The Canberra Cavalry (nicknamed Cavs) is a professional baseball team from
Canberra, ACT, Australia. Established in 2010, the team is a founding member of the
Australian Baseball League
The Australian Baseball League (ABL) is a professional baseball league in Australia. The league is governed by the Australian Baseball Federation (ABF). It uses the same name as a now-defunct competition held during the 1990s, and though it ...
(ABL). The Cavs home ground is
Narrabundah Ballpark, known as MIT Ballpark for sponsorship reasons. The Cavalry are one-time
Claxton Shield
The Claxton Shield was the name of the premier baseball competition in Australia held between state-based teams, as well as the name of the trophy awarded to the champion team. From the summer of 1989–90 until 2001–02, and again since 2010 ...
Champions and one-time Asian Champions.
History
Bid and establishment
In 2009,
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...
(MLB) invited
Canberra to bid for the sixth and final licence to join the inaugural season of the reformed
Australian Baseball League
The Australian Baseball League (ABL) is a professional baseball league in Australia. The league is governed by the Australian Baseball Federation (ABF). It uses the same name as a now-defunct competition held during the 1990s, and though it ...
(ABL). The bid, named "Let's do it Canberra", was organised by ACT Baseball Association Commissioner Theo Vassalakis and was tasked with meeting the entry criteria of securing the needed sponsorship, community membership and facility upgrades by September 2009. This included three-year sponsorship deals worth $100,000 per annum, 5,000 $20 memberships and
ACT Government
The Government of the Australian Capital Territory, also referred to as the Australian Capital Territory Government or ACT Government, is the executive authority of the Australian Capital Territory, one of the territories of Australia. The lea ...
funding to upgrade the Narrabundah Ballpark to AA standard. In November 2009, Canberra's bid was successful and the ABL in conjunction with the MLB made the announcement of the decision to grant an ABL licence to the successful bidding team.
The team was subsequently founded in 2010 as the Canberra Cavalry. The team entered the reformed
Australian Baseball League
The Australian Baseball League (ABL) is a professional baseball league in Australia. The league is governed by the Australian Baseball Federation (ABF). It uses the same name as a now-defunct competition held during the 1990s, and though it ...
(ABL) as sixth and final founding member, following the establishment of five other teams from capital cities around Australia.
Originally the team was going to be named the Canberra Colts, but a legal dispute with Canberra based
Super Rugby
Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...
team,
ACT Brumbies
The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005–2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the feral horses which inhab ...
, resulted in the team changing their plans and choosing Cavalry instead. The Brumbies local
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...
premier division is named the Colts, with all teams competing in the division adopting the moniker at the end of their club names.
First season (2010-11)
The Cavalry started putting their front and back office staff in 2010 in the lead up to the ABL regular season starting in November 2010. Tony Fraser was appointed the team's founding general manager (GM) with Megan Salic joining as assistant general manager.
On 8 September 2010, the Cavs announced former MLB and
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has been Citize ...
pitcher
Steve Schrenk
Steven Wayne Schrenk (born November 20, 1968) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played two seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies.
Career
He was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 4th r ...
would be the team's inaugural head coach. Schrenk arrived in Canberra from New Jersey with over two decades of playing and coaching experience behind him.
On 7 November 2010, Canberra lost its first ever ABL game away in
Sydney against the
Sydney Blue Sox
The Sydney Blue Sox are a professional baseball team, and one of eight foundation teams in the re-formed Australian Baseball League (ABL). The team plays their home games at Blacktown International Sportspark (BISP), one of the two venues used ...
. At Blacktown Olympic Park, the game was the inaugural ABL game with ABL Operations Manager, Ben Foster, and young Australian baseballer, Louis Verdon, arriving on the pitch by helicopter to open the game by passing on the ball Foster caught off the final pitch of the original ABL in February 1999. Verdon then delivered the first ceremonial pitch of the new ABL. Steven Kent impressed for Canberra but the visitors lost the game 0-1.
The Cavalry won their first ABL game on 18 November 2010 at home in Narrabundah. In front of 1,300 fans, Korean import, Kyu-Hyun Moon inspired Canberra to a 5-2 victory over the
Melbourne Aces with a left field home run, the first ever home run at the new Narrabundah Ballpark.
