The Ottawa Fat Cats are a semi-professional baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 club in Ottawa

Ottawa

Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. The team began play on May 8, 2010, against the Guelph Royals, and plays its home games at the Ottawa Baseball Stadium, the first home game was on May 15, 2010, against the Mississauga Twins

Mississauga Twins

The Mississauga Twins are an independent, minor league baseball team of the semi-pro, Intercounty Baseball League based in Mississauga, Ontario. They play their home games at Meadowvale Field....

. The team is a member of the Intercounty Baseball League

Intercounty Baseball League

The Intercounty Baseball League is a semi-professional baseball organization located in the Canadian province of Ontario. The league was formed in 1919....

.

Founding

The Ottawa Stadium Group first became involved in operating a baseball team in 2009. With the Ottawa Baseball Stadium vacant, a city asset was unused. Councillor Bob Monette arranged some community baseball games and around the same time the OSG showed some interest in starting another Can-Am baseball team at the stadium. In January 2010, the group instead applied to the Intercounty League and was accepted. As the other eight teams are located within a short distance around Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, the Fat Cats had to accept conditions whereby the Cats would pay for accommodations for the visiting teams and also arrange the schedule to allow the other teams to play back-to-back games in Ottawa.

In March 2010, the group named Duncan MacDonald as the general manager, and Bill Mackenzie, a former professional baseball player as the manager of the team. The name and logo of the team were announced at a news conference on March 24, 2010. The name 'Fat Cats' was chosen to poke fun at the public image of federal public servants employed in the city. The cap logo is a stylised 'O' using black, red and white stripes through the 'O' as a reference to Ottawa team colours, with a vertical slit in the middle of the 'O' to make it appear to be a cat's eye. The jersey logo is a cartoon cat with the team name written below. The Cats will use the traditional red, black and white of Ottawa teams. The Cats will also arrange concerts at the Stadium and provide family entertainment at ball games. The concerts will raise funds to offset any losses in the operation of baseball.

2010 New Era All-Star Classic

On August 12th, it was announced that Ottawa would be the location for the first annual New Era All-Star Classic which features the best of the Intercounty Baseball League facing off in a four game series against the best of the Ligue de Baseball Senior Élite du Québec

Ligue de Baseball Senior Élite du Québec

The Ligue de Baseball Senior Élite du Québec is a semi-professional summer baseball league in the Canadian province of Quebec. It is the highest level of non-professional baseball in the province of Quebec.-History:...

 (LBSEQ). Games 1 and 2 will be held in Ottawa on August 21st and 22nd, while the series continues in Thetford Mines, Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

in early September.

Attendance

In their first season in Ottawa, the Fat Cats did very well in attendance. They averaged 2,328 per game for a total of 25,611 on the season despite playing many doubleheaders and having the least amount of openings compared to any other team.

2011 Season
The Ottawa Fat Cats made it into The IBL finals only to lose to the Branford Rex Sox.