Ottawa Fat Cats

Ottawa Fat Cats
Founded in 2010 Ottawa, Ontario
Team logo	Cap insignia
League affiliations
Intercounty Baseball League (2010-present)
Name
Ottawa Fat Cats
Team Colours
red, black and white
Ballpark
Ottawa Baseball Stadium
Championships
League titles: 0
Owner(s)/Operated By: Ottawa Stadium Group
General Manager: Duncan MacDonald
Manager: Tim Nelson
Media: Ottawa Citizen / Ottawa Sun / Rogers TV
Website: ottawafatcats.com

The Ottawa Fat Cats are a semi-professional baseball club in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The team began play on May 8, 2010, against the Guelph Royals, and plays its home games at the Ottawa Baseball Stadium, the first home game was on May 15, 2010, against the Mississauga Twins. The team is a member of the Intercounty Baseball League.^[1]

Founding

The Ottawa Stadium Group first became involved in operating a baseball team in 2009. With the Ottawa Baseball Stadium vacant, a city asset was unused. Councillor Bob Monette arranged some community baseball games and around the same time the OSG showed some interest in starting another Can-Am baseball team at the stadium. In January 2010, the group instead applied to the Intercounty League and was accepted. As the other eight teams are located within a short distance around Toronto, the Fat Cats had to accept conditions whereby the Cats would pay for accommodations for the visiting teams and also arrange the schedule to allow the other teams to play back-to-back games in Ottawa.^[2]

In March 2010, the group named Duncan MacDonald as the general manager, and Bill Mackenzie, a former professional baseball player as the manager of the team. The name and logo of the team were announced at a news conference on March 24, 2010. The name 'Fat Cats' was chosen to poke fun at the public image of federal public servants employed in the city. The cap logo is a stylised 'O' using black, red and white stripes through the 'O' as a reference to Ottawa team colours, with a vertical slit in the middle of the 'O' to make it appear to be a cat's eye. The jersey logo is a cartoon cat with the team name written below. The Cats will use the traditional red, black and white of Ottawa teams. The Cats will also arrange concerts at the Stadium and provide family entertainment at ball games. The concerts will raise funds to offset any losses in the operation of baseball.^[2]

2010 New Era All-Star Classic

On August 12th, it was announced that Ottawa would be the location for the first annual New Era All-Star Classic which features the best of the Intercounty Baseball League facing off in a four game series against the best of the Ligue de Baseball Senior Élite du Québec (LBSEQ). Games 1 and 2 will be held in Ottawa on August 21st and 22nd, while the series continues in Thetford Mines, Quebec in early September.

Attendance

In their first season in Ottawa, the Fat Cats did very well in attendance. They averaged 2,328 per game for a total of 25,611 on the season despite playing many doubleheaders and having the least amount of openings compared to any other team.

2011 Season The Ottawa Fat Cats made it into The IBL finals only to lose to the Branford Rex Sox.

Roster

Ottawa Fat Cats rosterview · Danny Desclouds 00 Kevin Gamble 10 Matt McGovern 39 Brett Sabourin 22 Josh Soffer 28 William Sebastian 35 Tyler Robinson 15 David Steffler 24 Jordan Kritsch						Catchers 5 Ricky Howroyd III 23 Travis Murdock 26 Eitan Maoz Infielders  8 Mark Charrette  3 Chris Latimer  21 LaDale Hayes  4 Cody Mombourquette  0 Matt Sauve Outfielders  7 Kevin Deitrich 17 Joe Stone 44 Mathieu Joly 55 Ivan Cherwinski		Manager 26 Tim Nelson Coaches 11 Rudy Vallejos 7-day disabled list * On [[{{{MLBAffiliation}}} |{{{MLBAffiliation}}}]] 40-man roster ∞ Reserve list § Suspended list ‡ Restricted list # Rehab assignment → More rosters

See also

• Ottawa Lynx, active 1993–2007
• Ottawa Rapidz, active 2008

References

1. ^ "Baseball team's name revealed". Ottawa Citizen. March 24, 2010. http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/Baseball+team+name+revealed/2721420/story.html. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Fat Cats dressed for success". Ottawa Citizen. March 25, 2010. http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/Cats+dressed+success/2721420/story.html.