The Ottawa Titans Baseball Club (French: ''Les Titans d'Ottawa'') is a 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 t ...

team based in Ottawa,

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 C ...

, Canada. The Titans made their debut in 2022 as a member of the

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Frontier League The Frontier League is a professional independent baseball league with teams in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Eastern Canada. Formed in 1993, it is the oldest currently running independent league in the United States. The le ...

, which is an official

MLB Partner League There are 14 Minor League Baseball (MiLB) leagues and 206 teams in operation across the United States, Dominican Republic, and Canada, which are affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. They are organized by one of five classes (fro ...

. They played their home games at Ottawa Stadium. The Titans mascot is Cappy. They became the city's seventh professional baseball franchise succeeding the International League's

Ottawa Giants The Ottawa Giants were a professional minor-league baseball team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada that operated in 1951 after the relocation of an existing Triple-A team, the Jersey City Giants. It played at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa and finishe ...

Ottawa Athletics The Ottawa Athletics (also known as the Ottawa A's) were a professional minor-league baseball team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, that operated from 1952 to 1954. The team played at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa and was a member of the Triple-A Inte ...

and

Ottawa Lynx The Ottawa Lynx were a Minor League Baseball team that competed in the Triple-A International League (IL) from 1993 to 2007. The team's home field was Lynx Stadium in Ottawa, Ontario. Over 15 seasons, the team was an affiliate of the Montreal ...

, 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 ...

Ottawa Rapidz The Ottawa Voyageurs, previously the Ottawa Rapidz, were a professional baseball team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada under the Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball or Can-Am League. As a Can-Am team, the team played one seas ...

and

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 ...

and 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 ...

Ottawa Fat Cats The Ottawa Fat Cats were a semi-professional baseball club in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The team began play on May 8, 2010, against the Guelph Royals, and played its home games at the Ottawa Baseball Stadium, the first home game was on May 15, 201 ...

History

Founding and Covid impact

After the 2019 season, the Can-Am League merged with the

and five of the six teams remaining in it joined the latter league. The Champions were not invited to take part, but it was not immediately clear if they would fold or go on hiatus as owner Miles Wolff, the former Can-Am League commissioner, looked to sell the team. He could not find a buyer, however, and the team folded operations. Eventually, the Frontier League decided to expand to Ottawa anyway, announcing in September 2020 that the league would be granting a franchise to a group led by

Sam Katz Samuel Michael Katz (born August 20, 1951) is a Canadian businessman and former politician who was the 42nd mayor of Winnipeg, Manitoba from 2004 to 2014. He is the owner of the Winnipeg Goldeyes and a member of the Order of Manitoba. He wa ...

, the former mayor of

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...

and owner of the

Winnipeg Goldeyes The Winnipeg Goldeyes are a minor-league baseball team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The Goldeyes play in the American Association of Professional Baseball, which they joined in 2011. Previously, the Goldeyes were members of the Norther ...

of the

American Association of Professional Baseball The American Association of Professional Baseball is an independent professional baseball league founded in 2005. It operates in the central United States and Canada, mostly in cities not served by Major League Baseball teams or their minor lea ...

, and

Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG) is a professional sports and commercial real estate management group based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The primary holdings of the company are a pair of professional sports franchises: the Ottawa Redb ...

, who owns the

Ottawa 67’s The Ottawa 67's are a major junior ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, that plays in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). Established during Canada's centennial year of 1967 and named in honour of this, the 67's currently play their ...

junior hockey team and the

Ottawa Redblacks The Ottawa Redblacks (officially stylized as REDBLACKS) (French: Le Rouge et Noir d'Ottawa) are a professional Canadian football team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The team plays in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Starting ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

; the league considers this to be an expansion team and not to have any connection to the Champions. On 6 October 2020, Ottawa announced Steve Brook as the team's inaugural manager. Brook previously managed the

River City Rascals The River City Rascals were a professional baseball team based in O'Fallon, Missouri, in the United States. The Rascals were a member of the West Division of the Frontier League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. From the 1999 ...

in the

from 2010 to 2019. He led the Rascals to a 488–373 record over his nine seasons at the helm including the 2010 and 2019 championships. In December 2020, Ottawa announced the team name as Ottawa Titans a result of a name-the-team contest, and the team colors in the tradition of Ottawa sports franchises such as the

Ottawa 67's The Ottawa 67's are a major junior ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, that plays in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). Established during Canada's centennial year of 1967 and named in honour of this, the 67's currently play their h ...

, and

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 ...

. On 22 April 2021, the Frontier League announced that Ottawa (along with 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, ...

) would not compete in the 2021 season due to the prolonged closure of the Canada–United States border as a result of the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic in Ottawa The COVID-19 pandemic in Ottawa is part of the global ongoing viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Ottawa is the 4th most p ...

. Canadian players signed by the Titans and the Aigles had the opportunity to join 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 ...

(who started the season as a

traveling team Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel c ...

known as Équipe Québec, playing exclusively in the U.S.), while non-Canadian players were subject to a dispersal draft among the 13 U.S.–based teams. The Titans intended on returning to competition for their inaugural season in 2022.

Early seasons

In October 2021, Bobby Brown was hired as the Titans manager for the 2022 season, after Steve Brook, on a one-year contract, decided to move on. The Titans played their first home game on 24 May 2022 against the

Evansville Otters The Evansville Otters are a professional baseball team based in Evansville, Indiana. They compete in the West Division of the independent Frontier League. Since their establishment in 1995, the Otters have played at historic Bosse Field, which o ...

in front of a crowd of 3,458. On 11 June 2022, outfielder Jacob Sanford tied the Frontier League record with 10 RBI in a single game in a 13-0 victory over the

Empire State Greys The Empire State Greys were a professional baseball team in the United States. The Greys were a member of the East Division of the Frontier League, an independent baseball league that is an official MLB Partner League. The Greys were formed p ...

. On 3 September 2022, the Titans clinched their playoff spot for the first time in franchise history. In the wild card game, the Titans defeated the

New York Boulders The New York Boulders are an American independent professional baseball team playing in the Frontier League based in Pomona, Rockland County, New York. The team was founded as a member of the Can-Am League, beginning play in the 2011 season as t ...

8-2 to advance to the divisional round against the

. However, they lost to the Capitales 2 games to 1 in the divisional round. In their first season in Ottawa, The Titans averaged 2,210 fans per game for a total of 112,727 in 51 home games.

Season-by-season records

Attendance

Ottawa Stadium

Since 2022, the Titans play their home games at the 10,332-seat Ottawa Stadium just east of downtown Ottawa. Ottawa Stadium has a pedestrian bridge to help make it easier to get to the ballpark using

OC Transpo OC Transpo, officially the Ottawa-Carleton Regional Transit Commission, is the public transit agency for the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It operates an integrated hub-and-spoke system including light metro, bus rapid transit, convention ...

's light rail system. The pedestrian bridge crosses over Highway 417 to connect the ballpark to the Transit Way and is named in honour of the late

Max Keeping Winston Maxwell "Max" Keeping, (1 April 1942 – 1 October 2015), was a Canadian broadcaster. He was vice-president of news and public affairs at CJOH-DT, the CTV station in Ottawa, Ontario. Keeping was anchor of the local evening news broadca ...

Current roster

References

External links

* {{Baseball in Canada Frontier League teams Baseball teams in Ottawa Baseball teams established in 2020 2020 establishments in Ontario