The Ottawa Fat Cats were a semi-professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

club in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. The team began play on May 8, 2010, against the Guelph Royals, and played its home games at the

Ottawa Baseball Stadium Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton Park (French: Parc Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton), also known as RCGT Park (French: Parc RCGT) is a baseball stadium in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, with a seating capacity of 10,332. The stadium is located in the city' ...

, the first home game was on May 15, 2010, against the Mississauga Twins. The team was a member of the

Intercounty Baseball League The Intercounty Baseball League (IBL) is a Canadian amateur baseball league, comprising teams of college players and former professionals from North America and beyond. The teams are located in Southern Ontario. The league was formed in 1919 and ...

but suspended operations at the end of the 2012 season. They were eventually replaced as the primary tenant of what is now RCGT Park by 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 ...

of the

Can-Am League 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 ...

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. City 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 Baseball League and was accepted. As the other eight IBL teams are located in or within a short distance of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, 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. In March 2010, the group named Duncan MacDonald as the general manager, while Bill Mackenzie, a former professional baseball player, was hired as 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 Cats used the traditional red, black and white used by Ottawa teams. The cap logo is a stylized 'O' (similar to the alternate logo used by the city's

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

team, the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

), with horizontal black, red and white stripes through the 'O'. A vertical slit in the middle of the 'O' made it look like a cat's eye. The jersey logo was a cartoon cat with the team name written below it. The Cats also arranged concerts at the Stadium in addition to the ball games. The concerts' premise was to raise funds to offset any losses in the operations of the baseball team.

2010 New Era All-Star Classic

On August 12, 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 The Catholic League of France (french: Ligue catholique), sometimes referred to by contemporary (and modern) Catholics as the Holy League (), was a major participant in the French Wars of Religion. The League, founded and led by Henry I, Duke o ...

(LBSEQ). Games 1 and 2 were held in Ottawa on August 21 and 22 2010, while the series continued in

Thetford Mines Thetford Mines ( Canada 2021 Census population 26,072) is a city in south-central Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of Les Appalaches Regional County Municipality. The city is located in the Appalachian Mountains, 141 miles northeast of Montreal an ...

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 ...

September 4 and 5.

Results

2010 season

In their first season the Fat Cats won 11 and lost 25, finished in last place and did not make the playoffs.

2011 season

Their second season was a great success, finishing with 16 wins and 18 losses during the regular season, good for 6th place, but winning 9 and losing 5 during the playoff, reaching the finals and losing to the champion Brantford Red Sox.

2012 season

The Fat Cats final season saw them finish with an 18 and 18 record, good for a 5th place tie for the last playoff spot, but they bowed out in the first round in 6 games.

Season-by-season records

Attendance

2010 season

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 fewest openings compared to any other team.

2011 Season

The Ottawa Fat Cats made it into The IBL finals only to lose to the Brantford Rex Sox. The Fat Cats however drew a total of 38,491 during the regular season, an increase of almost 50% from 2011. In the playoffs, the Fat Cats averaged 4,120 fans per game and drew a total of 28,843 in only seven games. The season total was 67,334 fans.

Final roster

References

{{reflist Baseball teams in Ontario

Fat In nutrition science, nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such chemical compound, compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food. The term often refers spec ...

Defunct baseball teams in Canada Intercounty Baseball League Baseball teams established in 2010 Baseball teams disestablished in 2012 2010 establishments in Ontario 2012 disestablishments in Ontario

Founding

2010 New Era All-Star Classic

Results

2010 season

2011 season

2012 season

Season-by-season records

Attendance

2010 season

2011 Season

Final roster

See also

References