Vancouver Canadians

Last updated

Vancouver Canadians
Vancouver C's.PNG Vancouver Canadians Cap insignia.png
Team logoCap insignia
Minor league affiliations
Class High-A (2021–present)
Previous classes Class A Short Season (2000–2020)
League Northwest League (2000–present)
Major league affiliations
Team Toronto Blue Jays (2011–present)
Previous teams Oakland Athletics (2000–2010)
Minor league titles
League titles (5)
  • 2011
  • 2012
  • 2013
  • 2017
  • 2023
Division titles (7)
  • 2004
  • 2005
  • 2011
  • 2012
  • 2013
  • 2014
  • 2017
First-half titles (1)
  • 2023
Second-half titles (1)
  • 2024
Wild card berths (1)
  • 2022
Team data
ColorsRed, dark red, black, silver, white
     
MascotBob Brown Bear [1]
Ballpark Nat Bailey Stadium (2000–present), Ron Tonkin Field (2021)
Owner(s)/
Operator(s)
 Diamond Baseball Holdings [2]
PresidentAndy Dunn
General managerAllan Bailey
ManagerBrent Lavallee
A game at Nat Bailey Stadium in 2007 Natbailey.jpg
A game at Nat Bailey Stadium in 2007

The Vancouver Canadians are a Minor League Baseball (MiLB) team located in Vancouver, British Columbia. They are members of the Northwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. The Canadians play their home games at Nat Bailey Stadium. They are currently the only MiLB team based in Canada.

Contents

History

Prior to the 1999 season, the Vancouver Canadians Pacific Coast League franchise was purchased by a group led by Art Savage with the intention of relocating to Sacramento, California. [3] Despite winning the Pacific Coast League title and the Triple-A World Series the Canadians moved to California's capital city. Vancouver would not be without baseball as the Southern Oregon Timberjacks of the Northwest League announced relocation to fill the void in Vancouver. [4] The Canadians name resumed as members of the Class A-Short Season Northwest League in 2000.

Like the predecessor Pacific Coast League franchise, the new Canadians signed a player development contract with the Oakland Athletics. The Canadians had players such as Nick Swisher, Jeremy Brown, Jason Windsor, Joe Blanton, Rich Harden, Travis Buck, Dallas Braden, and Dan Straily on teams during this period.

In 2007, local Vancouver businessmen Jake Kerr and Jeff Mooney purchased the Vancouver Canadians and secured a 25-year lease with the City of Vancouver Parks Board. Extensive work began that offseason in a full-scale stadium renovation which improved washrooms, concessions, concourses, and children's play area. Point-of-purchase concessions increased substantially.

In January 2008, former Washington Nationals executive Andy Dunn become the President and General Manager of the Canadians.

In the spring of 2010, the Vancouver Canadians and Scotiabank announced a long-term partnership that would see Nat Bailey Stadium renamed to Scotiabank Field at Nat Bailey Stadium.

The Canadians became the Short Season A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays following the 2010 season. This helped see the team's attendance rise to 162,162 for the season, a team record. In September 2011, the Vancouver Canadians won their first Northwest League championship title, defeating the Tri-City Dust Devils, 9–2, to win the final series, 2–1. The following year, the Vancouver Canadians became back-to-back champions for the first time in franchise history, defeating the Boise Hawks, 12–9, to win the final series, 2–1.

In August 2013, outfielder Kevin Pillar became the first alumnus of the team to play in the major leagues for Toronto. [5]

On September 9, 2013 the Canadians became just the third Northwest League team to win three straight championships, defeating the Boise Hawks, 5–0, at Scotiabank Field at Nat Bailey Stadium to win the final series, 2–1, in front of a sellout crowd. [6] The 2013 season also saw the Vancouver Canadians draw over 195,000 fans to Scotiabank Field, a fifth consecutive team record which included 23 sold-out games.

