You'll have to hang with me as I do a little reasearch on the Newark Bears, the city of Newark, and the Atlantic League, here. At some point I will be able to simply rub my chin, look skywayrd and rattle off the long and convuluted history of the team and the unaffiliated league without looking at any notes, but for the time-being I will need to rely on a steady dose of baseball-reference.com, wikipedia, team webpages and blogs. Just kidding about that last one. Nobody in their right mind is blogging about an Atlantic League ballclub. We'll start today with a history of semi-professional baseball in Newark, and a little bit about the city itself. Later this week, a bit about the Atlantic League, and the modern-day Newark BearsLook to the CookieAs MLB's spring training starts in the Grapefruit League of Florida, and the Cactus League of Arizona, the Newark Bears host a spring tradition of their own at the end of March:
open tryouts. That's correct, 1 month and 4 days before the first pitch of the season is thrown the Bears will be hosting "talent" from all over the Jersey terrain, fresh faces just out of highschool with a dream of sniffing a cup of coffee in the majors, as well as Men's Softball League MVPs who think they have what it takes to sport the uniform once proudly worn by Yogi Berra, Jose Canseco, and Rickey Henderson (no, Yogi was never an Athletic. They were all once Bears!) See, before the Newark Bears became the dumping ground for has-been-big-name players, looking for one last shot at glory (that's you, Rickey, take a bow) it was an actual affiliated ballclub. Purchased by then-owner of the NY Yankees in 1931, the Newark Indians were made an affiliated ballclub of the soon-to-be most storied franchise in the world. And they were renamed the Bears, presumably for the plethura of ursine species wandering in and out of Newark Penn Station, and down Broad St. Playing at Rupert Stadium (home of the Beer Baron!) the Bears doiminated the AAA International-League for 18 years.
Their co-tenants at Ruppert were the Newark Eagles, one of the better, if lesser-known, Negro League teams. Some famous Eagles included: Larry Doby, first black player to play in the American League, with the Indians; Don Newcombe, who won a Cy Young with the Dodgers; Biz Mackey, one of the leagues best catchers; and SS Ray Dandridge. Some of these men were members of the Newark Eagles team that upset the Kansas City Monarchs in the 1946 Negro World Series. The Monarchs were to the Negro Leagues what the Yankees were to the American League. It goes without saying then that the Monarchs, during their prime, were arguably the best collection of ballplayers playing anywhere on the planet.
If I may take a sidenote to make some plugs: should you ever find yourself in Kansas City with 2 hours to kill, make your way to the Negro League Museum a fascinating walk-through which really illuminates the struggles of the league to earn recognition, and of baseball to accept integration. More importantly it shines a light on some of the leagues finer players, whose names we know, but whom we hardly appreciate enough. Pick up Satchel Paige's America in the bookstore (where I happened to meet Lynn Jones and Ron "Poppa Jack" Jackson when they coached with the Red Sox) then head about half a mile down E 18th St to Brooklyn Ave. and get thee some Arthur Bryant's burnt-ends. Back to Newark: where in the late 30's and early 40's the Bears and the Eagles were playing some of the best baseball on the East Coast. But while that decade and a half was, indeed, heady times for both newark baseball and the city, itself, the 1949 sale of the Bears to the Chicago Cubs (and the ensuing relocation to Massachusetts) was a foreboding of tougher times for Newark, both inside it's stadium, and beyond the emptied seats.
Welcome to Hard TimesIn 1950 the only remaining ballclub in Newark, the Negro League Eagles, owned by Effa Manley (the first woman ever to own and operate a baseball team) were shipped to Houston. The promise of the underdog Eagles was gone from the city of Newark, as were the joys of watching the young, hungry players on the Bears, before they became tainted by the pinstripes of their major league affiliate. It was a symbolic moment for Newark, and ever since 1949, for very different reason, the city has never really been the same. It isn't just a matter of baseball, and it is equally as absurd as it is idyllic to say that baseball is what made Newark prosperous, and losing the teams to other cities is what made Newark suffer. It's just coincidence, of course, that when the Bears and Eagles were in their prime, showcasing some of the greatest young, gifted white and black talent America had to offer, the city itself was home to a young, gifted white and black community that was thriving, and vivrant. In the years following, Newark has been on a slow-and-then-rapid descent to one of the most dangerous and uninhabitable cities in the country. That too is simply coincidence, but coincidence, sometimes, is difficult to ignore.
In 1967 Ruppert stadium (once a symbol of Newark's prosperity, home to two equally exciting teams--one a Negro League underdog, one a feeder-league affiliate of the soon-to-be world-renowned Yankees)was deliberately demolished. That same year in July, a black cab driver named John Smith was pulled over for illegally passing a double-parked police car. After the officers accused him of resisting arrest they beat him close to death. What ensued were rumors of Smith's death, followed by anger towards a predominantly white police force and a seemingly apathetic white Mayor (Newark's last.) Then Chaos. 23 dead, over 700 injured, nearly 1,500 arrests, and in excess of $10 million of property damage: what we now call the Newark Riots. Then white flight.
