Ottawa’s baseball history dates as far back as 1898, when the Eastern League’s Ottawa Wanderers took the field in the nation’s capital, just 29 years after the British North American Act was adopted in 1867, creating the Dominion of Canada with 4 provinces; Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

The Wanderers transferred to Ottawa in the middle of the 1898 season from Rochester, NY. Their time in Ottawa was very brief as the team folded at the end of the season, but it opened the door for future clubs to find their way into Ottawa.

It took 14 years for baseball to find its way back into Ottawa, this time in the form of the Ottawa Senators. The Senators became Ottawa’s traditional baseball brand for many years, lasting in different forms from 1912-1948. In each of their first 4 seasons, the Senators won the Canadian League championship, beating out the likes of the Brantford Red Sox and London Tecumsehs to do so. After their Canadian League days finished, the Senators returned for separate stints with various amateur leagues in 1922, 1936, 1939, and 1948-1949.

Modern professional baseball made its’ brief debut just a few years after the departure of the Senators. The International League’s Ottawa Giants/Athletics franchise made their home at Lansdowne Park from 1951 to 1954, never posting a record above .500. Their only multi-season manager was Frank Skaff, who went on to become the manager of the MLB’s Detroit Tigers. Interestingly, the franchise still exists today – after multiple relocations and affiliation switches, the franchise currently lingers as the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, AAA affiliate of the New York Yankees. After the departure of the Ottawa A’s, baseball disappeared from Ottawa at the professional level for nearly 50 years.

That was until 1991, when an Ottawa group was granted another International League franchise, it was set that baseball would return to the nation’s capital in grand fashion. A state-of-the-art 10,000 seat ballpark was built and dubbed Ottawa Stadium, later JetForm Park and Lynx Stadium, that at the time was regarded as one of the nicest minor league parks in North America. Today, Ottawa Stadium remains Canada’s largest minor league ballpark.

The Lynx first season went down as one for the history books, as Lynx fans packed Ottawa Stadium. Baseball was at peak popularity in Canada, with Blue Jays fresh off of back-to-back World Series titles and the Expos embarking on a successful season. The Lynx took full advantage of that, pulling in a record full-season attendance of 693,043. The total went down as a single-season attendance record in the International League, surpassing a mark set by the minor league version of the Baltimore Orioles 47 years earlier. With the NHL’s Senators arriving the fall prior to the Lynx, the sports craze had hit Ottawa hard.

Ottawa won their first and only International League championship in 1995 when they handed the Norfolk Tides a 4-0 shutout in the final game of the championship series on a rainy day in September. The championship acts as the proudest moment in Lynx history. After the 1995 season, however, attendance for the Lynx began a fast descent, resulting in the team eventually relocating. 

In 2006, the Lynx were purchased by a Pennsylvania group and were slated to relocate to Allentown, PA after the 2007 season. The Lynx played out the year in 2007, finishing with a 55-88 record and last place in the International League. As a final send-off, Lynx fans came by the thousands to watch the Lynx play their final game in Ottawa, losing 8-3 to the Syracuse SkyChiefs. Lynx Stadium was packed with 7,368 fans on the final game day, leaving baseball executives wondering if Lynx Stadium had really seen its final pitch.

That answer came at the end of 2007 when the Can-Am League announced a deal had been made with the City of Ottawa – the Ottawa Rapids were on their way to the Ottawa baseball scene. Shortly before the season began, the Rapids were bought by local ownership and renamed the “Rapidz” to coincide with their new parent company, Zip.ca.

The Rapidz represented Ottawa’s introduction to the independent baseball scene. While the Rapidz did not fare well on the field, posting a record of 31-63, they did somewhat rejuvenate baseball in Ottawa, boosting the attendance up from the 2007 Lynx average to 2,150. Local players such as Tanner Watson, a former Seattle Mariners draft pick, Danny Desclouds, and Mike Kusiewicz populated the Rapidz roster and the mood was good after the 2008 season. However, at the end of the season, ownership declared bankruptcy and the Ottawa Can-Am franchise was never able to live up to its potential, as they did not return for a 2009 season.

The abrupt ending to the Rapidz era left baseball’s future in doubt. The City of Ottawa left Ottawa Stadium vacant in 2009, which marked the first season that no team would play at the stadium since its opening 17 years earlier. However, as a quick fix to this problem, the city sold off the lease of the ballpark to the Intercounty Baseball League, a semi-professional league based mostly in southern Ontario which includes teams with a long history such as the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Brantford Red Sox. The team was announced as the Ottawa Fat Cats.

