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Jammers, Pirates sign PDC

Jamestown JammersThe Jamestown Jammers (short season A; NY-Penn League) and the Pittsburgh Pirates signed a two-year player-development contract (PDC), through the 2014 season.

“We’re extremely pleased to align the Jammers with an organization that is widely regarded as having some of the most exciting young players in all of minor league baseball,” said Bob Rich Jr., president/owner of the Jamestown Jammers. “As the launching pad for the beginning of so many promising careers, Jamestown is the perfect place for area Pirates fans to see the future of their favorite team.”

“The Pirates are pleased to affiliate with the Jamestown Jammers and as importantly re-establish a professional relationship with Bob and Mindy Rich and their outstanding leadership team headed by Jon Dandes,” said Neal Huntington, general manager of the Pirates. “The Pirates have a quality history with the Rich family from our prior Triple-A affiliation in Buffalo and we look forward to building on that relationship with a New York-Penn League affiliation.”

The Pirates had been affiliated with the State College Spikes, a relationship that had soured but had looked to be on the mend. (There appears to be a few different versions about what happened in recent days and why the pair split; we have no idea what happened, so you can use teh google to judge for yourself.) 

This will be the third time that Jamestown has hosted an affiliate of the Pirates. The first affiliated team in Jamestown’s history was the 1939 Jamestown Jaguars of the six-team PONY League (Pennsylvania-Ontario-New York). They served as the Pirates affiliate under manager Micky LaLonge. The Jaguars and Pirates played to a 1-1 tie in an exhibition game played at Celoron Park on Chautauqua Lake that year.

The 1957 Jamestown Falcons were also affiliated with the Pirates in the eight-team NY-Penn League. That squad went 28-35 and featured first baseman Donn Clendenon and second baseman Julian Javier. Clendenon played nine of his 12 Major League seasons with the Pirates. He finished second in National League Rookie of the Year voting in 1962 and was named Most Valuable Player of the 1969 World Series for the champion New York Mets. Javier played 13 seasons in the Major Leagues and was an All-Star with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1963 and 1968.

One issue: Jamestown has been identified as the team requesting and receiving permission to move to Morgantown, W.Va., as soon as 2014 if new-ballpark funding comes through. This would place the team much closer to Pittsburgh in the second year of affiliation.

Here’s a look at the current affiliate status.

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