A GLIMPSE OF THE GOOD OL’ DAYS
Big crowds expected to see Champions battle Cubans in 3-game exhibition set
When it comes to media love in this town, the Ottawa Champions are down the depth chart.
That will change somewhat this weekend when Ottawa’s Can-Am League baseball team plays host to the visiting Cuban national team for a three-game set.
“This is the same team that played in front of President Obama last March in Havana,” says Champions president David Gourlay. “They’re the fourth-best team in the world.”
The presence of the Cubans is a huge boost to the Champions, who play in an outsized venue for an independent league club. The stadium, of course, was built to house the triple-A Ottawa Lynx back in the early 1990s.
On Sunday, the crowd might look a bit like the good old days of the Lynx, as Gourlay expects about 6,000 fans. Consider it the perfect storm: the weather is steamy, the Cubans are here and Sunday is Father’s Day, an ideal outing for the kids and dad.
Beyond this big weekend and another at the end of June when the Japanese all-stars visit, the Champions president is hoping to experience slow and steady attendance growth for the balance of the season.
“We had 115,000 tickets sold last year,” Gourlay says. “So in my mind, I would love to see that improve by 10 per cent. We’re here for the long term. I don’t necessarily want to blow it out of the water in years two and three and then work to beat that in years four and five.
“I think incremental growth is the way to go for us, as opposed to trying to set records and all that. But with the Cubans here and this great weather, these are great opportunities.”
Gourlay, by the way, is part of a group of dignitaries taking the visiting Cubans on a tour of Ottawa on Saturday, including the Byward Market, Parliament Hill and the Sports Hall of Fame.
LIFER LANIER
Some people just aren’t wired for retirement. Hal Lanier is one of them. The 73-year-old was out of baseball for three years ending in 2014, when he got the call from Miles Wolff about managing the new Can-Am League team Wolff would own and operate in Ottawa.
“I jumped at it,” Lanier says, standing around the batting cage watching hockey players Kyle Turris and Erik Karlsson try to hit a home run during a promotional stint at practice Thursday. Lanier hit only eight home runs himself in a 10-year major-league career as a middle infielder. He finished as a big-league player in 1973 with the New York Yankees, then played a couple seasons in triple-A before coaching and managing in the big leagues. Lanier was named NL manager of the year with the Houston Astros (1986) and won a World Series ring as a coach with the 1982 St. Louis Cardinals.
In his twilight, Lanier spent a decade managing the independent league team in Winnipeg prior to that brief respite from 2012-14.
“I was playing golf every day down in Florida where I live,” Lanier says. “I jumped at (the Ottawa opportunity) because I missed it. It’s still in my blood — this will be my 18th year in independent baseball.”
The Champs are lucky to have a skipper of his quality and experience.
Lanier, by the way, is usually guaranteed fireworks on his birthday. He was born on the 4th of July.
TURRIS HEALTHY
After taking some mighty cuts at the plate along with Karlsson, Turris pronounced his ankle sprain almost completely healed. High-ankle sprains are notoriously difficult to rehabilitate and, interestingly, walking the golf courses helped Turris loosen up the ankle.
“The last two, three weeks have been very good,” Turris said. “I got on the ice for the first time a week ago and felt good. In training, I’m doing things I could do before, so I’m almost back to 100 per cent.”
After meeting with new head coach Guy Boucher, Turris can’t wait for the season to start.
“I came out of the meeting very excited,” Turris said. “I think he’s going to push us and get the best out of us. I think he knows how to get us on the right path to win and the style of play is going to be a lot of fun.”
GROULX DEJA VU
Coaches live a nomadic life (see Lanier file above), but once in a while a wanderer comes home. Such was the case with Pierre Groulx returning to Ottawa as the Senators new goaltending coach. Groulx, who was Jacques Martin’s video coach for five seasons with the Senators beginning in 2000, has worked with Ottawa goaltender Craig Anderson (in Florida), which helped. Nice to be able to bring the family home, a family that includes a young autistic son. “Everyone’s happy,” Groulx said on Friday.
ROGER NEILSON HOUSE
In an inspired move, the Senators renamed Roger’s House, the vital palliative-care facility for children, Roger Neilson House. As time passes, it gets easier to forget just who “Roger” was. The Hall of Fame coach and innovator passed away in 2003. The rededication was made by Senators president Cyril Leeder on June 16 — Neilson’s birthday. He would have been 82.