While the Fat Cats were intended to be a quick fix, with a year-by-year lease on the stadium, they experienced a rapid surge in 2011. After a modest 16-18 regular season record, the Fat Cats ripped through their first two playoff opponents, embarking on a miraculous run to the championship series against the powerhouse Brantford Red Sox – a storied franchise almost 100 years old. The underdog story gave Ottawa a ball team to love again, as fans packed Ottawa stadium to near capacity in the playoffs, a feat that hadn’t been seen for years prior to the arrival of the Fat Cats. 

While the Fat Cats lost the championship series to the Red Sox, the spirit of the Lynx had been found again in the form of a semi-pro team. The 2012 season saw the Fat Cats return to impressive crowds and drove up the interest in the market from professional leagues.

In 2014, Miles Wolff returned to the Ottawa market with news of the Can-Am League willing to expand from four to six teams for the 2015 season. Ottawa native, David Gourlay began the Champions for Ottawa Baseball foundation to bring awareness to a baseball team that would give back to special needs children, by constructing an accessible field with the Miracle League of Ottawa. 

Gourlay and Wolff partnered to bring the Ottawa Champions to life for the 2015 season. The Champions became champions in just their second season after coming from behind in the league championship series to win in five games over the Rockland Boulders. A few weeks later, the CFL’s Ottawa Redblacks were crowned Grey Cup champions and for the time being, Ottawa was deemed Canada’s “City of Champions.”

Following the 2019 season, the Can-Am League merged with the Frontier League but left the Champions off the schedule for the then cancelled 2020 season after the team and the city failed to come to terms on a new stadium lease.

In September 2020, the ownership group led by former Winnipeg Mayor and the American Association’s Winnipeg Goldeyes, Sam Katz along with the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group and local lawyer Jacques J.M. Shore struck a deal with the city of Ottawa to bring the Frontier League and Titans to Ottawa for the 2021 season.

In December of 2020, following a name-the-team contest that saw over 1,200 entries and 700 unique names, the Ottawa Titans were born.

After intending to hit the field for the inaugural season in 2021, the Frontier League announced that the Titans (along with the Trois-Rivières Aigles) would not compete in the 2021 season due to the prolonged closure of the Canada–United States border as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. A full reset was done by the front office to immediately shift focus to the 2022 season.

A winning record, historic achievements, postseason baseball, and a long-awaited debut highlighted the inaugural Ottawa Titans’ 2022 season.

The wait lasted 598 days before professional baseball in Canada’s Capital returned with a Titans decisive 10-6 road victory over the Joliet Slammers on May 13.

With a season-high nine games on the road out of the way to begin the season, the team returned home for their much-anticipated home opener on May 24.

Led by local standout Evan Grills’ eight innings of scoreless baseball, the Titans put a bow on the opening day festivities with a 2-0 victory. Grills also posted a single-season high 15 strikeouts in the win.

The Titans surged up the standings in the first half of the season, winning 23 of their first 30 games. Over that stretch, the club won a season-best nine straight.

Dartmouth’s Jake Sanford quickly emerged as a star on the expansion Titans by tying a league record with 10 RBI on June 11 in a 13-0 win over the Empire State Greys. A key contributor, Sanford led the 2022 edition of the Titans with 22 home runs and 73 RBI.

At the all-star break, the Titans had cooled off a bit but posted a respectable 35-23 record. The team sent an East Division-high five representatives to contribute to an 8-1 East win over the West all-stars at the mid-summer classic on July 17 in Washington, Pennsylvania. Jake Sanford, AJ Wright, Zac Westcott, Kevin Escorcia, and Evan Grills all represented the Titans proudly with the nomination.

Some tough stretches saw the Titans bow out of a playoff spot early in the month of August, but the 9-1 finish to the season managed to put the squad over the top.

Over the final homestand of the season, fans came out in droves to cheer on the Titans in a playoff push. With the energy, the Titans won seven of nine during their final homestand to finish the season 56-39.

The Titans qualified for the postseason with a 4-1 victory over the Quebec Capitales on September 2, guaranteeing themselves a berth in the Wild Card round. On the road, the Titans slugged their way to a decisive 8-2 victory to advance to the Division Series.

Despite Tyler Jandron’s complete game shutout in game one at home, the Titans bowed out of the postseason in a winner-take-all third game to the eventual champions from la belle province.

After an entertaining inaugural season, the Ottawa Titans returned the fun in front of record crowds during a successful second campaign.

Opening Day brought a record 3,500+ on hand for a thrilling 17-7 victory, seeing new faces and returning veterans start the season on a high note. The lopsided affair saw fan-favourite Jackie Urbaez belt the club’s first grand slam in franchise history apart of a nine-run fourth inning.

Newcomer Jamey Smart made his presence felt in the capital and around the league, setting multiple career highs in his return to professional baseball. Smart slugged a team-best .334, ranking fifth in the Frontier League in the process. The San Ramon, California product registered 37 multi-hit performances, clubbed a personal high of eight homers, and brought home a franchise record 83 RBI.

