The Amsterdam-Gloversville-Johnstown Jags was a primary moniker of the

minor league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

teams representing the cities of

Amsterdam, New York Amsterdam () is a city in Montgomery County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 18,219. The city is named after Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The city of Amsterdam is bordered on the northern and ea ...

Gloversville, New York Gloversville is a city in the Mohawk Valley region of Upstate New York, United States. The most populous city in Fulton County, it was once the hub of the United States' glovemaking industry, with over 200 manufacturers there and the adjacent ...

and

Johnstown, New York Johnstown is a city in and the county seat of Fulton County in the U.S. state of New York. The city was named after its colonial founder, Sir William Johnson, Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Britain in the Province of New York and a major ...

between 1890 and 1908. The Amsterdam and Amsterdam-Gloversville-Johnstown teams played as members of the

New York State League The New York State League was an independent baseball league that played six seasons between 2007 and 2012 in New York State and the New York City metro area. Over 500 NYSL players have been signed by professional teams. Players from forty-eigh ...

in 1894 and 1895 and from 1902 to 1908.

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United S ...

member

Jack Chesbro John Dwight Chesbro (June 5, 1874 – November 6, 1931) was an American professional baseball pitcher. Nicknamed "Happy Jack", Chesbro played for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1899–1902), the New York Highlanders (1903–1909), and the Boston Red So ...

pitched for the 1895 Johnstown Buckskins. The teams hosted minor league home games at JAG Park in Gloversville, New York and at Guy Park in Amsterdam, New York.

History

Minor league baseball began in the cities in 1890, when the Johnstown–Gloversville team began play as members of the six–team

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

level

. The team ended the season with a 46-46 record, placing fourth, while playing the season under manager John Case. Minor league baseball began in Amsterdam in 1894, when the Amsterdam Carpet Tacks won the 1894 New York State League championship. Playing in the Class B level league, the Amsterdam Carpet Tacks finished the regular season with a final record of 30–21, playing under managers Walter Beebe, John Bartholomew and Bart Howard. Amsterdam finished 2.5 games ahead of the second place Poughkeepsie Bridge Citys and 3.5 games ahead of the third place Johnstown Buckskins in the six–team league final standings. Amsterdam pitcher Chauncey Baldwin led the league with 11 wins. Amsterdam continued play in the 1895 New York State League. The Amsterdam Red Stockings finished with a record of 29–22, placing second in the final standings. Playing under manager Tom Donovan, Amsterdam ended the season mere percentage points behind the first place Binghamton Crickets in the final standings, as the league reduced from eight teams to four teams during the season. Gloversville and Johnstown both fielded teams to begin play in the 1895 league, with the Gloversville Glovers and Johnstown Buckskins teams both folding on July 4, 1895.

member

pitched for the 1895 Johnstown Buckskins in his first professional season. The 1902 Amsterdam–Gloversville–Johnstown Jags resumed play as members of the Class B level New York State League. The "Jags" moniker derives from the first letter of each city. The 1902 Amsterdam–Gloversville–Johnstown Jags finished last in the New York State League final standings. The Jags had a record of 29–72, to place eighth in the league under the direction of manager Tommy Dowd. The Jags finished 37.0 games behind the first place

Albany Senators The Albany Senators was a name used by multiple minor league baseball teams representing Albany, New York, that existed between 1885 and 1959. The mid-20th century club played at Hawkins Stadium. The various editions of the Senators generally pl ...

. The team played home games at Guy Park in Amsterdam, New York. The team switched monikers in 1903, as the Amsterdam–Gloversville–Johnstown Hyphens continued play in the New York State League and again finished in last place. The 1903 Hyphens finished with a record of 41–82 under managers

Doc Hazelton Willard Carpenter Hazelton (August 28, 1876 – March 10, 1941) was a first baseman in Major League Baseball who played briefly for the St. Louis Cardinals during the season. After his playing career, Hazelton coached college baseball, includi ...

, Dan Shannon and Clyde Williams. The Hyphens finished 33.5 games behind the first place

Schenectady Frog Alleys Schenectady ( ) is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-most populous city and the twenty-fifth most-populous ...

. The 1904 Hyphens began playing at both JAG Park in Gloversville and Guy Park in Amsterdam. The 1904 Amsterdam-Johnstown-Gloversville Hyphens finished 65–61, placing fourth in the New York State League, playing the season under manager

Howard Earl Howard J. Earl (February 25, 1869 – December 23, 1916), nicknamed "Slim Jim", was a Major League Baseball outfielder. He played two seasons in the majors, a full season in for the Chicago Colts, and then for the Milwaukee Brewers, who were a ...

. The Hypens finished 21.5 games behind the first place Syracuse Stars in the final standings. The Amsterdam–Gloversville–Johnstown Jags won the 1905 New York State League Championship. The Jags finished with a record of 71–51, placing first in the New York State League final standings, 0.5 games ahead of the 2nd place Syracuse Stars. Manager Howard Earl led the team to the championship. The 1906 Amsterdam–Gloversville–Johnstown Jags had a regular season record of 66–68. The Jags placed fifth in the New York State League standings under returning manager Howard Earl, finishing 17.5 games behind the first place

Scranton Miners The Scranton Miners, known as the Scranton Apollos from 1970 to 1977, were a professional basketball team based in Scranton, Pennsylvania that was a member of the American Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association. Arthur Pachter ...

