Calgary Vipers

Independent baseball team in Canada
name = Calgary Vipers
founded = 2004
city = Calgary, Alberta

cap
current league = Golden Baseball League
current division = North Division
past league = Northern League (2004-2007)
currentname = Calgary Vipers (2004-present)
colours = Black, Maroon, Silver, White
color box|#000000 color box|#800000 color box|silver color box|white
ballpark = Foothills Stadium
pastparks =
leaguechamps = 0
divisionchamps = 2 (2007, 2008)
owner = Jeff Gidney
manager = Mike Busch
gm =
media = Calgary Sun
website = http://www.calgaryvipers.com calgaryvipers.com

The Calgary Vipers are a professional baseball team based in Calgary, Alberta, in Canada. The Vipers are a member of the North Division of the Golden Baseball League, which is not affiliated with either Major League Baseball "or" Minor League Baseball. From the 2004 season to the present, the Vipers have played their home games at Foothills Stadium. Previously, the Vipers played in the Northern League from 2005–2007.

Franchise History

Northern League (2004-2007)

On April 3, 2004, the Northern League announced that it had awarded a franchise to Calgary Professional Baseball, Ltd., led by Japanese businessman Naoto Higuchi. Higuchi and his partners came on-board claiming to be interested in the concept of independent baseball and were looking at the Northern League franchise as a test case for a similar league in Japan. The Northern League even held its 2005 winter meetings in Japan.

Despite promising to spend as much as $10 million on upgrades to the aging Foothills Stadium, almost nothing was done with the franchise. As of December, the franchise still had no name, no field manager, and only a minimal staff. The team had hired a general manager in Bill Craig, formerly of the Calgary Cannons, and had participated in the league's expansion draft. Finally, on December 10, the Northern League revoked the franchise, stripping Calgary Professional Baseball, Ltd. of its ownership.

The franchise remained dormant until February 11, 2005 when it announced the sale of the team to Winnipeg businessman Jeffrey Gidney. Gidney inherited the team with less than three months to name the team, hire staff, sign players, sign a coaching staff, negotiate a lease and sell tickets before the first exhibition games were to be played.

Despite the short timeframe, the Vipers managed to build a quality team on the field, as the team finished second in the Northern division in both halves. Off the field, the Vipers finished last in attendance, averaging just over 1100 fans. However, crowds slowly improved as the season went on and the Vipers grew from a bare bones operation, and as the weather improved following a month of June that featured record amounts of rainfall.

The 2006 brawl

On June 13, 2006, a string of bean balls in the first two innings touched off two major brawls between the Vipers and their provincial rivals, the Edmonton Cracker-Cats. After Edmonton's Greg Morrison was hit by a Calgary pitch for the fourth time in five games, the Cracker-Cats responded by throwing at two Calgary players. The resulting melee was so violent that the umpires sent both teams off the field, and suspended the game for over an hour to consult with league officials. When the Cracker-Cats refused to return to the field afterward, the game was declared a forfeit and the Vipers were awarded a 9-0 victory. [ [http://www.winnipegsun.com/Sports/Baseball/2006/06/15/1633992-sun.html winnipegsun.com - Baseball - Battle of Alberta, baseball style ] ]

The league came down hard on both teams, as both managers and seven players were suspended a total of 79 games. [http://www.northernleague.com/news/?id=4453] Morrison blamed Calgary manager Mike Busch for the incident, believing that Busch continues to hold a grudge after both Morrison, and another former Viper, J.P. Fauske defected to the Cracker-Cats after leaving the Vipers after a falling out with the Calgary manager late in the 2005 season. [ [http://www.edmontonsun.com/Sports/OtherSports/2006/06/15/1633901-sun.html edmontonsun.com - Other Sports - Basebrawl ] ]

Their first playoff run

The Vipers finished first in the North Division in the first half of 2007 with a record of 29–19, and qualified for the playoffs for the first time. They defeated the second half champion the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks in three straight games before falling in five games to the Gary Southshore Railcats in the Northern League Championship Series. Of note, outfielder Darryl Brinkley became the first minor league baseball player of the modern era to achieve a .400 batting average. Brinkley was named the Independent League Player of the Year by Baseball America. [ [http://www.calgaryvipers.com/press/recent/recent100907.html Baseball America honours Vipers star] , Calgary Vipers, Accessed May 31, 2008]

Leaving the Northern League

The playoff run would prove to be the team's last hurrah in the Northern League, as both the Vipers and Edmonton Cracker Cats announced that they were leaving the league after failing to post $1 million performance bonds. [ [http://www.calgaryvipers.com/press/recent/recent102307.html Golden opportunity ushered in by Mr. 400] , Calgary Vipers, Accessed May 31, 2008] Both teams jumped to the California based Golden Baseball League.

Golden Baseball League (2008-present)

The Vipers have been making headlines since moving to the GBL. They suggested that former National Hockey League star Theoren Fleury was considering playing for the Vipers. The former Calgary Flame took batting practice with the team, and threw out the first pitch at their home opener. [ [http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=239032&lid=sublink09&lpos=headlines_nhl Theo Fleury to play in minor league baseball game] , tsn.ca, Accessed May 31, 2008]

Then, the Vipers traded pitcher John Odom to the Laredo Broncos of the United Baseball League for ten bats. Odom was unable to enter Canada and was turned away at the Canadian border due to an unspecified criminal charge on his record. [ [http://news.yahoo.com/s/cpress/20080524/ca_pr_on_ba/bbl_traded_for_bats Calgary Vipers minor leaguer traded for 10 baseball bats] , Yahoo! Sports, Accessed May 31, 2008] The Vipers intended to auction the bats off to raise funds for their "Snakes and Batters" charity fund, however they were instead sold to Ripley's Believe it or Not for $10,000. [ [http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-tradedforbats&prov=ap&type=lgns Minor leaguer traded for 10 bats seeks redemption] , Yahoo! Sports, Accessed May 31, 2008]

On September 5, 2008, the Vipers won the GBL North Division Championship outright by sweeping the Cracker-Cats 3 games to 0. On September 14, they lost the best-of-five GBL Championship Series to the Orange County Flyers 3 games to 2.

Notable dates

:May 20, 2005 - First game of inaugural season. Calgary Vipers @ Sioux City Explorers:May 27, 2005 - Home opener of inaugural season. Joliet Jackhammers @ Calgary Vipers:July 19, 2005 - 2005 Northern League All-Star Game in Gary, Indiana. Vipers' manager Mike Busch managed the North Division All-Star team. Greg Morrison, Pedro Santana, and Carlos Duncan (all of the Vipers) were starters. In addition, Adam Shorsher, Evan Gruesel, and Doug Johnson were reserves.:July 2006 - Pitcher Evan Gruesel becomes first Viper to be named Player of the Month after compiling a 5-0 record with a 2.31ERA and 31 strikeouts.:September 12, 2007 - Outfielder Darryl Brinkley was voted 2007 Player of the Year after achieving a league first .400 batting average. [http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3540164] :October 22, 2007 - Officially joined the Golden Baseball League.:September 5, 2008 - Wins the first-ever GBL North Division Championship.

Year-by-year record

ee also

*List of baseball teams in Canada

References

* [http://www.nlfan.com/league/ nlfan.com] - yearly league standings & awards

External links

* [http://www.calgaryvipers.com Calgary Vipers' Official Website]
* [http://www.nlfan.com/calgary nlfan.com Calgary Vipers' Guide]