All seemed to have tapered off for the Titans after winning their series over Empire State on opening weekend as the team then lost 15 of their next 21 games to be on the outside looking in from the get-go of the season.

Following a trade in early June, Sicnarf Loopstok helped the Titans get back in the playoff hunt belting a walk-off grand slam in his debut on June 2 against the club’s fierce rivals in the Quebec Capitales. Loopstok went on to post a .298 average on the season with eight homers and 41 RBI, suiting up in North America for the first time since 2019.

The Titans entered the all-star break five games back of a playoff spot by posting a 25-26 record, in large part by winning five of their final eight games to end the first half of the season. Sicnarf Loopstok, Jason Dicochea, and Grant Larson all had the honour of representing the Titans at the mid-summer classic in Windy City. After being one of the more feared arms out of the bullpen in 2022, Larson made the jump to the rotation following several key losses, going 8-8 in 18 starts, and posting a 4.29 ERA in 121.2 innings. As for Dicochea, the utility player posted a team-best 16 home runs and drove in 63 over 92 contests. The Redondo Beach, California native had himself an all-star game to remember belting a home run and recording three RBI.

Following the break, the Titans played some of their best baseball but unfortunately missed out on the Frontier League postseason.

Damon Casetta-Stubbs blossomed into one of the top starters in the league, posting a career-high 109 strikeouts, ranking third in that department. The 24-year-old tossed to an ERA of just over 2.90 in his final 14 starts of the year.

Although missing out on the playoffs, the Titans grew their average attendance by roughly 30% from the inaugural season. The club put a wrap on 2023 with a new record of 4,600+ on hand for Fan Appreciation Day, helping the team win a franchise-best 32 home games.

In the winter of 1992-1993, several men got together and decided to start an independent professional baseball league to serve the West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, and southeast Ohio areas. They believed they could bring professional baseball to areas that would never have a chance of affiliated professional baseball coming to their communities. The seed was planted and they named their project The Frontier League.

These founders approached business people and interested individuals in many different cities to own and operate the franchises. College players quickly heard of the fledgling league and mostly came from the Midwest and east coast to chase their dreams of playing pro ball.

The biggest announcement in the Frontier League’s 30+-year history. A press conference on October 17 streamed online and viewed by over 500 media outlets announced that the New Jersey Jackals, Quebec Capitales, Rockland Boulders, Sussex County Miners, and Trois-Rivieres Aigles from the Can-Am League would be merging into the Frontier League. The additional clubs make the Frontier League the largest independent league while stretching the borders from the Mississippi River to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Ohio River to the Saint Lawrence Seaway.

Changes continued to occur leading up to the 2020 season. Rebranding efforts led to the newly named Florence Y’alls and New York Boulders.

Following a cancelled 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Frontier League announced a partner league with Major League Baseball. They also announced the expansion to the city of Ottawa and in January 2021, Major League Baseball announced it would be trimming its minor league program to 120 teams. Of the teams who cut ties with MiLB, the Tri-City ValleyCats were welcomed as the league’s 16th franchise, playing out of Troy, New York. The ValleyCats served as the short season-A affiliate of the Houston Astros since 2002 and earned two-New York Penn League championships in their 18 seasons.

The continued closure of the Canada-United States border, unfortunately, resulted in pushing the Titans’ first game to the 2022 season. Ottawa, Quebec, and Trois-Rivieres were replaced on the 2021 schedule by Équipe Québec. Équipe Québec used the Canadian players from the Capitales, Aigles, and Titans 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 home games between Stade Canac in Quebec City and Stade Quillorama in Trois-Rivieres.

The present-day Frontier League is aligned into two divisions stretched over a 96-game season, with the eight-team East Division, consisting of the Titans, Trois-Rivières Aigles (Trois-Rivières, QC), Québec Capitales (Québec City, QC), New England Knockouts (Brockton, Massachusetts), New York Boulders (Pamona, NY), New Jersey Jackals (Paterson, NJ), and Sussex County Miners (Augusta, NJ), joined the Frontier League from the Can-Am League. The Tri-City ValleyCats (Troy, NY) joined prior to the 2021 season after serving as the short season-A affiliate of the Houston Astors for 18 seasons.

The eight-team West Division remains intact from the days of pre-merge in the Frontier League with the Evansville Otters (Evansville, IN), Florence Y’alls (Florence, KY), Gateway Grizzlies (Sauget, IL), Joilet Slammers (Joilet, IL), Lake Erie Crushers (Avon, OH), Schaumburg Boomers (Schaumburg, IL), Washington Wild Things (Washington, PA), and the Windy City Thunderbolts (Crestwood, IL) who round out baseball’s largest independent league, stretching the borders of the Mississippi River to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Ohio River to the Saint Lawrence Seaway.