New Jersey Jackals Leaving Yogi Berra Stadium

It's never easy being an independent baseball franchise, and for 25 years the New Jersey Jackals were one of the more successful franchises under such a title.

Born in 1998 the Jackals won five league championships, their last coming in 2019 in the final year of the Can-Am League, and played all its home games at Yogi Berra Stadium in Little Falls, New Jersey.  The stadium built as a dedication to Montclair resident, and Yankees Hall of Famer Yogi Berra was once a go-to spot for local baseball fans. Nestled quaintly on the campus of Montclair State University, the stadium is attached to the decorated Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center -- a hot spot for baseball historians and fans of all ages. In fact the museum has been a backdrop for the Yankees Hot Stove off-season show for many years.

On Wednesday morning it was announced that the Jackals would no longer play games at Yogi Berra Stadium. A message was posted to its social media pages.

The future of the franchise at this moment is unknown. On Twitter the Jackals posted "Stay tuned for more."  New Jersey is currently next to last in the Frontier League's Eastern division with a record of 39-39. Only the road team the Empire State Greys are worse at 5-74.  The Jackals have been bit by poor attendance, as they average only 800 people per home game, which is last in the Frontier League.

The Jackals glory days came very early, as it captured Northern League titles in 1998, 2001 and 2002 under the guidance of Kash Beauchamp ('98) and George Tsamis ('01 and '02) and a Northeast League Title in 2004 under Joe Calfapietra. The Jackals were always competitive in the Cam-Am League which it was a member of from 2005 to 2019. They had qualified for the League's championship series for six consecutive years from 2011 to 2016 under Calfapietra.

The Jackals have five members with retired numbers including Isaac Pavlik (7), Zach Smithlin (4) Joel Bennett (28), coach Ed Ott (14) and an honorary retirement of Yogi Berra's number 8. The single season home run leader in Jackals history is Art Charles who hit 29 in 2016, which bested the 27 hit by Joe Dunigan two years earlier in 2014.