The Cavs missed out on the play-offs in their first season despite having a very good defensive record. Their offense however was not as impressive, ranking sixth in runs scored. Dutch born shortstop Didi Gregorius, was named ABL Golden Glove winner for the inaugural ABL season. Didi, who attracted 43 votes, beat Perth catcher Allan de San Miguel (39 votes) and Adelaide's Stefan Welch (38 votes) to the award.
Australian and Asian champions
In
2012–13
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
, the Cavs claimed the ultimate titles on offer to Australian baseball teams. They finished the regular season in top spot in the league standings, clinching the minor premiership and qualifying for the playoffs.
Canberra was selected as the home venue for the best of three Championship series, which would be broadcast in 40 countries worldwide and a possible audience for 40 million people. Canberra defeated the
Perth Heat in the Championship series to claim the ABL Championship and lift the historic
Claxton Shield
The Claxton Shield was the name of the premier baseball competition in Australia held between state-based teams, as well as the name of the trophy awarded to the champion team. From the summer of 1989–90 until 2001–02, and again since 2010 ...
. The Cavs won the series 2-0 with a 6-4 first game win followed by Michael Wells scoring the final home run to secure a 7-6 game two victory. Aaron Sloan was named series MVP. This was a turnaround for a team that finished last in the regular ABL season in
2011–12. A fun fact, during the 2012-13 season, fan action caused the team to change the shirt number of player
Marcus Knecht. He was originally wearing shirt number 51 but fans requested he should wear the number 4, in allusion to the game
Connect Four; and, this became his catch-cry.
By winning the championship, the Cavalry qualified for the
2013 Asia Series, where they would face the best teams from across Asia, including
Japan,
Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republi ...
,
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...
and
China. The Cavs went into the
Asia Series as underdogs with the Canberra outfit's wage bill of $47,000 for their roster tiny compared to some of their rivals, the Golden Eagles for example spending $23.5 million on their roster.
On the road to the Asian Series final, Canberra won two of three games. They defeated
EDA Rhinos 2-0 and lost to
Rakuten Golden Eagles
The , often shortened as the , are a baseball team based in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It has played in Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League since the team's formation in November 2004. The team is owned by the Internet shopping c ...
6-3 in the group stage to finish second in their group before defeating Korean team
Samsung Lions
The Samsung Lions () are a South Korean professional baseball team founded in 1982. They are based in the southeastern city of Daegu and are members of the KBO League. Their home stadium is Daegu Samsung Lions Park. They have won the Korean Ch ...
9-5 in the semi-finals to qualify for the Asia Series final. It was the first time an Australian team had won a game at the Asia Series and the first time an Australian team had qualified for the final.
In the final, held on 20 November 2013 in
Taichung
Taichung (, Wade–Giles: ''Tʻai²-chung¹'', pinyin: ''Táizhōng''), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has approximately 2.8 million residents and is the second most populous city of Ta ...
,
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...
, the Cavs played Taiwanese team
Uni-Lions in a one-game winner takes all final. Canberra won the coin toss and was designated the 'home' team. The Cavalry started the game well, leading 2-0 at the end of the first innings. The Lion responded and took a 4-2 lead. The Cavs pulled one back in the fourth innings before a seventh innings blitz saw Canberra score five runs and take a commanding 8-4 lead. The free scoring continued in the eighth innings with the Cavalry scoring a further six runs, including a loaded bases home run, hit by American catcher
Jack Murphy. The Cavs pitcher Sean Wesley Toler then sealed the 14-4 victory by pitching out the Lions at the top of the ninth to end the game.
The Canberra Cavalry were crowned Asian Champions, with Jack Murphy named most valuable player.
The title netted the ABL $500,000 in prize money. It would be reinvested in the league, not just the Cavalry.
2014 to 2021
In
2013-14, the Cavalry looked to go back-to-back and secure a second consecutive Claxton Shield and ABL Championship title. The Cavs finished the regular season in third place in the league standings and qualified for the preliminary final against rivals
Sydney Blue Sox
The Sydney Blue Sox are a professional baseball team, and one of eight foundation teams in the re-formed Australian Baseball League (ABL). The team plays their home games at Blacktown International Sportspark (BISP), one of the two venues used ...
. Canberra lost the first game against Sydney in the best of three preliminary final, but fought back and defeated the Blue Sox in the remaining two games to claim the series win.
