Rumours swirl over fate of Ottawa baseball team

The owner of Ottawa's triple-A baseball club may move the team to Pennsylvania because Ottawa fans just aren't interested in watching the game.

With an average of just over 1,000 people at a game, the Ottawa Lynx have the worst attendance record of any team in the International League, a 14-team North American group that includes such evocativebrands as the Columbus Catfish, the Buffalo Bisons and the Durham Bulls.

The lack of fans in Ottawa, a hockey city, has sparked rumours that the team may be leaving for friendlier climes.

The most persistent rumours involveAllentown, Penn., a gritty industrial city north of Philadelphia, which is building a new $34-million stadium in time for the 2008 season.

Officials with the International League have downplayed rumours of the move, and even the talks.

Ray Pecor is the guy in the know, the Vermont businessman who owns the Lynx. He has been keeping his cards close to his chest, neither confirming nor denying word of a potential sale.

But, if the latest reports are true, he will make an announcement on the fate of the team later this week.