I wanted to come back to write one final post over here.  I truly appreciate all the comments and want to thank everybody for them, and for dropping by over the life of the blog.  It’s not been easy walking away from the blog, but certainly if someone wants to carry on with one, it’s not that hard.  Time consuming, but not that hard.  In the meantime, I believe that Neate will carry on with his coverage of the team and the Facebook groups will likely pick up their activity as well.  MSM coverage looks promising so far - with the Citizen and CTV Ottawa showing a great deal of support for the team.  Unfortunately, the news yesterday was not all that positive:

Rapidz fire GM Charrette

Dismissal by new owners ends ‘dream job’

Don Campbell

The Ottawa Citizen; with files from The Ottawa Citizen Staff

Thursday, May 08, 2008

The team name suggests “strong and forceful movement” and the new owners of the Ottawa Rapidz have wasted little time in dusting the franchise’s first general manager.

With the countdown to Opening Day of the 2008 CanAm League season at 16 days and new team ownership only 10 days old, the Rapidz have fired Don Charrette.

The move came late Tuesday, one day after the resignation of Charrette’s wife, Lorraine. She had worked for 15 years with the former Ottawa Lynx Triple-A club owned by Howard Darwin and, later, Ray Pecor. That team moved to Pennsylvania after the 2007 International League season.

Charrette, a 56-year-old former Little League coach, was one of the first hires for the CanAm franchise in January.

At the time, he called it a “dream job,” and he stuck by that assessment yesterday.

“It was a dream come true,” Charrette said. “When Miles (Wolff, the league commissioner), Lorraine and I were doing it, things were wonderful. We had a great team here.

Charrette had just returned to his office Tuesday afternoon after wiring money to a prospective player in South America when he was approached by Rapidz owners Rick Anderson and Rob Hall.

“I never saw it coming,” Charrette said yesterday. “Our family is devastated. I am devastated. I have no idea what my next move is. No idea.”

The Rapidz are to hold a free-agent tryout camp today at their home stadium on Coventry Road. The best of that crop is expected to begin an abbreviated spring training with players under contracts on Saturday morning.

The Rapidz have an exhibition game against a city all-star team next week and home-and-away exhibitions with the independent league’s Quebec Capitales one week later before opening the regular season May 22 with a four-game series against the New Jersey Jackals.

“Don made a strong contribution to getting things going here,” said Anderson, president and CEO of Zip.ca and Rapidz Sports and Entertainment, which bought the baseball franchise from the CanAm League. “We are grateful and respectful for what he has done.

“Baseball has a rebuilding job to do here and things have to be done to do that. Don did a helluva job the last three or four months to get things going.”

The GM’s position was never meant to have any connection with the baseball side of the operation, Anderson said. Charrette had been hired to set up the business side, and Anderson said another person with a business background would be hired to replace him in that role.

Wolff was in Ottawa before leaving on Sunday. He said he was unaware of problems between the new owners and Charrette, who had been hired by Wolff.

“The new ownership has their own ways of doing things,” Wolff said. “For myself, Don Charrette was the right kind of general manager. He did a good job for me. He wanted to become involved in baseball full-time and this was his chance.

“But new ownership will make changes anywhere, and it’s like a player being released. That player is never happy. The new owners have a vision for what they want this to become and they have a plan. The business side of things is where their expertise lies, and I will continue to consult them on the baseball side until Opening Day.”

Yesterday, the Rapidz announced the signing of 27-year-old infielder Juan Carlos Infante.

Losing both Don and Lorraine will certainly sting - I feel sick about this, as I’m sure do many of you.

See you at the UOLB.

The UORB is closing it’s doors.  Unfortunately, there’s just too much on my plate right now and I don’t see that situation improving anytime soon.  If I can’t do it justice, it’s best not to do it at all.  You’ve probably noticed a steady decline in the blog since the first press conference; my heart’s just not in it anymore.

I should have the occasional Can-AM related post over on the Unofficial Ottawa Lynx blog, but as of today the Raps blog is no more.  Thanks for coming by for the last five months, and we’ll see you at the park.