There was a controversial umpire call in the second game that gave the Cavalry the victory and a shot at the series win. Keon Broxton, Sydney outfielder, went ‘berserk’ when he was called out attempting to run to home base.
Canberra come up against
Perth Heat once more in the ABL Championship final series. However, unlike the previous season, Perth took the lead in the series, Canberra levelled before Perth won game three and took out the series and were crowned champions. The Cavs left one win short of their goal for the season.
Between 2014–15 and 2017–18, Canberra made the playoffs twice. In
2015-16, the Cavs finished second in the league standings to qualify for the preliminary finals. The Cavalry had the best attack in the league that season, averaging 5.71 runs per game across the 56-game season, however they had the league worst pitching statistics. In the preliminary final, Canberra came up against
Adelaide Bite at home at MIT Ballpark, after ABL operations manager, Ben Foster, locked in the Canberra venue early for the series regardless of league positioning. A decision made due to the proximity of
Australia Day
Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port J ...
and a desire to get ticket sales moving before then. The series went to three games, with the Canberrans forcing a deciding game, with a close 3–2 win, after losing the first game 6–4. The Cavs could not contain the Bite in the third crucial game however, and lost 9–2, in what was a comfortable win for Adelaide in the end.
In In
2017-18, on the way to the Cavalry finishing third in the league standings to again qualify for the preliminary finals, 10 Cavs players were called up to the ABL All Stars game. Canberra faced
Perth Heat in the preliminary final series and in a familiar manner the Cavs lost the opening game, 6–3 and won the second game, 6–3, to force a third game decider. Unlike in 2016, the Cavs won game three in Perth, 3–1, to win the series and advance to their third ever ABL Championship series.
In the Championship series, the Cavalry played the
Brisbane Bandits
The Brisbane Bandits are a professional baseball team in Brisbane, Queensland that plays in the Australian Baseball League and is one of the six founding teams of the league. From the 2010/11 season till the 2012/13 season their home ballpark ...
, with the first game played in Canberra and the second and third games played in Brisbane at
Holloway Field
Holloway Field (officially Viticon Stadium, formerly Onehub Stadium, powered by Optus) is a baseball park, baseball stadium in Newmarket, Queensland, Australia. It is the home to the Brisbane Bandits of the Australian Baseball League and Windsor ...
.
Canberra was looking for its second Claxton Shield, while the Bandits were looking to become the first team in ABL history to go
threepeat
In North American sports, a three-peat is winning three consecutive championships. The term, a portmanteau of the words ''three'' and ''repeat'', originated with the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association, during their unsucces ...
and win the championship for the third season in a row. Canberra won at home in game one and then headed north to Brisbane where the Bandits drew the series level and forced a deciding game. Tempers flared in the third game as a tightly contested game saw the Cavalry come up short and lose 4–2, granting Brisbane their historic threepeat ABL title win.
In 2018, the Cavs retired their first jersey number ahead of the opening game of the
2018–19 season. Long time ABL pitcher, Brian Grening, would not be convinced to keep going and retired from playing duties. To mark this occasion, the Cavalry retired his number 41 jersey at Narrabundah Ballpark ahead of then opening home series against the
Brisbane Bandits
The Brisbane Bandits are a professional baseball team in Brisbane, Queensland that plays in the Australian Baseball League and is one of the six founding teams of the league. From the 2010/11 season till the 2012/13 season their home ballpark ...
. Grening's number was the first number retirement in Cavs history. The cavalry also decided to celebrate the 998 people and businesses that donated $20 to the 'Let's Do It, Canberra!' bid in 2009 that led to the Cavalry creation in 2010 by inviting all 998 to the opening game of the season for a Campaign Pledge Reunion. Each of the 998 people and businesses were given free double passes to the game as well as an exclusive commemorative game day program, and took to the field before the game for a campaign reunion photo.
In July 2018 the Cavalry management announced they had signed a strategic partnership agreement with Japanese baseball team
Yokohama BayStars
The are a professional baseball team in the Japanese Central League. Their home field is Yokohama Stadium, located in central Yokohama. The team has been known by several names since becoming a professional team in 1950. It adopted its curren ...
