Phillippe Aumont was done with baseball. At least that’s what he thought.



He’d been a first-round draft pick, collected a big signing bonus, played in the big leagues. He’d pitched on the world stage for Canada. His arm was fine. He was only 27.



But he desperately wanted out. The frustration was too much. He yearned for a regular job.



So he decided to join the army, maybe become a military police officer. But the army didn’t seem interested.



“We made two phone calls and we got the voicemail machine,” Aumont says. “We left voicemails but nobody ever called back.”



A week or two later, a friend who played independent ball for the Ottawa Champions told him the team needed a starter. Aumont lives in Gatineau, Quebec, across the river from Ottawa.



“I don’t have to get an apartment,” he says. “I don’t have to go anywhere. It’s home. Friends and family are...