The Grays
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This article is about the baseball team. For the musical group, see The Grays (band).
| The Grays Founded in 2005 |
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| Owner(s)/Operated By: Can-Am League | |||
| General Manager: League-owned, no GM | |||
| Manager: Chris Carminucci (2005), Dan Shwam (2007) | |||
| Media: Not Applicable | |||
| Website: Grays Website | |||
The Grays were a professional independent baseball team. They were a road team which played in the Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball, an independent league not affiliated with Major League Baseball. The team started play in the 2005 season due to an uneven number of teams in the Can-Am League, but was disbanded in 2006, with whatever roster was left being dispersed to the Sussex Skyhawks. They have returned to action in 2007 as the tenth Can-Am team and again were disbanded when the league contracted for the 2008 season.
The team was last managed by Dan Shwam, who joined the Grays after a stint with the United Baseball League's Laredo Broncos. Shwam had prior experience in the Can-Am League's predecessors, the Northeast League and Northern League East, managing the Mohawk Valley Land Sharks, Newburgh Night Hawks, Elmira Pioneers, and Catskill Cougars. Shwam led the Pios to the 1997 Northeast League championship, and won a second championship in the Central Baseball League in 2003 with the Jackson Senators.
The team played both home and away games, but the home games were played in the opposing team's park, with the opposing team batting first.
[edit] History
The Grays came into existence in April 2005, when the Can-Am League terminated the membership of the Bangor Lumberjacks, who had said they did not have the resources to operate for the season. The team's roster at the time became the roster for the Grays (unlike the year before when the Aces, who replaced the Allentown Ambassadors, were not able to keep their team intact), and Chris Carminucci was hired as their manager.
Playing in a 96 game split season, the Grays were competitive in the first half, finishing with an even 23-23 record and placing 7 games behind the front running Quebec Capitales. However, the bottom fell out in the second half, and the Grays finished with a 10-36 second half record, 19 games out of first place.
After the season, the team's roster for the most part was absorbed by the Sussex Skyhawks, who took the place of the Elmira Pioneers in the league.
With the addition of the Atlantic City Surf to the Can-Am League for 2007, the league needed a tenth team to even things out. The Grays were reinstated to the league, and will once again serve as the league's traveling team.
The team once again folded after the 2007 season and their players were made available to the rest of the league's teams in a dispersal draft. The Grays were one of three CAL teams to fold in the 2007 offseason, joining the New Haven County Cutters and the North Shore Spirit in disbanding.
[edit] 2007 Can-Am Grays Roster
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Pitchers
Catchers
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Infielders
Outfielders
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Coaching Staff
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[edit] External links
| Atlantic City Surf | Brockton Rox | Nashua Pride | New Jersey Jackals | Ottawa Rapidz | Quebec Capitales | Sussex Skyhawks | Worcester Tornadoes | |
| Former teams: Aces | Adirondack | Albany-Colonie | Allentown | Bangor | Elmira | Grays | New Haven County | North Shore | |
| Other Independent Baseball Leagues: American Association | Atlantic | Continental | Frontier | Golden | Northern | United | |
