Editing Ottawa Lynx (section)

== History ==

In 1991, Ottawa businessman and then [[Ottawa 67's]] owner [[Howard Darwin]] was successful in applying to the IL for an expansion franchise to begin play in 1993, at a cost of $5 million. The Lynx became the second IL franchise to play in Ottawa, after the former [[Ottawa Giants]] and [[Ottawa Athletics]] of the 1950s. The application was contingent on the City of Ottawa building a baseball stadium for the team. [[Lynx Stadium]] was completed in time for the 1993 season.

[[File:Ottawa Lynx baseball game (September 2007).jpg|thumb|left|[[Lynx Stadium]], home of the Ottawa Lynx]]

The Lynx began play in [[1993 in baseball|1993]], serving as the top farm team for the [[Montreal Expos]]. The team won the [[List of International League champions|International League championship]] in 1995, the only time it would do so. During this period, the Lynx featured such future [[Major League Baseball]] players as [[Rondell White]], [[Cliff Floyd]], [[Matt Stairs]], [[Kirk Rueter]], and [[F.P. Santangelo]]. The Lynx eventually retired two numbers: Santangelo's 24, and [[Jamey Carroll]]'s 3.

In 2000, Darwin sold his shares in the team to Ray Pecor for $7 million. According to news reports, Pecor lost $1 million annually on the team due to low attendance.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Baseball/News/2007/07/14/4339473-sun.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120715020731/http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Baseball/News/2007/07/14/4339473-sun.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=July 15, 2012 |title=Lynx to IronPigs isn't yet iron clad |last=Brennan |first=Don |date=July 14, 2007 |access-date=2008-01-22}}</ref>

In 2003, the Lynx were not given any assurances from either the Montreal Expos or Major League Baseball on the long-term future of the Expos. They became the Triple-A affiliate of the [[Baltimore Orioles]] on September 24, 2002.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20020924&content_id=136409&vkey=pr_bal&fext=.jsp&c_id=bal|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402140246/http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20020924&content_id=136409&vkey=pr_bal&fext=.jsp&c_id=bal|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 2, 2015|title="Orioles sign affiliation with Ottawa," Baltimore Orioles press release, Tuesday, September 24, 2002.}}</ref> As a result, Montreal shifted its affiliation to the [[Edmonton Trappers]] of the [[Pacific Coast League]]. The Lynx's working agreement with the Orioles ended when the latter signed a Player Development Contract with the [[Norfolk Tides]] on September 25, 2006.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20060925&content_id=1681835&vkey=pr_bal&fext=.jsp&c_id=bal|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070813092610/http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20060925&content_id=1681835&vkey=pr_bal&fext=.jsp&c_id=bal|url-status=dead|title="Tides sign affiliation agreement with Baltimore Orioles," Baltimore Orioles press release, Monday, September 25, 2006.|archivedate=August 13, 2007}}</ref>

In 2006, the ball club was sold to Joe Finley and Craig Stein, while Pecor maintained a minority stake. Finley and Stein declared their intention to move the team to [[Allentown, Pennsylvania]], for the 2008 season, where a new stadium was set to begin construction that September (now built as [[Coca-Cola Park]]).<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/lynx-sold-set-to-leave-ottawa-in-2008-1.620511 | title=Lynx sold, set to leave Ottawa in 2008 | date=2006-08-29 | access-date=2010-03-01 | publisher=[[CBC News]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=c80c78c1-3b01-40aa-a89b-73604d496657&k=5863 | title=Lynx sold; franchise headed for Allentown | work=[[Ottawa Citizen]] | date=2006-08-28 | access-date=2010-03-01 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604141445/http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=c80c78c1-3b01-40aa-a89b-73604d496657&k=5863 | archive-date=2011-06-04 | url-status=dead }}</ref> The owners, facing a lawsuit from the City of Ottawa if they moved the Lynx, filed a lawsuit of their own against the City of Ottawa on October 17, 2006, seeking $10.75 million in damages claiming that the city failed to provide enough parking spaces, which, the team alleged, was a violation of its lease. The location far from the city centre might have contributed to the attendance problem.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=70c8422d-afe5-4418-a11e-54e3402ff738&k=31780 |title=Lynx sue Ottawa for $10.75M over parking |work=The Ottawa Citizen |date=October 18, 2006}}</ref>

The team played its last game in Ottawa on September 3, 2007, in front of a crowd of 7,461&nbsp;people, losing to the [[Syracuse Chiefs]], 8–5.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2007_09_03_syraaa_ottaaa_1&t=g_box&did=milb |title=Scoreboard |website=Minor League Baseball |date=September 3, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120724164150/http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2007_09_03_syraaa_ottaaa_1&t=g_box&did=milb |archive-date=July 24, 2012 |access-date=May 2, 2021 }}</ref> The Ottawa Lynx ultimately won exactly 1,000 games before leaving Ottawa.