New York-Penn League
(Redirected from NYPL)
The New York-Penn League or New York-Pennsylvania League was a class A minor league. In its final seasons, the league operated as a fourteen-team circuit. It was a short-season league (i.e. the season did not begin until early June), with most of its players being first-year draftees coming out of college or second-year players who were drafted out of high school and had played in Rookie-class the year before.
In 2005 the league held its first All-Star Game.
Following the 2019 season, rumors emerged that Major League Baseball teams were looking to eliminate a large number of minor league teams, including all Short-Season Class A leagues, after the 2020 season. Then, that final season was wiped out by the coronavirus pandemic and the sad news was confirmed after the minor league season as teams began to announce in dribs and drabs that they were dropping various affiliates. Some of the NYPL teams decided to form a "draft league" that would play earlier in the season, before the amateur draft, showcasing players eligible for said draft, while others were looking to possibly join independent leagues, or simply disappear without fanfare.
The first New York-Pennsylvania League operated with six teams in 1890-1891.
The second New York-Penn league operated as a class B league from 1923-1932, before moving up to class A in 1933. The League was renamed the Eastern League for the 1938 season and that league still exists to this point. Five different cities competed in all 15 years of this version of the league, forming a stable base.
Another league that eventually took the New York-Pennsylvania name was formed in 1939 as the PONY League (for Pennsylvania, Ontario and New York), a name it kept until 1956, when it took the now-abandoned New York-Penn name.
The league's geographic extent greatly exceeded its two original states, with teams located in Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, Vermont and West Virginia, in addition to New York and Pennsylvania.
Final Teams, Managers, and Affiliations[edit]
McNamara Division | Pinckney Division | Stedler Division | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | Manager | Parent Team | Team | Manager | Parent Team | Team | Manager | Parent Team | ||
Aberdeen IronBirds | Kevin Bradshaw | Baltimore Orioles | Auburn Doubledays | Rocket Wheeler | Washington Nationals | Norwich Sea Unicorns | Brayan Pena | Detroit Tigers | ||
Brooklyn Cyclones | Edgardo Alfonzo | New York Mets | Batavia Muckdogs | Jorge Hernandez | Miami Marlins | Lowell Spinners | Luke Montz | Boston Red Sox | ||
Hudson Valley Renegades | Blake Butera | Tampa Bay Rays | Mahoning Valley Scrappers | Dennis Malave | Cleveland Indians | Tri-City ValleyCats | Ozney Guillen | Houston Astros | ||
Staten Island Yankees | David Adams | New York Yankees | State College Spikes | Jose Leon | St. Louis Cardinals | Vermont Lake Monsters | Aaron Nieckula | Oakland Athletics | ||
West Virginia Black Bears | Drew Saylor | Pittsburgh Pirates | ||||||||
Williamsport Crosscutters | Pat Borders | Philadelphia Phillies |
League Champions[edit]
- In 1998, co-champions were named after torrential rains in Central New York made both Auburn's and Oneonta's fields unplayable.
- In 2001, co-champions were named in 2001, after the remainder of the championship series games was were cancelled on September 12, 2001 due to the attacks on the United States occuring on the previous day.
Cities Represented[edit]
1890-1891[edit]
- Bradford, PA: Bradford
- Erie, PA: Erie
- Dunkirk, NY: Dunkirk Dandies (1890)
- Elmira, NY: Elmira Gladiators (1891)
- Jamestown, NY: Jamestown Jamestowns
- Meadville, PA: Meadville (1890-91)
- Olean, NY: Olean
1923-1937[edit]
- Albany, NY: Albany Senators 1937, moved from International League 1932-1936, moved to Eastern League 1938-1959
- Allentown, PA: Allentown Brooks 1935-1936
- Binghamton, NY:
- Binghamton Triplets 1923-1925, 1930-1937, moved to Eastern League 1938-1963 (nominally represented Endicott, NY and Johnson City, NY also)
- Triple-Cities Triplets (1926-29)
- Elmira, NY:
- Elmira Red Jackets 1923
- Elmira Colonels 1924-1931, 1937
- Elmira Red Wings 1932-1934
- Elmira Pioneers 1935-1936
- Harrisburg, PA: Harrisburg Senators 1924-1935
- Hazleton, PA:
- Hazleton Mountaineers 1929-1932, 1934-1936
