John Ivan, a semi-professional baseball infielder, was playing 3rd Base with the Windsor Chiefs when he was named to Canada’s delegation to the demonstration baseball event at the 1984 Summer Olympics. His talents had been making the news since at least 1975 and he had captured the 1979 Canadian Junior Baseball Championship with the Windsor Mic Macs and the 1982 Senior Championships with the Chiefs. At the 1984 Games, the Canadians were eliminated in the opening round following losses to Nicaragua and South Korea, but were the only team to defeat Japan, the eventual champions. Following the Olympics, he continued to play third base with the Chiefs until 1986, winning Senior Championships in 1984 and 1986. He then transferred to the Toronto Maple Leafs until his 1989 retirement. He began working for Canada Bread and was serving as a general manager when he died of a heart attack in January 2000 while grocery shopping. The John Ivan Baseball Complex in Windsor, Ontario, built in 1999, was renamed in his honour shortly after his death. His sons Brian and Jarrod, whom he had with former Olympian Barbara Berezowski, have also had careers with baseball’s Toronto Maple Leafs, playing third base and shortstop respectively.
Canada