The Ottawa Fat Cats (2010-2012)

Fat Cats catcher Eitan Maoz leaps for a ball. (Michael Gauthier, Freedom Photography)

 

Professional baseball in Ottawa has had a turbulent existence and at times, a bitter heritage. From 1898 to the present, Ottawa professional baseball has been a race between sporadic success and crashing failures, featuring eight professional franchises.1 As a semiprofessional team, the 2010 arrival of the Ottawa Fat Cats represented a significant departure from the minor-league teams that had stitched together Ottawa’s baseball legacy.

The rural sounds of pro baseball were absent from urban Ottawa in 2009.2 Ottawa considered attracting a minor-league franchise while concurrently examining alternative uses of the Ottawa Stadium ranging from a multi-use facility for events to building a casino and a retail and/or residential complex. However, Duncan MacDonald saw a semiprofessional short-season baseball franchise in the Intercounty Baseball League (IBL) as the path to Ottawa baseball success.3

Duncan MacDonald grew up in Eastern Ontario playing baseball for the Brockville and Waterloo, Ontario youth teams. MacDonald was a player at Ithaca College. He participated in the NCAA Division III College World Series in 1985 and 1986. He was a regional scout for the Toronto Blue Jays from 1990-2002.4 He tried to make baseball work in Ottawa focusing on the intimacy of semipro baseball over operating a minor-league team. His style was in the tradition of Bill Veeck. He was co-owner of OSG and General Manager of the Fat Cats from its inception until he left the organization after the 2011 season.

Local tour operator David Butler and MacDonald formed the Ottawa Stadium Group (OSG), developing a plan to bring baseball back with an IBL semipro expansion franchise with all-year events at the stadium. “The stadium’s paid for, it’s beautiful and kids want to play there. It would be a shame if it did happen to get knocked down and sold off,” MacDonald said.5 They requested the city give them a 10-year lease with renewal options and renovations to the stadium to make the facility attractive to other non-sporting events.

In January 2010, the IBL board voted 6-2 to approve OSG’s pitch for a team with a C$30,000 fee.6 As the team situated furthest from the other IBL teams, Ottawa was required to pay for the visiting teams’ travel costs. OSG signed a one-year lease with the city in February with a rent of C$108,000. “People will come,” MacDonald bravely predicted. “We understand this is a follow-the-leader-town so we’ve just got to get the first few people through the turnstiles and once … people are having fun, we think the corporate side will support it.”7 MacDonald warned the team had no commitment beyond 2010: “We have a one-year lease. Let me say that again: We have a one-year lease. And we have a semi-pro franchise.”8

With MacDonald as general manager, the team hired a former pro player with experience in coaching and scouting as manager, Bill Mackenzie.9 Mackenzie had been in baseball since 1967. Prior to the team’s inaugural game against the Guelph Royals on May 8, Mackenzie received a letter from former Montreal Expo general manager and friend, Jim Fanning. Fanning warned Mackenzie “[D]on’t manage like I did … Manage more like Connie Mack or Casey Stengel.”10 With seven doubleheaders scheduled and only 11 home dates in a 36-game schedule and a hastily-formed roster, a daunting task was ahead.

The team signed players and held tryouts. A former Blue Jays prospect was the first player signed by Ottawa. Drafted twice by Toronto, pitcher David Steffler was seen as the team’s needed mentor to the younger collegiate pitchers and a “veteran arm who can beat anybody in the league,” according to Mackenzie.11 At 34 with a nomadic career including the IBL and Spain, he was vice president of client experience for MD Physician Service.12 Steffler was unavailable for the team’s first game as his wife gave birth to twins.13 The team was composed of a myriad of players from college and university teams as well as men who had been drafted by major league teams. Several players lived in the Ottawa community, with many employed in real jobs. Mackenzie saw a squad with talent, but he had perspective: “You can win, or you can lose, or it can rain.”14

MacDonald determined the team moniker. He used focus groups to create a list of 10 potential names but none seemed right. He was inspired by Ottawa’s reputation in Canada: “As soon as Fat Cats was on the list, it was the name everyone chose. And I mean everyone. I think we had one vote against it once it was an option.”15 The nickname was a “gentle poke” at Ottawa’s role as the seat of power.16

