Québec Capitales
| Québec Capitales | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Information | |
| League | Frontier League (2020–present) (North Division) |
| Location | Quebec City |
| Ballpark | Stade Canac |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Nickname(s) | Caps |
| League championships | (10) 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2022, 2023, 2024 |
| Division championships | (7) 2002, 2004, 2005, 2017, 2022, 2023, 2024 |
| Former league(s) | Northern League (1999-2002)
Northeast League (2003-04) Can-Am League (2005-19) |
| Colours | Navy blue, gold, white |
| Mascot | Capi |
| Playoff berths |
|
| Ownership | Jean Tremblay, Pierre Tremblay, Marie-Pierre Simard |
| Manager | Patrick Scalabrini |
| General Manager | Daniel Sylvain |
| President | Charles Demers |
| Media | Le Journal de Québec, Le Soleil, TVA Sports, RDS, CHYZ 94,3 |
| Website | capitalesdequebec |
The Québec Capitales (French: Capitales de Québec and often referred to as the Caps) are a professional baseball team based in Quebec City. The Capitales compete in the Frontier League (FL) as a member of the North Division in the Atlantic Conference. The club is owned by Jean Tremblay, Pierre Tremblay, and Marie-Pierre Simard, a ownership group that owns several professional sports teams in the city, while the team's broadcasting rights are split between CHYZ-FM and CHOI-FM.
The club was founded in 1999 as an expansion team in the Northern League, but then moved to the Northeast League in 2003, Can-Am League in 2005, and the Frontier League prior to the 2020 season. Since 1999, the Capitales play at Stade Canac, which is formerly known as Le Stade Municipal.
Québec has won the most championships in all independent baseball teams, with a total of ten championships since its existence, and have made the playoffs 19 times. The club is known as one of the most popular independent baseball teams in North America, and have been extremely successful from 2009 to 2013 with five league championships in a row. These successes were followed by an extended championship drought, which at 25 seasons, is the longest in franchise history. The Capitales have rivalries with the New Jersey Jackals, Ottawa Titans and the Trois-Rivières Aigles.
Several individuals who hold an association with the club have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Six players have had their numbers retired by the Capitales, including the first in independent baseball history.
History
[edit]
In 1999, the Capitales joined the Northern League (East Division) as an expansion team. Today, the Capitales are now one of the three Canadian teams in the Frontier League.
As of 2019, the Capitales were the most known and successful team in the Can-Am League on and off the field, having won the league’s championship more times (7) than any other team and being among the tops in attendance every season averaging over 3,000 fans per game since 2000.
In 2006, the Capitales won their first championship in team history. Although the team had the second-worst record in team history they still qualified for last postseason spot with a 44–44 record. They defeated the top seed North Shore Spirit in dramatic come from behind fashion winning the last two games to win the series 3 games to 2. In the championship series, the Capitales took a 2 games to none advantage before the Brockton Rox came back to even the series. In the final and decisive game, the Capitales defeated the Rox on their home field by coming from behind and won by a score of 5–4 to win the Can-Am League Championship 3 games to 2.
In 2009 the Capitales became the first franchise in the reborn Can-Am League to win multiple championships and the fourth team in the entire history of the Northeast/Can-Am League to win more than one championship (joining the New Jersey Jackals, who won two Northeast League and two Northern League championships, the Albany-Colonie Diamond Dogs, who won the first Northeast League Championship and one Northern League Championship, and the Adirondack Lumberjacks, who won one Northeast League and one Northern League championship). The Capitales won the 2nd half regular-season championship and finished the season with the 3rd best overall record (53-41). The Capitales eliminated the Brockton Rox 3 games to 1 in the opening round. In a rematch of the 2005 championship, the Capitales got revenge by eliminating the Worcester Tornadoes 3 games to 1. In 2010, the Capitales obtained a second consecutive championship, passing by the Pittsfield Colonials 3 games to 1. In 2011, the Capitales won their third championship in a row (fourth in all) by defeating the New Jersey Jackals 4 games to 1. In 2012, the team again defeated the Jackals 4 games to 1, thus winning their fourth championship in a row. A fifth championship in a row materialized in 2013, the Capitales defeating again the New Jersey Jackals 4 games to 3. In 2017, the Capitales captured their seventh championship in franchise history by sweeping the Rockland Boulders 3–0.
