2016 Can-Am League season

2016 Can-Am League Season
League Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball
Sport Baseball
Duration May 19  – September 5, 2016
Number of games 100
Number of teams 6
Regular season
Season champions New Jersey Jackals
Finals champions Ottawa Champions

The 2016 Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball season began May 19 and ended September 5. Following the regular season, the playoffs were held. It was the 12th season of operation for this professional independent baseball league. The Ottawa Champions won their first ever title in just their second season, defeating the Rockland Boulders in the fifth and deciding game of the league championships, played on September 17.

Season summary

On August 21, Ottawa Champions outfielder Sebastien Boucher set a league record for career hits with 752 in a game against the Trois-Rivières Aigles.[1]

Tragedy struck the league on September 4, when the co-owner of the Québec Capitales, Roberto Bissonnette was killed in a helicopter crash in Flatlands, New Brunswick, along with the pilot. Team president Michel Laplant was also in the helicopter, but only suffered from non-life threatening injuries.[2]

On September 5, former Cy Young Award winning pitcher Éric Gagné pitched for the Ottawa Champions,[3] attracting nearly 8,000 fans.[4] The Champions made it to the league finals in only their second season as a franchise.[5]

Tour of Cuban national team

The Cuba national baseball team played 20 regular season games as part of the league schedule, though they were ineligible for the playoffs. It was billed as a "goodwill tour" following the opening up of Cuba–United States relations in 2015.[6] The Cuban team finished with an 11–9 record.

Standings

Team W L Pct. GB
New Jersey Jackals 62 38 .620
Rockland Boulders 58 42 .580 4
Québec Capitales 56 44 .560 6
Ottawa Champions 51 49 .510 11
Sussex County Miners 39 61 .390 23
Trois-Rivières Aigles 35 65 .350 27
Cuba national baseball team* 11 9 .550 11
Shikoku Island* 8 12 .400 14

* Teams not eligible for playoffs

Playoffs

Bracket

Semifinals Finals
      
1 New Jersey Jackals 1
4 Ottawa Champions 3
4 Ottawa Champions 3
2 Rockland Boulders 2
2 Rockland Boulders 3
3 Québec Capitales 2

Semifinals

New Jersey vs. Ottawa

Ottawa won the series, 3–0.

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1September 7New Jersey Jackals 11, Ottawa Champions 2RCGT Park-1,193[7] 
2September 8New Jersey Jackals 3, Ottawa Champions 4RCGT Park2:471,259[8] 
3September 9Ottawa Champions 8, New Jersey Jackals 3Yogi Berra Stadium3:13720[9] 
4September 10Ottawa Champions 7, New Jersey Jackals 2Yogi Berra Stadium3:07475[10]

Rockland vs. Québec

Rockland won the series, 3–2.

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1September 7Rockland Boulders 4, Québec Capitales 5Stade Municipal3:083,924[11] 
2September 9Rockland Boulders 2, Québec Capitales 4Stade Municipal2:532,010[12] 
3September 10Québec Capitales 15, Rockland Boulders 16Palisades Credit Union Park4:082,090[13] 
4September 11Québec Capitales 2, Rockland Boulders 6Palisades Credit Union Park2:531,039[14] 
5September 12Québec Capitales 2, Rockland Boulders 3Palisades Credit Union Park2:551,470[15]

Championship Finals

Rockland vs. Ottawa

The road team won every game of the 5 game series, which saw the Ottawa Champions come back from being down two games to none to win three straight games for the championship.

Game 2 action at RCGT Park in Ottawa. The Ottawa Champions are in white, pitching to the Rockland Boulders in grey.

Ottawa won the series, 3-2.

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1September 13Rockland Boulders 6, Ottawa Champions 5RCGT Park3:313,289[16] 
2September 14Rockland Boulders 5, Ottawa Champions 4RCGT Park3:362,412[17] 
3September 15Ottawa Champions 13, Rockland Boulders 12Palisades Credit Union Park4:342,015[18] 
4September 16Ottawa Champions 13, Rockland Boulders 3Palisades Credit Union Park2:431,247[19] 
5September 17Ottawa Champions 3, Rockland Boulders 1Palisades Credit Union Park2:283,314

Attendance

2016 Can-Am League attendance[20]
Team Total Attendance Average Attendance
Rockland Boulders 149,632 2,934
Québec Capitales 146,946 2,773
Ottawa Champions 127,618 2,454
Sussex County Miners 90,237 1,842
Trois-Rivières Aigles 78,948 1,680
New Jersey Jackals 74,335 1,652

References

  1. http://www.cfra.com/news/2016/08/21/champions-hitter-breaks-can-am-league-record
  2. http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/co-owner-quebec-can-baseball-team-dies-helicopter-crash/
  3. http://ottawacitizen.com/sports/baseball/former-cy-young-winner-eric-gagne-signs-with-the-ottawa-champions
  4. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-champions-begin-can-am-playoffs-vs-jackals-1.3751722
  5. http://www.metronews.ca/news/ottawa/2016/09/11/fans-feeling-the-love-for-champions-ahead-of-finals.html
  6. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/baseball/baseball-diplomacy-results-in-series-between-cuban-and-can-am-teams/article29006932/
  7. http://canam.bbstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=375427
  8. http://canam.bbstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=375428
  9. http://canam.bbstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=375429
  10. http://canam.bbstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=375430
  11. http://canam.bbstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=375432
  12. http://canam.bbstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=375654
  13. http://canam.bbstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=375435
  14. http://canam.bbstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=375436
  15. http://canam.bbstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=376044
  16. http://canam.bbstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=376235
  17. http://canam.bbstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=376236
  18. http://canam.bbstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=376237
  19. http://canam.bbstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=376238
  20. http://canam.bbstats.pointstreak.com/attendance.html?leagueid=201&seasonid=30053

External links

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