The logo, a grinning cat with red-and-black team colors, was unveiled on March 24. The organization promised to focus on the fan experience with reasonable ticket and food prices and fan-friendly entertainment as a means to success. “There isn’t going to be a more family-affordable ticket that is going to give people more value and entertainment for their dollar,” MacDonald boasted.17

The team implemented marketing efforts designed to make the game attractive. Incentives to buy tickets online to avoid long box office lines included free transportation to the ballpark from another site. Current and past members of the Canadian military got in free. “We just want people to come out, have some fun…” MacDonald proclaimed.18 “We know what not to do. We know what doesn’t work.19

The Fats Cats’ 2010 home schedule began on May 15 with an 8-6 loss against the Mississauga Twins. Paid attendance was 3,724 but estimates were higher. Facing long box-office lines, fans were ushered through the gates for free. The local liquor license regulations allowed fans to buy beer but one could not drink it in the stands or seats, only in the concourse. Instead of watching the game in their seat, one drank a beer and was able to watch the long concession lines grow longer as “no one was prepared for the volume of people that [showed] up for the game.”20 “It’s pretty amazing. Overwhelming. It just goes to show you how much the community missed baseball and enjoy family fun entertainment,” said MacDonald.21 According to press accounts, “[F]ans waited in line for up to 30 minutes to get a peanuts or Cracker Jacks, as the old song goes.”22 With a chill in the air, there was a dearth of coffee and hot chocolate. The lack of parking contributed to the long lines to enter the stadium, a familiar problem. MacDonald promised a better performance: “We’ll be prepared a little better (Sunday). Nobody expected this crowd. Nobody wants this facility to rot and I think we got that message out there.”23

In their first season, the Fat Cats went 11-25, in last place in a nine-team league where eight teams made the playoffs. MacDonald was named IBL Executive of the Year. The team led the league with an unheard attendance of 2,328 per date.24 To make the Fats Cats profitable, the team requested a long-term lease from the city and elimination of the above-noted travel subsidies that the team was required to pay other teams, with no success.

OSG contemplated its future by seeking an affiliated team for Ottawa and asked the city for a lease extension beyond October 2011, preferably five years, to attract a team. Other groups including OSG were interested in having a Toronto Blue Jays farm club in Ottawa. A faction of the public, political leadership and media believed baseball was on the decline and Ottawa was a hockey and football town. The Ottawa City Council published a 51-page report prepared by city employees that recommended selling the stadium parking lots and transforming the stadium into a concert venue.25 The Council did not act on the report. An air of uncertainty permeated. OSG was committed to operating the stadium and paid its C$108,000 rent for 2010. OSG noted that baseball brought revenue, and social, environmental, and cultural benefits to the community.26

In early January 2011, an editorial in the Ottawa Citizen was blunt in its assessment: the IBL was a sandlot league, where attendance is secondary. The city must not grant a lease longer than one year for the Fat Cats for a ballpark designed for minor-league baseball: “Maybe the Fat Cats are the best baseball Ottawa fans will support…so the municipality keeps its options open.”27

On March 10, 2011, the team secured a one-year lease. Mackenzie resigned as manager: “You could say philosophical differences, sure.”28 He remained in the organization in a public relations role. Tim Nelson was named manager. “Tim is local and has a great reputation with Canada’s junior team,” MacDonald said.29

Born in Calgary on May 10, 1978, Tim Nelson was a seventh-round pick out of high school in the 1998 amateur draft as a third baseman by the Baltimore Orioles. A career minor leaguer, he retired in 2005. Nelson was a coach with Ottawa local teams and the Canadian National Junior Team. He managed the Verona Knights in the Italian Premier League. Serving as manager of the Fats Cats in 2011-2012, he worked full-time in finance with the Canadian government at Human Resources and Skills Development Canada while coaching baseball at night. “Being in Ottawa and being able to coach a team like the Fat Cats works out well for me and I enjoy it,” Nelson said.30

OSG informed the city it had sold 4,200 season ticket packages. It paid the $108,000 rent by the March 14 deadline with a chance for extension for the 2012 campaign. The team announced a partnership with Great River Media who purchased 1,000 season tickets that would be given to employees and advertisers.31

The schedule had 17 home dates commencing May 21 against the Kitchener Panthers. The 2011 Fat Cats had three Americans with the remaining players all from the Ottawa region, returning 13 from the 2010 squad. They opened the season with a 7–4 win over the Burlington Twins on May 7. Starting 1–2 before the May 21 home opener, the team anticipated a crowd of over 6,000. “What we have on paper is very good” and “[T]he beer will be flowing and the people will be yelling,” Nelson quipped.32 The team won 5–2 before 4,617.

