The Calgary Vipers were a professional baseball team based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. They were part of the Western Division of the independent North American League. The Vipers played all of their home games at Foothills Stadium. Previously, the Vipers played in the Northern League from 2005 to 2007. The Vipers were champions of the Golden Baseball League in 2009, having defeated the Tucson Toros in the Championship Series. Management problems surfaced just prior to the end of the 2011 season. By the end of the 2011 Season, it became apparent that the Vipers were financially moribund, and would not be back for 2012. History Calgary had been served by the Triple-A Calgary Cannons of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) for 18 years until the team relocated to Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2002. The Calgary Outlaws played half a season in 2003 in the independent Canadian Baseball League before the league folded, leaving the city without professional baseball in 2004. The college level Calgary Dawgs of the Western Major Baseball League also began play in 2003. The Northern League announced on April 3, 2004, that it was expanding to Alberta, granting new franchises to Edmonton and Calgary. The Calgary franchise was to be owned by a pair of Japanese businessmen, Hiro Masawa and Naoto Higuchi, and incorporated as Calgary Baseball LLC. Due to the distance between the Alberta franchises and the Northern League's base in the midwest United States, the two teams were required to pay a C$60,000 annual travel subsidy to offset the costs for the other teams to fly into the city. Northern League (2004–2007) Calgary Baseball LLC had promised to significantly renovate the aging Foothills Stadium as part of an ambitious plan for the team. However, little movement was seen with the franchise, causing the league to investigate the status of the team in November, 2004. A month later, on December 10, commissioner Mike Stone announced that he had revoked the franchise, stripping Calgary Baseball LLC of its ownership. On February 11, 2005, the league sold the franchise to Winnipeg businessman Jeffrey Gidney. He had less than three months before the start of play to hire staff, sign players and name the team. The team quickly named themselves the Vipers, and began signing players. Despite the short time frame, the Vipers managed to build a quality team on the field, finishing second in the Northern division in