The Ottawa Titans (French: Titans d'Ottawa), officially Ottawa Titans Baseball Club (Club de baseball des Titans d'Ottawa), are a professional baseball team based in Ottawa. The Titans compete in the Frontier League (FL) as a member of the Atlantic Division. Since 2022, the team has played its home games at Ottawa Stadium, originally known as JetForm Park. The Titans became the city's 8th professional baseball franchise succeeding the Eastern League's Ottawa Wanderers, the International League's Ottawa Giants, Ottawa Athletics and Ottawa Lynx, the Intercounty Baseball League's Ottawa Fat Cats, as well as the Can-Am League's Ottawa Rapidz and Ottawa Champions.
| Ottawa Titans | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Information | |||||
| League | Frontier League (Atlantic Division) | ||||
| Location | Ottawa, Ontario | ||||
| Ballpark | Ottawa Stadium | ||||
| Founded | 2020 | ||||
| Playoff berths |
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| Colours | Red, white, black | ||||
| Mascot | Cappy | ||||
| Ownership | Sam Katz, OSEG, Jacques J.M. Shore | ||||
| President | Regan Katz | ||||
| General manager | Martin Boyce | ||||
| Manager | Bobby Brown | ||||
| Media | Ottawa Citizen Ottawa Sun CityNews Ottawa Le Droit Radio-Canada TSN 1200 TVA Sports RDS CKDJ 107.9 94,5 Unique FM HomeTeam Network | ||||
| Website | ottawatitans | ||||
Founded in 2020, the Titans played their inaugural season in 2022 due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario. The franchise was created as part of the planned 2021 Frontier League expansion.
The Titans have made it to the playoffs two times in franchise history, in 2022 and 2024. They however lost both times in the semifinal round against their fierce rivals, the Québec Capitales. The Titans mascot is Cappy.
History
editAfter the 2019 season, the Can-Am League merged with the Frontier League, with five of the six remaining teams joining the league. The remaining team, the Ottawa 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, looked to sell the team. He could not find a buyer, and the team folded operations.
In September 2020, the FL decided to expand to Ottawa, granting a franchise to a group led by Sam Katz, the former mayor of Winnipeg and owner of the Winnipeg Goldeyes of the American Association of Professional Baseball; Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group, who owns the Ottawa 67’s junior hockey team and the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League; and local lawyer Jacques J.M. Shore.[1] Following a contest, the team was named the Titans.[1]
On October 6, 2020, Ottawa announced Steve Brook as the team's inaugural manager. Brook previously managed the River City Rascals in the FL 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 colours in the tradition of Ottawa sports franchises such as the Ottawa Redblacks, Ottawa 67's, and Ottawa Senators.
The continued closure of the Canada–United States border, unfortunately resulted in pushing the Titans' inaugural season to 2022. Ottawa, Québec, and Trois-Rivières were replaced on the 2021 schedule by a travelling team named Équipe Québec. Équipe Québec used the Canadian players from the Ottawa Titans, Québec Capitales and Trois-Rivières Aigles to craft the base of their roster and spent the first half of the season on the road, before returning to Canada in late July. Équipe Québec split their home games between Stade Canac in Quebec City and Stade Quillorama in Trois-Rivières.[2]
On July 30, 2021, Équipe Québec hosted the New York Boulders at Stade Canac and won the game 10–8 in front of a full house of 2,800 spectators, the maximum number that was allowed during sanitary measures.
On September 12, 2021, Équipe Québec qualified for the playoffs, and they faced the Washington Wild Things in the best-of-five Frontier League Division Series (FLDS). The crowd of 3,750 gathered at Stade Canac during Game 3 represented more than 900 people than the number allowed due to sanitary measures, and Québec were able to pull a 3–2 win over the Wild Things. They however lost Game 4 and 5, which ended their very unique season. Équipe Québec finished the season first place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 52 wins and 44 losses with an average of 2,288 fans in 24 home games, including the playoffs.[3] A full reset was done by the team's front office to immediately shift focus on the 2022 season.
In October 2021, Bobby Brown was hired as the Titans field manager for the 2022 season, after Steve Brook, on a one-year contract, became the Gateway Grizzlies manager.
