A Short-Lived Return of the Bears



The main entrance to Newark’s Riverfront Stadium, Jul-2002.

Looking from the third-base picnic area toward the plate and the Newark skyline.

The field overlooks a railroad bridge; off in the distance, but not visible here, are New York skyscrapers.

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Quick Facts: Rating: 3 baseballs
When the New York Yankees moved their International League farm club from Newark, N.J., to Springfield, Mass., in 1949, it signaled the end of baseball in New Jersey’s largest city for five decades.

Finally, in 1998, the independent Atlantic League announced plans to put one of their teams in Newark. The trouble was, no one was quite sure where the park would end up. Several sites along the Passaic River were discussed and ultimately rejected.

In the end, the park landed in the shadow of the Lackawanna tracks, near the Broad Street station, in such a way that home runs clearing the outfield wall could land on McCarter Highway (NJ 21). After construction delays, the still-incomplete park opened for business in July 1999. During 2000, an additional screen had to be erected in left field to protect motorists from blasts by slugger Ozzie Canseco.

The seating was fairly typical, although the designers did angle the farthest seats toward home plate, a nice touch. Concessions were reasonable. Parking in area lots was expensive, but on-street spaces could be had on most evenings as meters do not operate after 6:00.

Effective with the extension of the Newark City Subway past the park in 2006, many of the on-street spaces were removed. However, fans arriving in Newark on the Northeast Corridor line could take this shuttle train to the park.

For the 2011 season, the Bears, who had chronic issues with attendance throughout most of their history, shifted their affiliation to the shorter-season Can-Am League. But even that was not enough to save the club, whose average attendance dropped below 500 in the 2013 season. The club was mothballed that November.

The park, which was owned by Essex County, continued to be used by two college programs, NJIT and Rutgers-Newark. NJIT offered to purchase the stadium and make it their all-purpose outdoor sports facility, but the school was outbid. A developer announced in March 2016 that he was buying the site from the county and would demolish the stadium to build a high-rise residential “transit village”, taking advantage of the site’s proximity to rail lines. That deal closed in November 2016. The park’s two college tenants continued to use the field through 2018 but found alternate sites for the 2019 season, and demolition began in August 2019.


