Ottawa Can-Ams: Squeaky wheel greases skids for stadium fight

David Butler can only go so long without seeing his name in print, but that's not a worrying thing.

Butler's grandstanding on Friday was valuable. It pointed out that the future of summer sports, not necessarily baseball, in Ottawa is joined at the hip with who gets control of the stadium. It's not about the sport (it might be about which sport, since you could put a soccer team there). At least if Butler is running his mouth, perhaps it plants a seed with someone else about operating a summer team in Ottawa (Can-Am League, whatever league, maybe footy) in Ottawa.

Please forget the irony in his comment, "We are going try and make a run at it again" (Sun Media) with a Can-Am League ballclub. Butler using word we is a hoot and a half. For two years, he has refused to say who is part of his group which wants to turn Ottawa's baseball stadium into a multiuse entertainment facility. As for again, what was Butler's involvement the first time, besides screwing up the buses for the Rapidz' first road trip?

Anywho, the league's "best bet for strengthening itself could lie in Canada," according to indy baseball scribe Bob Werz. Trois-Rivières is the closest to a firm possibility. Suburban Montréal would be perfect if it was physically possible to put Ottawa's entire stadium on rollers and move it two hours east. Ottawa offers a stadium and some loyal fans.

The Can-Am has received a shot in the arm publicity-wise from Éric Gagné bringing his supposedly shot arm to the Québec Capitales. Running with eight teams is better than the current six, since it makes for a less repetitive schedule. There is some potential, although broader sports-watching trends don't hold much sway in Ottawa. Nothing that happens anywhere else could ever have sway in Ottawa. That point was reaffirmed during the whole MLS-CFL debate in late 2008-early '09. The right side came out on top, but it was rich to see the pro-CFL side dismiss MLS as small-time. It has had tremendous launches in Seattle and Toronto (the expansion Sounders' average attendance rivals the baseball Mariners, albeit it with one-fourth as many games) and will be hit in Portland and Vancouver.

Whoever tries to make a go with baseball in Ottawa is going to have to step up in a market where two ball teams have gone by the wayside. Most people don't know or care the Triple-A Lynx were bled dry or that the Rapidz were rendered a joke by nimrod owners who didn't know their assets from second base. Perception is reality.

Meantime, the onus is on the media to be more judicious with figuring out if someone is credible rather than saying, "Hey, this guy says he wants to own a baseball team." Don't we all want to own a baseball team, and have an elephant?

David Butler is a trifle. The same might go for this other character who has come out of the woodwork, Duncan Macdonald. His description screams, "true believer." Macdonald says he worked for the Toronto Blue Jays during their World Series years. Apparently he did some scouting, but in the grand scheme part-time scouts have about as much to do with a Major League Baseball team's success in a given season as the assistant to the travelling secretary.

Listening to Butler describe his grandiose vision is like listening to George Costanza describe his fake house in the Hamptons. Butler at least has the good sense to scurry off and let it die rather than drive his dead fiancée's parents out to the end of the island.

That doesn't mean Butler won't try the same old ploy of telling anyone who will listen about using the stadium for concerts. It's awfully familiar:

Ottawa Business Journal, Aug. 31, 2007: "David Butler has interests with a prestigious list of firms to turn Lynx Stadium, which hosted its last Triple-A Ottawa Lynx game today, into a multi-service entertainment and sports complex within perhaps 20 months."

Sun Media, Aug. 21, 2009: "David Butler ... says he has submitted a proposal to the city and to Can-Am League commissioner Miles Wolff to re-open the doors of the Ottawa Baseball Stadium and field a team.

" ... However, given the checkered history of baseball at the Coventry Rd. stadium, Butler says he wants to use the facility for more than just baseball.

"Butler would like the city to allow the stadium to be used for concerts and other events.

" 'Baseball would be one product,' said Butler. 'Nobody will make just baseball work. I want something there every day.' "

The point is the baseball story is not going away in Ottawa. Having a stadium and a population of 1 million increases the odds of someone taking a shot. Of course, having a population of 1 million also increases the number of people who will listen to David Butler. C'est la vie!

Ottawa stadium debate: Credit him for chutzpah, nothing else

David Butler is all hat and no cattle.

