Ottawa Lynx: The Ray Pecor Era (2000-2006)

In the spring of 2000, Ray Pecor, a prosperous Vermont businessman, emerged as a promising candidate to purchase the Ottawa Lynx. Team owner Howard Darwin said that Pecor, who built his fortune as the owner of a successful ferry company, first approached him in August 1999 to explore a potential sale. He claimed Pecor, who also owned the Montreal Expos Single-A affiliate in Vermont, was “one of the nine people who have shown interest” in purchasing the Lynx. Darwin set the asking price for the ballclub at CAD 10 million, according to the Ottawa Citizen.1

Pecor soon emerged as the frontrunner to buy the team. Two major obstacles stood in the way of a sale. The first one, which was relatively easy to overcome, involved getting the approval of the International League, minor-league baseball owners, and the baseball Commissioner’s office. The second and more challenging one was to work out new financial arrangements with the city. Darwin said he had paid the city half a million dollars in 1999 to use the ballpark—now called JetForm Park—and he and Pecor wanted to lower that to a base rent plus a share of the attendance revenue.2

City council agreed to review the lease terms, and Darwin and Pecor reached a tentative deal. They agreed that Darwin would retain a 25 percent stake in the Lynx, while Pecor would become the majority owner by acquiring the rest. Pecor also pledged to keep the team in the city for at least five years, and to cover the outstanding CAD 2.8 million debt on the stadium if he relocated the team before the lease expired in 2009. The city agreed to lower the rent to CAD 108,000 a season, along with taking a cut of the club’s ticket sales.3 4

Pecor’s purchase of the team was approved by the International League during a half-hour conference call on the morning of May 26, 2000. “I’m proud to have brought baseball to Ottawa, but it’s time to move and get new blood,” Darwin told the Ottawa Citizen. “I’m very pleased that the club is staying in Ottawa and I want it to be successful.”5 6

On June 19, 2000, Pecor acquired majority ownership of the Lynx for approximately USD 7 million. This investment also granted Pecor the rights to operate and manage JetForm Park through a renegotiated lease agreement with the city. As part of the agreement, Darwin would maintain his 25 percent stake in the team until January 1, 2001. At the start of the new year, Darwin sold his remaining shares to Pecor for an undisclosed amount.

STEVE RENNIE is a former journalist now working in the Canadian government. He grew up in the village of Osgoode, which is now part of the city, and got to see the Ottawa Lynx in their heyday. His baseball writing includes articles for the SABR Team Ownership Histories Project and an upcoming piece on the short-lived Eastern International League of 1888. In the spring of 2024, he presented on Ottawa’s early baseball history at the Frederick Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Base Ball Conference in Cooperstown, New York. He is the president of SABR’s Ottawa-Gatineau and Eastern Ontario chapter.He has a particular interest in nineteenth-century baseball in Canada and enjoys unearthing forgotten games and teams from the sport’s early history for the Centre for Canadian Baseball Research and Protoball. He lives in Ottawa with his wife Joanna and their two children.

 

Notes

1 Bruce Deachman, “Lynx find tentative buyer,” Ottawa Citizen, April 12, 2000: 21.

2 Tom Casey, “Two hurdles to Lynx sale,” Ottawa Citizen, April 26, 2000: 62.

3 Tom Casey, “Darwin a step closer to selling Lynx,” Ottawa Citizen, May 12, 2000: 25.

4 Tom Casey, “Council OK’s new lease for Lynx,” Ottawa Citizen, May 18, 2000: 44.

5 Tom Casey, “Red Wings pick on Powell for eight runs against Lynx,” Ottawa Citizen, May 24, 2000: 68.

6 Tom Casey, “IL approves sale of Lynx,” Ottawa Citizen, May 27, 2000: 62.