New York-Penn League (1983-1988)
Tombstone
Born: March 16, 1983 – NYPL expansion franchise1“Sportsline: NYP Expanding?”, The Star-Gazette (Elmira, NY), March 18, 1983
Moved: September 12, 1988 (Welland Pirates)2ASSOCIATED PRESS. “New York-Penn OKs 2 new franchises”. The Star-Gazette (Elmira, NY). September 13, 1988
First Game: June 19, 1983 (L 15-0 vs. Utica Blue Sox)
Last Game: September 2, 1988 (W 6-5 vs. Utica Blue Sox)
New York-Penn League Champions: None
Stadium
Ownership & Affiliation
Owners:
- 1983-1986: Dave Brunk
- 1986-1988: Jay Acton & Dr. Eric Margenau
Major League Affiliation: Pittsburgh Pirates
Attendance
Watertown led the New York-Penn League in announced attendance during their first two summers of play in 1983 and 1984. But by 1988, Pirates’ crowds ranked dead last in the 12-team circuit.
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Source: The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.), Lloyd Johnson & Miles Wolff, 2007
Background
The Watertown Pirates were the short season Class A farm club of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the New York-Penn League for six seasons from 1983 through 1988.
Several future Major League stars spent a summer in upstate New York city during the Pirates era, including Jay Buhner (1984), Moises Alou (1986 & 1987) and Tim Wakefield (1988). Wakefield was in his first summer of pro ball after the Pirates selected him in the 8th round of the 1988 amateur draft. He would later spend 20 years in the Majors as a knuckleball pitcher, retiring in 2011. But Wakefield played first base for Watertown and never pitched an inning.
Pirates To Indians
The Pirates played in a glum little econo-park called the Alex Duffy Fairgrounds. At the end of the 1988 season, the original Watertown franchise moved across the border to Welland, Ontario. The Cleveland Indians promptly sponsored a New York-Penn League expansion franchise to replace the Pirates at Duffy Fairgrounds. The Watertown Indians played from 1989 through 1998 before departing for a shiny new ballpark in Staten Island.
Given the severely outdated nature of Duffy Fairgrounds, it’s unlikely that pro baseball will ever return to Watertown without a new facility. The Fairgrounds are currently used for collegiate amateur baseball in the summer.
The Watertown Pirates are of minor note among minor league industry types as the first pro sports investment for sports psychologist Dr. Eric Margenau. Margenau bought the team prior to the 1986 season with his partner in United Sports Ventures, Jay Acton (who was a prolific minor league operator in his own right). The pair paid a reported $125,000 to acquire the Watertown franchise (South Bend Tribune 8/24/1987).
Margenau would go on to own upwards of 20 different minor league baseball, hockey and Arena Football teams from the 1980’s through the 2000’s.
Watertown Pirates Shop
Links
New York-Penn League Media Guides
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