Triple-A baseball and the International League first came to Ottawa in , when the former
Jersey City Giants (1937–50) relocated to Canada's capital because of poor attendance. Ottawa had most recently hosted the
Nationals and the
Senators of the Class C
Border League from 1947 to 1950, leading that league in attendance for three of its four seasons and making the playoffs each year. In 1951, the
New York Giants of the
National League operated two Triple-A affiliates, the
Ottawa Giants and the
Minneapolis Millers of the
American Association. But after the 1951 campaign, the parent Giants decided to field only one top-level minor-league team in —the Millers—and they abandoned Ottawa. The
Philadelphia Athletics of the
American League, who had no Triple-A affiliate in 1951, replaced the Giants and the Ottawa team was renamed. The season saw Ottawa's attendance (over 153,000 fans) increase by 31 percent over the 1951 Giants', The Athletics' record over their three years in Ottawa was a poor 194–264 (.424). The Ottawa A's then relocated in 1955 to
Columbus, Ohio, which had just lost its longtime American Association franchise to
Omaha. The Ottawa Athletics were renamed the
Columbus Jets, and the Jets and the International League remained in
Ohio's capital city until , when a deteriorating home stadium led the Jets to move to
Charleston, West Virginia, as the
Charleston Charlies.
Notable players •
Charlie Bishop •
Moe Burtschy •
Bob Cain •
Joe Coleman •
Art Ditmar •
Luke Easter •
Hank Foiles •
Marion Fricano •
Lou Limmer •
Jack Littrell •
Héctor López •
Jean-Pierre Roy •
Bob Trice •
Coaker Triplett •
Taft Wright ==See also==