Newburgh Black Diamonds

The Newburgh Black Diamonds were a professional baseball team based in Newburgh, New York. For the 1998 season, they played in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. Their home stadium was Delano-Hitch Stadium.

First game in Newburgh

The Black Diamonds arrived in Newburgh out of pure necessity. They were slated to play their home games in the Lehigh Valley Region of Pennsylvania as the Lehigh Valley Black Diamonds at a brand-new facility called the Lehigh Valley Multi-Purpose Sport Complex. As the inaugural 1998 Atlantic League season approached ground on the stadium had not been broken yet. The Black Diamonds needed to find a temporary home very quickly and Newburgh's Delano-Hitch Stadium was the closest fit that did not have a professional team playing there. The team would end the season with a respectable 42-58 finishing 4th in the league standings out of 6 teams.

On the road

As the 1999 season approached the Lehigh Valley Sports Complex was still nowhere near completion and rumors of financial problems continued to swirl. Shortly before the season opener it was announced that a lease agreement could not be met between the team and the stadium. The team would start the season being called the Newburgh Black Diamonds until publications were changed to the Lehigh Valley Black Diamonds, but would play their entire season on the road. They would finish the season with a 52-67 record which tied them for last place in the league.

Bankruptcy

After the 1999 season, the Black Diamonds were forced to move back to the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania after league officials changed the league charter to include a provision that provided all teams in the league must have a home field. This prompted the ownership group of the Black Diamonds to file for bankruptcy protection on February 1, 2000. After a dismal season in 2000 finishing 51-88 the Black Diamonds again became a road team for the 2001 season. They were still be called the Lehigh Valley Black Diamonds and were owned by the Atlantic League and financed by the other seven teams in the league. The Black Diamonds became the traveling Pennsylvania Road Warriors from 2002 until 2004.

Disbanding

In 2005 the team was dropped when the Lancaster Barnstormers entered the league. However, in 2006 when the Nashua Pride left the league the team was brought back as the Atlantic League Road Warriors. In 2007 The York Revolution joined the league but, the Atlantic City Surf left, calling for a need for the Road Warriors once again. Finally in 2008 with no teams leaving the league and the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs joining, the team was disbanded again.

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