Newark Bears

• Location: Newark, NJ
• League: International League 1917-1919, 1921-1949; Atlantic League 1998-2010; Can-Am Association 2011-2013
• Affiliation: New York Yankees 1932-1949
• Ballpark: Sprague Field 1926; Davids Stadium 1926-; Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium 1999-2013

International League

Sign for the team playing a game in Florida, ca. 1930

In 1917 the Newark Indians were renamed the Newark Bears. Except for a lack of a team in '20, the Bears remained a fixture in the International League until 1950. That season the team moved to Springfield, MA and became the Springfield Cubs; the culprit likely was the introduction of television, which allowed New Jersey residents to tune in to games by the New York Yankees, Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants. Never winning a title through 1931, the team's fortunes changed when the club was purchased in November 1931 by Jacob Ruppert and became the main farm club of the Yankees. They finished in first place their first year as a Yankee property, then repeated in 1933, 1934, 1937 and 1938 for five such finishes in 7 years before the Yanks moved their top players to the Kansas City Blues in the American Association, leaving Newark for the 2nd-tier prospects (still good enough to keep them competitive). The Bears finished first also in 1942. The 1937 team is considered one of the greatest minor league clubs ever.

Prominent players included:

• Eddie Rommel - 1918-1919
• George J. Burns - 1926 (led league with 45 doubles)
• Al Mamaux - 1926-1933 (led in wins and ERA in 1927 and served as manager for part of 1930 and 1931-1933)
• Jack Fournier - 1928
• Wally Pipp - 1929
• Tris Speaker - player-manager in 1929 and part of 1930
• Ike Boone - 1931 (batting titlist in 1931)
• Red Rolfe - 1932-1933
• Don Brennan - win and ERA leader in 1932
• Jumbo Brown - win and ERA leader in 1934
• Joe Gordon - 1937
• Charlie Keller - 1937-1938 (Minor League Player of the Year in 1937)
• Tommy Holmes - 1940
• Snuffy Stirnweiss - 73 stolen bases in '42, leading the IL by 40
• Tommy Byrne - 1941-1942
• Yogi Berra - 1946 (hit .314 in 77 games)
• Sherm Lollar - 1947

IL MVPs were Marv Owen (1932), Rolfe (1933) and Mickey Witek (1939). Newark won the Governors' Cup in 1937, 1938, 1940 and 1945 and lost in 1939, 1942 and 1944. Newark also won the Junior World Series in 1932, 1937 and 1940 and lost in 1938 and 1944.

Sources: "The International League: Year-by-Year Statistics" by Marshall Wright, 1984 IL Record Book

Four Bears clubs are considered among the greatest minor league teams of all time:

• 1932 Newark Bears
• 1937 Newark Bears
• 1938 Newark Bears
• 1941 Newark Bears

Year-by-Year Record

Year	Record	Finish	Manager	Playoffs	Notes
1917	86-68	4th	Tom Needham	none
1918	64-63	4th	Tommy McCarthy	none
1919	71-80	5th	Patsy Donovan	none
1921	72-92	5th	Jim Walsh	none
1922	54-112	8th	Bill Clymer	none
1923	60-101	7th	Mickey Devine / Andy Anderson / Fred Brainerd	none
1924	80-83	5th	Fred Brainerd	none
1925	8-20 (63-100 overall)	--	Eddie Onslow		Team moved to Providence May 16
1926	99-66	3rd	Fred Burchell	none
1927	90-77	3rd	John J. Egan	none
1928	81-84	7th	Walter Johnson	none
1929	81-85	6th	Tris Speaker	none
1930	80-88	5th	Tris Speaker (28-39) / Jack Onslow (1-2) / Al Mamaux (51-47)	none
1931	99-69	2nd	Al Mamaux	none
1932	109-59	1st	Al Mamaux	none League Champs
1933	102-62	1st	Al Mamaux	Lost in 1st round
1934	93-60	1st	Bob Shawkey	Lost in 1st round
1935	81-71	4th	Bob Shawkey	Lost in 1st round
1936	88-67	3rd	Oscar Vitt	Lost in 1st round
1937	109-43	1st	Ossie Vitt	League Champs
1938	104-48	1st	Johnny Neun	League Champs
1939	82-73	4th	Johnny Neun	Lost League Finals
1940	95-65	2nd	Johnny Neun	League Champs
1941	100-54	1st	Johnny Neun	Lost League Finals
1942	92-61	1st	Bill Meyer	Lost in 1st round
1943	85-68	2nd	Bill Meyer	Lost in 1st round
1944	85-69	2nd	Bill Meyer	Lost League Finals
1945	89-64	2nd	Bill Meyer	League Champs
1946	80-74	4th	George Selkirk	Lost in 1st round
1947	65-89	6th	George Selkirk
1948	80-72	2nd	Bill Skiff	Lost in 1st round
1949	55-98	8th	Buddy Hassett

Independent Leagues

From 1998 to 2013, a team called the Newark Bears played in independent leagues, first the Atlantic League from 1998 to 2010, and the Can-Am Association starting in 2011. Beginning in 1999, the club played at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium. In 2002, under the leadership of skipper Marv Foley, they captured the league championship. They captured a second league title in 2007. Some of the former big leaguers to play for the Atlantic League Bears include Jose Canseco, his brother Ozzie, Rickey Henderson, Jim Leyritz, Jaime Navarro, Lance Johnson, and Jose Lima.

In their latter years home attendance plummetted and the Newark Bears played their final season in 2011.

Year-by-Year Record

Year	Record	Finish	Manager	Playoffs
1998	35-65	6th	Tom O'Malley
1999	51-64	4th	Tom O'Malley
2000	74-66	4th (t)	Tom O'Malley
2001	75-51	2nd	Tom O'Malley	Lost League Finals
2002	69-55	4th	Marv Foley	League Champs
2003	54-71	7th	Bill Madlock
2004	63-63	7th	Bill Madlock
2005	59-71	7th	Chris Jones
2006	42-83	7th (t)	Chris Jones
2007	72-53	2nd	Wayne Krenchicki	League Champs
2008	72-68	3rd	Wayne Krenchicki
2009	74-66	3rd (t)	Tim Raines	Lost in 1st round
2010	53-86	8th	Tim Raines
2011	41-52	6th	Tim Raines
2012	35-65	4th	Ken Oberkfell
2013	37-63	5th	Garry Templeton