The New York Collegiate Baseball League has announced that the Saratoga Phillies have decide to relocatew to Oneonta, NY.  The move follows the recent announcement that the Oneonta Tigers of the New York-Penn League had decided to relocate to Norwich, CT.

The Saratoga Phillies decided to relocate to Oneonta to take advantage of Damaschke Field, a beautiful baseball facility in Oneonta.  The Phillies had been in Sarasota for the past four seasons.

The move is not without its critics.  Tom Hickey, owner of the Cooperstown Hawkeyes, a brand new team in the New York Collegiate Baseball League, is challenging the move by Sarasota.  NYCBL by-laws prohibt the league from placing new franchises within 25 miles of existing franchises.  Oneonta is fewer than 25 miles from Cooperstown.

Co-owner of the Saratoga Phillies, Keith Rogers, pointed out that his team is not a new franchise and that the league by-laws do not apply to relocating franchises.  He is confident that the relocation of the Phillies will be approved and that his team will be playing their home games at Damaschke Field in Oneonta in 2010.

More information is available on the Daily Star website.

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