. The agreement would cover on and off-field aspects of Cavs operations and provide an opportunity pathway for Australian and Japanese players and staff to experience both organisations. The agreement took 12 months to be finalised from first concept.
Canberra also celebrated its history in baseball in 2018, with a throwback night held at Narrabundah in a home series against
Auckland Tuatara
The Auckland Tuatara is a professional baseball team in the Australian Baseball League based in Auckland, New Zealand. They are the only team from New Zealand to compete in the ABL, and one of two expansion teams that entered the league i ...
. The event marked 25 years since the ACT arrived on the national baseball scene and saw the Cavalry play in a throwback
Canberra Bushrangers
The Canberra Bushrangers were originally created as the Melbourne Bushrangers, To replace the Melbourne Monarchs in the 1991-92 Australian Baseball League Championship after the Monarchs were expelled from the competition.
The Bushrangers were ...
white kit with black pinstripes, teal trim and black caps. The Bushrangers competed in the old
Australian Baseball League
The Australian Baseball League (ABL) is a professional baseball league in Australia. The league is governed by the Australian Baseball Federation (ABF). It uses the same name as a now-defunct competition held during the 1990s, and though it ...
between 1993 and 1995. A dozen Bushranger alumni attended the event and were presented to the crowd, including current Cavalry manager, Keith Ward, and coach, Michael Wells.
On 3 July 2019, ahead of the new
2019–20 ABL season, the Cavalry announced a major brand redesign at MIT Ballpark that encompassed new logos, uniforms and merchandise to mark the team's ten-year anniversary.
Canberra's primary logo would remain a horse head but would become a grey horse with orange mane, rather than the original brown horse with black mane. The secondary logo would be updated from an interlocking 'CC' typography into interlocking stylised horseshoes positioned sideways to keep the 'CC' effect.
The new home uniforms would become primarily white with orange accents and feature 'CAVALRY' script on the front with away uniforms predominantly orange with black accents and feature 'CAVS' script on the front. A third uniform was also introduced that is predominantly black with orange accents and featured 'The Capital' script on the front. Home and away uniforms would feature grey pants and either black or grey socks. The new hats included a black, orange, and white colored panel hat with the primary horse logo on the front and an all orange hat with a single sideways horseshoe from the secondary logo.
In October 2019, the Cavalry and MLB team
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...
signed an official affiliate partner agreement that would see Astros pay to send players to Canberra each season of the agreement. The length of the agreement was not released publicaly.
Also in 2019, the Cavs submitted a bid In July to become part of the new Australian Baseball League women's league. On 24 October 2019, it was announced the Canberra Cavalry was successful in their bid to join the new women's league and was granted one of four licences, alongside
Adelaide Giants,
Baseball Victoria and the
Brisbane Bandits
The Brisbane Bandits are a professional baseball team in Brisbane, Queensland that plays in the Australian Baseball League and is one of the six founding teams of the league. From the 2010/11 season till the 2012/13 season their home ballpark ...
.
2022 to present
Ahead of the 2022 season, it was revealed the Cavs had signed a new overseas partnership agreement with MLB team
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...
. The agreement would see two players from Toronto join the Cavalry for the
2022-23 ABL season. The successful partnership with
Yokohama BayStars
The are a professional baseball team in the Japanese Central League. Their home field is Yokohama Stadium, located in central Yokohama. The team has been known by several names since becoming a professional team in 1950. It adopted its curren ...
was renewed, after being suspended during the COVID-19 affected period. Two Japanese pitches would be sent to the Cavalry for the 2022-23 ABL season, off-field support and community engagement would be resumed, including school visits, coaching clinics and a dedicated Japanese themed night at MIT Ballpark.
Season-by-season records
Championships
*
Claxton Shield
The Claxton Shield was the name of the premier baseball competition in Australia held between state-based teams, as well as the name of the trophy awarded to the champion team. From the summer of 1989–90 until 2001–02, and again since 2010 ...
: Champions (1):
2012–13
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
: Runners-Up (2):
2013–14,
2017–18
*
Minor Premiership
: Premiers (1):
2012–13
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
: Runners-Up (2):
2015–16,
2019–20
*
Asia Series
: Champions (1):
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...
