Here’s The Ticket

Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi made it official Tuesday afternoon by purchasing the first season ticket for the new Jamestown Jammers of the Prospect League, which will open its baseball season in late May.

But if it were up to manager Anthony Barone he’d start tomorrow.

“May 27th can’t come soon enough,” the Jamestown native said during a press conference in the lobby of the Jamestown Municipal Building.

“As a coach, you always have to make one bold statement and my bold statement this year is, ‘You won’t find a more athletic team in summer baseball than the Jammers.’

“I think we’re going to have one of the fastest teams you’re ever going to see and that includes the Cape Cod League and the Alaskan League. You guys are going to be quite surprised with what we are going to have on the field this summer.”

The new Jammers franchise, which is owned by MKE Sports & Entertainment of Milwaukee, will play 60 regular season games in 70 days from the end of May to the first week in August.

It replaces the former Jammers team, which relocated to Morgantown, West Virginia at the conclusion of the 2014 New York – Penn League season.

“In my opinion – and I’ve been around the game quite a long time – you’re going to see better baseball,” Barone said. “The only difference you’re going to see is the entertainment value MKE Sports & Entertainment is bringing in. You guys are going to be amazed. That’s one of the reasons I accepted the job because I had such interest in what they did when they talked to me in Milwaukee.”

In addition to the season opener against the Butler (Pennsylvania) Blue Sox at Dioethrick Park on May 27, the Jammers schedule will feature a number of weekend games, including five Friday home games, five Saturday home games and five Sunday home games. Ticket prices are $8-12. Food and drink packages are available for an additional fee. The first pitch for Friday and Saturday games will be 7:05 p.m., and the Sunday games will start at 3:05 p.m. Season ticket holders from last year’s NY-P League Jammers will have their seats held until April 15.

“There’s no place that I would rather be on a beautiful Jamestown summer night than Diethrick Park, participating in our American Pastime – Jammers style,” said Teresi, who purchased five season tickets, three of which are earmarked for children of the Eastside YMCA and the Jamestown Boys & Girls Club.

Noted Russell E. Diethrick Jr., for whom the stadium is named: “We only have 3,544 seats left. Let’s go out before there are too many sunsets and before they ring the bell saying, ‘Play Ball’ for the very first time and sell all those tickets. Those young ballplayers will be excited about hitting home runs, throwing no-hitters and being a part of winning the ballgames, but it’s never played the same if the seats are empty, so let’s fill those seats at the stadium.”

Barone said that 23 players (ages 18-22) have been signed already with room for five more pitchers. The team will report to Jamestown on May 23.

“We have guys coming from successful programs that have winning traditions,” Barone said. “I like to look at kids from programs that win, because they’re going to bring that same attitude to our ballpark every day, These kids are here to win and get their name out there to professional teams.”

Among those signed is Westfield native and current Mercyhurst University third baseman Austin Alonge.

“We’re always looking for local guys,” said Barone, who was the head coach at Jamestown Community College from 2004-2012 before serving as an assistant coach at California State -Bakersfield from 2012-2014. “A lot is based on what we need. If a guy locally can do it, we want to sign him. Right now, there are chances for local guys to play for us.”

One thing is certain, Barone maintained, and that is the Prospect League is one of the top five summer wood bat leagues in the country.

“We’re getting the best kids from the Midwest,” he said.

And Teresi believes the new Jammers are the perfect fit for the community.

“This is another great day for New York’s great ‘Pearl City,’” he said. “It merges everything together – the best of everything. The best game on the planet with the best small city on the planet with one of the best, if not the best, sports marketing and entertainment companies on the planet and the best young man we could have picked to be the field manager and general manager. He’s a great baseball man and I’m even more impressed with the man he is – Anthony Barone of Jamestown.”

Added Barone: “This is the pinnacle for me, because I’m doing it in my hometown for a company, business and ownership group that is going 100 percent into this. I have my kids with me and they get to see their father coach again. It’s irreplaceable.”