The Victoria HarbourCats are back
Illustration by Sage Blackwell.
During the seventh inning of the Victoria HarbourCats 2024 season home opener, with the score deadlocked at 2-2, the crackle of a microphone echoed through the loudspeakers of Royal Athletic Park. It was longtime HarbourCats announcer Dan Salmon, informing the crowd that it was time to sing baseball’s most iconic anthem.
“Take Me Out to the Ballgame” began to play, and within seconds, the arena was filled with the deafening chorus of over 3,000 fans. It didn’t even matter if you knew the words. Entire groups of schoolchildren, most of them born more than a full century after the hit was released, hummed along to the tune.
The HarbourCats are members of the WCL, a summer collegiate league designed to provide post-secondary athletes a space to maintain and sharpen their skills. Since joining the WCL in 2013, the HarbourCats have led the entire league in attendance a whopping six times, proving themselves to have one of the most dedicated fan bases out there. The players have paid that dedication back in droves, making the postseason finals on three separate occasions, though they have yet to bring home a trophy.
But if you’re still yet to make your way over to Royal Athletic Park to catch a game, this summer is the perfect time to start.
The June 7 home-opener — the first of 32 games that the HarbourCats are slated to play at home this summer — demonstrated perfectly the passion Victoria has for their baseball club. The game would end up going to extra innings, where the HarbourCats were eventually felled by their division rivals, the Wenatchee Applesox, by a score of 3-2. Despite this, the crowd never disappeared. Even in the bottom of the twelfth, with the sun well over the horizon, chants of “Let’s go, HarbourCats!” echoed through the bleachers.
There is real optimism surrounding the HarbourCats this season. This is due in large part to the leadership of third-year manager Todd Haney. A former second baseman who played five years in the MLB, Haney helped spur the HarbourCats to a first-place division finish last season, where they led the league in both hits and batting average. Despite eventually losing the 2023 championship series to the Corvallis Knights — who have won the league for seven consecutive seasons — Haney was awarded the WCL coach of the year.
Last season’s successes have allowed the HarbourCats to have their pick of collegiate talent, and they’ve responded by bringing in some fresh faces. Back in April, the team made waves throughout the league by announcing the signings of Manny Ramirez Jr. and Lucas Ramirez. The Ramirez brothers are the sons of Manny Ramirez Sr., the 19-year MLB veteran considered by many to be one of the best right-handed hitters of all time.
“These are notable signings, not just for us, but for the entire West Coast League,” HarbourCats partner Jim Swanson said in a press conference following the Ramirez announcement.
The Ramirez sons, alongside the rest of their teammates, will hope to be the next in a large group of WCL alumni currently playing in the pro leagues. There were 38 former WCL players on MLB opening rosters this year, and the HarbourCats alone have 34 alumni currently playing for major league organizations. Notable among them includes Nick Pivetta, the Boston Red Sox pitcher and Victoria native who joined the HarbourCats for their inaugural season and Abbotsford native Cade Smith, who made his Cleveland Guardians debut on March 30 of this year.
Whether you’re brand new to the sport or a diehard fan yearning to catch a glimpse of baseball’s newest stars, HarbourCats games are a blast for all. There’s plenty of mid-inning entertainment, from trivia to hot-dog eating contests, and enough tried-and-true stadium eats to satisfy anyone’s appetite for nostalgia. With general seating tickets for only $15, HarbourCats games are well worth the price of admission. Plus, with a few extra voices in the crowd, the HarbourCats might finally bring home that long-coveted championship banner.
So this summer, do yourself a favour, and take yourself out to a ballgame.
