The Death of the Jamestown Jammers

[Webster29]

It has been a sad week for me baseball wise.  This week it was announce that my home town team, the Jamestown Jammers of the NY-P short season A league was moving to Morgantown WV next season. To be sure this did not come as a surprise at all.  I could see the hand writing on the wall several years ago when the NY-P started putting franchises in larger metro areas like Brooklyn, Staten Island, Baltimore (Aberdeen Md) Albany (Troy), Youngstown Oh etc.  It was obvious that a small town like Jamestown could not compete economically and struggled to get a few hundred fans to any given game when other teams were drawing in the thousands.  I was actually surprised the Jammers lasted as long as they did.  But the age of small town teams is quickly coming to an end.  The NY-P still has teams in Batavia and Auburn NY but at least they are located near larger cities like Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse.

Anyway, seeing as no one (or so it seems) reads the baseball board I thought I would engage in a little self therapy and talk about the NY-P league and the Jamestown team.

The league started in 1939 and was known as the PONY league.  Pennsylvania, Ontario and New York.  They opened with the Batavia Clippers, Bradford Bees, Hamilton Red Wings, Jamestown Jaguars, Niagara Falls Rainbows, and the first league champs the Olean Oilers, a farm team of the Brooklyn Dodgers. In 1957 the last Canadian team left the league and the name was changed to the New York-Penn league and has stayed that even though new Canadian teams joined the league in later years.

Through the years the NY-P had several small town teams.  In addition to the original mentioned above there were teams in Corning, Geneva, Hornell, Utica, Little Falls, Oneonta and Wellsville to mention a few.  Batavia leads the list of seasons in the league at 70 and my Jamestown comes in 2nd at 67.  And they had some great players.  Future Hall of Famer Nellie Fox played in Jamestown when he was only 16. Ralph Branca, Jerry Coleman, Pete Rose, Don Mattingly, Randy Johnson, Pat Dobson, Amos Otis are just a few of former major leaguers that played in the NY-P.  Even John Elway.  The year he was drafted by the Colts and opted to play baseball instead was signed by the Yankees and played for their farm team in Oneonta until his NFL rights were traded to the Broncos.

When I was a kid back in the early 60's the Jamestown team was the Tigers and a farm team of Detroit.  It was class D back then, the lowest designation in minor league baseball but they played a complete season starting in April and finishing in September.  And kids could get a season bleacher pass known as a Regit (Tiger spelled backwards) ticket for $3.00 and for 20 cents you could upgrade to a grand stand seat.  Those days were great.  I used to love to get to the stadium early to watch them take infield practice usually to the Boll Weevil Song by Brook Benton being played over the pa system.

One year I had a kids dream come true.  Toward the end of the season the visiting team bat boy quit and I got his job.  It was so cool to parade around in that uniform. Some little kid even asked me for my autograph.  I politely told him that he really didn't want mine and directed him to some "real" players and they would be glad to oblige.  I got to shag fly balls in the outfield during batting practice.  One of the players on the Olean Red Sox sort of befriended me.  He let me play pepper with the players on the Sox.  His name was Bob Montgomery and he made it to the majors and was a back up catcher to Carlton Fisk. One of his other claims to fame is that he was the last player in major league history to not wear a batting helmet.  When it became a league rule you had to wear one those that were already in the league and did not like them had it grandfathered in that they didn't have to.  He wore one of the inside the hat protectors until he retired.

I have many other wonderful memories of my days watching Jamestown Baseball.  Thank God I have them.  I will miss those beautiful western New York summer nights just relaxing under the stars and light towers watching the Jammers play.  Time marches on.

If there is any further interest in the NY-P league check out this article I found on the web.  It is pretty good.

http://www.starnewsdaily.com/sports/other/story/Gates-Open-On-Diethrick-Parks-70th-Anniversary-Season-2011-06-27

[jimv]

GREAT story, Bill!!!  I know exactly how you feel.  Although it's now small town baseball like you described, I remember lazy, hazy summer afternoons in the late 40s & early 50s, going to the Polo Grounds to catch a Giants game.  I feel exactly the same as you do about the Jammers.  Thanks for your memories.

[Giant Obsession]

well done Bill.
More than any sport baseball lends itself to nostalgia and fond memoires.  I actually attended 2 games in old Griffith Stadium in DC before the Senators left for Minnesota.