Players
Current roster
''Team roster for the 2020–21 Australian Baseball League season
The 2020–21 Australian Baseball League season was the eleventh year of the Australian Baseball League (ABL) season. The season was held from to . The Melbourne Aces won their second consecutive title by defeating the Perth Heat in a shortene ...
.''
Alumni in the big leagues
Players who have played at least one game for the Cavalry who play, or have played at least one game, for a
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...
(MLB) team in North America or a
Nippon Professional Baseball
or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''.
Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formatio ...
(NPB) team in Japan:
Franchise records
These are the franchise records for the Canberra Cavalry through the end of the 2020/21 season.
Single season records
Offensive
† ABL Single Season Record
‡ Tied with Riley Unroe (2015/16) for ABL Single Season Record
Pitching
Career records
Offensive
Pitching
Staff
Coaching Department
Current coaching staff
References:
Managers
The Cavalry have had 3 managers in the team's history. The team's inaugural manager was former
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has been Citize ...
pitcher and
Lakewood BlueClaws pitching coach,
Steve Schrenk
Steven Wayne Schrenk (born November 20, 1968) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played two seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies.
Career
He was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 4th r ...
, who was appointed on 8 September 2010.
References:
Club management
General Managers (GM)
The Cavalry have had 5 general managers in the team's history.
References:
Assistant General Managers (AGM)
The Cavalry have had 6 assistant general managers in the team's history.
References:
Home venue
The Cavalry's home venue where they play home games is
Narrabundah Ballpark (known as MIT Ballpark for sponsorship reasons), located in the south-central
Canberra suburb of
Narrabundah, ACT,
Australia. The venue is owned by the
ACT Government
The Government of the Australian Capital Territory, also referred to as the Australian Capital Territory Government or ACT Government, is the executive authority of the Australian Capital Territory, one of the territories of Australia. The lea ...
and has a seating capacity of 2,250. The fans nicknamed the venue "The Fort", which the Cavalry management embraced before the naming rights were sold.
The ballpark received a major renovation upgrade in 2010 with a second stage of upgrades planned for 2017.
In January 2018, the ACT Government funded a new $4.5 million upgrade of Narrabundah Ballpark. The purpose of the upgrade was to bring the ballpark up to a standard to attract international use and assist in Cavalry recruitment from Asian and North American affiliated clubs. The upgrade works would include Increasing ground capacity with new match day seating options and a refurbishment of the main grandstand. The building of a new annex for new bathroom, kitchen, bar and function room facilities, as well as space for the establishment of the Canberra Baseball Hall of Fame. The building of a new facility for club officials, scorers, broadcast crew and announcers. Plus, upgrades to the player locker rooms to provide additional space, individual lockers and phone charging points. The upgrade works would take nine months to be completed and be ready in time for the next ABL season. In 2019, the Ballpark became the end-of-season training camp for South Korean baseball team
SK Wyverns
SSG Landers () are a South Korean professional baseball team. The team was originally established as the SK Wyverns but was renamed as the SSG Landers in 2021 after Shinsegae acquired the team from SK Group. They are a member of the KBO League. ...
. In 2020 the Ballpark was again upgraded, this time by CK Architecture on behalf of the ACT Government. The upgrades included building new dugout style seating, upgrades to the entire concourse, building a new clubhouse, bar and new 300 tired-spectator seats for the grandstand as well as improvements to the change rooms and training facilities.
Club identity
Ownership
Between 2010 and 2015,
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...
and
Baseball Australia owned the Canberra Cavalry, along with all other ABL teams. MLB owned a 75% stake, with Baseball Australian owning a 25% stake. Ahead of the 2016-17 season, the MLB ended its lucrative backing of the ABL and each of its teams. Baseball Australia then took full control of the ABL and each team.
In 2016 and 2017, the Cavalry were solely owned by Baseball Australia, as BA looked to privatise and sell the ABL team licences.
On 1 May 2018, ownership of the Canberra Cavalry was transferred to private ownership for the first time. Canberra duo Donn McMichael and Dan Amodio became the new owners. They fronted an ownership group of local community investors named Canberra Community Ownership Group. In March 2019, the ownership team of the Canberra Cavalry acquired the Canberra
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two o ...
franchise team
CBR Brave, with a view to creating Canberra's first multi-sport franchise with a single shared back-office creating efficiencies across both winter and summer seasons. In December 2020 the ABL was called into resolve an ownership and management crisis at the Cavalry. The Cavs subsequently called in administrators in early 2021 with the team in over $400,000 debt and in danger of being wound up.