Though finishing 16–18 and in sixth place, the Fat Cats’ second season resulted in astonishing postseason success. All eight teams made the playoffs. It was not enough for Nelson: “Our goal was not just to be in the playoffs, but finish up the season and do well in the playoffs, and hopefully win a couple of rounds and see how far we can go.”33 The playoffs gave fans a chance to root for an underdog.

Ottawa won two playoff best-of-seven series: against the favored London Majors in five games and sweeping the Barrie Baycats. They reached the finals, losing to the more experienced Brantford Red Sox in five games.34 During the playoff run, fans filled Ottawa Stadium to near capacity, a sight that had not been seen since the early Lynx years. The franchise set a IBL postseason total attendance record, as well as a single game record in Game Three of the finals with 7,355.35

The improbable playoff run saw interest in the team escalate. OSG hoped that a long-term lease was in the offing from the city. “Is that the best way to go? No. We weren’t thrilled to have a one plus one year lease,” MacDonald said.36 Ottawa needed to determine whether the city wanted affiliated minor-league baseball and whether the stadium had a long-term future. The Fat Cats were important to the equation and could work with a minor-league baseball team. The team provided the opportunity for local players to play at home. “I’ve never had so much fun playing on a team,” said pitcher Josh Soffer, a Kanata native.37

As the city pondered a lease extension for 2012, it put out bids to attract a full-season minor-league baseball team. The Fat Cats’ lease was set to expire in March 2012. OSG requested a year extension in October but was met with silence. At a November 11, 2011 meeting with the Ottawa City Council finance committee on the future of Ottawa Stadium and recruiting a Double-A team, Fat Cats CEO Brian Carolan said two teams could easily share the stadium. Any concern on the field conditions would be alleviated if astroturf were to be installed as part of any planned upgrade. But the IBL generally played on weekends and the question of scheduling was an issue. Any minor-league team would not willingly give up weekend dates. Minor League Baseball had the final say on any team moving to an available market.38 The Massachusetts-based Beacon Sports Capital Partners (Beacon) expressed an interest in bringing a Double-A franchise to Ottawa.

The city government dawdled as it reviewed the bids. A final decision was delayed a few times. Speculation focused on the Binghamton Eastern League franchise. Any recommendation by the city that occurred in early 2012 would be a problem said Eastern League president Joe McEachan. A team needs time to set up shop, establish community roots and develop relationships with the community before a game is played.39

On February 9, the city council approved Beacon’s bid. On February 22, the city announced that a new team would be lured to Ottawa for 2013. A plan for C$5.7 million in renovations and upgrades in the stadium was put in place. The proposed team and the city would sign a 10-year lease with two five-year options at C$257,000 annual rent. The target team was the Binghamton Mets with an affiliation agreement with the Toronto Blue Jays. There would be no lease extension for the Fat Cats. In fact, with the construction there was no certainty the Fat Cats could play at the stadium in 2012.40

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson on March 25 announced that Double-A ball for 2013 was not occurring, with 2014 still a possibility. Beacon had told the city there was not enough time to move and set up a team in Ottawa. The Fat Cats could play their regular season and the playoffs without having to look for an alternative site.

The players enjoyed playing in Ottawa while hoping for the opportunity to play professional baseball. North Carolina outfielder Kevin Dietrich exemplified this attitude: “Ottawa is great, everything about it. The city is great, the fans are great, I love it up here.”41 They also adjusted to the team’s tenuous existence.

