The Newark Bears were an American Minor League Baseball team that played in the top-level

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

from 1917 through the 1949 season, with the exception of the 1920 campaign and part of 1925.Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ''The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball,'' 3rd ed.

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

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 ...

, 2007. The Bears succeeded the Newark Indians, originally the Sailors, who played in the same circuit (known as the ''Eastern League'' prior to 1912) from 1902. During the Bears' lifetime, the International League was graded one step below the Major League Baseball level, Class AA through 1945 and Triple-A starting in 1946. The franchise played its home games at Ruppert Stadium in what is now known as the Ironbound section of Newark, New Jersey; the stadium was demolished in 1967. The 1932, 1937, 1938, and 1941 Bears were recognized as being among the 100 greatest minor league teams of all time. Players in the Bears' early years who had Major League careers include Eddie Rommel, who pitched for the International League Newark Bears in 1918 and 1919. Harry Baldwin played three seasons for the Newark Bears (1921–1923) before playing for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

Fred Brainard Frederick F. Brainard (February 17, 1892 – April 17, 1959) was an infielder in Major League Baseball. He played for the New York Giants between 1914–1916.

, who also played for the New York Giants 1914–1916, later played for the Newark Bears between 1922–1924 and was the Bears' player-manager in 1923 and 1924. Other former Major League players who managed the Newark Bears include

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

members Walter Johnson in 1928 and player-manager Tris Speaker in 1929–1930. Newark was a hotbed of minor league baseball from the time of the formation of the Sailors, and the addition of the Newark Eagles of the Negro National Leagues in 1936. A Federal League team, the Newark Peppers, played in 1915. The Bears, however, temporarily relocated twice, in 1920 as the

Akron Buckeyes Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city prop ...

and from May 16 through September 27, 1925 as the Providence Grays. in 1931,

Jacob Ruppert Jacob Ruppert Jr. (August 5, 1867 – January 13, 1939) was an American brewer, businessman, National Guard colonel and politician who served for four terms representing New York in the United States House of Representatives from 1899 to 1907. ...

, owner of the New York Yankees, bought the Bears and made them the top club in the Yankees' growing

farm system In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

; they would remain one of the Bombers' top-level minor-league clubs for the rest of their existence. In 1937, the Bears featured one of the most potent lineups in baseball, including

Charlie Keller Charles Ernest Keller (September 12, 1916 – May 23, 1990) was an American professional baseball player. He played as a left fielder in Major League Baseball from 1939 through 1952 for the New York Yankees (1939–43, 1945–49, 1952) and Detroi ...

, Joe Gordon, Spud Chandler and George McQuinn, among others. They won the pennant by 25½ games to become known as one of the greatest minor league teams of all time. Their legacy was ensured when, after trailing 3 games to 0, they won the last four games against the Columbus Red Birds of the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

to capture the

Junior World Series The Junior World Series was a postseason championship series between champions of two of the three highest minor league baseball leagues modeled on the World Series of Major League Baseball. It was called the Little World Series (no relation to ...

. Following the 1949 season, the Bears moved to

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

. Their departure, and the departure of the Eagles a year before, left Newark without professional baseball for nearly 50 years, until the formation of the Atlantic League Bears (see above). One of the Bears' players, veteran pitcher George Earl Toolson, was reassigned by the Yankees to the AA Binghamton Triplets for the 1950 season. He refused to report and sued, challenging baseball's reserve clause in ''

Toolson v. New York Yankees ''Toolson v. New York Yankees'', 346 U.S. 356 (1953), is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court upheld, 7–2, the antitrust exemption first granted to Major League Baseball (MLB) three decades earlier in ''Federal Baseball Club v ...

'', which went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices upheld the clause and baseball's

antitrust Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...

exemption, 7–2.

Season-by-season records

Post-season results

*1932: Defeated Minneapolis Millers (

), 4 games to 2, in Junior World Series *1933: Lost to

Rochester Red Wings The Rochester Red Wings are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Rochester, New York, and play their home games at Innovative Field ...

