New York-Penn League

**This page is the main page for this topic.**For other related pages & articles, see:

   The **New York–Penn League** (**NYPL**) was a Minor League Baseball league which operated in the northeastern United States from 1939 to 2020. Classified as a Class A Short Season league, its season started in June, after major league teams signed their amateur draft picks to professional contracts, and ended in early September.

In 2019, its last season of operation, the NYPL had 14 teams from eight different states. In addition to New York and Pennsylvania, from which the league drew its name, the NYPL also had clubs in Maryland, Massachusetts, Ohio, Vermont, West Virginia, and Connecticut.

The Brooklyn Cyclones were the last NYPL champions, defeating the Lowell Spinners, two games to one, in 2019. The Oneonta Tigers won 12 championships, the most among all teams in the league, followed by the Auburn Mets/Twins/Phillies/Doubledays (8) and Jamestown Falcons/Expos (7)

## History

The New York–Penn League was founded in 1939 as the **Pennsylvania–Ontario–New York League**, generally shortend to **PONY League**, in a hotel in Batavia, New York. The original teams included the Batavia Clippers, Bradford Bees, Hamilton Red Wings, Jamestown Jaguars, Niagara Falls Rainbows, and Olean Oilers; all were based in or near Western New York. The Oilers, a Brooklyn Dodgers affiliate, won both the regular season and playoff championships. Batavia was the last remaining charter city in the league when it ceased operations after the 2020 season.

The Hamilton Red Wings folded early in the 1956 season, and with no more teams in Ontario, the circuit became the New York–Penn League in 1957. The league crossed back into Canada with the formation of the St. Catharines Blue Jays in 1986. They were joined by the Hamilton Redbirds in 1987 and the Welland Pirates in 1989, but all three clubs had moved back to the United States by 2000.

The New York–Penn circuit was originally a Class D league (the minors' lowest classification through 1962). It was a full-season Class A league from 1963 through 1966, and became a short-season Class A league in 1967.

The start of the 2020 season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic before being cancelled on June 30.[1][2]

On December 9, 2020, Major League Baseball (MLB) announced its list of 120 teams that would be part of the minors after restructuring for the 2021 season. As first reported in 2019, the NYPL was shut down. The Cyclones and Renegades became the new Single-A advanced affiliates of the New York Mets and New York Yankees respectively and moved to the new Mid-Atlantic League. The Mahoning Valley Scrappers, State College Spikes, West Virginia Black Bears, and Williamsport Crosscutters were moved to the new MLB Draft League for players wishing to showcase themselves to MLB teams in advance of the annual draft. Finally, the Auburn Doubledays, Batavia Muckdogs, Lowell Spinners, Norwich Sea Unicorns, Staten Island Yankees, Tri-City Valley Cats, and Vermont Lake Monsters were shut down.

## Former teams

* Connecticut Tigers (2010-2019)
* Lowell Spinners
* Norwich Sea Unicorns
* Tri-City ValleyCats
* Vermont Lake Monsters
* Auburn Doubledays
* Batavia Muckdogs
* Mahoning Valley Scrappers
* State College Spikes
* West Virginia Black Bears
* Williamsport Crosscutters
* Aberdeen IronBirds
* Brooklyn Cyclones
* Hudson Valley Renegades
* Staten Island Yankees