Carl.

Friend of the Rapidz, Mark Sutcliffe writes “How the Rapidz can replace Ottawa’s missing Lynx” in today’s Ottawa Citizen.  Mark captures the substance of what I’ve believed about baseball in Ottawa, that things could turn around, in one clear sentence:

Because the hope that springs eternal dictates that a different outcome is always possible.

I think he’s right of course.  But then, I’ve always believed that thing could be different - that they should have been different for baseball.  Ultimately, the Rapidz success or failure will rest with the team and the residents of the National Capital Region. 

Changing course for the moment, I received an email today asking that I remind everyone about the baseball episode of the Road Grill - BBQ TV show.  The show will be taped this Saturday, May 10^th, @ Brewer Park Baseball Diamond from 9 to 6.  If you plan to attend, please flip me an email and I’ll let them know so that they can save you a spot.  They hope to have two Rapidz players at the BBQ as well, so here’s your first “meet and greet” opportunity.

Back to the lab again.  With just a few short days until Spring Training begins, the blog returns to player profiling.  Ed Nottle and the Rapz have signed what looks to be their starting catcher, Kyle Geiger.  Geiger will be 26 next week ( May 8 ) and comes to Ottawa via the New Britain Rock Cats - Minnesota’s AA team in the Eastern League.

Batting Statistics

A career .240 hitter, Kyle appeared in 85 games for the Rock Cats last season and according to our friends at Scout.com, his stock fell a bit from his 2006 season:

Geiger was supposed to have a breakout season for New Britain this season, but after a standout season for the Fort Myers Miracle last season, he struggled with the bat in the Eastern League. Still, he is regarded as one of the better catching prospects in the Twins organization, but could be back in New Britain next season. Overall, he batted only .250, and if he can learn to work the count better, should be a .275 or better hitter.

Still, he made enough of an impact in New Britain that he won the 10th Player Award, which was determined by fan voting.  And as a relative late-comer to the catching position, Kyle offers Ed some much needed versatility.

Kyle Geiger: In high school, my junior year, I played some outfield and DHed a little, but didn’t really catch full time until my senior year.  My senior year, the last home game of the season, I played every position in 1 game. My coach always wanted to do that, but never had that versatile of a player to do it with, so he started me pitching that game, and then I moved all around the diamond in the order of positions every inning.  And since we only played 7 innings in H.S., I played the outfield in the last inning and just moved to the three outfield positions for every out(1 our for left, center, and right).
I also wrestled for 1 year, and played football all 4 years.

Readers of the UOLB will know that our clan has a real soft spot for catchers (e.g. Brandon Marsters, Eli Whiteside, Jason Jaramillo) so we’ll be following Kyle’s Ottawa career closely.

Unfortunately, other commitments (read: work) kept me from the Rapidz press conference yesterday - I would have liked to have been there.  The good news is that both dailies and CTV attended and gave good coverage.  Hopefully the solid coverage and reporting will continue through September.  The final tally on the logo change came down on the Rapids/Rapides side of the ledger, but that might have been expected; fans often object to the tweaking of an original design.  In any case, what’s done is done and as some commenters have noted, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that it’s nice to be able to even have a logo to debate (if you follow my meaning).

The other positive news is that the Rapidz owners have recognized the value of the front office staff put in place by Miles Wolff.  You will recall that Miles’ first hire was Lorraine Charrette, someone that was viewed as critical to the success of the fledgling franchise.  Having been with the Lynx for thirteen years, she embodied all the front office knowledge gained by the AAA franchise - the “intellectual property” if you will.  Recognizing her husband Don Charrette’s business sense and work ethic, Miles was quick to snap him up a month later.  Sales and media relations rep. Francois Marchand, groundskeeper Josh Teuscher and Field Manager Ed Nottle followed.

It bears repeating: Mr. Wolff’s credentials speak for themselves when it comes to both baseball and the business of sport.  But you could forgive a new ownership group if they elected to clean house and stamp their own identity on their new team - it’s certainly their prerogative.  So it’s both reassuring and commendable that they have recognized the value of the solid nucleus of people that Miles put together by leaving them in place.

