Newark Bears (International League)

The Newark Bears were an American Minor League Baseball team that played in the top-level International League from 1917 through the 1949 season, with the exception of the 1920 campaign and part of 1925.[1][2][3] The Bears succeeded the Newark Indians, originally the Sailors, who played in the same circuit (known as the Eastern League prior to 1912) from 1902. During the Bears' lifetime, the International League was graded one step below the Major League Baseball level, Class AA through 1945 and Triple-A starting in 1946. The franchise played its home games at Ruppert Stadium in what is now known as the Ironbound section of Newark, New Jersey; the stadium was demolished in 1967. The 1932, 1937, 1938, and 1941 Bears were recognized as being among the 100 greatest minor league teams of all time.[4]

Players in the Bears' early years who had Major League careers include Eddie Rommel, who pitched for the International League Newark Bears in 1918 and 1919.[5] Harry Baldwin played three seasons for the Newark Bears (1921–1923) before playing for the New York Giants.[6] Fred Brainard, who also played for the New York Giants 1914–1916, later played for the Newark Bears between 1922–1924 and was the Bears' player-manager in 1923 and 1924. Other former Major League players who managed the Newark Bears include Hall of Fame members Walter Johnson in 1928 and player-manager Tris Speaker in 1929–1930.[7]

Newark was a hotbed of minor league baseball from the time of the formation of the Sailors, and the addition of the Newark Eagles of the Negro National Leagues in 1936. A Federal League team, the Newark Peppers, played in 1915. The Bears, however, temporarily relocated twice, in 1920 as the Akron Buckeyes and from May 16 through September 27, 1925 as the Providence Grays.[1]

In 1931, Jacob Ruppert, owner of the New York Yankees, bought the Bears and made them the top club in the Yankees' growing farm system; they would remain one of the Bombers' top-level minor-league clubs for the rest of their existence.[8] In 1937, the Bears featured one of the most potent lineups in baseball, including Charlie Keller, Joe Gordon, Spud Chandler and George McQuinn, among others. During this time frame, the team held their Spring Training in Sebring, Florida[9] They won the pennant by 25½ games to become known as one of the greatest minor league teams of all time.[10][11] Their legacy was ensured when, after trailing 3 games to 0, they won the last four games against the Columbus Red Birds of the American Association to capture the Junior World Series.

Following the 1949 season, the Bears moved to Springfield, Massachusetts. Their departure, and the departure of the Eagles a year before, left Newark without professional baseball for nearly 50 years, until the formation of the Atlantic League Bears (see above).

One of the Bears' players, veteran pitcher George Earl Toolson, was reassigned by the Yankees to the AA Binghamton Triplets for the 1950 season. He refused to report and sued, challenging baseball's reserve clause in Toolson v. New York Yankees, which went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices upheld the clause and baseball's antitrust exemption, 7–2.