Since the rumors of John Smith's death sparked the Newark Riots, rumors have been a big part of the diasappointing history of the city: namely rumors of a renaissance. It seems for as long I can recall, and according to some older than myself, longer than that, Newark has been rumored to be on the brink of a major rebuilding. Wealthy investors become enamored enough with the solid "infrastructure" and gorgeous art-deco architecture to ignore the stigma left by the 1970's aura of desparation. Small groups, predominantly art-centric, have touted the possibilities of the city, but little has ever come of these whispers. In 1998, 50 years after baseball left the city of Newark, the Bears joined the arts community (represented by NJPAC, and like organizations) as the first major entertainment and sports attraction to return to Brick City. During the late 1990's for the first time in 30 years, whites were moving back to Newark. For the first time in the history of the city, whites and blacks were playing and watching baseball together.
Renaissance Men?Don't get me wrong: a resurgent Utopia Newark is not. It's not a city undergoing rapid socioeconomic integration a la Washington, D.C. or Jersey City. It's not even New Jersey's answer to New Haven, CT. Think Baltimore. The racial tension in the city is still palpable. Recently I attended a party at The
Eleven80, a swanky high-rise with its own doormen, screening room, fitness center, and private bowling lanes. On the way home I was waiting on the Path platform with one other guy, a man who introduced himself as Ray, and said he was a rap producer. On the train we got to talking a little bit about Newark. He was clearly interested in what a white kid was doing riding the train from Newark to Journal Square at 3 AM, and we talked a little bit about Eleven80, and the new development around what will be the new NJ Devils arena. He seemed pessimistic about the recent talk of Newark's renaissance. So I asked him about the Bears, figuring maybe he saw some positives, some integration in what was going on at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium. "You ever been to a Bears game?" I asked. "Sure." And I thought that was that, but then he threw in an afterthought: "You can always tell when the Bears are playing or when there's a symphony at NJPAC." I asked what he meant, and he looked at me like I had to be messing with him. "When there's white people on Broad St."
It may sound like an exaggeration, or a cliche, but as of now Newark's biggest hurdle towards an economic renaissance remains its racial tension. I'm not just talking about a black/white issue, either. Part of what has lead to the success of my hometown, Jersey City, over the past 15 years has been a diversification of its population. Different minorities and ethnic groups have populated and reinvigorated different neighborhoods. For instance: I live in a neighborhood, which is predominantly Coptic-American, Indian and Middle Eastern; The Heights section of Jersey City remains predominantly hispanic; Downtown predominantly European, and White, but there has also been an integration of these neighborhoods as people of each ethnic background realize the potential and offerings of their neighboring areas. Jersey City has three nearly-equal populations around 25% of the whole, each: White, Black, Hispanic, with "other race" (namely, Middle-Eastern and Indian) making up 15-20%. Newark on the other hand is almost 55% black, and 30% hispanic, making almost 85% of the cities population, combined. There are no sustainable ethnic neighborhoods, outside of the Ironbound, a Portuguese neighborhood, which, unsurprisingly, is on the cusp of being the area that is first to "gentrify." Now, without arguing the merits or negative aspects of gentrification, it is well known that in cities where urban blight is an issue, the first areas to gentrify tend to be heavily ethnic neighborhoods, of one general make-up or another. These areas, while often not wealthy or heavily developed, already have a neighborhood feel, and the feeling of safety that is harvested by fellow immigrants of common heritage living in close quarters. Outside of the Ironbound this feeling does not exist in Newark. The community feeling, unfortunately, is absent, aside from a few places where it is fabricated: places like NJPAC, and Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium.
All this to say that while watching a Newark Bears game inside a stadium harmoniuosly named after its former tenants--one a minor league team of all white players, and one a Negro League team--one is not necessarily seeing Newark in its most honest state. There is a sense of utopia taking place in those confines that doesn't necessarily reflect what has been going on in Newark's politics or socioeconomics for many years. However, recently (and coincidentally, since the Bears return) Newark does seem infused with a restrained hopefulness about its future. Mayor Corey Booker was elected because he promised to clean up Newark's corrupt politics, and tackle issues of crime that have prevented the city from shedding its negative reputation. Development is underway on several blocks surrounding Newark Penn Station and the ironbound, and the hope is that what the Bears and NJPAC started with their return to Newark, in terms of economic resurgence, will be continued with residential and commercial development, particularly the welcoming of New Jersey's NHL franchise, the Devils.
If "reserved hopefulness" best describes the attitude of Newark's citizens, "unabashed pessimism" would be the only words to desribe the Newark Bears' fans attitude towards their team's future. Despite loading their rosters this century with plenty of big names, from Ozzie and Jose Canseco, to Jim Leyritz, and Rickey Henderson, the Bears have only made two post-seasons since their return, and only won the Atlantic League Championship once, in 2002. Since then they have been left out of the playoffs each year. Late last month the Bears own website ran a poll asking how fans expected the Bears to fare under new manager Wayne Krenchicki. There were four options: A. Win the first half of the season, make the playoffs; B. Win the Second Half of the Season, make the playoffs; C. Win the Atlantic League Championship!; D. Miss the playoffs. The OVERWHELMING majority chose D. Within 2 days the poll was replaced by a poll asking which promotion-night fans were most excited about. Options included Seinfeld Night (where one can hope there will be complementary black and white cookies) and Cosmetic Surgery Night! Needless to say, there doesn't seem to be much to look forward to for the Bears fans. At least, not in terms of baseball. Of course the current roster consists of
only three players. So maybe they'll get some absurd talent at those open tryouts in March.
