The New York Penniless League

This is the story about a former minor league with a rich history of talent to make it to the major leagues and how much of an impact money had on ending the oldest minor league in the United States

selective focus photography of white baseball balls on ground

Photo by Mike Bowman on Unsplash

Photo by Mike Bowman on Unsplash

In this mini documentary, we talk with former broadcasters, journalists, and owners about their thoughts on the league. Auburn Citizen Journalist and New York-Penn League Historian Chris Sciria discusses the history of the league from 1939 all the way to its end in 2020. While Sciria is discussing this, the rest are talking about how much of an impact the New York-Penn League had on their lives in their careers.

The interview subjects then reflected on the "King of Baseball", Leo Pinckney. They talk about their favorite memories with him and explain why he played a major role in keeping the league alive. Some of the stories include Pinckney running the league as president out of his own house.

Following their reflection, the group talks about the future of the league when baseball entered the 21st century. This was considered the turning point as many small city teams relocated to bigger market areas such as Erie, Pennsylvania and Aberdeen, Maryland.

If you are interested in watching the documentary, you can click on the blue bar below to watch.

About the Author

Gage Kilborne has grown up being a big baseball fan from New Hartford, New York. He has a bachelor's degree in Communications/Media Studies from Quinnipiac University. He also received a mster's degree in Sports Journalism from Quinnipiac. This project was his Sports Journalism capstone project for the master's degree. He is currently working as a Multimedia Journalist at WWNY Channel 7 News in Watertown, NY. To reach him, email him directly at gdkilborne@gmail.com.