Then on to DC Stadium (later RFK) to watch the end of dynasty Yankees when they were in town in the early 60's.  I remember autograph day when the kids (yes me) were allowed on the field to stand in line and get autographs.  Several Senators instructed me to get in the line for Gil Hodges and his signature was reserved for the middle of the ball.
I remember J.C. martin of the White Sox picking up and hugging my Grandfather's brother pregame on the field (He was J.C. high school coach).

Box seats were $4 and if it was a scheduled doubleheader it shot all the way up to $4.50   And Dad always splurged the extra money on my brother and I when we went.
I was there when the Senators left and had to forfeit the last game of tat season against the Yanks when they had a 9th inning lead as the "unruly" fans (all 11,000) charged the field for whatever stupid reason.

And then onto old Memorial Stadium in Baltimore to keep following my Yanks.  1978 was a magical year for us in that park.  First, the grounds crew dumps the tarp after a rain delay into left field creating a lake.  A 5 run 7th inning gets negated and the Yanks lose 3-0.  The Yanks protested to no avail.  Ultimately, that lead to a rule change that off season.  Later in "78/Sept. watched Guidry swallow his chew on a bat that got released which hit him in the leg....and we all gasped.  that was his 25-3 season and we were charging the Red Sox at the time.  But it wasn't the bat hitting him as to why he had to be assisted from the mound...he had swallowed his chew.  And in that same game in the 8thinning we saw the advent of Reggie wearing a batting helmet to play right field.  Reason....he comes trotting in with 1 out from his position carrying 2 D Cell batteries someone had thrown at him.  Goose pitches the final 11 outs and the yanks win 5-4.

Baseball will always be the sport for me...a day seldom goes by when some memory doesn't invade my thoughts.

My fondest was taking my brother to New York for his Father's Day present so we could both see a game in the Olld Stadium.  A 2-1 victory over the Padres...the highlight....Mo strikes out the side on 10 pitches.

Baseball will always be ingrained in my life.

[Webster29]

The Jamestown Jammers have been reserected.   Sort of anyway.

It was recently announced that the city of Jamestown was awarded a new franchise in the Prospect League.  The new team will retain the name Jammers.    The Prospect League is made up of college players who still have NCAA eligibility left so they do not get paid.  It gives them another channel to get noticed and perhaps signed by a major league club.  Wooden bats are used in the league.   And I believe they will play a longer season then the short season Class A NY-P League that the Jammers used to play in.   Anyway it looks like I will still be able to attend some ball games in Russell Detrich Park.   

http://www.prospectleague.com/view/prospectleague

[dasher]

Bill.
I grew up near Ithaca NY graduating high school in 1959 and used to regularly attend either the Elmira Pioneers in the late 50's and/or the Auburn Yankees of the early 60's. I loved the class D ball and watching the young men near my age who were actually signed, unlike myself who had a few unsuccessful tryouts. Who knew that Dick Allen of the Pioneers would be a Hall of Fame player. And seeing Mel Stottlemyre and Joe Pepitone in Auburn.
Great memories, and I do remember seeing the Jamestown Falcons play, probably in Auburn.

[Webster29]

Dasher my boy.   You are so right.   Some great memories and some great players in the NY-P/PONY league.  Did the Elmira Pioneers play in Dunn Park when you saw them???    I love old minor league ball parks.   They have so much history and charactor.   And they are very much becoming a thing of the past.  I never went to Dunn Park but I always enjoy seeing it when I drive down I-86/Rt 17.  My trip is never complete until I see it.

[dasher]

Yes, Dunn Park is what I remember. A really nice facility back then. Don't know what it is used for these days since it's still there from your description.
I don't recall much at all about the Auburn park except it was newly built.

[Webster29]

Dasher:    I was going to post some pics of Dunn that I found on this great web sit of old ball parks at all levels of the game.    But I think it deserves a separate thread so I will do so.

[Webster29]

The Prospect League Jamestown Jammers opened their season Wednesday night with a win at home and I was there.    And my first impression of the league was quite favorable.  These kids are all college players and perhaps not quite as polished as NY-P players still put on a pretty good display of baseball.   The Jammers starting pitcher was a sidearmmer who brought back my memories of Dan Quisenberry.  Had a good time and looking forward to watching these kids through out the summer.