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Jamestown Jammers

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Jamestown Jammers
Minor league affiliations
Previous classesShort-Season A
Division
  • Pinckney Division (1998–2014)
  • Stedler Division (1994–1997)
Previous leagues
New York–Penn League
Major league affiliations
Previous teams
Minor league titles
Division titles 1 (1994)
Team data
Previous names
MascotBubba Grape (2006-2014)
J.J. Jammer (1994-2005)
Dinger the Duck (1989-1993)
Previous parks
Russell Diethrick Park

The Jamestown Jammers were a minor league baseball team based in Jamestown, New York from 1994 until 2014. The team was the Short-Season A classification affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates and played in the New York–Penn League. The team played all of their home games at Russell Diethrick Park.

On August 25, 2014, a week before the end of the 2014 season, it was announced that the team would cease operations in Jamestown and be relocated to Morgantown, West Virginia, beginning in 2015. That year, the club, which is owned by Bob Rich, Jr., began play at Monongalia County Ballpark, as the West Virginia Black Bears.

The Jamestown Jammers intellectual property is separate from the franchise and survived after the minor league franchise relocated. From 2015 to 2018, the Jammers name was used for collegiate summer baseball teams.

History

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New York–Penn League

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Niagara Falls Rapids

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The team was previously based in Niagara Falls, New York as the Niagara Falls Rapids, a Detroit Tigers affiliate. Their home stadium in Niagara Falls was Sal Maglie Stadium. The team played in Niagara Falls from 1989 to 1993.

The team was preceded in Jamestown by the Jamestown Falcons (initially known as the Jamestown Jaguars) and the Jamestown Expos. The Expos had played in Jamestown up until the 1993 season, when the team moved to Vermont and became known as the Vermont Lake Monsters.

In 1994, immediately following the Expos' departure, the Rapids moved to Jamestown and assumed the name "Jamestown Jammers."[1] The Jamestown Expos had left the city after the 1993 season, relocating to Vermont. The new team was named the "Jammers" after a fan vote, with the winning name beating out others such as the All-Americans, Furniture Makers, Jimmies, Lakers, Lucys, Muskies and Steamers.[2] The team's logo was a Tasmanian devil-esque character. The mascot was a similar character named J.J. Jammer.

In the off-season before the 2006 season, in an attempt to put an end once and for all to the "what is a Jammer?" questions, the Jammers changed their logo to a cartoon grape theme. The new logo represents the strong tradition of grape-growing in Chautauqua County. On June 19, 2006, the eve of opening day, the team officially announced the name of its new mascot: Bubba Grape, the Baseball Ape.

After a decade of affiliation with the Florida/Miami Marlins, the Jammers signed a player development contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates on September 18, 2012.[3]

Although Rich also owns the Buffalo Bisons, a higher-level minor league baseball team in the same media market, he never affiliated the two teams with the same parent club during the Jammers' time in Jamestown, and as a result, the two teams have always been in separate farm systems.

Relocation to Morgantown

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Published reports released in March 2013 (and reiterated in August 2014)[4] indicated that the Jammers were the leading candidate for relocation after the league announced it would be relocating one of its franchises to the campus of West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia in 2015.[5] The team's new name, the West Virginia Black Bears, was selected shortly after the Jammers' last game.

Rich, who will continue to own the team, confirmed the news in a press conference on August 25, 2014, as did officials from the city of Jamestown, who indicated that the New York–Penn League had been trying to get out of Jamestown for several years. The league had been in the city continuously since 1960 and intermittently since the league's launch in 1939, long after nearby cities such as Bradford, Olean and Wellsville had lost their pro teams; it was one of only two of the league's charter cities still with a team, and the other, Batavia, returned its franchise to the league after the 2017 season.[6] Most of the remaining teams in upstate New York below the AAA level are slated for shutdown in 2020.[7] Rich Baseball still had one year remaining on its lease with Diethrick Park, and it is unknown how the team fulfilled the terms of the lease.[8] Attendance declines were a major factor in the team's departure; while in 2009, the team was still drawing close to the league average in attendance, the team averaged less than 800 fans per game in 2014 and had lost half of its attendance in the past five years (this may have also been a result of the fans knowing the team was leaving).[9] The other factor in the team's departure was the decrepitude of Russell Diethrick Park; other teams in the league were refusing to use the facilities there, and the attendance declines made it impossible to fund upgrades that the city and other entities that used the ballpark also refused to finance.[10]

Later use of the Jamestown Jammers name in baseball

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Another team bearing the Jamestown Jammers name played in the Prospect League, an amateur collegiate summer baseball league, in 2015.[11] A new Jammers team began play in 2016 as a member of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League.[12] That team was abruptly shut down after the 2018 season when its owners shifted its focus to teams closer to its home base in Milwaukee, leaving behind the Jammers name for the next ownership group that wants to set up a team in Jamestown.[13]

