The Historic Damaschke Field of Oneonta, NY opened it’s gates in 1906 and is still going strong as one of the oldest active ballparks in America. It was originally named Elm Park until 1968, when the City of Oneonta decided to rename it in honor of Earnest C. “Dutch” Damaschke, a longtime Commissioner of Recreation for Oneonta. During the first two decades of existence, Damaschke hosted a variety of teams ranging from amateur and college all the way to semi-pro and minor league professional baseball. This included a game involving the Sultan of Swat himself, Babe Ruth. His All-Star team played an exhibition game against an Endicott-Johnson team on October 16, 1920. The legend goes as following, “Babe Ruth hit a home run over the right field fence during the eighth inning of the barnstorming game. In the fifth inning of that game, Ruth reportedly fractured a small bone in his left wrist while attempting slide into first base, although the following day in Jersey City he hit another of his exhibition home runs, suggesting that his wrist was fine.” This was just the beginning of the rich history of Oneonta Pro Baseball

The first professional baseball team to call the ballpark home was the Utica Utes in 1924, and that was the only season for the Utes as ownership changed hands. Shortly after the grandstand that is still located at the field was built during the Great Depression (1938) as a part of a Public Works Projects Administration project from Franklin D. Roosevelt. This was made for fans because attendance started to rise because of the Stars that were playing semi-pro baseball.

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After 15 long years, Oneonta got their beloved Professional Baseball back with the move of the Ottawa Indians. The Indians were an affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. Unfortunately, the team was only able to play for the 1941 and 1942 seasons as many of the players were taken in the World War II military draft. Those two years were made worthwhile because the Indians took home back to back Canadian-American league titles. Following the war, the freshly named Oneonta Red Sox won 2 more titles in 1948 and in the leagues final year of 1951.

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Oneonta saw another 15-year break of Pro ball until the Red Sox returned for 1 season in 1966 before departing. The following year Oneonta’s very own “Mr. Baseball”, Albert “Sam” Nader made an effort to bring baseball back to Oneonta permanently. The longtime Mayor split the financing of the new New York Yankees affiliate with 10 friends, at $1,000 apiece. The Oneonta Yankees were in existence from 1967-1999 while winning 11 NY-Penn League Championships. With the Yankees came an abundance of future stars honing their skills in Oneonta. Among them are Joe Dimaggio, Yogi Berra, Don Mattingly, Whitey Ford, Bernie Williams, Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada. Also, John Elway played his lone Professional Baseball season (1982) in Oneonta while still playing college football for Stanford. He played just 42 games but had 48 hits and 25 RBI’s while in pinstripes. Longtime MLB fan favorite Buck Showalter started his Professional Managerial career as skipper of the Oneonta club in 1985. That particular squad featured a 19-year-old Al Leiter and placed first in the league with a 55-23 record. Buck obviously had coaching down from day 1, as he lead the team to postseason success as well. The Yankees won the title at Damaschke Field, sweeping the Auburn Astros 2-0 in the series. It was no coincidence that the team also had a 10,000 increase in fan attendance for the summer as a whole. Baseball was really buzzing in downtown Oneonta for Bronx Bomber fans until the Yankees decided to move their affiliate to Staten Island in 1999. The move was an obvious one as the boss George Steinbrenner wanted to make moving prospects back and forth between levels as seamless as possible.

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A year later the Tigers decided to overtake operations in Oneonta. Current MLB players Curtis Granderson and Matt Joyce made their way through Oneonta in the early 2000’s. During the Tigers stay, many renovations took place including a new picnic area, clubhouse and concession stand. After a brief 10-year duration in Oneonta the Tigers relocated their affiliate team to Connecticut in 2010, shortly after the sale of the team by Sam Nader in 2008. With yet another vacant place in the hearts of

Oneonta baseball fans, Keith Rogers and Dan Scaring needed something to fill the void. They moved the Saratoga Phillies to Oneonta and dubbed them the Outlaws. The Outlaws consist of Ballplayers across the country from all NCAA divisions. The competition level is high and many players use their time in Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League to showcase their abilities in front of scouts with wood bats, as they use metal bats during the spring. At the end of the 2012 season, longtime locals Gary Laing, Steve Pindar, Joe Hughes and Michael Getman formed a crew to run operations, coaching and legal issues. There are 2 Outlaws that have reached the Major League level, Tom Murphy and Carlos Asuaje who played for the club in 2010 and 2012, respectively. Along with those 2, there are numerous Outlaw alumni all over professional baseball.

As for the current state of Damaschke Field, when not being used by the Outlaws there are many amateur games played by Oneonta High School, SUNY Oneonta and local travel teams. The facility is also used for many community events, fundraisers, graduations, holiday celebrations and concerts. Just a short walk from Downtown Oneonta, Damaschke Field has been and will continue to be a staple in the Tri-County summer culture for many years to come.