Saratoga Phillies Become Oneonta Outlaws
The Saratoga Phillies of the New York Collegiate Baseball League recently announced that they are in the process of relocating to Oneonta, NY. The move comes in the wake of the Oneonta Tigers of the New York-Penn League relocating to Norwich, CT.
After meeting with the community in Oneonta, the former Saratoga franchise announced that their new name will be the Oneonta Outlaws. The Outlaws will play their home games at Oneonta’s Damaschke Field.
Although the Outlaws are moving forward with their relocation, Tom Hickey, owner of the nearby Cooperstown Hawkeyes, continues to oppose the move. According to Hickey, league by-laws clearly state that the league will not locate a team within 25 miles of another team. Oneonta is fewer than 25 miles from Cooperstown. However, Keith Rogers, co-owner of the newly named Oneonta Outlaws, says that the rule Hickey is basing his argument on only applies to new franchises, not relocating franchises.
The New York Collegiate Baseball League has not weighed in on the issue yet, although Rogers and the Outlaws are moving forward as if approval from the league is nothing but a formality.
Additional information can be found on the New 10 Now website out of Syracuse.
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Cooperstown is poorly advised to oppose this move. There is NOTHING like having a nearby rival… can you say Giants-Dodgers circa’ 1946, or Mets-Yankees? … Here in Niagara Falls, we would jump through hoops to have a team a short hop away, such as Lockport, for example… It’s hard to believe anybody shunning a game in Cooperstown for one in Oneonta… and it raises such intriguing possibilities as a day-and-night, two-town double-header (Cooperstown at 2, Oneonta at 7)… the drawing power of a true neighborhood rivalry between the Coops and the Ones far exceeds the potential diliution of the market… If Cooperstown truly opposes this move, it is being short-sighted to the point of paranoia…. doug smith, grand island, ny, affiliated as a volunteer with the Niagara Power… (hope this is “nice” and “clean” and “on topic”
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