The Victoria Capitals were members of the

Canadian Baseball League The Canadian Baseball League was an independent minor league that operated in 2003. The league's only Commissioner was Major League Baseball Hall of Famer and Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame member Ferguson Jenkins. The league featured former m ...

that lasted two months before the league ceased operations in 2003. The Capitals played out of

Royal Athletic Park Royal Athletic Park (also known as Wilson's Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park) is a stadium in Victoria, British Columbia, and is used for baseball, soccer, softball and football, but also hosts special events, such as the annual Great Canadi ...

and led the league in attendance, averaging over 1,000 fans per game. They featured former

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) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

pitcher Steve Sinclair and were managed by former

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

shortstop Andres Thomas. Due to a highly receptive community, the Capitals were able to attract fans by combining local business sponsorship with affordable family entertainment. Unfortunately, the other teams in the league did not receive such a response. The league was forced to halt play in the middle of the 2003 season after new league owner

Jeff Mallett Jeffrey Mallett (born August 7, 1964) is a Canadian entrepreneur and investor. He is best known for building internet giant Yahoo!. Described as Yahoo's "wizard behind the curtains pulling all the levers," Mallett manages a portfolio of Interne ...

(part owner of the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

and co-founder of Yahoo) decided the league business model was destined for failure. Although the intent was to restart the league in 2004, the league's assets were eventually sold off and play was never resumed. In 2004, the Victoria Royals were formed and featured some of the players and management of the Capitals. Unlike the Capitals, the Royals were a semi-pro team featuring college players from both Canada and the United States. There was a strong local presence, as many of the players and coaches were originally from Victoria. Local players included Curtis Pelletier, Matt Gunning, Steve Bailey, Kyle Swenson, Joel Perkins, Christian Winstanley, Graham Campbell, Bryan Allen, Gautam Srivastava, Henry Mabee, Bobby Rebner and Shawn Loglisci. Coached by Marty Hall and Daryn Lansdell, the Royals had a good season winning the PWL crown. Also, unlike the Capitals, the Royals finished their season, playing teams from Washington, British Columbia, and Alberta. At the end of the season, management decided that the return of the Royals was unlikely for 2005, due to lack of support from the local business community. From the end of the season in 2004, Victoria was without pro baseball until 2008, when the

Victoria Seals The Victoria Seals were a professional baseball team based in Victoria, British Columbia. The Seals were a member of the North Division of the independent Golden Baseball League, which is not affiliated with either Major League Baseball (MLB) o ...

of the

Golden Baseball League The Golden Baseball League was an independent baseball league based in San Ramon, California, with teams located in the Western United States, Western Canada and northwest Mexico. The GBL was not affiliated with Major League Baseball or the org ...

played their inaugural game.

References

Defunct minor league baseball teams

Capitals Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

Defunct baseball teams in Canada Baseball teams in British Columbia Baseball teams established in 2003 Baseball teams disestablished in 2003 2003 establishments in British Columbia 2004 disestablishments in British Columbia Defunct independent baseball league teams {{Canada-baseball-team-stub