The Thunder Bay Border Cats are a

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 ...

team that plays in the Northwoods League, a collegiate summer baseball league. The league's only

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

team, their home games are played at Port Arthur Stadium in

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its population ...

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 ...

. The Border Cats have been Northwoods League champions twice, defeating the

Madison Mallards The Madison Mallards are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Madison, Wisconsin that plays in the Northwoods League. Warner Park on Madison’s North side is the team's home field. History The history of minor league baseball in Madison b ...

two games to one in both 2005 and 2008. They also were in the Northwoods League championship in 2006, but lost to the Rochester Honkers. As of 2019, the Border Cats have sent six players to the major leagues.

Matt Mangini Matthew Steven Mangini (born December 21, 1985) is an American former Major League Baseball infielder who played for the Seattle Mariners in 2010. College career Mangini played college baseball for both the NC State Wolfpack baseball, NC State W ...

was the first to make the jump, playing 11 games for the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

in 2011. Shortstop

Jonathan Diaz Jonathan Diaz (born April 10, 1985) is an American former professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays and the Boston Red Sox. Early life Diaz went to Coral Gables Senior High School, whe ...

followed two years later, playing four games with the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

in 2013. Diaz also spent time with the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

in 2014, almost making the team out of spring training. Pitcher

Blaine Hardy Blaine Patrick Hardy (born March 14, 1987) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers and Milwaukee Brewers. College career Hardy attended Edmonds-Woodway High School in ...

became a regular in the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

bullpen in 2014.

Seth Frankoff James Seth Frankoff (born August 27, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the High Point Rockers of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, Seattle Marin ...

pitched in one game for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

, while

A.J. Schugel Andrew Jeffrey Schugel (born June 27, 1989) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Milwaukee Milkmen of the American Association of Professional Baseball. He made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut with the Arizona Diamondbacks ...

spent time with the Pittsburgh Pirates and

Wes Parsons Arthur Wesley Parsons (born September 6, 1992) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Toronto Blue Jays organization. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves and the Colorado Rockies and in the KBO League ...

is currently with the Atlanta Braves in a relief role. The Border Cats will not play their 2021 season due to "the ongoing uncertainty of the pandemic regarding the Canada-US border closure as well as outdoor gathering numbers". A travel team known as the Minnesota Mud Puppies, based in the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in statu ...

region, will play the Border Cats' originally scheduled 36 road games during the 2021 season. The Border Cats were again left dormant for the 2022 season, with a return intended for the 2023 season.

2009 All-Star Game

The 2009 Northwoods League All-Star Game was held on July 21 in Thunder Bay. This was the first time the All-Star game played in Canada. The guest speaker for the event was

Ferguson Jenkins Ferguson Arthur "Fergie" Jenkins CM (born December 13, 1942) is a Canadian former professional baseball pitcher and coach. He played Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1965 to 1983 for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers and ...

, a Canadian member of the

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

. The game was won 4-2 by the South Division squad, led by the MVP performance of Kurtis Muller, who went 3-for-5.

Notable active alumni & those reaching AAA/Majors

Year-by-year records

References

External links

Thunder Bay Border Cats

Northwoods League
{{NWL Northwoods League teams Sport in Thunder Bay Baseball teams in Ontario