Determining what to do with Ottawa's stadium issues is hard enough without this wannabe recycling a really stoopid idea which has already been shot down.

"(Butler) has informed the city of his renewed interest, but this time, he wants to start small. He wants to lease the stadium and hold five or six outdoor concerts a year -- which, using Nickelback as an example, he said would generate $350,000 each -- and eventually move toward his larger vision of a domed, state-of-the-art multi-purpose entertainment centre that could house soccer fields, a driving range, pro shops, fitness clubs and restaurants."

Sure. Go tell that to the goat which will be part of the petting zoo you're also planning to fit into his family-friendly Xanadu.

This dude is unreal. Butler is way too light on the details. It is unclear at best what if any involvement he had with the Nickelback concert at the stadium in July 2007, although there's no dispute about who fouled up when the team buses failed to show up at the stadium for the Rapidz' first road trip last season and caused them to be late arriving at the ballpark.

Readers of longer standing (thank you, everyone) will also remember that Butler told people he had backing from the quote, unquote, "Bank of Frank," and we all know how that turned out. Honestly, as someone else said when he first surfaced two years ago with his cockamamie scheme to put $40 million into the site, "What, does he think he's going to discover oil in centrefield?"

At least, as Mr. Kiiffner notes, he isn't trying to claim they sold 42,000 beers in one night, which as best as one can determine, is almost mathematically and physically impossible. The bottom line is that his proposal can still serve a purpose, provided that someone at City Hall is really into origami. The most pragmatic thing to do with the ballpark on Coventry Rd. is to take another stab at establishing an independent-league ballclub in 2010.

Related:
Proposal music to the ears; Stadium's saviour would turn facility into concert venue (Sun Media)

Ottawa Can-Ams: The last spike

Today is not a day to lash out and make it about what's wrong with Ottawa.

The demise of the Ottawa Voyageurs was beyond everyone's control, locally. The Atlantic City Surf folded over the weekend. That was that. Once that domino toppled, it left the league with seven teams, one of which was a ward of the league. A baseball league cannot run with an odd number of teams, since everyone plays almost every day.

Today, if you're so inclined to see history as a straight line, is the end of a long slide down that probably began in the mid-'90s when Major League Baseball set out to destroy the Expos. The trickle-down was felt by the Lynx, just two hours away in Ottawa. The record should show there were people who raged against the dying of the light.

This is not directly tied to the Zipperheads' lawsuit against the City of Ottawa and Can-Am commish Miles Wolff. The league, as best is my understanding, could not afford to have two franchises under league control.

It sounds like the other Can-Am owners basically said no to a league-controlled team in Ottawa. If that's the case, it's a final irony that former MLB executive Dan Duquette, who has a stake in the American Defenders of New Hampshire, was party to driving the final nail into the coffin of pro ball in Ottawa (no matter what true believers say). Duquette was GM of the Montreal Expos when the Triple-A Lynx came into being as its top farm club in 1993.

It probably was a bit inevitable, but people like friends Carl Kiiffner and Bruce Murdock went the extra mile for this nevertheless. Their voices probably won't be heard. Save for Don Campbell at the Ottawa Citizen, whose baseball bona fides are beyond reproach, and for Chris Stevenson noting this is the loss a cheap night out for families during the summer months, the knee-jerkers in the local media probably won't have much of a heart for those who cared. It's another story about a sports team in Ottawa going under, which usually means the opportunity for drive-by journalism.

Please know this has little to do with the litany of failed franchises, pending litigation, or whatever there is in the Canadian sports psyche which makes us reject so-called American sports like a bad transplant. It was the economy, stupid.

In the long run, it speaks to not having a summer team in Ottawa as an alternative to all-hockey, all-the-time sportsgeist. It speaks to what was lost for ball fans east of Toronto once MLB put the screws to the 'Spos 15 years ago. It speaks to the changing nature of following baseball as a Canadian. The self-described dinosaur with his newspaper might have hearing this from an "Internet geek," but there have never been more Canadians playing at a high level of baseball, and following them has never been more accessible. There's a trade-off, but all it takes is a high-speed connection to keep up with Canadian ballplayers such as Jason Bay, Rich Harden, Phillippe Aumont, Brett Lawrie, Joey Votto, Russell Martin and Alex Périard as opposed to watching half-talented imports ply their dubious craft on a local diamond.

