Unofficial Blog of the Fat Cats, by Michael Nellis

Rick Howroyd puts away the final out of game 3 in the 2011 IBL Championship (photo courtesy Freedom Photography)

Back in 2011, the Fat Cats were the talk of the town as they made it all the way to the IBL final, drawing over 4,000 people per game consistently during their run, rivaling the storied Ottawa 67’s in terms of crowd size.

Now, due to the success of the Fat Cats, we’re looking at an empty stadium for two years. Ironic, isn’t it?

Of course, this wasn’t the original plan. If things went as they were planned at first, we’d quite possibly be getting ready to head out to a renovated Ottawa Stadium right now to watch the Ottawa Blue Jays – while not missing a single summer of baseball.

The Fat Cats, assumingly, would’ve had their final season inside Ottawa last year during renovations.  That’s right, it would’ve been possible for the team to play ball through the ongoing construction in and around the stadium.

So my question to Mayor Watson is this – why isn’t Ottawa Stadium being used for Fat Cats baseball right now?

The reason that the Cats and OSG weren’t allowed to play this year in the first place was because they couldn’t fit them in under the schedule. If the Fat Cats were able to fit in to the schedule before, what caused that to suddenly change? It doesn’t seem to make any sense.

The easiness of the Cats’ schedule reaffirms the strangeness of the sudden change. If they were in the IBL this season, they would play a 42-game schedule, with 21 of those games being at home. If you include Friday nights and add in a couple double headers, the entire Fat Cats schedule could be played in around 6 weekends.

This equals out, obviously, to 12 days. 12 days without construction and 75+ days with isn’t a major hoop to jump through for the city. It seems like they could accommodate the Fat Cats if they really wanted to – the first devised plan shows that.

Jim Watson clearly has a plan for the stadium this summer. He’s alluded to it in tweets and rejected an offer from Duncan MacDonald’s new group in order to go ahead with this plan. Not only that, but the city is not allowing the charity fundraiser Home Runs for Autism to utilize the stadium for their event. They’ve been forced into Carlington Park for this year.

I would like to know what that plan is and what it consists of. Now, obviously I’m not going to jump to conclusions and suggest that it’s a bad plan before I see it, but if it doesn’t involved a competitive level of baseball being played at the stadium, I would hope this plan isn’t in place until the current negotiations are settled.

Let’s see the field used for what it was built for – baseball. If it isn’t, we could see interest for baseball dwindle, as the momentum that the Fat Cats brought to town is slowly fading away.

In fact, why doesn’t the city welcome back the Fat Cats for 2014? We’ve already established that the Cats’ schedule is easy and can be worked into a construction schedule and that there won’t be Double-A baseball in 2014, so why not? If anything, it would boost the fading interest for baseball in this city as the stadium sits empty.

Give it some thought, Mr. Mayor! In the meantime, I hope the current proposal you’re mustering up doesn’t involve grass achieving waist-high levels.

One of the many Fat Cats moving on is P Josh Soffer (photo courtesy Freedom Photography)

Another IBL season is set to get under way on this coming Saturday with Barrie facing Brantford and Burlington taking their talents to Hastings Stadium in Guelph. However, even though the Fat Cats have been forced out of Ottawa Stadium for what will hopefully be just one year, there will be some former Cats in action on Saturday.

Indeed, there have been a couple signings around the IBL as teams look to improve their staff before the first pitch of the season. These signings include some former Fat Cats, of whom we’ll highlight in today’s post.

Josh Soffer – Barrie Baycats

Barrie’s stock has definitely gone up this off-season, acquiring the rights of some of the Fat Cats’ best players. Soffer was 2^nd in the IBL in saves last year, only trailing IBL veteran Stefan Strecker. “I’ve been told that I’m in the mix for closer. At very least being a late inning guy” said Soffer in an interview over Facebook. “Honestly though, I’m going to do the same thing whether I’m starting closing long relief. That gets outs.”

If Angus Roy and the Baycats brass want the best from their pitching staff, I suggest they place Soffer in the closing role. After a bit of a rocky start last year, he came back to show why he’s one of the best pitchers in this league, posting a 3.57 ERA which was the best out of the top 5 closers in the IBL last season.

James Amelotte – Barrie Baycats

This sensational young pitcher will most likely get a shot at pitching for an affiliated club in the future, but for now he joins Soffer in Barrie.

I was very impressed with Amelotte in the games that we saw him pitch in, where on one occasion he held the perennial powerhouse Brantford Red Sox to just 3 runs in a complete game effort. He seems very strong mentally and is only going to get better. He’ll be another solid addition for Barrie.

