Québec Capitales

Québec Capitales
Information
League	Frontier League (2020–present) (East Division)
Location	Quebec City
Ballpark	Stade Canac
Founded	1999
Nickname(s)	Caps
League championships	(9) 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2022, 2023
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	19 2000 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2015 2016 2017 2018 2022 2023 2024
Ownership	Jean Tremblay, Pierre Tremblay, Marie-Pierre Simard
Manager	Patrick Scalabrini
General Manager	Charles Demers
President	Michel Laplante
Media	Le Journal de Québec, Le Soleil, TVA Sports, RDS, CHYZ 94,3
Website	capitalesdequebec.com

The Québec Capitales (French: Les Capitales de Québec and often referred to as the Caps) are a professional baseball team based in Quebec City. They compete in the Frontier League (FL) as a member of the East Division. The club is owned by Jean Tremblay, Pierre Tremblay, and Marie-Pierre Simard. Since their establishment, they play their home games at Stade Canac. Their mascot is Capi the Lion.

Founded in 1999, they are one of the oldest extant independent baseball teams across North America.

History

Capitales game at Stade Canac in July 2019.

In 1999, the Capitales joined the Northern League (East Division) as an expansion team. The Capitales are one of three Canadian teams in the Frontier League. Starting operations in 1999, they are one of the most famous teams in the Frontier League. As a result, many Québec Capitales fans live throughout other regions other than Quebec City, which includes the Ottawa Valley, the Greater Montreal area, as well as the Mauricie region. As a result, Capitales' away games at 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.

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 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 2001. Since 2000, the Capitales have made the playoffs 18 times.

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 Québec 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 Capitales, Aigles, and Titans 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. A full reset was done by the front office to immediately shift focus to the 2022 season.

On September 12, 2021, Équipe Québec qualified for the playoffs, and they faced the Washington Wild Things in the divisional round but lost 4–0 in game 5. 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. Équipe Québec finished the season with a record of 52 wins and 44 losses with an average of 2,329 fans in 24 home games, including the playoffs.

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 19, 2022, the Capitales won their 8th championship in their history over the Schaumburg Boomers, in front of their supporters thanks to a victory in the 9th inning from Ruben Castro. Noise levels in the stadium allegedly reached as high as 110 decibels when the Capitales scored runs, but most notably, when Ruben Castro hit a walk-off double in the bottom of the 9th inning the previous day on September 18, 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 yet another division title and made it to the championship round for the third consecutive year. They will face the West Division champions, the Washington Wild Things.

Season-by-season record

Records as of September 17, 2023

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 Championship vs. Washington Wild Things

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

Québec Capitales roster

Active roster				Coaches/Other
Pitchers 46 James Bradwell 51 Gilberto Chu  2 Harley Gollert 39 Ryo Kohigashi 44 Austin Marozas 25 Frank Moscatiello 35 Yusniel Padron-Artiles 30 Franklin Parra 47 Ruben Ramirez 28 Abdiel Saldana 48 Ryan Sandberg 45 Nick Trabacchi		Catchers 14 Tyler Blaum 27 Anthony Quirion Infielders 11 Kyle Crowl 32 Guillermo Garcia  0 Francisco Hernandez  1 Jake MacKenzie 38 Jesmuel Valentín 14 David Glaude 21 Mathieu Sirois Outfielders 43 Justin Gideon  8 Jonathan Lacroix 23 Marc-Antoine Lebreux 29 Tommy Seidl		Manager  5 Patrick Scalabrini Coaches 40 Christian Chénard (pitching) 33 Lachlan Fontaine (hitting) Disabled list ‡ Inactive list § Suspended list  updated July 1, 2024 Transactions

Broadcasting and stadium entertainment

Capitales games can be heard on CHYZ-FM, and all season games are available via the FloSports website. The play-by-play broadcaster is Pierre Blais, and the game commentator is 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 Marc-Antoine Gariépy, and their in-game DJ is Daniel Sylvain, also known as Dan200 as his stage name. Dan200 has been working with the Capitales since 2006. Since 2019, he collaborates with the in-game host Yannick Tremblay, also known as ''Pee Wee''.

Notable alumni

• 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

As of August 29, 2024

Season	Games	Total	Average
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)

**only counts Équipe Québec games played at Stade Canac

See also

• List of baseball teams in Canada

External links

• Official website

Achievements
Preceded by Worcester Tornadoes 2005	Can-Am League Champions Québec Capitales 2006	Succeeded by Nashua Pride 2007
Preceded by Sussex Skyhawks 2008	Can-Am League Champions Québec Capitales 2009	Current holder