Morissette: Ottawa pro ball history, Part II
Jamey Carroll was so popular with the Ottawa Lynx that they retired his number during the 2003 blackout.
September 19, 2022
With the Blue Jays Academy officials switching the location for the Canadian Futures Showcase to Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton Stadium, the Canadian Baseball Network thought it would be fun to list the Top 10 moments at the 30-year-old Ottawa Stadium, which in addition to JetForm Park has also been known as Lynx Stadium and RCGT Park.
By Adam Morissette
Baseball Canada
Set to celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2023, Ottawa Stadium, as it’s currently known, opened in 1993 as the home of the Montreal Expos’ triple-A affiliate Ottawa Lynx.
Fans turned out in droves in those early years to the park on Coventry Road that was called JetForm Park (the tech boom was real in Ottawa in the early 90s) from 1993 to 2002, coinciding with a 10-year run of the Lynx being an affiliate of the parent Expos with the big leagues just a short, two-hour ride away.
As the seasons went on so did the crowds in Ottawa, and in Montreal, where the Lynx and Expos underwent ownership changes bringing an end to the affiliation. The Lynx then became the triple-A club of the Baltimore Orioles for four seasons (2003 to 2006) before the final season of affiliated ball at the park in 2007 when the Philadelphia Phillies sent their triple-A prospects to the nation’s capital.
Since 2007, four different clubs have called Ottawa home, playing in three different leagues:
2008 - Ottawa Rapidz (Can-Am League)
2010-12 - Ottawa Fatcats (Intercounty League)
2015-19 - Ottawa Champions (Cam-Am League)
2022 – present Ottawa Titans (Frontier League)
A scheduling conflict at the Blue Jays Rogers Centre home in Toronto forced Blue Jays Academy officials to switch gears for the Canadian Futures Showcase and find a home for the annual event which shines the spotlight on the top 150 high school players in the country.
Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton (RCGT) Stadium and the hometown Titans were more than happy to oblige and so here we are with the event set to take place running Tuesday through Saturday.
The stadium that Canada’s top prospects will show the skills this week has had its share of great moments. Here’s a list of 10 of the greatest:
1. Ottawa wins International League
Just three seasons into their existence, the Ottawa Lynx found themselves battling for the International League’s Govenors’ Cup in 1995 against the New York Mets’ triple-A affiliate, the Norfolk Tides. Led by future big league manager Pete Mackanin and featuring the likes of F. P. Santangelo, Mark Grudzielanek and Joe Siddall (Windsor, Ont.), along with pitchers Kirk Rueter and Denis Boucher (Lachine, Que.), the Lynx took down the Tides 3-1 in the best-of-five series with the clinching game taking place at JetForm Park on Sept. 13, 1995 with a 4-1 victory.
At last viewing, signatures of the championship club are still visible on a wall in the home team clubhouse.
2. Pro baseball returns to Ottawa – 1993
In the early 90s affiliated minor league ball was booming north of the border with clubs in Vancouver, Medicine Hat, Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge, St. Catharines and Welland. Then, Ottawa entered the mix when Ottawa businessman and owner of the Ontario Hockey League’s Ottawa 67’s, Howard Darwin bought a club bringing affiliated minor league ball to the nation’s capital. JetForm Park was the place to be in that inaugural season as over 600,000 fans turned out, averaging 9,764 per game in the 10,500-seat stadium.
Led by future big league manager Mike Quade, the Lynx’ roster featured a bevy of future big leaguers, including Chris Nabholz, Rondell White, Gabe White, Curtis Pride, Tim Laker, Gil Heredia, Ken Hill, Cliff Floyd, along with Santangelo and Rueter, plus Canadians Matt Stairs (Fredericton, N.B.), Siddall, Mike Gardiner (Sarnia, Ont.) and Boucher, former Toronto Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo.
3. Expos play in Ottawa
Prior to the Lynx coming to Ottawa, ball fans in Canada’s capital city didn’t have to travel far to watch the big leaguers with the Expos just two hours away. In 1993, fans in Ottawa got a look at their favourite big league stars when the Expos came to town for an exhibition match-up with the Lynx.
The Blue Jays were just coming off their first World Series title but Canada’s other big league team was not a slouch any means themselves with a team that finished that 1993 season with 94 wins and three games back of the eventual National League champion Philadelphia Phillies.
That Expos roster, led by legendary manager Felipe Alou, was chock full of stars, including Dennis Martinez, Marquis Grissom, Moises Alou, Ken Hill and of course, future National Baseball Hall of Famer, Larry Walker (Maple Ridge, BC).
4. Baseball Canada Cup in Ottawa
When the top 140 high school players visit the nation’s capital this week for the Canadian Futures Showcase, it won’t represent the first time that the top amateur talent in the country will be on the field at Ottawa Stadium.
That inaugural season in 1993 saw Baseball Canada host their flagship event, the Baseball Canada Cup in Ottawa with 10 provincial All-Star teams of the players 18-and-under playing for a national championship.
There will be a future big leaguer or two at Ottawa Stadium this week strutting their stuff in front of scouts just like there was in 1993 when the likes of Eric Gagne (Mascouche, Que.) along with BC’s Ryan Dempster (Gibsons, BC) and Kevin Nicholson (Surrey, BC) played in “The Cup” that year. BC took home the title that year defeating Saskatchewan.