Jason Coker – Barrie Baycats

As one of Ottawa’s imports, it looks as though Jason Coker enjoyed last year’s experience in Ottawa enough to make a return to the Great White North this season. This was confirmed when I asked him about it; “Let me start by saying that I love Canada. I had a blast last summer stepping out of my comfort zone.”

Not only does Coker want to be in Canada this year, but his will to be the best is also still there and he’s clearly looking forward to this coming season. “I still have the drive to compete on the field. I have a genuine passion for the game. It’s something I would never give up if I didn’t have to.”

“The Barrie Baycats organization extended me another chance to live out my dream. They have a solid fan base and it presents a great atmosphere for us on the field.”

Brandon Huffman – Brantford Red Sox

The Red Sox are already a club that could most definitely compete with the best of the Can-Am indy pro league. This Huffman acquisition only bolsters the accuracy of that statement.

“[Huffman’s] success last year in the IBL spoke for itself but after we were able to touch base with Brandon his desire to continue to get better and personality made us feel he would be a perfect fit in Brantford” said Brantford GM Mike Bonnano. “The staff in Ottawa did a great job finding Brandon and we are hopeful by seasons end he will have a chance to play affiliated baseball”.

Huffman not only led the league in strikeouts last year, he blew away the competition, posting 94 Ks in 12 appearances. His closest competition in that category was Marek Deska of Toronto, who was still 16 behind Huffman.

As GM Bonnano said, hopefully we’ll see Huffman get the chance to play in an MLB system by the end of the year. The intensity of his game and his ability to throw heat should get him there sooner than later, but until then, the 5-time defending champions just got quite a bit better.

Bryce MacDonald-Wilson – Guelph Royals

I guess Guelph Royals GM Dave teBoekhorst did some scouting during last year’s IBL Quarterfinal. Bryce MacDonald-Wilson has had his playing rights acquired by the Guelph Royals.

MacDonald-Wilson was never used to the extent that he could’ve been – for whatever reason that may be – however from what I’ve seen from him, he’s a capable swing man and can definitely contribute to the Royals.

He’ll definitely play a part in the Royals’ bolstered pitching staff, as they also added former Barrie Baycat Scott Price who has thrown for an ERA of under 2 in his past 2 seasons. Look for Guelph to be even better this season.

Brett Sabourin – London Majors

Another team looking to add some playoff performers in an attempt to move on is the London Majors. 

Sabourin played a key role in the Cats’ run to the IBL Final in 2011, posting a 3.99 ERA in the starting rotation alongside Matt McGovern and William Sebastian (ah yes, the good ol’ days).

It’s no secret that London has looked to improve in any way possible and a playoff performer like Sabourin will no doubt be a positive addition to their starting rotation – assuming that’s where manager Roop Chanderdat puts him.

Matt McGovern – Kitchener Panthers

It took about a week, but Matt McGovern has signed on to play with the Kitchener Panthers. Last season seemed like a rehab season for Gov, where he didn’t see much action on the mound but manned first base for Tim Nelson. We’ll see what the plan is for McGovern in the coming year, as he has now had a two years to recuperate from his beaten and battered 2011 playoff season.

Currently, Kitchener has him in their DH slot under “other” on their roster. He shares that category solely with Jeff Pietraszko.

If I had to guess, that will likely change. Gov did hit as the DH a few times in Ottawa, but it’s pretty absurd to have a set DH from the beginning of the year, so he’ll probably move around in the lineup. Whether that is to the mound or not is still to be seen.

Cody Mombourquette – Toronto Maple Leafs 

The IBL wasn’t Cody Mombourquette‘s first choice when it came to league play earlier this year. It was brought to my attention a little while ago that this happened:

Frontier League Transactions May 10, 2013

FRONTIER GREYS: Released RHP Dakota Laufenberg, RHP Jeff Lyons, INF Cody Mombourquette, OF Austin Newell, RHP D.J. Stinsman, and RHP Brandon Thielk.

It appears that Mombourquette attended a tryout for the Frontier League road team this year and even may have been signed originally. The Greys eventually ruled against keeping him around, for whatever reason.

Regardless, Mombo should have another good year in the IBL, this time wearing a Leafs jersey. He’s notorious for being a tough out for pitchers and could bring some youthful energy that Toronto has been missing for the past few years now.

I’ll be following these guys around throughout the summer – if anything notable comes up, I’ll be sure to post it here.

I wish all former Fat Cats the best of luck in the future. Hopefully we’ll be seeing them in a Fat Cats jersey once again in 2014.

I’ve had a couple recent inquiries into what’s been going on with the Double-A situation. With talks heating up considerably as of late, I have trouble offering any sort of analysis – which could turn out to be a good thing for the sake of your reading pleasure.

