Utica Pentups

The first professional baseball club from Utica, NY was the Utica Pentups. The team played in the New York State League in 1885 and finished third with a 41-38 record under David Dischler and Dick Dwyer. In 1886 the league was renamed the International League and Utica, under new manager Moxie Hengle (one of their stars in 1885) went 62-34 to take home the first IL pennant. 3B Billy Shindle led the team in average (.309), triples (a league-high 15) and homers (3). OF Mike Griffin (.287, 86 R) would go on to a solid big-league career while the staff was composed primarily of Billy Serad (30-17, 1.02, 260 K, winner of the pitching Triple Crown and completer of all 47 of his starts) and John Pendergrass (27-12, 1.97). Their 1.44 team ERA was second in the league while they scored the most runs (630). They led the IL in average (.258), steals (187), doubles (150) and hits (919).

Dischler managed the team to a horrible 12-39 start in 1887 (Hengle hit .369 in a year walks counted as hits) and the team was purchased by a group from Wilkes-Barre, PA in July. The Wilkes-Barre Coal Barons did not want to absorb that record but other clubs protested as it helped them out.

The Utica Pentups were back in 1889 with the formation of the new New York State League. The team finished 22-28, good for 4th out of 6 teams.

When the New York State League was started for a third time in 1899, the Pentups were there, going 70-43, second in the 8 team loop. The team returned in 1900, winning the pennant at 74-43, behind batting leader John Dobbs, who led the league with 113 runs, 171 hits, and a .366 average.

The team then became the Utica Pent-Ups from 1898-1909.

Source: "The International League: Year-by-Year Statistics" by Marshall Wright

Year-by-Year Record

Year	Record	Finish	Manager	Playoffs
1885	49-41	2nd	David Dischler
1886	62-34	1st	Moxie Hengle
1887	12-39	8th	David Dischler		Team transferred to Wilkes-Barre July 15