The

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball The Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball, commonly known as the Can-Am League, was a professional, independent baseball league with teams in the Northeast United States and Eastern Canada, founded in 2005 as a reorganization of ...

season began May 19 and ended September 5. Following the regular season, the playoffs were held. It was the 12th season of operation for this professional independent baseball league. The Ottawa Champions won their first ever title in just their second season, defeating the Rockland Boulders in the fifth and deciding game of the league championships, played on September 17. The

Cuba national baseball team The Cuba national baseball team (Spanish: ''Selección de béisbol de Cuba'') represents Cuba at regional and international levels. The team is made up from the most professional players from the Cuban national baseball system. Cuba has been de ...

took part in the season as part of a

goodwill tour A goodwill tour is a tour by someone or something famous to a series of places, with the purpose of expressing benevolent interest or concern for a group of people or a region, improving or maintaining a relationship between parties, and exhibiting ...

. It was the first Cuban-based squad since 1960 to play a professional team in a United States minor or independent league stadium during the regular season. The Cubans stated that they were able to include about half their top national players in the team.

Season summary

On August 21, Ottawa Champions outfielder Sebastien Boucher set a league record for career hits with 752 in a game against the

Trois-Rivières Aigles The Aigles de Trois-Rivières (English: ''Three Rivers Eagles'') were a Canadian Minor League Baseball team of the Eastern League and the Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds from 1971 to 1977. They were located in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, ...

. Tragedy struck the league on September 4, when the co-owner of the

Québec Capitales The Québec Capitales (French: ''Les Capitales de Québec'') are a professional baseball team based in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The Capitales have been members of the Frontier League since the 2020 season after a merger between the Can-Am Lea ...

, Roberto Bissonnette was killed in a helicopter crash in

Flatlands, New Brunswick Flatlands was a local service district in Addington Parish, Restigouche County, New Brunswick, Canada. The Duncan family of Aberdeen, Scotland were the original settlers of Flatlands and Campbellton. In 1866 Flatlands was a farming and lumber ...

, along with the pilot. Team president Michel Laplant was also in the helicopter, but only suffered from non-life-threatening injuries. On September 5, former Cy Young Award winning pitcher

Éric Gagné Éric Serge Gagné (; born January 7, 1976) is a Canadian former professional baseball pitcher who played 10 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), most notably for the Los Angeles Dodgers. After signing with the Dodgers as a free agent in 1995 ...

pitched for the

Ottawa Champions The Ottawa Champions Baseball Club (french: link=no, Les Champions d'Ottawa) were a professional baseball team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The Champions made their debut as a member of the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseb ...

, attracting nearly 8,000 fans. The Champions made it to the league finals in only their second season as a franchise.

Tour of Cuban national team

The

played 20 regular season games as part of the league schedule, though they were ineligible for the playoffs. It was billed as a "goodwill tour" following the opening up of Cuba–United States relations in 2015. This team included

Luis Robert Luis Robert Moirán (born August 3, 1997) is a Cuban professional baseball outfielder for the Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2020. Cuban career Robert was named to the all-tournament team in the 2015 ...

, who would later sign with the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

for a contract worth over $50 million, including a $26 million signing bonus, on May 27, 2017. Major league scouts were also interested in Julio Pablo Martinez, who in May 2017 signed to play in the Can-Am League with the

Quebec Capitales Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirteen p ...

, along with several other Cuban players. The Cuban team finished with an 11–9 record, including eight of their last ten, and will return in June 2017 to challenge the

, winners of the 2016 season. Lazaro Ramirez, a 24-year-old outfielder, defected during the team's series against the

Sussex County Miners The Sussex County Miners are a professional independent league baseball team based in the Augusta section of Frankford Township in Sussex County, New Jersey, United States. The Miners are members of the East Division of the Frontier League, an ...

Shikoku Island League all-star team

After finishing with a 6-10 record in exhibition games during the 2015 Can-Am League season, the all-star team from the

Shikoku Island League Plus The is an independent professional baseball league on the island of Shikoku in Japan. (None of the teams in Nippon Professional Baseball are based in Shikoku.) The league currently has four teams, and has its league headquarters in Takamatsu. Th ...

returned for the 2016 season. Unlike the 2015 tour, the 2016 games were part of the regular season, counting in statistics and standings, as did the games involving the Cuban national team. The Japanese players brought a Japanese custom with them by exchanging gifts with the local teams prior to each series. The Shikoku Island League team finished with a record of 8-12. Many of the games were very close and competitive, with six going to extra innings. Finally, the Shikoku Island team played the Cuban national team in an exhibition match at Stade Stereo+ in

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, – 'Three Rivers') is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River across from the city of ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

on July 2, 2016. Despite a three-run eighth inning by Shikoku Island bringing them within one run, the Cubans got the win.

Standings

* Teams not eligible for playoffs

Playoffs

Bracket

Semifinals

New Jersey vs. Ottawa

Rockland vs. Québec

Championship finals

Rockland vs. Ottawa

The road team won every game of the 5 game series, which saw the Ottawa Champions come back from being down two games to none to win three straight games for the championship. 2016 Can-Am league final game 2

Attendance

References

{{reflist, 30em

External links

Can-Am League website
Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball Canam Canam Canam