- Hazleton Red Sox 1937, moved to Eastern League 1938
- Oneonta, NY: Oneonta Indians 1924
- Reading, PA:
- Reading Red Sox 1933-1934
- Reading Brooks 1935
- Scranton, PA: Scranton Miners 1923-1937
- Shamokin, PA:
- Shamokin Shammies 1925
- Shamokin Indians 1926-1927
- Syracuse, NY: Syracuse Stars 1928-1929
- Trenton, NJ: Trenton Senators 1936-1937, moved to Eastern League 1938
- Utica, NY: Utica Utes 1924
- Wilkes-Barre, PA: Wilkes-Barre Barons 1923-1937, moved to Eastern League 1938-1948
- Williamsport, PA:
- Williamsport Billies 1923
- Williamsport Grays 1924-1937, moved to Eastern League 1938-1942
- York, PA: York White Roses 1923-1933, 1936
1957-2019[edit]
- Aberdeen, MD: Aberdeen IronBirds 2002-2019
- Auburn, NY:
- Auburn Yankees 1958-1961
- Auburn Mets 1962-1966
- Auburn Twins 1967-1971
- Auburn Phillies 1972-1977
- Auburn Sunsets 1978
- Auburn Red Stars 1979
- Auburn Americans 1980
- Auburn Astros 1982-1995
- Auburn Doubledays 1996-2019
- Augusta, NJ: New Jersey Cardinals 1994-2005
- Batavia, NY:
- Batavia Indians 1957-1959
- Batavia Pirates 1961-1965
- Batavia Trojans 1966-1987
- Batavia Clippers 1988-1997
- Batavia Muckdogs 1998-2019
- Binghamton, NY: Binghamton Triplets 1964-1966
- Bradford, PA: Bradford Beagles 1957
- Brooklyn, NY: Brooklyn Cyclones 2001-2019
- Burlington, VT:
- Vermont Expos 1994-2005
- Vermont Lake Monsters 2006-2019
- Corning, NY:
- Corning Red Sox 1957-1958, 1960
- Corning Cor-Sox 1959
- Corning Royals 1968-1969
- Elmira, NY:
- Elmira Pioneers 1957-1961, 1973, 1973-1981, 1984-1995
- Elmira Red Sox 1974
- Elmira Pioneer-Red Sox 1975
- Elmira Suns 1982-1983
- Erie, PA:
- Erie Sailors 1957-1963, 1990-1993
- Erie Tigers 1967
- Erie Cardinals 1981-1987
- Erie Orioles 1988-1989;
- Erie SeaWolves 1995-1998
- Fishkill, NY: Hudson Valley Renegades 1994-2019
- Geneva, NY:
- Geneva Redlegs 1958-1962
- Geneva Senators 1963-1968, 1970-1972
- Geneva Pirates 1969
- Geneva Twins 1973
- Geneva Cubs 1977-1993
- Glens Falls, NY: Glens Falls Redbirds 1993
- Hamilton, ON: Hamilton Redbirds 1988-1992
- Hornell, NY: Hornell Redlegs 1957
- Jamestown, NY:
- Jamestown Falcons 1957, 1968-1972
- Jamestown Tigers 1961-1965
- Jamestown Dodgers 1966
- Jamestown Braves 1967
- Jamestown Expos 1973, 1977-1993
- Jamestown Jammers 1994-2014
- Little Falls, NY: Little Falls Mets 1977-1988
- Lowell, MA: Lowell Spinners 1996-2019
- Morgantown, WV: West Virginia Black Bears 2015-2019
- Newark, NY:
- Newark Co-Pilots 1968-1979
- Newark Orioles 1983-1987
- Niagara Falls, NY:
- Niagara Falls Pirates 1970-1979
- Niagara Falls Sox 1982-1985
- Niagara Falls Rapids 1989-1993
- Niles, OH: Mahoning Valley Scrappers 1999-2019
- Norwich, CT:
- Connecticut Tigers 2010-2019
- Norwich Sea Unicorns 2020 (never played)
- Olean, NY:
- Olean Oilers 1957-1958
- Olean A's 1959
- Olean Red Sox 1961-1962
- Oneonta, NY:
- Oneonta Red Sox 1966
- Oneonta Yankees 1967-1998
- Oneonta Tigers 1999-2009
- Pittsfield, MA:
- Pittsfield Mets 1989-2000
- Pittsfield Astros 2001
- Queens, NY :Queens Kings 2000
- St. Catharines, ON:
- St. Catharines Blue Jays 1986-1994
- St. Catharines Stompers 1995-1999
- State College, PA: State College Spikes 2006-2019
- Staten Island, NY: Staten Island Yankees 1999-2019
- Troy, NY: Tri-City ValleyCats 2002-2019
- Utica, NY:
- Utica Blue Jays 1977-1980
- Utica Blue Sox 1981-2001
- Watertown, NY:
- Watertown Pirates 1983-1988
- Watertown Indians 1989-1998
- Welland, ON: Welland Pirates 1989-1994
- Wellsville, NY:
- Wellsville Braves 1957-1961
- Wellsville Red Sox 1963-1965
- Williamsport, PA:
- Williamsport Astros 1968-1970
- Williamsport Red Sox 1971-1972
- Williamsport Cubs 1994-1998
- Williamsport Crosscutters 1999-2019
Alumni[edit]
Hall of Famers[edit]
10 New York-Penn League alumni have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame and one into the Pro Football Hall of Fame:[1]
- Johnny Mize, 1932 Elmira Red Wings
- Rabbit Maranville, 1936 Elmira Pioneers
- Phil Niekro, 1959 Wellsville Braves
- Tony Perez, 1960-1961 Geneva Redlegs
- Jim Rice, 1971 Williamsport Red Sox
- Robin Yount, 1973 Newark Co-Pilots
- Wade Boggs, 1973 Elmira Pioneers
- Randy Johnson, 1985 Jamestown Expos
- Larry Walker, 1985 Utica Blue Sox
Pro Football Hall of Fame
- John Elway (1982, Oneonta Yankees)
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