Making A Move

After the Jamestown Jammers won the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League championship in August, team ownership came to Anthony Barone with an offer he couldn’t refuse.

So after four seasons as Jammers’ manager, the two-time PGCBL Manager of the Year decided to take his talents to Milwaukee where he will serve as program coordinator for ROC Ventures’ Prospect Training Academy during the offseason and the infield/hitting coach for the Milwaukee Milkmen of the American Association of Professional Baseball League from April through September.

The Milkmen will play in a brand-new 4,000-seat stadium that is being constructed in Franklin, Wisconsin as part of an overall $130 million sports, entertainment and housing development called the Rock Sports Complex and Ballpark Commons.

Barone has already begun his job at the academy, but he was in Jamestown on Wednesday to announce that ROC Ventures has made a business decision to cease operating in Jamestown.

The company, however, has decided to donate the team and its assets to a local nonprofit group so that baseball can have a chance to stay in Jamestown, beginning in 2020.

“I think they have a great group to attack this full steam ahead,” Barone said. “I think having a championship team and the type of reputation the Jammers have will help quite a bit. I think everything is in place for that. Obviously, it’s a big undertaking, (especially) getting the right people baseball-wise, and understanding player development and scouting. … If they can get the right people in place, it can work.”

Barone knows of what he speaks, having brought a league title back to Jamestown in an epic series with Amsterdam nearly three months ago.

“I couldn’t ask for a better ending to my Jammers’ career in such a prestigious league,” he said. “Each year we took a step and that says a lot about our ownership group, it says a lot about me, the coaching staff and the players. It’s such a team effort. I’m grateful for my time in Jamestown and I’m really looking forward to the future.”

Looking in the figurative rear-view mirror will also bring fond memories for the Jamestown native.

“I think the most gratifying thing you see is when you have your players being successful after their playing career,” he said. “From my standpoint, just when I first got the job offer to be the Jammers manager, that was probably the most gratifying part. Individually, getting to do what I love every day, and what goes during the offseason, the player procurement and the development of a roster (are also gratifying).

“People don’t understand how much time that takes and the ability to do it the right way, and to get the young men to come in here and play together and win a championship ultimately.”

Since 2016, the Jammers won 94 games in the PGCBL and qualified for the playoffs every season, including the league championship series the past two.