On November 4, 2013, the Vancouver Canadians were named the 2013 recipient of the John H. Johnson President's Award. The prestigious award is given to Minor League Baseball's top organization. It was the first time that a Canadian-based franchise won MiLB's top award. [7]

In 2016, the Canadians led the Northwest League with a total attendance of 222,363, averaging 6,177 per game. [8] This earned them the 2016 Esurance "Home Field Advantage Award" given to the organization in each affiliated minor league with the greatest attendance per percentage capacity. [9] In 2017, the Canadians won another championship, defeating Eugene, 2–1, to win the series, 3–1. [10] They beat their previous record in attendance with 239,527 people in total attendance for the 2017 season, averaging to 6,303 per game. On January 26, 2018, Toronto extended their player-development contract with Vancouver through the 2022 season. [11]

While the Canadians were unable to make the playoffs in 2018, coming in a close second in both the first and second half of the season, they still lead the league in attendance with an impressive 239,086 in total attendance.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Minor League Baseball season was cancelled. In the winter of 2020 as part the reorganization of minor league baseball, Vancouver received an invitation to continue as the Blue Jays' High-A affiliate. [12] In a further change, they were organized into the High-A West along with five other teams previously of the Northwest League. [13]

The team began the 2021 season playing its home games at Ron Tonkin Field (the home field of the Hillsboro Hops) in Hillsboro, Oregon due to COVID-19 border restrictions. [14] The Canadians finished 5th in 2021, missing out on playoffs.

Prior to the 2022 season, the High-A West became known as the Northwest League, the name historically used by the regional circuit prior to the 2021 reorganization. [15] Vancouver finished 2nd in the 2022 season, qualifying for the first time to the new Northwest League playoffs system. Under the new playoffs system, a single best-of-5 series is played to determine the championship winner. Vancouver lost 3–0 to Eugene to finish runner-up.

In the 2023 season, the Canadians had the best overall record in the Northwest League at 77–54 and qualified for the playoffs by winning the first-half title with a 38–27 record. Vancouver defeated Everett 3–1 to win their first High-A Northwest League Championship. [16] In a further change, they were organized into the High-A West along with five other teams previously of the Northwest League. [13]

Early professional baseball in Vancouver

Vancouver was an influential entity in the early history of the Northwest League. They were charter members of every version of the league that would eventually form the NWL, most notably as the sole team that survived the collapse of the Western International League (WIL) in 1922 when it reformed in 1937, winning four pennants in the WIL (1942, 1947, 1949, and 1954) as the Vancouver Capilanos (1939–1954). However, even though they were the final champions of the WIL, Vancouver was not part of its reformation into the Northwest League, due to the NWL's shedding of all of its Canadian teams in order to focus on the American Pacific Northwest. Vancouver was without professional baseball in 1955, but in 1956 the highest calibre of minor league play, in the form of the Open classification Pacific Coast League, came to British Columbia when Oakland Oaks transferred there as the Vancouver Mounties. The Mounties played in the PCL from 1956 through 1962, and from 1965 through 1969.

Ballpark

The Canadians play their home games at Nat Bailey Stadium which had hosted previous minor league teams.

Season-by-season records

SeasonPDC Division Finish Wins Losses Win% Post-seasonManagerAttendance
Vancouver Canadians
2000 OAK West2nd3937.513Dave Joppie109,576
2001 OAK West2nd3739.487Webster Garrison118,357
2002 OAK West4th3739.487Orv Franchuk127,099
2003 OAK West3rd3541.461Dennis Rogers137,026
2004 OAK West1st4234.553Lost to Boise in championship series 0–3Dennis Rogers140,037
Vancouver Canadians
2005 OAK West1st4630.605Lost to Spokane in championship series 2–3Juan Navarrette124,708
2006 OAK West3rd3937.513Dennis Rogers123,878
2007 OAK West2nd3738.493Rick Magnante126,491
Vancouver Canadians
2008 OAK West3rd3442.447Rick Magnante129,073
2009 OAK West2nd3640.474Rick Magnante149,297
2010 OAK West2nd4234.553Lost to Everett in division series 0–2Rick Magnante154,529
2011 TOR West2nd3937.513Defeated Eugene in division series 2–1
Defeated Tri-City in championship series 2–1		 John Schneider 162,162
2012 TOR West2nd4630.605Defeated Everett in division series 2–0
Defeated Boise in championship series 2–1		John Schneider164,461
2013 TOR North2nd3937.513Defeated Everett in division series 2–0
Defeated Boise in championship series 2–1		Clayton McCullough184,042
Vancouver Canadians
2014 TOR North1st4630.605Defeated Spokane in division series 2–0
Lost to Hillsboro in championship series 0–2		Clayton McCullough180,187
2015 TOR North4th3442.447John Schneider215,535
2016 TOR North4th2945.392John Tamargo222,363
2017 TOR North1st4333.566Defeated Spokane in division series 2–0
Defeated Eugene in championship series 3–1		Rich Miller239,527
2018 TOR North1st4036.526Dallas McPherson239,068
2019 TOR North4th3046.396Casey Candaele235,980
2020Season Cancelled due to COVID-19 Pandemic
2021 TOR -5th5564.462Donnie Murphy15,882 [Note 1]
2022 TOR -2nd6762.519Lost to Eugene in championship series 0–3Brent Lavallee313,256
2023 TOR -1st7754.588Defeated Everett in championship series 3–1Brent Lavallee297,437
Division winnerLeague champions