We had hoped Miles would be in Ottawa longer - how could you not?  For all the accolades and achievements, the man is as humble and unpretentious as you will ever meet.  Ask Ed Nottle about Miles’ contribution to baseball when you get the chance this season.  Like Howard Darwin and Ray Pecor, the two owners that preceded him, Miles is a class act and an honorable man.  Still, we recognize that there is intrinsic value in “local ownership” - both for Ottawa and the overall strength of the Can-AM League. 

It’s a relief to be able to put the politics, legal wrangling and uncertainty behind us and to turn our attention where it belongs: May 22, 2008.

Quick poll (and certainly, nothing hinges on the result).

OR:

Thanks for voting.

Wait.  I think I’ve used that title before. 

I’m genuinely surprised at the reaction to the name change and what it tells me is that in their brief existence, the Rapids have developed some brand loyalty.  In short, it appears that people have become attached to the name and the original blue logo.  All of this reaction comes on a weekend, when traditionally the blog traffic drops to a trickle, so things may even out in the morning - or the trend may continue.  Neate’s done the heavy lifting as usual and has posted a virtual symposium of the comments left on the blogs, email and through Facebook contacts.

Unfortunately, yours truly will not be able to attend tomorrow’s press conference so the only coverage looks to be through the MSM (unless Neate or Pete Toms can make it).

Well, that didn’t take long did it?  You’ll note that the blog has returned to it’s original “Lynx Red” format - hopefully the Raps didn’t order the bilingual blue unis yet.  The team’s scheduled a press conference for Monday “regarding Ottawa’s new independent baseball team, the Ottawa Rapidz”.  The speculation, as noted in the Ottawa Business Journal yesterday, is that the team will announce the sale of the Rapids to Zip.ca.

As always, more to come.

*** UPDATE ***

Neate posts up with his thoughts.

From the Ottawa Business Journal:

News Story

UPDATE: Zip.ca owner to buy Ottawa Rapids: source By Krystle Chow, Ottawa Business Journal Staff Thu, Apr 24, 2008 11:00 AM EST  Ottawa’s new professional baseball club, the Rapids, will be bought by Zip.ca’s CEO Rick Anderson and president Rob Hall, the OBJ has learned. Sources intimate with the deal say the acquisition is close to being announced, with the purchase occurring before the Rapids play their first exhibition game against the New Jersey Jackals on May 22. Online video rental company Zip.ca, along with Mr. Hall’s company Momentous.ca, is based in Ottawa. Both Mr. Anderson and Mr. Hall have been prominent figures in the national high tech and political landscape. Mr. Anderson has worked with the Conservative Party and helped grow the Reform Party with Preston Manning, while Mr. Hall founded the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) which oversees the dot-ca domain, and is one of the principal founders of the Canadian Association of Internet providers, which represents all Internet service providers in the country. The arrival of the Ottawa rapids franchise to the city was announced in February, when the Can-Am League said it would restore baseball to Ottawa after the departure of the Lynx due to poor attendance and parking disputes. When contacted by the OBJ, a Zip.ca spokesperson said the company is an “enthusiastic supporter” of the new team, but neither confirmed nor denied the news of the acquisition. “Whether Rick and Rob get involved with the team beyond being avid fans remains to be determined,” the spokesperson wrote in an e-mail. To learn more about the Rapids, click Ottawa baseball team announces name and manager to read a story by OBJ reporter Roman Zakaluzny, and for the profile on Zip.ca, click Zipping up the online video rental market.

And certainly a day that a number of us gave up on at various points along the way.  Thanks to Bruce for the link to the video from last month’s presentation at City Hall.  While it was a great day, Miles Wolff’s presentation came with this sobering reminder: the lease expires at the end of next season.  Negotiations for a new lease will need to begin soon, probably at the end of the 2008 season.  I’m hopeful that within that brief span of time the Raps will continue to forge ties with the people and business communities of Ottawa and Gatineau, in the process making the decision for Council a no-brainer.