During the 2010 and 2011 seasons, OSG had an arrangement with St. Paul University for the players to reside in dorms in exchange for advertising. But the 2012 season saw no such deal, leading to unusual player living arrangements. When not staying at a local hotel, four American Fats Cats became squatters as they slept in the stadium VIP boxes several days a week.42

Frustrated with the city’s efforts to attract professional baseball and renovate the stadium, the local media became critical. Elizabeth Payne, a member of the Ottawa Citizen’s editorial board, questioned the importance of baseball and the need for the stadium: “So why does the same city that has just voted to close a municipal equestrian park still own a white elephant baseball stadium?”43 Sell the stadium, reduce the stadium to rubble, and stop investing taxpayer funds, she recommended.

A record of 18-18 and a fifth-place tie resulted in a playoff opportunity. However, the postseason magic was gone as Ottawa fell in the first round against the Guelph Royals in six games. Nelson was unable to manage Game Six due to a work commitment. Ace pitcher and 2011 playoff MVP Matt McGovern, with ongoing shoulder issues, pitched only two innings all season and started Game Six with a six-inning four-run effort.44 Unbeknownst to the players, the last game in Fat Cat history was over.

The Fat Cats became the “latest casualty of the Ottawa Stadium graveyard.”45 The lease expired on September 15. The team “was ordered by the city to have its stuff packed and out of the stadium by 11:59 P.M. Tuesday,” September 18.46 The Fat Cats were caught off guard: “Why not work our schedule around the renovations (next summer)? It’s all pretty confusing,” Assistant GM Jonathan Trotter said.47 “A team like us has clearly been successful and we’re told to leave. There really is no option for us. A lot of people thought maybe we could play at Heritage (in Orléans). But we’d only be talking about getting a couple of hundred fans and we wouldn’t be able to make it work. In my opinion, the city is taking a big risk (with Double-A).”48

On December 20, 2012, the IBL released its 2013 schedule. Ottawa was not included. IBL Commissioner Stuart Smith said that with the city’s desire for professional baseball, the pending renovations to the stadium and the OSG interest in non-baseball events, it was time to pull the plug and cease operations: “It would almost be a miracle if the Fat Cats were to play in 2013 and we don’t do our work based on miracles.”49 The players were to be dispersed to the remaining eight teams.

The Ottawa Fats Cats tweeted their demise on December 22: “Dear Fans: It is our deepest regret to announce that the Fat Cats have ceased operations for the 2013 baseball season.”50

“It’s a tremendous loss for the league. I’m not really (surprised) because these guys basically had to beg to stay on that field every year,” said Toronto Maple Leafs owner Jack Dominico who wanted Ottawa to remain in the league.51 Returning in 2014 was mentioned. Despite being larger in population with more fans than most of the other eight IBL teams, the city wanted the Fat Cats gone. The Fat Cats’ existence was an impediment to bringing minor league baseball to Ottawa Stadium. The city was in never-ending talks with Beacon to bring Double-A baseball to Ottawa for 2014. Ottawa desired an affiliated minor-league team in a renovated stadium. It never happened.

Fan support was not the problem, due to the creativity and innovation of the team management. The Fats Cats’ popularity was clear, achieving previously unseen league-leading attendance numbers in the IBL. The attendance numbers were aided by the fact that most of the players were local. Despite a limited number of home dates and several scheduled doubleheaders in their initial season, the Fat Cats averaged a better-than-expected 2,328 per home date for a total of 25,611 for the 2010 season. In the 2011 campaign, the Fat Cats made it to the IBL finals only to lose to the Brantford Red Sox. The team drew a total of 38,491 during the regular season. In the playoffs, the Fat Cats averaged 4,120 fans per game and drew a total of 28,483 in only seven home games. A franchise and IBL record crowd of 7,355 attended Game Three of the finals against Brantford. With playoffs included the season attendance total was 67,334. The team led the IBL again in attendance for the 2012 season.52

MacDonald was ousted as general manager when his contract was not renewed after the 2011 season. The Fat Cats succeeded and were building a foundation with the short-season summer schedule. As he noted: “You won’t find me at the ballpark in April. On Tuesday night, if it’s the Senators playing the Bruins, I’m not going to be at the baseball field when it’s six degrees outside.”53 He sees baseball as a summer gate attraction with a focus on short-season ball. Selling the innocence of baseball and making the game an event was the right path. MacDonald is still an advocate for Ottawa baseball. In 2019, he proposed a new multi-use stadium at LeBreton Flats in the heart of Ottawa.54 MacDonald became the director of growth and development for EXIT Realty Eastern Ontario and a licensed real estate agent.