Canadians attendance

YearTotal
Attendance		AveragePercent ChangeRef
2000109,5762,884N/A [17]
2001118,3573,115+8.0% [18]
2002127,0993,345+7.4% [19]
2003137,0263,606+7.8% [20]
2004140,0373,685+2.2% [21]
2005124,7083,370–8.5% [22]
2006123,8783,260–3.3% [23]
2007126,4913,419+4.9% [24]
2008129,0733,585+4.9% [25]
2009149,2973,929+9.6% [26]
2010154,5924,068+3.5% [27]
2011162,1624,267+4.9% [28]
2012164,4614,445+4.2% [29]
2013184,0424,843+9.0% [30]
2014180,1874,870+0.6% [31]
2015215,5355,825+19.6% [32]
2016222,3636,177+6.0% [33]
2017239,5276,303+2.0% [34]
2018239,0866,292–0.2% [35]
2019235,9806,210–1.3% [36]
2020 [Note 2] --- [37]
2021 [Note 1] 15,822286- [38]
2022 [Note 3] 313,2564,746+1879.88% [38]
2023297,4372,306–5.05% [38]

Roster

Vancouver Canadians roster
PlayersCoaches/Other

Pitchers

  • 30 Alex Amalfi
  • 25 Bo Bonds
  • 28 Irv Carter
  • 11 Pat Gallagher
  •  5 Aaron Munson
  • 17 Connor O'Halloran
  •  3 Kai Peterson
  • 40 Grant Rogers
  • 16 Kendry Rojas
  • 19 JJ Sanchez
  • 34 Grayson Thurman
  • 36 Geison Urbaez
  • 14 Ryan Watson
  • 10 Juaron Watts-Brown
  • 20 Chay Yeager

Catchers

  • 26 Nicolas Deschamps
  • 31 Jackson Hornung
  • 23 Jacob Sharp
  • 27 Alex Stone

Infielders

  •  6 Bryce Arnold
  • 18 Jamari Baylor
  • 21 Cutter Coffey
  •  1 Nick Goodwin
  •  4 Jay Harry
  • 15 Brennan Orf
  •  7 Adrian Pinto Injury icon 2.svg
  • 44 Peyton Williams

Outfielders

  • 22 Victor Arias Injury icon 2.svg
  •  8 Jace Bohrofen
  •  9 Marcos De La Rosa
  • 24 Je'Von Ward


Manager

  • 33 Brent Lavallee

Coaches

60-day injured list

  • -- Chris McElvain (full season)
  • 18 Carson Pierce
  • -- Roque Salinas

Injury icon 2.svg 7-day injured list
* On Toronto Blue Jays 40-man roster
~ Development list
# Rehab assignment
∞ Reserve list
‡ Restricted list
§ Suspended list
† Temporarily inactive list
Roster updated September 2, 2024
 Transactions
→ More rosters: MiLB  •  Northwest League
→ Toronto Blue Jays minor league players

Media

In the 2019 season, radio rights moved from CKST to CISL Sportsnet 650. As part of the deal, Sportsnet Pacific also gained rights to air a package of Canadians games on television. [39]

Notable former players in the major leagues

Notes

  1. 1 2 Due to pandemic restrictions during the 2021 MiLB Season, the Canadians played in front of reduced crowds at Ron Tonkin Field in Hillsboro, OR.
  2. ↑ The 2020 Minor League Baseball season was cancelled due to the advent of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
  3. ↑ Due to being promoted from Class A Short Season to High-A, Northwest League teams began playing an increased number of games beginning in 2021.

