1950
Events January
* January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed.
* January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 ...
. The Jersey City club played in the International League (Class AA 1912–1945 and Class AAA since 1946). They were commonly referred to as the ''Little Giants''.
Jersey City hosted numerous minor league teams before and since the Giants, including 1½ seasons (from July 13,
1960
It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism.
Events
January
* Jan ...
, through the end of
1961
Events January
* January 3
** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015).
** Aero Flight 311 (K ...
) as the home of the relocated
Havana Sugar Kings
The Havana Sugar Kings were a Cuban-based minor league baseball team that played from 1946 to 1960. From 1954 until 1960, they belonged in the Class AAA International League, affiliated with Major League Baseball's Cincinnati Reds. Their home ...
International League franchise; that club, a Cincinnati Reds affiliate, was nicknamed the ''
Jersey City Jerseys {{unreferenced, date=January 2023
The Jersey City Jerseys was a minor league baseball team based in Jersey City, New Jersey that played in the International League for two seasons, 1960 and 1961. It was the Triple-A (baseball), AAA affiliate of the ...
'' and included many
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
n players who had taken the field in Havana.
The city's earliest IL team, which played from 1912–1933 (except for a four-year hiatus during the
Federal League
The Federal League of Base Ball Clubs, known simply as the Federal League, was an American professional baseball league that played its first season as a minor league in 1913 and operated as a "third major league", in competition with the e ...
period and the outbreak of World War I), was called the '' Skeeters.'' But the Jersey Giants were a notable team because they sent several star players (including
Sal Maglie
Salvatore Anthony Maglie (April 26, 1917 – December 28, 1992) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher and later, a scout and a pitching coach. He played from 1945 to 1958 for the New York Giants, Cleveland Indians, Brooklyn Dodgers, New Y ...
,
Whitey Lockman
Carroll Walter "Whitey" Lockman (July 25, 1926 – March 17, 2009) was a left-handed hitting first baseman and outfielder, coach, manager and front office executive in Major League Baseball.
Playing career
Born in Lowell, North Carolina, Lockman ...
, and
Monte Irvin
Monford Merrill "Monte" Irvin (February 25, 1919 – January 11, 2016) was an American left fielder and right fielder in the Negro leagues and Major League Baseball (MLB) who played with the Newark Eagles (1938–1942, 1946–1948), New York Giant ...
) across the river to their Major-League namesake.
In addition, the
baseball color line
The color line, also known as the color barrier, in American baseball excluded players of black African descent from Major League Baseball and its affiliated Minor Leagues until 1947 (with a few notable exceptions in the 19th century before the l ...
was broken in Jersey City's
Roosevelt Stadium
Roosevelt Stadium was a baseball stadium at Droyer's Point in Jersey City, New Jersey. It opened in April 1937 and hosted high-minor league baseball, 15 major league baseball games, plus championship boxing matches, top-name musical acts, an ...
Montreal Royals
The Montreal Royals were a minor league professional baseball team in Montreal, Quebec, during 1897–1917 and 1928–1960. A member of the International League, the Royals were the top farm club (Class AAA) of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1939; p ...
made his organized baseball debut there as a visitor on April 18, 1946. Robinson made a spectacular playing debut with four hits in five at-bats, including a
home run
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...
in a game that ended with a 14-1 win for the Royals. A decade later, in 1956–1957, Roosevelt Stadium would host select Dodger home games as owner
Walter O'Malley
Walter Francis O'Malley (October 9, 1903 – August 9, 1979) was an American sports executive who owned the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers team in Major League Baseball from 1950 to 1979. In 1958, as owner of the Dodgers, he brought major league b ...
parried with public officials over a new stadium in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
. The Dodgers (and the MLB Giants) ultimately abandoned New York for
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
in
1958
Events
January
* January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being.
* January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed.
* January 4
** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...
.
Although they won league titles in 1939 and 1947, the Jersey Giants usually struggled to reach .500. And, like their neighbors, the
Newark Bears
The Newark Bears were an American minor league professional baseball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They were a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and, later, the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball. T ...
, they found it impossible to compete when the three New York MLB teams began mass radio and television broadcasts of their games. Jersey City's attendance plunged from 337,000 in 1947 to 63,000 in 1950. The franchise moved to
Ottawa, Ontario
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
, in 1951 and became the
Ottawa Giants
The Ottawa Giants were a professional minor-league baseball team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada that operated in 1951 after the relocation of an existing Triple-A team, the Jersey City Giants. It played at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa and finishe ...
.
Notable former players of Jewish Descent
*
Morrie Arnovich
Morris Arnovich (November 16, 1910 – July 20, 1959) nicknamed "Snooker", was an American baseball player. Arnovich played in Major League Baseball between 1936 and 1946 and played in the World Series winning team in 1940 as a part of the Cinci ...
– Major League Baseball All-Star outfielder
*
Harry Feldman
Harry Feldman (November 10, 1919 – March 16, 1962) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the New York Giants from 1941 to 1946.
Early and personal life
Feldman was born and grew up in the Bronx, and was Jewish, the son o ...
- Major League Baseball pitcher
*
Sid Gordon
Sidney Gordon (August 13, 1917 – June 17, 1975) was an American right-handed Major League Baseball two-time All-Star outfielder, third baseman, and first baseman.
He had a 13-year career in MLB for the New York Giants (1941–43, 1946–49, a ...
- 2x Major League Baseball All-Star
*
Saul Rogovin
Saul Walter Rogovin (March 24, 1922 – January 23, 1995) was an American professional baseball player.
Rogovin was a pitcher over parts of 8 seasons (1949–57), with the Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles, and Philadelphia ...
- Major League Baseball pitcher; 1951 AL ERA leader
*
Goody Rosen
Goodwin George Rosen (August 28, 1912 – April 6, 1994) was a Canadian professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) before and after World War II for the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants. He batted and threw le ...
– Major League Baseball All-Star outfielder
*
Phil Weintraub
Philip Weintraub (October 12, 1907 – June 21, 1987) was an American professional baseball first baseman and outfielder.
Weintraub played for 13 minor league teams, for whom he had an aggregate batting average of .337, as well as for the New Yo ...
- Major League Baseball first baseman and outfielder
References
*Lloyd Johnson and Miles Wolff, editors. ''The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball'', 1997 edition. Durham, North Carolina:
Baseball America
''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...
.
See also
*
Jersey City Skeeters
The Jersey City Skeeters were a minor league baseball team which operated in Jersey City, New Jersey. The club started in the 1860s and by 1870 joined the National Association of Base Ball Players.
By 1885, Jersey City had joined the Eastern Le ...