The
Newark Bears are a
baseball team in the
Atlantic League, which is a new, small league
outside of the
Major League Baseball farm
system. The stadium is in downtown
Newark, NJ as
part of an
urban renewal program: the idea being
to bring
family entertainment and
business back
to downtown areas in order to
stimulate the
urban
economy.
Newark was home to two teams in the first half of
the twentieth century: the Newark Indians played
Class AAA baseball, changing their name to the Bears
in 1931. The Negro League team the Newark Eagles
was formed by the merger of the Newark Dodgers with
the Brooklyn Eagles in 1936. But professional
baseball left Newark in 1950 when the Eagles left town,
the Bears having moved to Springfield, IL the year
before.
The modern Newark Bears began this
incarnation in 1998 with the formation of
the Atlantic League. The stadium wasn't ready for
the first season, so they just played away games until
the next season.
The Bears just announced that they signed former
New York Giants and Atlanta Falcons quarterback
Danny Kanell to their roster. Apparently before
leading the Florida State University Seminoles,
Kanell was an able baseball player.