On 26 April 2021, a new ownership team secured the ABL licence for the Canberra Cavalry and rescued the team from the brink after the collapse of the previous ownership with debts of more than $400,000. The new ownership entity that holds the licence is Infielder Pty Ltd. The company is a 50:50 joint venture between Canberran businessmen Brendan Major and Illya Mastoris. Both partners have been invested in ACT baseball for a number of years with Major's IT company, MIT Services, holding the naming rights to the Narrabundah Ballpark and sponsoring the Cavs for five years. Mastoris on the other hand ran the ballpark's food and beverage sales and corporate hospitality for six years. The new owners retained the services of general manager Sunny Singh, who worked under the old ownership team.
Rivalries
The Canberra Cavalry have a strong rivalry with the
Sydney Blue Sox
The Sydney Blue Sox are a professional baseball team, and one of eight foundation teams in the re-formed Australian Baseball League (ABL). The team plays their home games at Blacktown International Sportspark (BISP), one of the two venues used ...
that dates back to the beginning of the Australian Baseball League in 2010. It is the longest rivalry in the league's history. The two teams met in the very first game of the modern league on 6 November 2010 and ever since then they have competed for the Hume Highway Cup. In January 2022, both teams agreed to rename their challenge cup to the Kent-Oxspring Cup, or KO Cup for short. The new name celebrates and recognizes two stalwart players for both teams,
Steven Kent for Canberra and
Chris Oxspring
Chris Andrew Oxspring (born 13 May 1977) is a former Australian professional baseball pitcher who played for a number of teams around the world.
Career
Oxspring joined the Hanshin Tigers in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the 2006 seaso ...
for Sydney.
Community and charitable work
The Cavs over the years has conducted community engagement and support and raised money for community and charity organisations. Canberra Cavalry have regularly auctioned game-day memorabilia to raise money for different charitable causes including
Legacy Australia
Legacy is an Australian non-profit organisation established in 1923 by ex-servicemen. Legacy provides support to the families of Australian Defence Force men and women who have lost their life or health in conflicts such as World War I, World ...
, who supports family members of service people, the
Canberra Hospital
Canberra Hospital is a major tertiary public hospital located in Garran, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. It is the largest hospital in the region with 672 beds catering to a population of about 550,000. It was formed when the Woden Vall ...
Trust, the
Heart Foundation
The National Heart Foundation of Australia (known as the Heart Foundation) is a charity established in 1959. Its activities have been funding cardiovascular research, supporting health professionals in their practice, developing health promotion ...
,
Red Cross
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...
ACT, and The Global Poverty Walk's
Matt Napier. Since 2014, Canberra Cavalry mascot, Sarge (Josh Williams) has been raising money for
Lifeline
Lifeline or Lifelines may refer to:
Support, care, and emergency services
* Crisis hotline
** Lifeline (crisis support service), Australia-based, now international
** National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, United States
* LifeLine (medical tran ...
. In 2019 and 2021, Josh Williams raised $20,000 for Lifeline by completing the 10km for $10k challenge. In full Sarge costume, Josh walked from
Bentspoke Brewpub in
Braddon to MIT Ballpark in Narrabundah on both occasions.
In 2020, the Cavs joined other major Canberra sporting organisations,
Canberra Capitals
The University of Canberra Capitals are an Australian professional women's basketball team competing in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). The team is based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. In 2014 the University of Canber ...
,
CBR Brave,
Canberra United FC
Canberra United Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the southern Canberra suburb of Wanniassa, Australian Capital Territory. Founded in 2008 by Capital Football, the club was an inaugural member of the W-League and ...
,
Canberra Raiders
The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby ...
,
ACT Brumbies
The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005–2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the feral horses which inhab ...
,
Canberra Chill,
ACT Meteors
The Australian Capital Territory Women cricket team, also known as the Abode Hotels ACT Meteors, is the women's representative cricket team for the Australian Capital Territory. They play most of their home games at Manuka Oval, Canberra and th ...