5. Fat Cats pack the park
Dating back to 1919, the Intercounty Baseball League (IBL) has a deep history in Ontario that has seen the likes of John Axford (Port Dover, Ont.), Rich and Rob Butler (East York, Ont.), Rob Ducey (Cambridge, Ont.), Pete Orr, (Newmarket, Ont.) and Paul Spoljaric (Lisle, Ont.), current Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson (Stratford, Ont.) and National Baseball Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins (Chatham, Ont.) take part.
In 2010, the Ottawa FatCats (you read that right!) joined the (IBL) and made a run to the league finals in 2011 that saw league record crowds show up to Ottawa Stadium to root on the hometown team against the powerhouse Brantford Red Sox.
The FatCats ultimately lost the championship series to the Red Sox but drew over 7,000 fans to a pair of home games hosted at Ottawa Stadium and giving local baseball fans a team to get behind in 2011.
Sadly, the FatCats folded following the 2012 season, leading to a two-year period (2013-2014) where Ottawa Stadium did not have a tenant.
6. Frank Thomas makes only minor league rehab appearance in Ottawa.
With crowds in Ottawa dwindling at a rapid rate it became obvious to many observers that affiliated pro ball’s days in the nation’s capital were numbered.
Still, with future and former big leaguers coming through Ottawa Stadium as either members of the Lynx or visiting clubs, diehard fans were still being treated to top quality ball.
One of the best hitters of his generation made a stop in Ottawa in May 2005 when future Hall of Famer Frank Thomas made the only rehab appearance of his storied career in Ottawa as a member of the Chicago White Sox triple-A affiliate, the Charlotte Knights.
Thomas played in a four-game series in Ottawa where he went 4-for-15 and legend has it that he treated his fellow Knights’ teammates very well by holding true to tradition and purchasing the postgame spread for each game of the four-game series.
7. AJ Burnett starts for Chiefs in Lynx last season
The Blue Jays were players in baseball’s free agent market heading into the 2006 season led by the signing of prized free agent pitcher AJ Burnett who they inked to a five-year $55 million deal.
Burnett teamed with Cy Young winner Roy Halladay to provide the Jays with a 1-2 punch in the rotation but shoulder issues caught up with him in 2007, landing the righty on the disabled list on a pair of occasions.
On Monday, Aug. 6, Burnett would make a rehab start with the visiting Syracuse Chiefs in town in what turned out to be a beautiful, Civic holiday Monday at Ottawa Stadium where over 3,000 fans showed up, a good crowd in the last year of affiliated ball at the stadium.
Burnett would toss five innings of one run ball allowing just three hits while striking out seven. He was likely out of the ballpark and down the 401 to Toronto before the game ended ... it ended up going 13 innings with the Chiefs prevailing, 5-4. You can see the boxscore here.
8. Ottawa sets attendance record
As previously mentioned, with the return of pro ball to Ottawa in 1993 led by owner Howard Darwin and the building of a brand new stadium for the tidy sum of $17 million, fans in the capital turned out in droves that inaugural season. The Ottawa Lynx set an International League attendance record, averaging 9,764 fans per game.
The hot dog vendors lined Coventry Road, the picnic area down the left field line was regular packed with Little League squads and JetForm Park was definitely the place to be.
9. Phillippe Aumont’s no hitter.
Armed with an upper 90s fastball and an imposing 6-foot-7 frame to go with it, Phillippe Aumont (Gatineau, Que.) made a name for himself with Baseball Canada’s Junior National Team and at 18-years-old when the Seattle Mariners selected him 11th overall in North America in the 2007 draft.
Aumont reached the majors in 2012 for the Philadelphia Phillies and pitched for Canada at the 2009 and 2013 World Baseball Classics and helped Canada win gold at the Pan Am Games in 2015.
For Aumont, however, his international success did not stay with him in the pro game and he contemplated retiring following the 2016 season. With the Ottawa Champions now calling Ottawa Stadium home, Aumont was convinced by a friend to join the Champions, pitch in a less stressful environment, and try to rediscover the love of the game.
When Aumont started with the Champions at the beginning of the 2017 season, it was clear that he was far too good for the league. On June 28, 2017, with a touring Dominican squad in town, Aumont delivered for the home fans, walking just one and striking out 11 batters in a no hitter.
10. Jamey Carroll jersey retirement during infamous 2003 blackout.
Jamey Carroll spent three seasons with the Ottawa Lynx when they were an affiliate of the Expos and the Evansville, Ind., native quickly endeared himself to fans of the club with his scrappy style of play at the plate and at second base.
Evan though Carroll was only one season removed from wearing the Lynx uniform, plans were made to retire Carroll’s No. 3 by the Lynx in a ceremony set to take place on Aug. 14, 2003.
Carroll was with the Expos that season but an off day allowed for him to make the quick trip the nation’s capital.
Plans were in place and both teams were set to play that evening in Ottawa following the ceremony, until the unthinkable happened: The Northeast blackout of 2003, occurring after 4:10 p.m. E.T. caused all of Ontario along with parts of Northwestern and the Mideastern United States to lose power for nearly three days.
What were the Lynx to do?
The scheduled game that evening was called off but Lynx officials knew they had to do something to honour Carroll as he was only in town for that one day.
Without a PA system and limited fans on hand not knowing that the game was cancelled (no power = no TV, no radio, no internet and this was before social media), a decision was made to invite all of those in attendance to the left field wall at Lynx Stadium to have the ceremony honouring an all-time great Lynx player.
And so is the story of Jamey Carroll’s Ottawa Lynx.
The best high school players in Canada will be here starting on Tuesday to create their own memories this week.
Read Part 1 of Ottawa’s baseball history