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Schenectady Blue Jays

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Schenectady Blue Jays
Minor league affiliations
Previous classes
  • Class A (1951–1957)
  • Class C (1946–1950)
League
Major league affiliations
Previous teamsPhiladelphia Phillies (1946–1957)
Minor league titles
League titles 1947; 1956
Team data
Previous parks
McNearney Stadium

The Schenectady Blue Jays baseball club was an American minor league baseball franchise based in Schenectady, New York, for 12 consecutive seasons, 1946–57. It was a member of the Class C Canadian–American League through 1950, and the Class A Eastern League thereafter. The Blue Jays were affiliated with Major League Baseball's Philadelphia Phillies and played at McNearney Stadium from the middle of 1946 through their final season.[1]

Franchise history

The Blue Jays were founded at the beginning of the post-World War II boom in minor league baseball. Schenectady had previously been represented by a team in the Negro leagues, the Mohawk Giants (1913–1914),[2] and by the Schenectady Electricians and Schenectady Frog Alleys of the New York State League (1895–1904) and the Eastern Association (1909).[2]

The Phillies, purchased during the war by the R. R. M. Carpenter family, began to build out their farm system in 1946 and added Schenectady to their roster of affiliates. The nickname Blue Jays became the Phillies' secondary moniker before the start of the 1944 season and was common to at least two other Philadelphia farm teams, the Class C Salina Blue Jays and Class D Green Bay Blue Jays. The 1946 Schenectady Jays finished seventh in the eight-team Can-Am League. But the 1947 edition, managed by Leon Riley, father of future National Basketball Association player, coach and executive Pat Riley, won the league pennant by 13 games and the playoff championship; it drew over 146,000 fans, almost 60,000 more than the second-most-popular Can-Am League team.[3]

After the 1950 season, the Phillies replaced their Eastern League affiliate, the Utica Blue Sox, with the Schenectady Blue Jays, who moved up two levels to Class A, which was then almost equivalent to today's Double-A ranking. Schenectady won the Eastern League championship in 1956 and finished a strong second in 1957, but attendance had fallen to below 60,000[3] and the Phillies transferred their affiliation to the Williamsport Grays for 1958, thus ending the Blue Jays' 12-year lifespan.

Year-by-year record

Year Record Finish
Full Season		 League Attendance Manager Postseason
1946 45–75 Seventh Canadian–American
League		 53,239 Bill Cronin DNQ
1947 86–51 First Canadian–American 146,227 Leon Riley League champions
1948 69–68 Fifth Canadian–American 146,421 Leon Riley DNQ
1949 58–80 Seventh Canadian–American 115,966 Dick Carter DNQ
1950 88–46 Second Canadian–American 76,853 Dick Carter Lost to Amsterdam in first round
1951 73–66 Fifth Eastern League 93,559 Leon Riley DNQ
1952 73–65 Fourth Eastern 81,912 Dan Carnevale Lost to Binghamton in first round
1953 86–65 Third Eastern 66,320 Skeeter Newsome Lost to Reading in first round
1954 57–83 Eighth Eastern 45,529 Snuffy Stirnweiss
Lew Krausse Sr.		 DNQ
1955 74–64 Fourth Eastern 73,585 Don Osborn Lost to Allentown in finals
1956 84–54 First Eastern 66,458 Dick Carter League champions
1957 83–57 Second Eastern 59,522 Dick Carter Lost to Reading in first round

Notable alumni

References

  1. ^ The Daily Gazette", Schenectady, New York
  2. ^ a b Information at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ a b Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
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