I’ll let Ken Gray take things away from here with an excerpt from a recent post on Bulldog Ottawa:

Meetings in Toronto and Ottawa today [Thursday] and Friday have come about because negotiations have reached a critical point, baseball insiders say.

The negotiations include Rogers Communications, the Toronto Blue Jays (which are owned by Rogers), Mandalay Sports Entertainment and Professional Sports Catering (two companies interested in bringing a Double-A team to Ottawa), Mayor Jim Watson’s office and the Eastern League.

Despite published reports to the contrary, the team that would be expected to move to Ottawa would not be the Eastern League Erie Sea Wolves, sources say.

Plans to sell Mandalay are making negotiations trickier than expected, but are not expected to prevent the company from being part of a potential Ottawa franchise, insiders say. The same sources said they were surprised that Watson announced the Toronto negotiations because the situation is very delicate. Mandalay and Pro Sports are two of the most successful and innovative operators in Minor League Baseball.

The talks are expected to result in a decision on the future of baseball in Ottawa. Sources would not speculate on their outcome but would only say the negotiations had reached a critical point. The principals to the deal are looking for financial support from Rogers and the Blue Jays.

I honestly have no idea what to expect from this. What a whirlwind ordeal.

Firstly, I don’t think anyone with a casual knowledge of the situation would have expected Mandalay to go on the market. It makes the situation tricky, but more importantly, the sale of a Double-A team can still happen regardless.

Judging by the vocabulary of the quotes here from certain insiders in Gray’s post, it appears that this is gut check time for negotiations. In the few weeks, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see some hints as to what direction we’re headed in.

Considering that there’s still another two months that have been allotted for the deal to materialize since the original April 1^st deadline was extended, I’m expecting them to take all the time they need – maybe even working into the summer.

That’s all for now, hopefully I’ll be able to write about baseball soon.

Mark Charrette makes his entrance before the Fat Cats engage in one of their final homestands (photo courtesy Freedom Photography)

The news may not exactly come as shocking, but the Ottawa Fat Cats have officially announced their suspension of operations for at least the 2013 season. The Fat Cats announced this today on their facebook page:

Dear Fans:

It is our deepest regret to announce that the Fat Cats have ceased operations for the 2013 baseball season. We want to take the time to thank the amazing fans of Ottawa, who supported us during the past three seasons. Staff, players and management have enjoyed spending summer weekends with the greatest fans in the league and we continued to hope that a resolution would be made with the city for a lease extension. Unfortunately, the city did not extend a lease to the Fat Cats, making it impossible for us to continue to operate. Our goal is to continue the baseball tradition in Ottawa and we will remain in contact with the City in order to work out a new lease agreement. On behalf of the players, the staff and the management team, we would like to thank you for your continued support of baseball in Ottawa. We hope to one day return to the field and offer our fans the most affordable family entertainment.

Happy holidays,

Ottawa Fat Cats Management

The news isn’t exactly shocking, as we know what the intentions of the city are. It’s Double-A or bust by the looks of it, as they barely gave the Cats a chance at survival.

I’ve covered this whole story fairly closely, there’s lots of info out there on the quest for Double-A and the situation that the Fat Cats have been thrown into here, so I’ll keep things short tonight. That being said, there are a few things that I want heard.

The situation here in Ottawa right now couldn’t get any messier. The future of the sport is up in the air because of an ownership group pulling the plug and it doesn’t really appear that anyone is happy about the current standing of things on either side.

Could the situation have been fixed? I believe the Fat Cats could definitely be playing in 2014, but when it comes to Double-A, it is what it is. The only thing we can really do is hope that it materializes, because it doesn’t look like we’ll be seeing baseball again if it falls through.

The Ryan group backed out for unknown reasons, but from what I’ve heard they were asking for too much.

That’s life, but there was a set renovation schedule for Ottawa Stadium last summer and the Fat Cats were told that they’d be allowed to play. What would’ve made this year any different? Don’t say they would’ve had less time this go around, because the original target date for Double-A ball was 2013.

Mayor Watson and the city could’ve handled the situation differently. Will it result in baseball being exiled from the city? Maybe.

The thought that I may never watch another baseball game at Ottawa Stadium is a hard one to stomach. If that is the case, however, I’ll really have no choice but to shut The Litter Box down. Hopefully that won’t have to happen – I’ve heard conflicting reports on the status of the deal. We’ll know for sure what will happen by April 1^st, assuming that Richard Billings and Beacon won’t get another extension. Doubt they can finalize things any later than the April date, however.

The Fat Cats have provided many great moments over the years. From Matt McGovern picking apart the Barrie Baycats, to Wade Wilson’s desperation dive in right field to preserve a Fat Cats win. Things are looking pretty bleak right now, but we can still hope that there will be many more memories to come.