In 2020, the Capitales moved to the Frontier League following the merger of the Can-Am League with the Frontier League. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and extended closure of the Canada–United States border, the league announced that the Capitales (along with the Trois-Rivières Aigles) would be unable to compete for the 2020 season (which was later cancelled). The club later announced they intended to organize a separate league in the province of Quebec for the summer as an alternative, but these plans were eventually scrapped by both clubs.
The continued closure of the Canada–United States border, unfortunately resulted in pushing the Capitales’ first game in the FL to the 2022 season. Ottawa, Québec, and Trois-Rivières were replaced on the 2021 schedule by Équipe Québec. Équipe Québec used the Canadian players from the Ottawa Titans, Québec Capitales and Trois-Rivières Aigles 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-Rivières.
On July 30, 2021, Équipe Québec hosted the New York Boulders at Stade Canac and won the game 10–8 in front of a full house of 2,800 spectators, the maximum number allowed during sanitary measures.
On September 12, 2021, Équipe Québec qualified for the playoffs, and they faced the Washington Wild Things in the best-of-five divisional round. The crowd of 3,750 gathered at Stade Canac during Game 3 represented more than 900 people than the number allowed due to sanitary measures, and Québec were able to pull a 3-2 win over the Wild Things. They however lost Game 4 and 5, which ended their very unique season. Équipe Québec finished the season 1st place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 52 wins and 44 losses with an average of 2,288 fans in 24 home games, including the playoffs. A full reset was done by the front office to immediately shift focus to the 2022 season.
In 2022 in their first season in the Frontier League as a local Quebec team, the Capitales are taking their first steps in this new league.
On September 18, 2022 during Game 4 of the FLCS, the Capitales won their 8th championship in franchise history over the Schaumburg Boomers, in front of their fans thanks to a walk-off sacrifice-fly in the bottom of the 9th inning by Ruben Castro. Noise levels in the stadium allegedly reached as high as 110 decibels when runs were scored by the Capitales, most notably, when Ruben Castro hit a walk-off double in the bottom of the 9th inning the previous day during Game 3 when 4,428 fans were crammed into the stadium.
On September 17, 2023, the Capitales won their 9th championship in their history over the Evansville Otters. The 2023 season was also notable for the Capitales drawing 166,916 people to its ballpark for an average of 3,035, the highest total in franchise history.
In the 2024 season, the Capitales won another division title and made it to the FLCS for the third consecutive year. They’ve sold out 21 out of their 48 home games and set a franchise record for the most consecutive sellouts, with 16 in a row.[1]
On September 14, 2024 in front of a sold out crowd of 4,297 at Stade Canac, the Capitales won their 10th league championship and third in a row by defeating the Washington Wild Things 3 games to 1 with a walk-off grand slam home run by Anthony Quirion.[2] The Capitales' president Michel Laplante stated that it was the stadium's loudest moment since its existence, reaching deafening decibel levels for several minutes after the win.[3]
Team culture
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Team identity
[edit]The official colours of the Québec Capitales are navy blue, gold and white. The primary logo consists of a white baseball diamond with navy blue pinstripes. The "Capitales" wordmark is superimposed over the diamond in navy blue outlined in gold. The wordmark is underlined by a navy blue ribbon with the word "Québec" centred on it in white, with the French word "de" centred in between. A navy blue fleur-de-lis is centred above the wordmark, with a stylized depiction of home plate centred below.[4]
The Québec Capitales uniforms are traditional in design. The caps are navy blue throughout with the scripted "Q" cap logo centred on the front in gold with a white centre incorporating a navy blue fleur-de-lis and red baseball threading. The home jerseys are white with navy blue pinstripes, with the "Capitales" cursive script wordmark centred across in navy blue with gold outline. The alternate jersey is navy blue with gold piping with the cap logo centred on the left-side chest.