Why has affiliated minor-league baseball failed to return to Ottawa when the game should be as popular as in Toronto? Part of the problem was the indecisiveness of the city. MacDonald strongly asserted it is a multi-dimensional problem stemming from arduous leases and lopsided financial arrangements with the city, the harsh spring weather, and the large number of home games in a minor-league full season. To demonstrate his point, MacDonald recalled a conversation he had with Ottawa Lynx owner Howard Darwin who bought Triple-A ball back to Ottawa in 1993. Darwin stated he would not have bought the team if he knew about the problems he would face dealing with the city: “the revenue-sharing model under which the city received points from parking, concessions, signage, suites, ticket surcharges, naming rights and more made baseball a tough proposition in Ottawa.”55 The Fat Cats combatted these same obstacles, facing a precarious future from the first day.

In June 2013, a person could walk into Ottawa Stadium and be overwhelmed by its decay and nature’s immutable reconquest. The pristine infield had been stolen by weeds. The grass grew high. Rodents managed the concourse.56 Adult summer leagues were scheduled but the games were put on hold until the field was made playable once again. The Fat Cats could have played in 2013. The city’s quest for affiliated minor-league baseball has been an illusion.

LUIS A. BLANDÓN JR., a Washington, DC native, is a producer, writer and researcher in video and documentary film production and in archival, manuscript, historical, film and image research. His creative storytelling has garnered numerous awards, including three regional Emmys®, regional and national Edward R. Murrow Awards, two TELLY awards and a New York Festival World Medal. His writing has been published in several platforms. He was Senior Researcher and Manager of the Story Development Team for two national television programs. He served as the principal researcher for several authors including for The League of Wives by Heath Hardage Lee and her current biography project The Mysterious Mrs. Nixon: The Life and Times of Washington’s Most Private First Lady. Luis has a Masters of Arts in International Affairs from George Washington University.

 

Sources and Acknowledgments

Many thanks to the Black Lion Cafe in Travilah, Maryland where I researched, conceived, and wrote several iterations of this article.

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted the National Baseball Hall of Fame Giamatti Research Center, Baseball-Reference.com, the United States Department of the Interior, the Library of Congress, YouTube.com, mlb.com and Dr. Michael L. Lawson of MLL Consulting, LLC.

To my patient wife, Teri, as always for her nonpareil thoughts and input.

 

Notes

1 Professional baseball arrived in Ottawa when the Rochester Patriots of the Eastern League moved in early July 1898 and became the Ottawa Senators. The eight professional baseball teams that have called Ottawa home are (a) Ottawa Senators (1898) in the Eastern League, (b) Ottawa Senators (1912-1948 in various incarnations in several leagues), (c) Ottawa Athletics/Giants (1951-1954) in the International League, (d) Ottawa Lynx (1994-2007 in the International League), (e) Ottawa Rapidz (2008 in the Can-Am League, (f) Ottawa Fat Cats (2010-2012 in the Intercounty Baseball League), (g) Ottawa Champions (2015-2020 in the Can-Am League), and (h) Ottawa Titans (2022 to present in the Frontier League)

2 After 15 years, the Triple-A Ottawa Lynx moved to Allentown, Pennsylvania after the conclusion of the 2007 season and the Rapidz folded after one year at the conclusion of the 2008 Can-Am League season.

3 The IBL is the oldest baseball league in Canada formed in 1919. It was previously known as the Intercounty Major Baseball League and the Senior Intercounty Baseball League. Teams compete for the Jack and Lynne Dominico Trophy, which is awarded to the league champions, named for the late owners of the Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team. A few of the notable players who played in the IBL include Baseball Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins, Pete Gray, Jesse Orosco, John Axford, Rob Ducey, Denny McLain, Chris Speier, NHL goalie for the Minnesota North Stars, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Washington Capitals, Don Beaupre, and former Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson.

