York White Roses

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York White Roses
Founded	1884
Cities	York, Pennsylvania
League	Eastern Professional Baseball League
Folded:	1969
Stadiums	Bob Hoffman Stadium
Team History	York White Roses 1884-1899 York Pirates 1968-1969
Championships	none
Uniform Colors:	grey, white
Geographical Rival:	Lancaster Red Roses

The York White Roses, was the name of a former baseball team in the city of York, Pennsylvania.

[edit] History

Before the York Revolution, the city of York has not been the home to any professional baseball team since 1969, when the York Pirates left. The Pirates were previously called the York White Roses and were members of the Keystone Association in 1884; the Eastern League also in 1884; the Pennsylvania State League in 1893; the Tri-State League from 1909 to 1914; the Pennsylvania State League in 1916; and one of the six original teams of the New York-Penn League from 1923 to 1933, where they were unaffiliated until the 1933 season with the Brooklyn Dodgers. In 1936; the White Roses played in the Interstate League from 1943 to 1952, spending most of their seasons in this league as an affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates until 1950. They were members of the Piedmont League from 1953 to 1955, where they were affiliated with the St. Louis Browns from 1952 to 1953 and the Baltimore Orioles from 1954 to 1955. The White Roses entered the Eastern League, affilitated with the St. Louis Cardinals, in the 1958 season and played there until the end of the 1959 season. The York White Roses returned in 1962 as a member of the Eastern League, as the Johnstown Red Sox moved to York. The Boston Red Sox affiliation lasted only that season. They were affiliated with the Washington Senators from 1963 to 1967. In 1968, the team was renamed as the York Pirates, affiliated with Pittsburgh. They were champions in the 1925 and 1969 seasons.

The York White Roses and the York Pirates played their games at Bob Hoffman Stadium, which was also known as Veterans Memorial Stadium.

The York White Roses spent their last two seasons as the York Pirates.

The White Roses were fierce rivals with the nearby Lancaster Red Roses. When the new name of Lancaster's team was unveiled to the public a few days before the 1906 season started, it drew heavy criticism from the York White Roses staff. The White Roses manager predicted, in spite, that the Red Roses would be at the bottom of the standings column. The Red Roses went on to win the first game, 9-4, and an even heavier rivalry began. ^[1]Some sources indicate that the rival teams were named for the opposing factions in England's historic Wars of the Roses.

In 1997, the York White Roses were named the absolute worst team in the history of the Eastern League. For example, their 1967 season was horrible as they won 43 games and lost 95. This season is still lodged in the minds of York baseball fans, as a player by the name of Dick Such, who until recently has denied this, had an ERA of .281 with a record of 0-16. He redeemed himself as the pitching coach of the Minnesota Twins from 1985-2001, where he oversaw two World Series championships in 1987 and 1991. Such is now the pitching coach for Long Island of the Atlantic League and may return to York to be with its new team. The York White Roses were considered the worst team because of their record, their horrible attendance, the condition of the playing field, and the team's choice of inferior players. ^[2]The York Revolution hope to rewrite the city's baseball history, with a better record, better attendance, a state-of-the-art ballpark, and a much better roster.

[edit] A Revolution

The history of York, Pennsylvania baseball continues with the York Revolution of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, who will start play in the 2007 season.