Fan Base
[edit]
The price of a Capitales home game ticket is the lowest amongst any team in the FL. Stade Canac holds 4,297 seats for Capitales games, with 3,500 reserved for season ticket holders.[5] Because of the demand for season tickets, their sale is limited to the 2,500 people on the waiting list. As of March 2024, Capitales' season tickets saw a renewal rate of 99.5 percent, a rate that would require more than 250 years to clear the existing waiting list. Capitales fans are known for their dedicated support and notable loyalty to the team despite their performance. They are considered to have one of the loudest and largest fan base in independent baseball.
In addition to Quebec City, many many fans live throughout Ontario, including the Ottawa Valley and Gatineau, Greater Montreal, and the Mauricie. As a result, Capitales' away games at the Ottawa Stadium in Ottawa, and Stade Quillorama in Trois-Rivières host a more neutral attendance. This is due in part to the Capitales fans in those areas, and those cities' proximity to Quebec City.
Rivalries
[edit]New Jersey Jackals vs. Québec Capitales
[edit]Both teams are one of the oldest independent baseball teams. They both started operations in 1999, and they have both won multiple league championships in their histories. From 1999 to 2023, the two teams played in six postseason series against one another, including three times in the championship finals. The Capitales defeated the Jackals in five playoff series in franchise history.
Ottawa Titans vs. Québec Capitales (before-and-after COVID)
[edit]The rivalry between the Ottawa Titans (formerly the Ottawa Champions) and the Québec Capitales is the fiercest one in the FL, featuring two clubs that were active since the inaugural season of the Can-Am League's last expansion in 2015. During the 2022 season, the rivalry was an embodiment of a larger culture war between English Canada and French Canada. The Titans have won a total of 49 games over the Capitales, while Québec has won a total of 76 games over Ottawa. They have faced each other in the playoffs two times, with Québec winning both 2022 and 2024 Frontier League Divisional Series over Ottawa. In addition, both teams' mascot own the same name (Cappy for the Titans; Capi for the Capitales), which added an important part to the rivalry.[6]
Battle of Quebec: Québec Capitales vs. Trois-Rivières Aigles
[edit]The Capitales–Aigles rivalry, also known as the Battle of Quebec, is a rivalry between the Québec Capitales and the Trois-Rivières Aigles. The teams compete in the same division and meet frequently during regular season games. The rivalry has been described as one of the Frontier League's top rivalries. The rivalry is because both teams are geographically in the same province of Quebec, and both stadiums are located within a distance of 90 kilometers. When the Aigles were formed in 2013, both teams named their own rivalry the Battle of Quebec, like the former famous Battle of Quebec rivalry between the Montreal Canadiens and the Quebec Nordiques of the National Hockey League. Due in part to the number of Capitales fans living in the Mauricie region, and in part to Trois-Rivières' relative proximity to Quebec City, Capitales–Aigles games at Stade Quillorama in Trois-Rivières hold a more neutral audience. As of the end of the 2024 season, Québec leads the regular season record 106–81.