4 “Bio for Duncan MacDonald,” Exit Reality. Accessed April 2, 2024. https://exitrealty.com/agent/Duncan/MacDonald/259168. See https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Duncan_MacDonald, accessed March 30, 2024.

5 “New Ottawa Baseball Pitch Lands at City,” CBC News, August 24, 2009. See https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/new-ottawa-baseball-pitch-lands-at-city-1.829101, accessed June 4, 2024.

6 The IBL formerly announced on March 10 that it had awarded its newest franchise to the OSG.

7 Darren Desaulniers, “Fat Cats Dressed for Success,” Ottawa Citizen, March 25, 2010: B3.

8 Mark Sutcliffe, “Sutcliffe: Incentives to Target Buying Tickets in Advance,” Ottawa Citizen, March 28, 2010: D4.

9 Mackenzie was born on July 27, 1946 in Pictou, Nova Scotia. He was a catcher in his playing days in the Detroit and Montreal organizations never climbing above Class A. He retired after suffering a broken shoulder. As a scout for the Expos, he signed Tim Raines, Matt Stairs, and Larry Walker.

10 Don Campbell, “Fat Cats Will Try to Manager in Year 1,” Ottawa Citizen, May 7, 2010: D1.

11 Tracey Tong, “Former Blue Jays prospect becomes first player signed by Ottawa Fat Cats,” Metro US, April 19, 2010, https://www.metro.us/former-blue-jays-prospect-becomes-first-player-signed-by-ottawa-fat-cats/, accessed on April 24, 2024. Steffler was a 51st-round pick in the 1994 Major League amateur draft and a 67th-round pick in 1997,

12 Martin Cleary, “Fat Cats Signed Veteran Intercounty Arm,” Ottawa Citizen, April 9, 2010: C4.

13 Don Campbell, “Cats: Perspective Required,” Ottawa Citizen, May 7, 2010: B2. This was not an uncommon scenario in the IBL.

14 Campbell, “Cats: Perspective Required.”

15 Ron Colbert, “Football Moniker Hits the Mark,” Ottawa Sun (online), December 16, 2012. See https://ottawasun.com/2012/12/16/football-moniker-hits-the-mark, accessed April 3, 2024.

16 Desaulniers, “Fat Cats Dressed for Success.”

17 “Fat Cats Aim to Succeed Where Others Have Failed,” Centretown News, March 26, 2010 (Ottawa, Ontario). See https://capitalcurrent.ca/archive/centretownnews/1997-2016/2010/03/26/fat-cats-aim-to-succeed-where-others-have-failed/, accessed April 3, 2024.

18 Desaulniers, “Fat Cats Dressed for Success.”

19 Sutcliffe.

20 Darren Desaulniers, “Fat Cats Draw Mixed Reviews with Opener.” Ottawa Citizen, May 16, 2010: C6.

21 Desaulniers, “Fat Cats Draw Mixed Reviews with Opener.”

22 Desaulniers, “Fat Cats Draw Mixed Reviews with Opener.”

23 Desaulniers, “Fat Cats Draw Mixed Reviews with Opener.”

24 Don Campbell, “Campbell: Team a Hit with Fans,” Ottawa Citizen, December 21, 2012: B6.

25 Keith Reichard,“Fat Cats Owners may seek Affiliated Team for Ottawa,” Ballpark Digest, April 14, 2011. See https://ballparkdigest.com/201104143748/at-the-ballpark/the-front-office/fats-cats-owners-may-seek-affiliated-team-for-ottawa, accessed February 5, 2024.

