Newark Bears Stadium demolition
I remember hearing at the time it was built that it was the most expensive minor-league stadium ever.
Rick Cerone was part of the original ownership group and I believe the dream at the start was that the team there could eventually get a Yankee affiliation. Of course, it didn't happen, and Cerone moved on.
The last legitimate hope occurred a few years ago when the Yankee AAA team needed a temporary home while a new stadium was being built in Scranton-Wilkes Barre. The Yankees wanted to put the team in Newark for about a year and agreed to fund some needed stadium upkeep as part of the deal. Unfortunately, the Mets exercised their territorial veto and refused to allow the arrangement even after the Yanks agreed to let them use the Newark stadium if they ever needed it in a similar circumstance.
I think the best-ever Newark Bear season was from another brother of an MLB star, Ozzie Canseco.
Had such fun there when the kids were little. Once won a year's supply of Bosco between innings.
We had some great family times there too, and it's sad it couldn't continue. Seems to me that major investments like this should not be so expendable, but have a longer life span.
Gilgul said:
Good thing this is not in all politics.
Haha. We should not be funding sports teams by building stadiums for them. Another example of corporate welfare.
iwasmim said:
We had some great family times there too, and it's sad it couldn't continue. Seems to me that major investments like this should not be so expendable, but have a longer life span.
Agree.
annielou said:
Had such fun there when the kids were little. Once won a year's supply of Bosco between innings.
My Newark Bears hat is my go-to gardening head cover.
"city officials previously told NJ Advance Media Lotus would be eligible for a tax abatement on the project"
Great. Another Abbott district legally exempting it's most valuable real estate from school taxes, while continuing to get the majority of their school district's funding from state aid.
According to this link http://www.njsportsheroes.com/... Newark has a heralded baseball tradition. In 1915, oil baron Harry Sinclair owned the Newark Pepper in the Federal League. Thanks in art to favorable treatment by Congress, MLB was able to throttle this upstart league, and it was the last serious attempt at creating a "Third Major League" outside the established structure of professional baseball in the U.S.
The original Newark Bears were a NY Yankees minor league affiliate. The Newark Eagles, in the Negro Leagues were owned by Effa Manley, and at one time had Ray Dandridge, Willie Wells, Dick Seay, Mule Suttles, Jimmie Crutchfield, Speed McDuffie and Leon Day; all considered baseball greats.
And of course, Monte Irvin, who was the first African-American to play in the AL, with the Indians, was a member of the Eagles.
Andrew Zimbalist, one of the authors of Sports, Jobs, and Taxes examined the economic development argument that public funding of sports stadiums is good business investment and concluded this use of public money has an extremely small (perhaps even negative) effect on overall economic activity and employment.
https://www.brookings.edu/arti...
But, since this is Sports and not Soapbox:All Politics, how many people saw Rickey Henderson play for the Bears? 
I knew they were planning on developing the site--I had heard about it last year. I walked by it just this morning and wondered when they were going to start demolition.
I, too, have mixed emotions. The stadium never lived up to its potential, and that's a shame, but so much money was spent to build it just to tear it down.
Regardless of the past, Newark does seem to maybe turning a corner. To my surprise (I was not a fan of his father), Baraka seem to be doing a good job. One would think that whole area right by the Broad Street station and on light rail would be a prime zone for development.
I was never inside Bears stadium. But at various times I saw games in progress from the train and say families coming from the game getting on the train when I was train commuter. Would have been nice and fun if they had been able to last, as other independent minor league teams have.
As a Mets fan, they really pissed me off with this one. I lived in Newark for ten years, and a year of the Yankees having a team there would have been great, followed by the Mets being there instead of Las Vegas.
That would have really helped the area. As far as public money goes, while I'm totally against it for cities with franchises, especially major league franchises in any sport, in this case if it had landed a full time farm team it may have had a good return on investment, and given Newark something else good to brag about.
Sadly, I don't think the Mets' refusal had any justification beyond, "The Yankees want this, so we're going to oppose it." (Not that the Yankees would necessarily have been any more magnanimous in the same situation.)
I agree. It was purely spiteful by the Mets, and it came back to burn them and Newark.
The Met organization is a disgrace.
I went to many games the first two seasons. I had purchased 10 packs and sat right behind Rick Cerone. Saw henderson, Canseco and others. Games were fun. If they could have been a AAA affiliate of mets or yankees the place would have been packed every night. and having a less expensive option to go to games is a way to build up a fan base among younger MLB fans.
That decision by the Mets stinks!
I have such great memories of "Night at the Newark Bears" events when my kids were in elementary school. It was the perfect family/school (PTA) outing. Reasonably priced, a fair amount of freedom for the kids to wander around the stadium, audience participation activities during the breaks between innings, easy access via train as well as auto, and I could go on and on.
The minor league parks and games are great. It brings into focus what a hassle and rip off the big stadium experience usually is (for sports and music).
mikescott said:
The Met organization is a disgrace.
I went to many games the first two seasons. I had purchased 10 packs and sat right behind Rick Cerone. Saw henderson, Canseco and others. Games were fun. If they could have been a AAA affiliate of mets or yankees the place would have been packed every night. and having a less expensive option to go to games is a way to build up a fan base among younger MLB fans.
Keep in mind that a AAA affiliate would have used the stadium only for a single season. Neither the Yankees nor the Mets would allow a AAA team to make Newark its permanent home.
bub said:
The minor league parks and games are great. It brings into focus what a hassle and rip off the big stadium experience usually is (for sports and music).
My family and I enjoy the minor-league ballpark experience every once in a while, but the difference in the level of play, even in AAA, compared with MLB is so great that the lower prices and more intimate atmosphere aren't enough to keep us from preferring the likes of Citi Field and Citizens Bank Park. Sit in the upper level behind first or third, bring your own hoagies, take public transit, go easy on the beer, and the cost ain't too bad for the best baseball around.
A permanent Trriple A would never have been allowed. But it would have been good if they could have doneA ball like the Brooklyn Cyclones or the Lakewood Blueclaws.
Well actually a AA would have been allowed if the mets and yankees gave the ok. Both teams and MLB in general are very short-sighted. They need to energize the younger fans and having an affordable option would have helped.
wharfrat said:
I saw Ricky Henderson, close to age 50, still electric on the field, Pete Rose, Jr, a bum and Bobby Bonds, Jr, Barry's step-brother.
Found these in my archives...
My son went to their BB camp for a couple of years. They got to experience all aspects of the game-- field, boxes, concessions, the announcer's booth, before/after games with the players, etc. The folks there were all lovely across all of it. We were very sad to see it close down.
I remember taking my aunt - a fan of the original Newark Bears - to a game. It's just so sad they couldn't make it.
Train_of_Thought said:
wharfrat said:
I saw Ricky Henderson, close to age 50, still electric on the field, Pete Rose, Jr, a bum and Bobby Bonds, Jr, Barry's step-brother.
Found these in my archives...
Best ballplayers ever to wear #24-Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr., Ricky Henderson.
Plans are afoot to tear down the stadium that we helped build, via our tax dollars. I'm of mixed feelings. I questioned whether this was a good idea, back when it was being built, but did see games there with my son. I saw Ricky Henderson, close to age 50, still electric on the field, Pete Rose, Jr, a bum and Bobby Bonds, Jr, Barry's step-brother.
http://www.nj.com/essex/index....