Tombstone
Born: January 5, 2006 – Can-Am League expansion franchise1Havsy, Jane. “Play Ball! Skylands to house new team”. The Daily Record (Morristown, NJ). January 6, 2006
Folded: January 10, 2011
First Game: May 25, 2006 (W 10-6 @ Quebec Capitales)
Last Game: September 6, 2010 (L 4-3 @ Pittsfield Colonials)
Can-Am League Champions: 2008
Stadium
Skylands Park
Opened: 1994
Branding
Mascot: Scooter (the Hawk)
Ownership & Affiliation
Owner: Floyd Hall
Major League Affiliation: Independent
Attendance
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Sources: 2017 Can-Am League Media Guide
Trophy Case
Can-Am League Manager of the Year:
- 2008: Hal Lanier
Background
The Sussex Skyhawks were an independent professional baseball team based out of Augusta, New Jersey. Founded in early 2006, the Skyhawks followed close on the heels of the New Jersey Cardinals (1994-2005), a short season Class A farm club of the St. Louis Cardinals that left town following the 2005 season.
The Skyhawks were owned and managed by Floyd Hall, the former CEO of Kmart (1995-2001) and his son Larry Hall. The Halls were experienced minor league operators who built an ice rink and a 4,000-seat baseball stadium in Montclair, New Jersey and owned the New Jersey Jackals of the Can-Am League. The Jackals (1998-present) are a rock of stability in the Can-Am League, but the Halls wouldn’t have quite the same good fortune in Augusta.
The Skyhawks were the worst team in the Can-Am League during their first two seasons in 2006 and 2007 under field manager Brian Drahman.
2008 Championship
Things turned around in 2008 after the Skyhawks replaced Drahman with Hal Lanier, the former manager of the Houston Astros who was the National League’s Manager-of-the-Year in 1986. The Skyhawks made the playoffs with a 52-42 record and defeated the Worcester Tornadoes in the first round. In the championship series, Sussex swept the perennial league power Quebec Capitales 3 games to zero to capture the 2008 Can-Am League title.
Despite the improvements on the field, the 2008 Skyhawks attendance was only 1,713 per game which was second worst in the eight-team loop.
In 2009 the Skyhawks returned to their losing ways, finishing 38-56 under Lanier. Former Major League catcher Ed Ott replaced Lanier as field manager in 2010. The Skyhawks finished dead last at 35-56. After five seasons of play the Skyhawks had three last places finishes and one league championship. Attendance dropped year-over-year for all five seasons of the team’s existence, bottoming out at 1,670 per game in 2010.
The Halls threw in the towel and folded the team in January 2011. Skylands Park in Augusta sat empty for three summers. The Can-Am League returned to Skylands Park with the formation of the Sussex County Miners in 2015.
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