Most of all, it speaks to the economic realities that all of us are facing across North America. Hockey lost two ECHL teams this winter, it's naive to think this could not happen in minor-league baseball, especially indy ball.

Please know that Wolff and many others went all out for ball fans in Ottawa. Please know there are ball fans in Ottawa. The bat was taken out of their hands.

Related:
Voyageurs strike out? (Chris Stevenson, Sun Media)
Ball team striking out in Ottawa; Can-Am league expected to shut down Voyageurs (Derek Puddicombe, Sun Media)
Pro baseball may have struck out again in Ottawa (Krystle Chow, Ottawa Business Journal)
Atlantic City Surf ceases operations (ballparkdigest.com; fist bump to Pete Toms for the link)

Vees nest: Milons deal nets pitching, infield help

It seems like Ottawa Voyageurs are trying to address two of last season's deficiencies, middle infield and starting pitching, with their latest move.

The club swapped left fielder Jereme Milons, who hit a decent .298/.360/.434 last season, to Southern Illinois in the Frontier League for the rights to utilityman Manny Paula and right-handed starter Chris Allen.

Paula comes advertised as someone who can play second and shortstop, along with outfield, so at least he would give the Vees some options. He helped Southern Illinois make a playoff push last season, and in '07 he was very good in the Frontier League, OPSing .930 and hitting 15 homers in 274 at-bats. Who knows how well that translates to the Can-Am League, but at least he's got some pop.

Allen, 24, posted decent numbers in his first pro season last season, going 6-2 with a 3.39 ERA and 1.36 WHIP with no home runs allowed in 61 innings. The stats suggest he's got decent control, but maybe goes a little too deep into counts sometimes (his efficiency isn't rated very high).

Here's hoping Ottawa can get those two into camp. As it stands, they probably have four everyday players: Rookie Jeff Thomas and incumbent Jared Lemieux in left and centre, Trino Aguilar and Jabe Bergeron at the infield corners.

Voyageurs pitching coach Mike Kusiewicz, by the way, will participate in Ottawa writer Jim Shearon's book launch on Thursday at 5 p.m. at Collected Works (1242 Wellington St.). Shearon's latest, Over The Fence Is Out!, is a history of Canadians in baseball, with a special focus on Larry Walker.

Oil Can Boyd at the Vees' Nest?

Forty-nine-year-old Oil Can Boyd pitching for the Ottawa Voyageurs ... A friend in the know mentioned it yesterday on the Q.T., and Don Campbell has it in the paper today. Honestly, the Vees could use some zazzing up, and people love the Can:

"Eighteen seasons after striking out his last major league hitter, and seven months shy of his 50th birthday, the colourful Boyd hopes to realize his dream in Ottawa with the Cam-Am Baseball League Voyageurs.

" 'My way of thinking about the game hasn't changed,' Boyd said Monday from his home in East Providence, Rhode Island.

" 'I've always known the secret to longevity is to take care of yourself and that the smarter you get, the better it is.' "

Related:
Oil Can likely to pitch in Ottawa at 49;'Ball coming out of my hand free and easy,' Boyd says (Don Campbell, Canwest News Service)

Ottawa baseball: Former owners sue city, Can-Am commish

Who needs fiction when you have the former owners of Ottawa's minor-league baseball team.

Long story short, the team's former owners, the Zipperheads, are suing anyone and everyone over their losses from last season and not one Ottawa media outlet has clued in. Far be it to suggest Rob Hall, Rick Anderson, et al., in lieu of going away in anger, should just go away. Their statement of claim, which is a matter of public record, goes so far to claim Can-Am League commish Miles Wolff and the City of Ottawa actually conspired to cause them to lose the $1.4 million they claimed to lose last summer.

33. In the 2008 season, Momentous funded the baseball club and its operations to the extent of some $1 million. In addition, Momentous loaned personnel and equipment to Rapidz Baseball while continuing to carry them on its payroll and inventory. During the course of the 2008 season, Rapidz Baseball incurred an indebtedness in excess of $1.4 million.

