan Senators, 1957-1960), Tom Timmermann (Caguas Criollos 1967-1970), Duane Kuiper, Dave Stieb, Jerry Hairston Jr., and Steve Finely (Mayagüez Indios 1988-89). The author—who got his master’s from SIU-C in May 1987—saw center fielder Finley perform superbly for the 1986 and 1987 Salukis. In 1988, Dwyer was inducted into the SIU-C Sports Hall of Fame. Bryan Goldberg, the author’s cousin, did radio broadcasts for the 1995 and 1996 Hardware City Rock Cats when Dwyer was their hitting coach under Sal Butera and Al Newman before the team’s name changed to New Britain Rock Cats in 1997. Bryan opined that Dwyer was a fine coach, and interviewed Joe Buzas, Rock Cats owner, during one of Buzas’s trips to New Britain, Connecticut. Buzas managed the PRWL Mayagüez Indios (1945-48), Aguadilla Sharks (1948-49), San Juan Senators (1949-50, 1963-64), and Ponce Lions (1952-54). In 2013, Dwyer was chosen as one of the Greatest 75 players of all time in the PRWL, renamed the Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League in 2012.

Special thanks to Ramón Avilés, Danny Darwin, and Bryan Goldberg. Jorge Colón Delgado did the editing and photo layouts.