, 3 games to 1, in opening round *1934: Lost to Toronto Maple Leafs, 4 games to 3, in opening round *1935: Lost to Syracuse Chiefs, 4 games to 0, in opening round *1936: Lost to Buffalo Bisons, 4 games to 1, in opening round *1937: Defeated Syracuse Chiefs, 4 games to 0; defeated Baltimore Orioles, 4 games to 0, for league championship; defeated Columbus Red Birds, 4 games to 3, in Junior World Series *1938: Defeated

, 4 games to 3; defeated Buffalo Bisons, 4 games to 1, for league championship; lost to Kansas City Blues, 4 games to 3, in Junior World Series *1939: Defeated Jersey City Giants, 4 games to 2; lost to

, 4 games to 3, in championship round *1940: Defeated Jersey City Giants, 4 games to 0; defeated Baltimore Orioles, 4 games to 3, for league championship; defeated Louisville Colonels, 4 games to 2, in Junior World Series *1941: Defeated

, 4 games to 1; lost to Montreal Royals, 4 games to 3, in championship round *1942: Lost to Jersey City Giants, 4 games to 2, in opening round *1943: Lost to Syracuse Chiefs, 4 games to 2, in opening round *1944: Defeated Toronto Maple Leafs, 4 games to 0; lost to Baltimore Orioles, 4 games to 3, in championship round *1945: Defeated Toronto Maple Leafs, 4 games to 2; defeated Montreal Royals, 4 games to 3, for league championship; lost to Louisville Colonels, 4 games to 2, in Junior World Series *1946: Lost to Montréal Royals, 4 games to 2, in opening round *1948: Lost to Syracuse Chiefs, 4 games to 3, in opening round

Titles

The Bears won the Governors' Cup, the championship of the IL, 4 times, and played in the championship series 7 times. *1937 – Defeated

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...

*1938 – Defeated Buffalo *1939 – Lost to Rochester *1940 – Defeated

*1941 – Lost to Montreal *1944 – Lost to

*1945 – Defeated Montreal

Other historical Newark teams

Other teams hailing from Newark include: * Newark Domestics, played in the Eastern League from 1884 to 1885. * Newark Little Giants, played in the Eastern League in 1886, and the

in 1887. * Newark, played in the Central League in 1888, and the Atlantic Association from 1889 to 1890. *

Newark Colts The Newark Colts were a minor league baseball team based in Newark, New Jersey. From 1896 to 1900, the Colts played exclusively as members of the Atlantic League, winning the 1896 league championship. The Colts hosted home games at the Hamburg P ...

, played in the Atlantic League from 1896 to 1900. * Newark, played in the 1908

Pennsylvania-New Jersey League The Pennsylvania-New Jersey League was a six–team Independent baseball league, Independent level Minor league baseball, minor league baseball league that played in the 1908 season. As the name indicates, the Pennsylvania-New Jersey League featu ...

* Newark Indians, played in the Eastern League from 1902 to 1911, and the

from 1912 to the middle of the 1915 season. They were the International League champions in 1913. * Newark Stars, played in the Eastern Colored League in 1926. * Newark Browns, played in the

East-West League East West (or East and West) may refer to: *East–West dichotomy, the contrast between Eastern and Western society or culture Arts and entertainment Books, journals and magazines *'' East, West'', an anthology of short stories written by Salm ...

in 1932. * Newark Dodgers, played in the Negro National League from 1934 to 1935. * Newark Peppers, played in the Federal League in 1915. * Newark Bears, played in the New York–Penn League in 1950 to 1952.

References

{{Reflist Defunct International League teams Sports in Newark, New Jersey Professional baseball teams in New Jersey New York Yankees minor league affiliates 1919 establishments in New Jersey 1949 disestablishments in New Jersey Defunct baseball teams in New Jersey Sports clubs disestablished in 1949 Baseball teams established in 1919