34. The likelihood of operational costs leading to a deficit in this range was known to the City and Wolff, but was not disclosed by either of them to the plaintiffs.

So, the Ontario courts are to believe that Wolff has spent the better part of two years trying to put a team in a market to purposely lose money. That is asinine on its face. Read that twice. Wolff and the city knew how much the owners would stand to lose? That's akin to me telling you how much money you'll have in your checking account at the end of this year without knowing anything about your spending habits.

Good friend Carl Kiiffner is pretty succinct:

If he 'knew' that baseball in Ottawa was a 'losing proposition' in excess of $1 million dollars, why did Miles Wolff try so hard to bring the Can-Am League here in the first place?

It just goes on and on through their statement of claim, that they were supposedly set up by the city and their commissioner. Sorry, gentle sirs, it does not pass muster, unlike the hot dogs at the ballpark last summer, which were so superb they barely needed mustard (how did you make the buns so crispy?).

This part of the SoC deserves a good slathering of soy sauce:

"They realised, by the magnitude of the losses, that the representations and warranties made by Wolff and joined in by the City were patently false. To overcome the effect of this breach, the plaintiffs sought the agreed upon negotiation with the City of a long term lease at commercially reasonable rates.

Translation for the legalese-impaired: "We were so mad at being lied to that we decided the only way out was to get into bed with this city for 30 years." (Mental note: Do not hire these guys to provide counselling to battered spouses.)

Anyway, the real proof, like Carl says, will be what the Zipperheads got in writing from Wolff and the city. The heart of the matter is that, despite Ottawa being a fickle market for teams other than hockey, Wolff put a ton of personal and sweat equity into bringing baseball back in 2009 with the Ottawa Voyageurs. The municipal government in Ottawa was only too eager to welcome it back, in stark contrast to some of the near tooth-pulling it took in fall 2007/winter 2008

At the end of the day, this post is being written so readers know what was meant by saying in January that the former owner "was pulling a Horn Chen." This goes a little bit beyond merely trying to hoard that team's former nickname.

To the media, this has nothing to do with the Voyageurs, which is essentially an expansion team which play out of the same ballpark (the Vees' Nest, as it shall henceforth be known). There is going to be pro ball in Ottawa in 2009.

The upshot is no one ever said it would be easy to preserve pro baseball in Ottawa and safeguard the Lynx legacy. With friends of baseball like the Zipperheads, who needs enemies.

Related:
Kennedy, the moon landings, Area 51 and… the RapidZ? (Carl Kiiffner, the unofficial Ottawa Voyageurs blog)
Previous:
Clean break from last season's Hall hole (Jan. 27, 2009)

Voyageurs: No breaking sidearmer's spirit

David Wasylak should not be, which is meant in the most positive light possible.

There was an item on The Canadian Press wire noting the Ottawa Voyageurs and American Association's Grand Prairie AirHogs have swapped lefty pitcher Jacob Ramos for Wasylak. The 26-year-old sidearmer was in the Can-Am League briefly with Québec and Worcester last season (he's a Massachusetts native).

Wasylak suffered a major compound fracture in his right forearm as a teen and suffice to say, it looked like he was going to lose the arm:

"... it was a long time before physicians knew, one way or the other, how much use Wasylak would regain in the arm. When the cast came off, the fingers on his right hand were motionless. It was almost a year before he could use a knife to cut a steak. Driving was out of the question because he could muster no strength in the arm."
— Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, June 2006

Wasylak also lost his father at an early age and made his way through three college programs, helping Lubbock Christian University make an appearance in the NAIA World Series in '06. He had a 3.63 ERA with Laredo in the United League last season and did not allow a home run in 34 2/3 innings, averaging just more than a strikeout per frame (albeit on a team which averaged almost that many; there's a lot of free swingers in that league).

This is not meant to be a testimonial to Wasylak's ability, but it's hard not to hope it works out for someone. Pitching coach Mike Kusiewicz battled arm problems throughout his playing career and eventually dropped down and became a sidearmer, so it figures that the Voyageurs might take a chance on one.