Season-by-season record
[edit]Records as of September 14, 2024
| Season | League | Division | Regular season | Post-season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins | Losses | Win% | Finish | ||||
| 1999 | Northern | North | 43 | 43 | .500 | 3rd | did not qualify |
| 2000 | Northern | North | 48 | 37 | .565 | 2nd | Lost Opening round (Adirondack Lumberjacks) 3–1 |
| 2001 | Northern | North | 44 | 47 | .484 | 2nd | did not qualify |
| 2002 | Northern | North | 52 | 38 | .578 | 1st | Lost Opening round (Adirondack Lumberjacks) 3–2 |
| 2003 | Northeast | North | 49 | 40 | .551 | 3rd | Lost Opening round (North Shore Spirit) 3–0 |
| 2004 | Northeast | North | 58 | 34 | .630 | 1st | Lost Opening round (North Shore Spirit) 3–2 |
| 2005 | Can-Am | North | 59 | 33 | .552 | 1st | Won Opening round (Brockton Rox) 3–0 Lost Championship (Worcester Tornadoes) 3–0 |
| 2006 | Can-Am | none | 44 | 44 | .500 | 1st | Won Opening round (North Shore Spirit) 3–2 Won Championship (Brockton Rox) 3–2 |
| 2007 | Can-Am | none | 49 | 45 | .521 | 5th | did not qualify |
| 2008 | Can-Am | none | 58 | 36 | .617 | 1st | Won Opening round (Atlantic City Surf) 3-1 Lost Championship (Sussex Skyhawks) 3–0 |
| 2009 | Can-Am | none | 53 | 41 | .563 | 3rd | Won Opening round (Brockton Rox) 3–1 Won Championship (Worcester Tornadoes) 3–1 |
| 2010 | Can-Am | none | 57 | 37 | .606 | 1st | Won Opening round (New Jersey Jackals) 3–0 Won Championship (Pittsfield Colonials) 3–1 |
| 2011 | Can-Am | none | 64 | 26 | .711 | 1st | Won Opening round (Brockton Rox) 3–0 Won Championship (New Jersey Jackals) 3-1 |
| 2012 | Can-Am | none | 66 | 34 | .660 | 1st | Won Championship (New Jersey Jackals) 4–1 |
| 2013 | Can-Am | none | 56 | 42 | .571 | 1st | Won Championship (New Jersey Jackals) 4–3 |
| 2014 | Can-Am | none | 46 | 50 | .479 | 3rd | did not qualify |
| 2015 | Can-Am | none | 54 | 42 | .563 | 2nd | Lost Opening Round (New Jersey Jackals) 3–2 |
| 2016 | Can-Am | none | 56 | 44 | .560 | 3rd | Lost Opening Round (Rockland Boulders) 3–2 |
| 2017 | Can-Am | none | 65 | 35 | .650 | 1st | Won Opening Round (Sussex County Miners) 3–0 Won Championship (Rockland Boulders) 3–0 |
| 2018 | Can-Am | none | 58 | 44 | .569 | 2nd | Won Opening Round (Rockland Boulders) 3–1 Lost Championship (Sussex County Miners) 3–1 |
| 2019 | Can-Am | none | 36 | 59 | .379 | 6th | did not qualify |
| 2020 | Didn't play due to COVID-19 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2021 | Did not play. See note | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2022 | Frontier | East | 62 | 34 | .646 | 1st | Won Divisional Round (Ottawa Titans) 2–1 Won Championship (Schaumburg Boomers) 3–1 |
| 2023 | Frontier | East | 60 | 35 | .646 | 1st | Won Divisional Round (New Jersey Jackals) 3–0 Won Championship (Evansville Otters) 3–2 |
| 2024 | Frontier | East | 64 | 32 | .667 | 1st | Won Divisional Round (Ottawa Titans) 2–1 Won Championship vs. (Washington Wild Things) 3–1 |
1: In 2021, Équipe Québec, a combination of the Capitales, Trois-Rivières Aigles and the Ottawa Titans playing in the Frontier League. With a record of 52–44, they finished first in the Atlantic Division, and lost the Division Series to the Washington Wild Things 3-2.
Current roster
[edit]| Active roster | Coaches/Other | |||
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Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
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Manager
Coaches
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Broadcasting and stadium entertainment
[edit]Capitales games can be heard on CHYZ-FM, and through the streaming platform FloSports under Quebec Capitales, their play-by-play broadcasters are Pierre Blais and Marc-André Lord. At many home games, the fans are entertained both outside and inside Stade Canac with myriad entertainers – live music, DJ music, giveaways and promotions. Between innings, the entertainment varies with on-field contests with their mascot Capi, youth games, t-shirt giveaways, promotions and many more. The team's public address announcer is Sebastien Dubois-Bergeron, and their stadium’s DJ is Daniel Sylvain, better known as “DJ Dan” as his stage name. DJ Dan brings over 16 years of experience as the DJ of the Capitales, and he is also the DJ of the Quebec Remparts since 1999. He keeps the fans loud and entertained no matter what if the team win or loses. He works in collaboration with the press box crew, along with the team’s in-game host Yannick Tremblay, also known as “Pee-Wee”.
