The New Jersey Jackals are officially moving to Paterson, New Jersey and will call a refurbished Hinchliffe Stadium its new home.
The announcement was made official at a press conference on Wednesday. Speculation and rumors had run rampant for weeks that Paterson would be the destination of the 25-year old independent baseball club.
The Jackals had played its entire existence at Yogi Berra Stadium in Little Falls, a quaint ballpark on the campus of Montclair State University, which not only holds the name of one of Montclair’s most famous residents, Yogi Berra, but, is home to the Yogi Berra Museum as well.
“Paterson stepped up to the plate. With the renovated Hinchliffe Stadium, it would make for an ideal home for the New Jersey Jackals. Well, the Jackal is out of the bag,” Mayor Andre Andre Sayegh said during an press conference in front of Hinchliffe Stadium, which is still going through major reconstruction.
Jackals owner Al Dorso, a Paterson native, said of the move: “Paterson is my home. The Jackals, a professional baseball team of the Frontier League, we are coming to Paterson. We anticipate working closing with the community, the mayor and council and business leaders. Anyone willing to work with us, we are willing to work with them.”
Fans who commented on the Jackals Facebook page livestream had mixed feelings. Some praised the Mayor for bringing baseball and potential jobs to the community. Others expressed concern over attending games in a city with a checkered crime history.
The Jackals, once a member of the Can-Am Professional Baseball League, have been members of the Frontier League since 2020. New Jersey finished in last in the Can-Am Division of the Frontier League this past season. The Jackals own five league titles, with their most recent coming in 2019.
Hinchcliffe Stadium was originally erected in 1932 and was home to the Negro Leagues during the 1930’s. Last year, after decades of neglect, the city broke ground on a $94 million renovation project for the old ballpark. It is expected that the stadium will be ready for the Jackals come next May.