Edmonton Capitals suspend play for 2012
Travel schedule too onerous for Edmonton baseball team
CBC News
Posted: Feb 21, 2012 12:05 PM MT
Last Updated: Feb 21, 2012 10:11 PM MT
The Edmonton Capitals, here celebrating winning the North American League championship last September, will not play in 2012. (CBC)
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The Edmonton Capitals are suspending play for the 2012 season.
The Capitals can no longer continue to operate with just three other teams registered for the 2012 season in the Northern Division of the North American League, said the team's owners.
The Capitals are owned by Edmonton billionaire Daryl Katz, who also owns the Edmonton Oilers.
Patrick LaForge, president of the Capitals, said the team finds itself in an unusual situation.
"It's one of those rare occasions where the franchise is actually operating at a standard well above where the league is," he said.
"It's hard to have meaningful conversations with other leagues when you're already in a league," he added.
The division opened the 2009 season with 10 teams. The three other teams remaining in the division are based in Yuma, Arizona; San Francisco, California; and Maui, Hawaii.
Reaction to the announcement in the city's baseball community has been mixed.
"It's disappointing, of course — you always want to play," said Mark Randall, the Capitals' pitching coach and the co-ordinator for the St. Francis Xavier Baseball Academy.
"But in the overall scheme of things I think having a strong league is the most important thing."
The Capitals won the league championship last season when more than 125,000 fans visited Telus Field.
The team said it will attempt to bring baseball back to Edmonton for the 2013 season.
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