,
Basketball ACT,
Tennis ACT,
Netball ACT,
Capital Football
Capital Football is the trading name for the ACT Football Federation Incorporated, the state governing body for soccer in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), but also has affiliated clubs based in surrounding areas of New South Wales. It ...
and
GWS Giants under the #WeAreOne banner to provide support for volunteers and those affected by the
Bushfire crisis affecting the NSW South Coast, Monaro and Southern Inlands. The Cavalry auctioned off unique memorabilia to raise funds for the
NSW Rural Fire Service as part of the campaign. On 27 October 2020, The Cavs in conjunction with Village Building Co, launched a new fundraising initiative named the Village Building Cavalry Community Fund. The fund would raise money for local Canberra charities. The fund's first event was the Charity Super Bowl. The Cavs co-hosted the inaugural Charity Super Bowl with the Canberra Capitals to raise money for Lifeline Canberra and Menslink. Sixteen corporate teams gathered at Kingpin bowling alley in the Canberra Centre for the event.
The Cavalry are supporters of the
LGBTQ+ community
The LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, gay community, or queer community) is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a common culture and social ...
and held the ABL's first ever pride night on 17 January 2020. With the theme of inclusiveness, the Cavs hoped to inspire the rest of the ABL and wider sporting community in Canberra to follow and adopt their initiative to support the LGBTQ+ community. The team hosted members and supporters of the LGBTQ+ community and wore special pride jerseys and caps that they later donated.
The Cavs partnership with
Yokohama BayStars
The are a professional baseball team in the Japanese Central League. Their home field is Yokohama Stadium, located in central Yokohama. The team has been known by several names since becoming a professional team in 1950. It adopted its curren ...
involves community engagement events such as school visits around Canberra and coaching clinics involving the Japanese players and staff BayStars send over to the Cavs for the ABL season.
Team song
In 2018, the Canberra Cavalry officially launched a team song titled "Go, Cavs, Go!" The song was released at
ANU School of Music and features vocals by local artists Robbie Rosen and Kay Ansah. The song features an upbeat tune composed to perfectly complement the summer months.
Mascot
The Canberra Cavalry team
mascot
A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fic ...
is a
Yosemite Sam
Yosemite Sam ( /joʊˈsɛmɪti/ ''yoh-SEM-ih-tee'') is a cartoon character in the ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of short films produced by Warner Bros. His name is taken from Yosemite National Park. He is an adversary of Bu ...
-type character named 'Sarge', with an Australian
slouch hat
A slouch hat is a wide-brimmed felt or cloth hat most commonly worn as part of a military uniform, often, although not always, with a chinstrap. It has been worn by military personnel from many different nations including Australia, Ireland, t ...
, Cavalry-orange shirt,
Auscam pants and brown Army boots. Since inception, Sarge has been played by Josh Williams, who has often raised money for Lifeline using the mascot and is a supporter of
R U OK? day.
The team song, played after winning games, is "I Wanna Be in the Cavalry" by
Corb Lund. In the 2014-15 season, Sarge got a 'quad' car and he can be found at Narrabundah Ballpark every home Cavalry game.
See also
*
Australian Baseball League
The Australian Baseball League (ABL) is a professional baseball league in Australia. The league is governed by the Australian Baseball Federation (ABF). It uses the same name as a now-defunct competition held during the 1990s, and though it ...
*
List of current Australian Baseball League team rosters
*
Canberra Bushrangers
The Canberra Bushrangers were originally created as the Melbourne Bushrangers, To replace the Melbourne Monarchs in the 1991-92 Australian Baseball League Championship after the Monarchs were expelled from the competition.
The Bushrangers were ...
*
Australian Baseball League (1989–1999)
The Australian Baseball League (ABL) was a baseball league, established in 1987 and disbanded in 1999.
Formation
Before the formation of the Australian Baseball League, the Claxton Shield, established in , was Australia's premier baseball to ...
*
Baseball in Australia
References
External links
*
ABL homeACT Baseball home
{{Canberra Sports Teams
Australian baseball clubs
Cav CAV and Cav may refer to:
* Cav., in botany, a designator for plants named by Antonio José Cavanilles
* ''Cavaliere'' or Cav., an Italian order of knighthood
* '' Cavalleria rusticana'', an opera often played as a double bill with ''Pagliacci'', ...
Australian Baseball League teams
Baseball teams established in 2010
2010 establishments in Australia