. The Amsterdam–Gloversville–Johnstown Jags finished last in the 1907 New York State League. Their record of 39–95, left the team eighth in the league under manager Howard Earl, finishing 42.5 games behind the first place

. The Amsterdam–Gloversville–Johnstown Jags relocated in 1908 and finished last in their final season. The Jags began the season with a 1–8 record, when they dropped Amsterdam from their franchise on May 18, 1908. The Gloversville-Johnstown Jags were 11–54 on July 22, 1908, when the franchise relocated to

Elmira, New York Elmira () is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in and the county seat of Chemung County, New York, United States. It is the principal city of the Elmira, New York, metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses Chemung County. ...

, where they finished the season as the

Elmira Colonels The Elmira Colonels (also known as the ''Rosies'') were an American basketball team based in Elmira, New York that was a member of the American Basketball League. It is, to date, the only major league sports team to have ever resided in the Sout ...

. The team finished in eighth place with a 36–104 overall record in 1908. The managers were Hank Ramsey and Louis Bacon, as the team finished 50.5 games behind the first place Scranton Miners. The cities were without a minor league team until the 1938 Amsterdam Rugmakers and Gloversville-Johnstown Glovers teams began play as members of the Class C level Canadian-American League.

The ballparks

The played minor league home games at Guy Park in Amsterdam, New York, for the duration of the Amsterdam franchises. Today, the site is the Guy Park State Historical Site. In Gloversville, New York, the team played select home games at JAG Park. The ballpark was rebuilt and known as "A.J.& G Baseball Park" beginning in 1906. JAG Park was designed by F.L. Comstock and built by E.A. Satterlee for $3,088. The ballpark was built on six acres of land on Harrison Street, midway between Gloversville, New York and Johnstown, New York. Today, the ballpark is called Parkhurst Field and is still in use. GuyPark - Front

Timeline

Year-by-year records

Notable alumni

(1895) Inducted

, 1946 * George Bell (1904–1905) * Frank Bird (1890) * Joe Birmingham (1906) * Pete Childs (1902, 1904–1907) *

Jim Devlin James Alexander Devlin (June 6, 1849 – October 10, 1883) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player who played mainly as a first baseman early in his career, then later as a pitcher. Devlin played for three teams during his five-ye ...

(1895) * Tom Donovan (1895) * Tommy Dowd (1902, MGR) *

Bull Durham ''Bull Durham'' is a 1988 American romantic comedy sports film written and directed by Ron Shelton. The film stars Kevin Costner as "Crash" Davis, a veteran catcher from the AAA Richmond Braves, brought in to teach rookie pitcher Ebby Calv ...

(1903) *

(1904–1907, MGR) * Harry Fuller (1894) * Billy Ging (1902–1904) * Gene Good (1907) *

(1902), (1903, MGR) * Mike Hickey (1894) * Ed Hilley (1904–1906) *

Charlie Malay Charles Francis Malay (June 13, 1879September 18, 1949) was a professional baseball player who played second base In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the infield, between second and first base. ...

(1902–1904) *

Charlie McCullough Charles F. McCullough (1866 - April 13, 1898) was a Major League Baseball pitcher for one season. In 1890 he played for the Brooklyn Gladiators and the Syracuse Stars, both of the American Association. He was a native of Dublin, Ireland. ...

(1890) * Sandy McDougal (1902–1903) * Jim McGuire (1895) * Harry McNeal (1907) * Frank McPartlin (1894) * Tom Messitt (1895) * Doc Oberlander (1890) * George Sharrott (1894) *

George Shoch George Quintus Shoch (January 6, 1859 – September 30, 1937) was an American baseball player. A utility member of the Washington Nationals from 1886 through 1889, he also played for the Milwaukee Brewers (1891), Baltimore Orioles (1892) and Broo ...

(1905) *

Hank Simon Henry Joseph Simon (August 25, 1862 - January 1, 1925) was a Major League Baseball outfielder. He played two seasons in the majors, and , all in the American Association. In 1887, he played in three games for the Cleveland Blues, then in 1890 ...

(1905) * Jack Slattery (1902) * Deke White (1894) *

Amsterdam Carpet Tacks players Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

Amsterdam Red Stockings players Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the urban area and 2,480,394 in the metropolitan area. Located in the Dut ...

* Amsterdam-Gloversville-Johnstown Hyphens players * Amsterdam-Gloversville-Johnstown Jags players * Gloversville Glovers players *

Johnstown Buckskins players Johnstown may refer to: Places Australia * Johnstown, Queensland, a locality split between the Southern Burnett Region and the Gympie Region, Queensland Canada * Johnstown, Nova Scotia * Johnstown, Ontario, United Counties of Leeds and Grenvi ...

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

Amsterdam - Baseball Reference
Defunct minor league baseball teams Defunct baseball teams in New York (state) New York State League teams Fulton County, New York Montgomery County, New York Baseball teams established in 1902 Baseball teams disestablished in 1908 Professional baseball teams in New York (state)