26 Reichard, “Fat Cats Owners May Seek Affiliated Team for Ottawa.”

27 Our Views, “Editorial: Small League, Big Park,” Ottawa Citizen, January 15, 2011: B6,

28 Don Campbell and Joanne Chianello, “Fat Cats Lose Manager, Score One-Year Lease,” Ottawa Citizen, March 11, 2011: B6.

29 Darren Desaulniers, “Fat Cats Ready for 2011,” Ottawa Citizen, March 17, 2011, B5.

30 Darren Desaulniers, “Nelson Finds Baseball Balance,” Ottawa Citizen, June 8, 2012: B7.

31 Desaulniers, “Fat Cats Ready for 2011.”

32 Desaulniers, “Nelson Finds Baseball Balance.”

33 Darren Desaulniers, “Cats Hungry for More,” Ottawa Citizen, July 27, 2011, B3.

34 The Red Sox had 15 players who played in the minor leagues while the Fats Cats had none.

35 Darren Desaulniers, “Down To Their Last Lives,” Ottawa Citizen, September 5, 2011: C1.

36 “Fat Cats Hope Playoff Run Leads to Stadium Deal,” CBC News, August 9, 2011. See https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/fat-cats-hope-playoff-run-leads-to-stadium-deal-1.993346, accessed on April 3, 2024.

37 “Fat Cats Hope Playoff Run Leads to Stadium Deal.”

38 Keith Reichard, “Fat Cats: We’d Love to Share Ottawa Stadium with AA Team,” Ballpark Digest, November 2, 2011. See https://ballparkdigest.com/201111024309/minor-league-baseball/news/fat-cats-wed-love-to-share-ottawa-stadium-with-aa-team, accessed February 5, 2024.

39 David Reevely, “Baseball: Watson ‘Very Optimistic,’” Ottawa Citizen, January 13, 2012: C4.

40 Neco Cockburn, “OK for Stadium Upgrade Bring Double-A Closer to City,” Ottawa Citizen, February 23, 2012: C3.

41 Darren Desaulniers, “Capital a Hit with Fat Cats’ Dietrich,” Ottawa Citizen, July 7, 2012: C3.

42 “Fat Cats Players Living Part-time in Ottawa Stadium,” CBC News, July 9, 2012. See https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/fat-cats-players-living-part-time-in-ottawa-stadium-1.1174057, accessed May 23, 2024.

43 Elizabeth Payne, “Time to Wake Up and Sell Field of Dreams,” Ottawa Citizen, July 12, 2012: A1.

44 McGovern led the team in 2011 with a 1.83 ERA and striking out 49 while walking 15 in 59 innings of work. McGovern’s 2011 postseason pushed the team to another level with five straight nine-inning starts giving up only five earned runs. That season, he led the team in the regular season with three homers in 69 at-bats playing first base when not pitching. McGovern was hoping a major-league team would offer him an opportunity.

45 Baines, “Fat Cats Booted Out of Ottawa Stadium,” Ottawa Sun, September 18, 2012. See https://ottawasun.com/2012/09/18/fat-cats-booted-out-of-ottawa-stadium, accessed February 5, 2024.

46 Baines, “Fat Cats Booted Out of Ottawa Stadium.”

47 Baines, “Fat Cats Booted Out of Ottawa Stadium.”

48 Baines, “Fat Cats Booted Out of Ottawa Stadium.”

49 Don Campbell, “Fat Cats Won’t Play in 2013,” Ottawa Citizen, December 21, 2012: B1.

50 See https://x.com/ottawafatcats/status/282356122650824707?s=43, accessed March 4, 2024.

51 Mike Koreen, “Ottawa Fat Cats Forced Out of Intercounty Baseball League for 2013 Season,” Ottawa Sun, December 12, 2012. See https://ottawasun.com/2012/12/21/ottawa-fat-cats-forced-out-of-intercounty-baseball-league-for-2013-season, accessed February 3, 2024.

52 Campbell, “Campbell: Team a Hit with Fans.”

53 Tim Baines, “Only Jays Double-A OK in Ottawa,” Ottawa Sun, February 9, 2012. See https://ottawasun.com/2012/02/09/only-jay-double-a-ok-in-ottawa.

54 Duncan MacDonald, “Op-ed: New Stadium at LeBreton Flats Could be a Ball for Ottawa,” Ottawa Business Journal, November 20, 2019. See https://obj.ca/op-ed-new-stadium-at-lebreton-flats-could-be-a-ball-for-ottawa/, accessed March 1, 2024.

55 MacDonald, “Op-ed: New Stadium at LeBreton Flats could be a Ball for Ottawa.”

56 David Reevely, “Ottawa Stadium in ‘Deplorable State,’” Ottawa Citizen, June 14, 2013: C2.