JAMESTOWN – The Chautauqua Sports Hall Of Fame will be taking a look back each week at the history of baseball in the City of Jamestown in anticipation of the return of the Jammers in 2020.
In November 1938, representatives of 21 cities met in Olean to discuss the feasibility of organizing a new professional baseball league. Jamestown, Olean and Niagara Falls committed if the new league was formed.
Batavia, Bradford and Hamilton would join later on to form the Pennsylvania, Ontario, New York league, known as the pony league.
Stuart Maguire, who was the sports editor of the Jamestown Evening Journal, headed the team. Nine days before the season opened, however, transferred control to William Broadhead due to financial and time pressure.
The team, known as The Jockeys, played their home games at Celoron Park. One week into the season, the Pittsburgh Pirates made a successful offer to purchase the team from the local investors and renamed the team as the pirates.
The team featured several 300 plus hitters, but their pitchers struggled. The team ended at the bottom of the pony league.
Business manager Jim Mathews informed Jamestown City Council that the ball field at Celoron Park was no longer acceptable for professional baseball and that the Pirates would leave if a new stadium was not constructed within the City of Jamestown.
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