The nonprofit holding company entrusted with the Jammers intellectual property did not anticipate being able to field a team in 2019 and intended to rejoin the PGCBL in 2020 at the time of the closure.[14] As of April 2019, this timetable remained unchanged.[15] (This would be postponed again to 2021 due to prohibitions on large gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic in New York (state) that did not allow the 2020 season to be played.) In a surprise October 2019 announcement, the new Jamestown baseball team announced it was abandoning the Jammers name and would be soliciting suggestions for a new brand.[16] The new brand, Jamestown Tarp Skunks, was revealed in January 2020.[17]

Season records

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Season W L Finish (games back of leader) Playoffs
2014 35 40 2nd in Pinckney Division (12.5 GB) Out of playoffs
2013 43 32 2nd in Pinckney Division (5 GB) Lost Semifinals (State College Spikes)
2012 35 40 3rd in Pinckney Division (10.5 GB) Out of playoffs
2011 35 40 5th in Pinckney Division (10 GB) Out of playoffs
2010 43 32 2nd in Pinckney Division (2.5 GB) Lost Semifinals (Brooklyn Cyclones)
2009 34 42 5th in Pinckney Division (15 GB) Out of playoffs
2008 47 29 2nd in Pinckney Division (0 GB)* Won Semifinals (Staten Island Yankees)
Lost Championship (Batavia Muckdogs)
2007 28 47 6th in Pinckney Division (18.5 GB) Out of playoffs
2006 33 39 5th in Pinckney Division (8 GB) Out of playoffs
2005 31 44 4th in Pinckney Division (14 GB) Out of playoffs
2004 30 45 3rd in Pinckney Division (20.5 GB) Out of playoffs
2003 22 51 4th in Pinckney Division (33.5 GB) Out of playoffs
2002 32 42 4th in Pinckney Division (14 GB) Out of playoffs
2001 39 36 2nd in Pinckney Division (9.5 GB) Lost Semifinals (Williamsport Crosscutters)
2000 36 38 3rd in Pinckney Division (11 GB) Out of playoffs
1999 38 38 4th in Pinckney Division (5 GB) Out of playoffs
1998 32 43 3rd in Pinckney Division (12.5 GB) Out of playoffs
1997 25 49 4th in Stedler Division (24 GB) Out of playoffs
1996 39 36 3rd in Stedler Division (4.5 GB) Out of playoffs
1995 32 44 4th in Stedler Division (9.5 GB) Out of playoffs
1994 42 32 1st in Stedler Division (0 GB) Lost Semifinals (New Jersey Cardinals)

* – The Jammers and Batavia Muckdogs finished in a virtual tie for first place in the Pinckney Division in the 2008 season; however, the Muckdogs played two fewer games, finishing at 46–28 to the Jammers' 47–29. The Muckdogs' .622 winning percentage gave them the division title over the Jammers' .618.[18]

References

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  1. ^ Michel, Lou (October 16, 1993). "FALLS RAPIDS BASEBALL TEAM MOVING TO JAMESTOWN". Buffalo News.
  2. ^ Riggs, Jim (April 10, 2004). "All In A Day's Sports". The Post-Journal.
  3. ^ "Jamestown becomes Class-A affiliate of Pirates". MLB.com.
  4. ^ Vingle, Mitch. Morgantown lands NY-Penn League baseball team. Charleston Gazette. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
  5. ^ Correction: Jammers move. The Post Journal. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
  6. ^ "Sale of Batavia Muckdogs falls through".
  7. ^ "The Minor League Teams That Could Lose M.L.B. Ties." The New York Times (November 16, 2019). Retrieved November 19, 2019.
  8. ^ Mayor speaks about Jammers' departure Archived 2014-08-27 at the Wayback Machine (full article in source code). The Post-Journal (August 26, 2014). Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  9. ^ Houghtaling, Jeremy (August 26, 2014). It's time to say goodbye to the Jamestown Jammers. Auburn Citizen. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
  10. ^ Moritz, Amy (August 31, 2016). In the evolved NY-Penn League, the charm & nostalgia of Batavia may soon face final out Archived 2016-10-08 at the Wayback Machine. The Buffalo News. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  11. ^ "Prospect League Team Keeping Jammers Name". The Post-Journal. Jamestown, New York. January 17, 2015. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
  12. ^ Jamestown Jammers Join PGCBL, archived from the original on 2016-02-12
  13. ^ Hummel, Matt (October 24, 2018). "Jammers Ownership To Cease Operations In City". WNY News Now. Jamestown, New York.
  14. ^ "Changes At The Park | News, Sports, Jobs - Post Journal".
  15. ^ "Jamestown Jammers Baseball To Return In 2020". WNY News Now. Jamestown, New York. April 29, 2019.
  16. ^ Hummel, Matt (October 9, 2019). "Jamestown Jammers Seek Fans' Help In Renaming Team". WNY News Now. Jamestown, New York.
  17. ^ "New Jamestown baseball team name announced". The Post-Journal. January 22, 2020. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
  18. ^ Riggs, Jim (September 8, 2008). "Playoffs Begin Tonight: Jammers Entertain Staten Island In Game 1 Of Semifinal Series". The Post-Journal.
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