Ottawa Champions

Ottawa Champions
Team logo Cap insignia
Information
League Can-Am League
Location Ottawa, Ontario
Ballpark Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton Park
Year founded 2014
Nickname(s) Champions, Champs
League championships 1: (2016)
Division championships 1: (2016)
Colours

Blue, red, white

              
Mascot Champ
Manager Hal Lanier
Media Ottawa Citizen, Le Droit, CKDJ-FM, CJFO-FM
Website www.ottawachampions.ca

The Ottawa Champions Baseball Club (French: Les Champions d'Ottawa) is a professional baseball team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The Champions made their debut as a member of the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball (Can-Am League) in 2015.[1] They won their first league championship in 2016 defeating the Rockland Boulders 3-2 after being down 2-0 in the series, winning game 5, 3-1 with a complete game win by Austin Chrismon. They play their home games at Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton Park. The Champions mascot is Champ.


History

The City of Ottawa granted a 10-year lease of the Ottawa Baseball Stadium to establish a Can-Am Baseball League team for the 2015 season in September 2013.[2]

In June 2014, the Ottawa Champions team name was announced followed by the unveiling of the team logo that August.[3][4][5]

The Champions announced the signing of Hal Lanier as the team’s first on-field manager on 18 November 2014.[6] Lanier is a former Major League Baseball player who began his MLB career in 1964 as a member of the San Francisco Giants; he also spent time as a New York Yankee at the end of his playing career.[7] He worked as a coach for the St. Louis Cardinals and won a World Series with them in 1982. He was the manager of the Houston Astros from 1986-1988 and was named the NL Manager of the Year in 1986.[8] He has managed numerous independent league teams before including the Winnipeg Goldeyes and Can-Am team the Sussex Skyhawks. Along with Lanier, the Champions also announced the signing of their first player, Gatineau native OF Sebastien Boucher. Boucher was drafted 213th in the 2004 MLB Draft and was selected to play for Canada in the World Baseball Classic in 2006.[9] The team's founding president is David Gourlay.[10]

The Champions played their first game in franchise history on 22 May 2015 at Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton Park against the Sussex Country Miners.[11]

In the 2016 season, the Champions qualified for the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. In the opening round, the Champions defeated the New Jersey Jackals 3 games to 1 and advanced to Can-Am League Championship Round for the very first time in franchise history. In the championship round, the Champions defeated the Rockland Boulders 3 games to 2 to capture their first championship.

On June 28th, 2017, Phillipe Aumont threw the first no-hitter in Ottawa Champions history against the Dominican Republic national baseball team.

Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton Park renovations

The Ottawa Champions play their home games at RCGT Park, a 10,000-seat baseball stadium just east of downtown Ottawa. As part of the plans to revitalize baseball in Ottawa, the city and the team invested more than $2 million worth of renovations into the stadium. These renovations included a brand-new video scoreboard.[12]

Along with the stadium renovations, the city built a new pedestrian bridge to help make it easier to get to the ballpark using public transit. The pedestrian bridge crosses over Highway 417 to connect the ballpark to the Transit Way.[13]

Season-by-season records

Ottawa Champions (2015–present)
Season Total Finished Playoffs
2015 (6 Teams)46-50 (5).479Did not qualify
2016 (6 Teams)51-49 (4).510Won Opening Round over New Jersey Jackals 3-1
Won Championship over Rockland Boulders 3-2
2017 (6 Teams)42-56 (5).429Did not qualify
2018 (8 Teams)41-60 (6).406Did not qualify
Regular Season Totals139-158.472
Postseason Totals6-3.667
Combined Totals145-161.474

The baseball cap logo is a detailed representation of Ottawa’s traditional landscape with the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill as the focal centrepiece. The Peace Tower is surrounded by a red ‘O’ representing the Ottawa name. The background is filled with a maple leaf, which will proudly display the Champions’ Canadian pedigree as they travel all over North America for regular season games.

The brand logo displays the Champions name in bold and clear lettering allowing for easy recognition throughout the community and the CanAm League. The bottom distinguishes the baseball identity with home plate and white lines indicating the first and third base sides.

Rivalries

The Champions have rivalries with the Quebec Capitales and Trois-Rivières Aigles due to the closeness of the provinces of Quebec and Ontario. They as well have a rivalry with the Rockland Boulders who lost to the Champions in the 2016 Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball finals. They as well have had multiple dugout clearing fights.

Roster

Ottawa Champions roster
Active (22-man) roster Coaches/Other

Pitchers

  • 20 Edilson Álvarez
  • 28 Steve Borkowski
  • 16 Daniel Carela
  • 40 Austin Chrismon
  • 27 Andrew Cooper
  • 26 Jake Hale
  • 53 James Jones
  • 32 Jordan Kurokawa
  • 45 Scott Maine
  • 15 Evan Rutckyj
  • 33 Miles Sheehan
  

Catchers

  • 11 Cyle Figueroa
  •  4 Tyler Nordgren

Infielders

  •  8 Daniel Bick
  • 13 Jordan Caillouet
  • 21 Vincent Guglietti
  • 35 Michael Hungate
  • 17 Brian Portelli

Outfielders

  

Manager

Coaches

  • 18 Sebastien Boucher (Hitting)
  • 24 Jared Lemieux (First base/Outfield)
  • 26 Jake Hale (Pitching)
  • 43 Stephane Petronzio (Assistant)

Disabled list
‡ Inactive list
§ Suspended list

Roster updated October 2, 2018
Transactions

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Ottawa Stadium new baseball tenants are the 'Champions'". CBC News. 16 June 2014. Retrieved 2014-06-17.
  2. ↑ Willing, Jon. "City proposes 10-year lease with Can-Am to bring pro baseball back to Ottawa". ottawasun.com. The Ottawa Sun. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  3. ↑ Warren, Ken. "Pro baseball returns to the plate in Ottawa". ottawacitizen.com. Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  4. ↑ "Ottawa takes a swing at professional baseball one more time". CTV News. 16 June 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  5. ↑ "Championship stuff: New Ottawa baseball team unveils logo". ottawacitizen.com. Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  6. ↑ "Ottawa Champions name Hal Lanier as first manager".
  7. ↑ "Hal Lanier Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  8. ↑ "Hal Lanier Managerial Record - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  9. ↑ Desaulniers, Darren. "Hal Lanier named Ottawa Champions manager; team signs Sebastien Boucher (with video)". ottawacitizens.com. Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  10. ↑ "Ottawa Champions Baseball unveils logo". Orleans Star. 21 August 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  11. ↑ "Ottawa Champions come out swingin'". 22 May 2015.
  12. ↑ "Mobile Uploads". facebook.com. The Ottawa Champions Baseball Club. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  13. ↑ Hempstead, Doug. "Mayor boasts about 'plain-Jane bridge'". ottawasun.com. Ottawa Sun. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
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