Notable alumni
[edit]- Mitch Lyden (1999)
- José Núñez (2001)
- Darryl Motley (2002)
- Jeff Harris (2003–2004)
- Juan Melo (2004)
- Marty Janzen (2005)
- Éric Cyr (2006, 2008)
- Éric Gagné (2009)
- Pete Laforest (2009, 2010–2012)
- Andrew Albers (2010)
- Troy Cate (2010)
- Steve Green (2010)
- Max St. Pierre (2012)
- Jonathan Malo (2012–2019)
- Kalian Sams (2015–2018)
- Yordan Manduley (2015–2019, 2022)
- Jorge Reyes (2016)
- Yurisbel Gracial (2016–2017)
- Marcus Knecht (2016–2017)
- Jordan Lennerton (2016–2018)
- Matt Marksberry (2017)
- Lázaro Blanco (2017–2018)
- Josh Vitters (2018)
- Tyson Gillies (2019)
- Dustin Molleken (2019)
- Jonathan de Marte (2019)
- Scott Richmond (2019)
- Andrew Case (2021–2022)
- Gift Ngoepe (2021)
- Evan Rutckyj (2021, 2023)
- Jared Mortensen (2021)
- Tristan Pompey (2022)
- Greg Bird (2023)
- Jesmuel Valentín (2023–present)
- Juremi Profar (2023–2024)
- Brandon Marklund (2024)
Attendance
[edit]As of August 29, 2024
| Season | Games | Total | Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 41 | 110,559 | 2,697 |
| 2000 | 39 | 127,303 | 3,264 |
| 2001 | 45 | 148,419 | 3,298 |
| 2002 | 44 | 152,121 | 3,457 |
| 2003 | 43 | 152,153 | 3,538 |
| 2004 | 47 | 156,899 | 3,338 |
| 2005 | 46 | 156,663 | 3,406 |
| 2006 | 42 | 138,376 | 3,295 |
| 2007 | 49 | 161,789 | 3,302 |
| 2008 | 44 | 140,933 | 3,203 |
| 2009 | 46 | 164,009 | 3,565 |
| 2010 | 45 | 147,978 | 3,288 |
| 2011 | 49 | 149,330 | 3,048 |
| 2012 | 49 | 152,663 | 3,116 |
| 2013 | 47 | 141,396 | 3,008 |
| 2014 | 42 | 121,305 | 2,888 |
| 2015 | 51 | 130,510 | 2,559 |
| 2016 | 53 | 146,946 | 2,773 |
| 2017 | 50 | 141,923 | 2,838 |
| 2018 | 53 | 126,483 | 2,386 |
| 2019 | 50 | 119,060 | 2,381 |
| 2020 | DID NOT PLAY DUE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC | ||
| 2021* | 10** | 22,882 | 2,288 |
| 2022 | 51 | 130,414 | 2,557 |
| 2023 | 55 | 166,916 | 3,035 |
| 2024 | 48 | 164,925 | 3,436 |
*played with limited capacity (2,800 people)[7]
**only counts Équipe Québec games played at Stade Canac
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "CBC News". May 23, 2024.
- ^ RDS.ca (2024-09-14). "Frontier : Un troisième titre de suite spectaculaire pour les Capitales". RDS (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2024-12-20.
- ^ Triblive (2024-09-14). "Quebec beats Washington Wild Things for Frontier League title on walk-off homer". TribLIVE.com. Retrieved 2024-12-20.
- ^ "TSN". May 23, 2024.
- ^ Baker, Paul (2023-08-16). "Stade Canac - Quebec les Capitales". Stadium Journey. Retrieved 2024-12-28.
- ^ "Disipio: Pitching is driving us to the playoffs". TSN. 2024-08-27. Retrieved 2024-12-11.
- ^ Tardif, Carl (29 July 2021). "Retour d'Équipe Québec: plus gros qu'un match d'ouverture, selon Michel Laplante". Le Soleil (in French). Retrieved 4 January 2022.
External links
[edit]
| Achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Can-Am League Champions Québec Capitales 2006 |
Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Can-Am League Champions Québec Capitales 2009 |
Current holder |
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