The Jersey City Indians were a dreadful Class AA farm club of the Cleveland Indians that competed for just one season in the Eastern League during the summer of 1977. The ball club arrived in town in February 1977, transplanted from Williamsport, Pennsylvania, just two months prior to opening day. The move marked the return of professional baseball to Jersey City for the first time since the departure of the triple-A Jersey City Jerseys in 1961.
Eastern League (1989-1996) Born: September 1, 1988 – The Vermont Mariners announce they will move to Canton, OH Re-Branded: November 7, 1996 (Akron Aeros) First
Eastern League (1985-1986) Born: 1984 – Affiliation change from Waterbury Angels Moved: March 1987 (Williamsport Bills) First Game: April 12, 1985 (L 4-1 vs. Reading
In late 1979, the New York Yankees moved their Class AA minor league affiliate from West Haven, Connecticut to Nashville in the Southern League. West Haven lost the Yankees, but it didn’t lose baseball. New owner David R. Goldstein secured rights to West Haven and signed an affiliation with the Oakland Athletics. It must have seemed a dubious exchange for Western Connecticut baseball fans, living just over an hour outside the Bronx. Their four-time Eastern League champion Yankees were gone, replaced by an Oakland farm system mired in the decrepitude of the dying days of the Charlie O. Finley regime.
The Pittsfield-Berkshire Red Sox, also known simply as the Pittsfield Red Sox, were a Class AA farm club of the Boston Red Sox for five seasons during the late 1960’s. When the team arrived from Reading, Pennsylvania in late 1964 it marked the return of professional baseball to the Western Massachusetts city after a 13-year absence. George “Boomer” Scott won the Eastern League triple crown in 1965 while leading Pittsfield-Berkshire to the league pennant, but amazingly lost out on the league’s Most Valuable Player award to his teammate, journeyman catcher Owen Johnson.
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