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References

  1. ↑ "Meet Bob Brown Bear".
  2. ↑ Ewen, Steve. "Vancouver Canadians sold to American company, promise business as usual". theprovince.com. Retrieved September 2, 2023.
  3. ↑ Johnson, Kelly. "Who's on first? Baseball war heats up after team purchased". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  4. ↑ "Timberjacks will make move to Vancouver, B.C." Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. Associated Press. October 27, 1999. p. 6F.
  5. ↑ "Echoes From 527: Kevin Pillar | Back in Blue Network – Toronto Blue Jays Website and Weekly Video Podcast". Backinblue.kc-media.net. June 11, 2013. Archived from the original on July 26, 2014. Retrieved September 5, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Canadians win third consecutive championship". milb.com\date=September 10, 2013. Retrieved March 15, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Canadians earn 2013 President's Award". milb.com. November 4, 2013. Retrieved November 5, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Northwest League Attendance | MiLB.com Stats | The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". MiLB.com. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  9. ↑ @vancanadians (April 11, 2017). "We have the best fans in @MiLB! Come celebrate winning the 2016 @esurance Home Field Advantage Award with your hometown team today!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  10. ↑ "Canadians win fourth title in seven years". MiLB.com. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
  11. ↑ "Vancouver Canadians on Twitter". Twitter . January 26, 2018. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  12. ↑ "Blue Jays retain Vancouver Canadians as minor league affiliate". Sportsnet.ca. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  13. 1 2 Mayo, Jonathan (February 12, 2021). "MLB Announces New Minors Teams, Leagues". Major League Baseball. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Vancouver Canadians to call Oregon home at start of baseball season due to COVID-19". CBC.ca. The Canadian Press. March 29, 2021. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  15. ↑ "Historical League Names to Return in 2022". Minor League Baseball. March 16, 2022. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  16. ↑ Weinrib, Ben (September 17,2023). "Canadians stake claim to fifth NWL crown High-A Blue Jays prospects log timely hits, strong pitching in Finals". Sportsnet.ca. Retrieved 2024-09-10.{{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ↑ "Canadians Attendance (2000)". thebaseballcube.com. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  18. ↑ "Canadians Attendance (2001)". thebaseballcube.com. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  19. ↑ "Canadians Attendance (2002)". thebaseballcube.com. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  20. ↑ "Canadians Attendance (2003)". thebaseballcube.com. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  21. ↑ "Canadians Attendance (2004)". thebaseballcube.com. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  22. ↑ "Canadians Attendance (2005)". MiLB.com. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  23. ↑ "Canadians Attendance (2006)". MiLB.com. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  24. ↑ "Canadians Attendance (2007)". MiLB.com. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  25. ↑ "Canadians Attendance (2008)". MiLB.com. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  26. ↑ "Canadians Attendance (2009)". MiLB.com. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  27. ↑ "Canadians Attendance (2010)". MiLB.com. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  28. ↑ "Canadians Attendance (2011)". MiLB.com. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  29. ↑ "Canadians Attendance (2012)". MiLB.com. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  30. ↑ "Canadians Attendance (2013)". MiLB.com. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  31. ↑ "Canadians Attendance (2014)". MiLB.com. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  32. ↑ "Canadians Attendance (2015)". MiLB.com. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  33. ↑ "Canadians Attendance (2016)". MiLB.com. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  34. ↑ "Canadians Attendance (2017)". MiLB.com. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  35. ↑ "Canadians Attendance (2018)". MiLB.com. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  36. ↑ "Northwest League Attendance | Northwest League Stats". Northwest League. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  37. ↑ "2020 Minor League Baseball season shelved". MiLB.com. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
  38. 1 2 3 "Vancouver Canadians". TheBaseballCube.com. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
  39. ↑ "Vancouver Canadians jump to Sportsnet 650, get TV games in the deal". The Province. October 23, 2018. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
Preceded by Northwest League franchise
2000–present		Succeeded by
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