The Victoria Capitals were members of the

Canadian Baseball League The Canadian Baseball League was an independent minor league that operated in 2003. The league's only Commissioner was Major League Baseball Hall of Famer and Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame member Ferguson Jenkins. The league featured former majo ...

that lasted two months before the league ceased operations in 2003. The Capitals played out of

Royal Athletic Park Royal Athletic Park is a stadium in Victoria, British Columbia and is used for baseball, soccer, softball and football, but also hosts special events, such as the annual Great Canadian Beer Festival and previously the Rifflandia Music Festival. I ...

and led the league in attendance, averaging over 1,000 fans per game. They featured former

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 ...

pitcher

Steve Sinclair Steven Scott Sinclair (born August 2, 1971 in Victoria, British Columbia) is a former pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners. Sinclair made his major league debut for the Blue Jays on April 25, 1998, against the Chicago White Sox ...

and were managed by former

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

shortstop

Andres Thomas Andres or Andrés may refer to: *Andres, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Will County, Illinois, US *Andres, Pas-de-Calais, a commune in Pas-de-Calais, France *Andres (name) *Hurricane Andres * "Andres" (song), a 1994 song by L7 See also ...

. Due to a highly receptive community, the Capitals were able to attract fans by combining local business sponsorship with affordable family entertainment. Unfortunately, the other teams in the league did not receive such a response. The league was forced to halt play in the middle of the 2003 season after new league owner

Jeff Mallett Jeffrey Mallett (born August 7, 1964) is a Canadian entrepreneur and investor. He is best known for building internet giant Yahoo!. Described as Yahoo's "wizard behind the curtains pulling all the levers," Mallett manages a portfolio of Interne ...

(part owner of the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

and co-founder of Yahoo) decided the league business model was destined for failure. Although the intent was to restart the league in 2004, the league's assets were eventually sold off and play was never resumed. In 2004, the Victoria Royals were formed and featured some of the players and management of the Capitals. Unlike the Capitals, the Royals were a semi-pro team featuring college players from both Canada and the United States. There was a strong local presence, as many of the players and coaches were originally from Victoria. Local players included Curtis Pelletier, Matt Gunning, Steve Bailey, Kyle Swenson, Joel Perkins, Christian Winstanley, Graham Campbell, Bryan Allen, Gautam Srivastava, Henry Mabee, Bobby Rebner and Shawn Loglisci. Coached by Marty Hall and Daryn Lansdell, the Royals had a good season winning the PWL crown. Also, unlike the Capitals, the Royals finished their season, playing teams from Washington, British Columbia, and Alberta. At the end of the season, management decided that the return of the Royals was unlikely for 2005, due to lack of support from the local business community. Since the end of the season in 2004, Victoria has been without high-level baseball; however, that is set to change in 2009 with the arrival of the

Golden Baseball League The Golden Baseball League was an independent baseball league based in San Ramon, California, with teams located in the western United States, western Canada and northwest Mexico. The GBL was not affiliated with Major League Baseball or the orga ...

Victoria Seals The Victoria Seals were a professional baseball team based in Victoria, British Columbia. The Seals were a member of the North Division of the independent Golden Baseball League, which is not affiliated with either Major League Baseball (MLB) or ...

References

Defunct minor league baseball teams

Capitals Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

Defunct baseball teams in Canada Baseball teams in British Columbia Baseball teams established in 2003 Baseball teams disestablished in 2003 2003 establishments in British Columbia 2004 disestablishments in British Columbia Defunct independent baseball league teams {{Canada-baseball-team-stub