On May 13, 2022, Ottawa opened their inaugural season with a 10–6 road victory against the Joliet Slammers. After a nine-game road trip, the team hosted the Evansville Otters in its inaugural home opener on May 24.[4] The Titans won the game by a final score of 2–0 with Evan Grills pitching eight scoreless innings with 15 strikeouts in front of a crowd of 3,458.[5]
The Titans won seven games out of nine in their final homestand, ending on September 1.[6] The next day, Ottawa qualified for the playoffs on the road with a 4–1 victory over the Trois-Rivières Aigles, clinching the wild card spot.[1] On September 7, the Titans defeated the New York Boulders in the wild card game by a 8–2 score to advance to the Division Series.[7] They however lost the semifinals to the eventual champions, the Québec Capitales, 2 games to 1.[8] In their first season in Ottawa, the Titans averaged 2,210 fans per game for a total of 112,727 in 51 home games.
On April 17, 2024, the Ottawa Titans announced that their assistant general manager Sébastien Boucher will have his number 18 retired by the Québec Capitales on August 18 at Stade Canac as part of their 25th anniversary season of the team.[9][10]
On August 31, 2023, a franchise record crowd of 5,602 fans attended the last regular season home game of the year. For Fan Appreciation Night against the Trois-Rivières Aigles, the Titans lost 6–1 to the Aigles and have not qualified for the playoffs.
Ottawa made it to the playoffs again in 2024, and have faced the Tri-City ValleyCats in the Wild Card Game.[11] They defeated the ValleyCats 5–2, but however lost to the Capitales again in the FLDS 2 games to 1.[12] Third baseman AJ Wright was selected as the 2024 Third Baseman Of The Year by the Frontier League, and team play-by-play broadcaster Davide Disipio received the Robert Ford Broadcaster of the Year award.[13]
The Titans were able to break their franchise record crowd from 2023 during their 2025 home opener against the New Jersey Jackals, winning 7–6 in front of 7,152 people at Ottawa Stadium.[2]
Season-by-season record
edit| Ottawa Titans | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | W–L Record | Win % | Finish | Playoffs | |
| 2021* | 52–44 | .542 | 1st in FL Atlantic | Lost Divisional Round to Washington Wild Things 3–2 | |
| 2022 | 56–39 | .589 | 3rd in FL East | Won East Division Wild Card Game over New York Boulders 8–2 Lost Divisional Round to Québec Capitales 2–1 | |
| 2023 | 48–48 | .500 | 6th in FL East | Did not qualify | |
| 2024 | 53–42 | .558 | 3rd in FL East | Won East Division Wild Card Game over Tri-City ValleyCats 5–2 Lost Divisional Round to Québec Capitales 2–1 | |
| TOTAL | 157-129 | .549 | |||
*In 2021, Équipe Québec, a combination of the Ottawa Titans, Québec Capitales and Trois-Rivières Aigles, played in the Frontier League. With a record of 52–44, they finished first place in the Atlantic Division, but lost the FLDS to the Washington Wild Things 3 games to 2.
Current roster
edit| Active roster | Coaches/Other | |||
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Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
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Manager
Coaches
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Notable alumni
edit- Evan Grills (2022)
- Joey Terdoslavich (2023)
References
edit- ^ a b c "Ottawa Titans: Team History". Ottawa Titans Baseball Club. 2025. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
- ^ a b Kerr, Stephen (2022-05-24). "Quebec Capitales Finally Begin Frontier League Play". FloBaseball. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
- ^ Lang, Luc (2022-05-02). "Quebec Capitales are back as a team in the Frontier League". The Quebec Chronicle Telegraph. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
- ^ Warren, Ken (May 24, 2022). "Ottawa Titans finally take the field in franchise opener as Grills burns Evansville". Ottawa Sun.
- ^ Colley, Mark (2022-05-25). "Pitcher Evan Grills dominates for Ottawa Titans in historic home opener". Capital Current. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
- ^ "2022 Frontier League Schedule". Frontier League. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
- ^ Ashmore, Mike (September 8, 2022). "2022 Frontier League Playoffs Continuing Season's Excitement". FloSports. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
- ^ "2022 Frontier League". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
- ^ "Capitales de Québec: Sébastien Boucher deviendra un immortel". TVA Sports (in Canadian French). 2024-04-18. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
- ^ Cadorette, Stéphane (2024-08-16). "Capitales: au tour de Sébastien Boucher d'être immortalisé". Le Journal de Québec (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2024-12-05.
- ^ Jhalli, Anil (2023-10-11). "Titans start 2024 Frontier League season on the road, play first home game on May 21". CityNews Ottawa. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
- ^ "Titans earn walk-off win over Capitales in Game 1 of division series". Canadian Baseball Network. 2024-09-06. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
- ^ "FRONTIER LEAGUE ANNOUNCES 2024 POST-SEASON AWARDS" (Press release). Frontier League. August 31, 2024. Archived from the original on August 31, 2024.