Newburgh Night Hawks

The Newburgh Night Hawks were a minor league baseball team based in Newburgh, New York. The team played its games in The Northeast League, now the Can-Am League, of professional baseball. The Northeast League was an independent baseball league and as such none of its teams had an affiliation with Major League Baseball. The team existed from 1995 to 1996 and played its home games at Delano-Hitch Stadium in Newburgh.

History

The Night Hawks were one of the 6 original Northeast League franchises in 1995. In that first season all six teams were located in the State of New York. The Night Hawks would finish the first season in the league with a 28-41 record, which placed them 4th in the 6 team league, 23 1/2 games out of first place. After the first season the Night Hawks would be one of only 3 teams that would return for a second season. Although the team would bring in about 1,000 fans per game but team owner, Bill Cummings would sell the team leaving $30,000 in debt.

The Night Hawks would have a fairly successful season in the following year, they would win the first half of the league season and finished with a 55-25 record. They would lose the Northern League Championship to Albany three games to one^[1] The team would feature former big leaguers, Joel Bennett and Ken Dixon. They would also average better than 1,000 fans per game. At the end of the 1996 season, new team owner, Jeff Kunion, unhappy with the length of time that plans were progressing on improving aging Delano-Hitch Stadium decided to fold the team.^[2] The team would be replaced by the Waterbury Spirit for the 1997 season.

References

1. ↑ http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/team.cgi?id=26903
2. ↑ http://archive.recordonline.com/archive/2001/03/31/semigrap.htm