Category: Atlantic League

General Manager Charlie Dowd on the cover of a 2000 Bridgeport Bluefish baseball program from the Atlantic League

Bridgeport Bluefish

The Bridgeport Bluefish were enjoyed a 20-year run in the Atlantic League, the top independent pro baseball league in the United States, between 1998 and 2017. The arrival of the Bluefish in 1998 and the concurrent opening of the $19 million Ballpark at Harbor Yard on an abandoned industrial brownfield was a center piece of public/private efforts to revitalize downtown Bridgeport in the late 1990’s. The ‘Fish won their first and only championship in the summer of 1999. Years of declining attendance and the deteriorating condition of the Ballpark at Harbor Yard contributed to the team’s closure at the end of the 2017 season.

Read More »
Camden Riversharks Atlantic League Baseball

Camden Riversharks

The Camden Riversharks were an independent professional baseball team that played at Campbell’s Field, a $24 million waterfront re-development project at the base of the Ben Franklin Bridge into Philadelphia. Though the ‘Sharks ultimately played 15 seasons in the Atlantic League between 2001 and 2015, the untimely death of team founder Steve Shilling in 2003 and the team’s debt burden from the construction of Campbell’s Field undermined the the ball club’s health for years on end. The Riversharks folded in 2015.

Read More »
1998 Atlantic City Surf baseball program from the Atlantic League

Atlantic City Surf

Atlantic League (1998-2006) Can-Am League (2007-2008) Born: 1998 – Atlantic League founding franchise Folded: March 30, 2009 First Game: May 20, 1998 (L 8-5 vs.

Read More »
1999 Nashua Pride Baseball Program from the Atlantic League

Nashua Pride

Atlantic League (1998-2005) Can-Am League (2006-2008) Born: 1997 – Atlantic League founding franchise Re-Branded: 2009 (American Defenders of New Hampshire) First Game: May 21, 1998

Read More »