Special: Newark Bears win 2007 Atlantic League championship
Game Date League Level Result
364 Wed 21-Jul-1999 Atlantic Ind. Somerset 2, NEWARK 1
389 Mon 6-Sep-1999 Atlantic Ind. NEWARK 2, Lehigh Valley 1
408 Thu 6-Jul-2000 Atlantic Ind. NEWARK 16, Aberdeen 8
424 Mon 7-Aug-2000 Atlantic Ind. NEWARK 6, Atlantic City 1
439 Wed 6-Sep-2000 Atlantic Ind. NEWARK 15, Nashua 4
489 Wed 15-Aug-2001 Atlantic Ind. NEWARK 7, Lehigh Valley 5, 10 inn
498 Thu 30-Aug-2001 Atlantic Ind. Lehigh Valley 9, NEWARK 2, 1st
499 Thu 30-Aug-2001 Atlantic Ind. NEWARK 6, Lehigh Valley 0, 2d
509 Wed 19-Sep-2001 Atlantic Ind. Somerset 14, NEWARK 0
511 Sat 22-Sep-2001 Atlantic Ind. NEWARK 8, Nashua 6
513 Wed 3-Oct-2001 Atlantic Ind. Somerset 4, NEWARK 0
532 Sun 21-Jul-2002 Atlantic Ind. NEWARK 6, Pennsylvania 3
573 Fri 13-Sep-2002 Atlantic Ind. NEWARK 7, Somerset 3
576 Wed 18-Sep-2002 Atlantic Ind. Atlantic City 5, NEWARK 0
577 Thu 19-Sep-2002 Atlantic Ind. NEWARK 7, Atlantic City 5
585 Wed 28-May-2003 Atlantic Ind. Camden 8, NEWARK 4
587 Sun 22-Jun-2003 Atlantic Ind. Nashua 4, NEWARK 3, 2d
611 Sun 3-Aug-2003 Atlantic Ind. Bridgeport 4, NEWARK 2
626 Wed 20-Aug-2003 Atlantic Ind. NEWARK 10, Camden 2
647 Sun 7-Sep-2003 Atlantic Ind. Long Island 10, NEWARK 5
649 Fri 12-Sep-2003 Atlantic Ind. NEWARK 2, Pennsylvania 1, 1st
650 Fri 12-Sep-2003 Atlantic Ind. Pennsylvania 2, NEWARK 1, 2d
651 Sun 14-Sep-2003 Atlantic Ind. Pennsylvania 5, NEWARK 4
656 Sun 9-May-2004 Atlantic Ind. Long Island 5, NEWARK 0
671 Sat 17-Jul-2004 Atlantic Ind. Camden 6, NEWARK 5
672 Sun 18-Jul-2004 Atlantic Ind. NEWARK 4, Camden 3
676 Wed 28-Jul-2004 Atlantic Ind. NEWARK 5, Somerset 4, 8 inn, 1st
677 Thu 29-Jul-2004 Atlantic Ind. Somerset 18, NEWARK 9, 1st
678 Thu 29-Jul-2004 Atlantic Ind. NEWARK 9, Somerset 4, 2d
679 Fri 30-Jul-2004 Atlantic Ind. NEWARK 10, Somerset 7
687 Thu 5-Aug-2004 Atlantic Ind. Atlantic City 15, NEWARK 2
712 Sun 29-Aug-2004 Atlantic Ind. NEWARK 10, Camden 3
717 Thu 2-Sep-2004 Atlantic Ind. Atlantic City 8, NEWARK 1
725 Sun 12-Sep-2004 Atlantic Ind. Bridgeport 6, NEWARK 0
34 Wed 6-Apr-2005 Central Atlantic Div II NEW JERSEY TECH 8, Bloomfield 2, 1st
35 Wed 6-Apr-2005 Central Atlantic Div II NEW JERSEY TECH 5, Bloomfield 2, 2d
742 Fri 24-Jun-2005 Atlantic Ind. Camden 9, NEWARK 0
751 Sun 10-Jul-2005 Atlantic Ind. NEWARK 9, Lancaster 6
754 Sun 24-Jul-2005 Atlantic Ind. NEWARK 13, Somerset 10
778 Thu 25-Aug-2005 Atlantic Ind. Bridgeport 5, NEWARK 2
791 Sun 11-Sep-2005 Atlantic Ind. Bridgeport 7, NEWARK 3
797 Tue 20-Sep-2005 Atlantic Ind. Nashua 10, NEWARK 5, 8 inn, 1st
798 Tue 20-Sep-2005 Atlantic Ind. NEWARK 6, Nashua 5, 8 inn, 2d
819 Sat 15-Jul-2006 Atlantic Ind. Atlantic City 7, NEWARK 5
820 Sun 16-Jul-2006 Atlantic Ind. Atlantic City 5, NEWARK 4
827 Tue 1-Aug-2006 Atlantic Ind. NEWARK 11, Atlantic City 10, 13 inn
852 Sun 10-Sep-2006 Atlantic Ind. NEWARK 10, Bridgeport 8
42 Fri 30-Mar-2007 New Jersey Div III RUTGERS-NEWARK 8, New Jersey City 6
864 Sat 9-Jun-2007 Atlantic Ind. Lancaster 6, NEWARK 3
875 Fri 3-Aug-2007 Atlantic Ind. Somerset 16, NEWARK 3
896 Fri 31-Aug-2007 Atlantic Ind. Camden 8, NEWARK 3
908 Fri 14-Sep-2007 Atlantic Ind. NEWARK 11, Bridgeport 3
910 Tue 18-Sep-2007 Atlantic Ind. NEWARK 5, Long Island 4
915 Sun 23-Sep-2007 Atlantic Ind. NEWARK 5, Somerset 4
916 Mon 24-Sep-2007 Atlantic Ind. NEWARK 13, Somerset 7
(Bears win league championship)
48 Wed 26-Mar-2008 Nonconference Div I Seton Hall 13, NEW JERSEY TECH 3
922 Thu 19-Jun-2008 Atlantic Ind. Camden 17, NEWARK 6
930 Sun 19-Jul-2008 Atlantic Ind. NEWARK 12, Camden 3
956 Sun 24-Aug-2008 Atlantic Ind. NEWARK 2, Long Island 1
966 Mon 1-Sep-2008 Atlantic Ind. Southern Maryland 5, NEWARK 4, 13 inn
972 Sat 13-Sep-2008 Atlantic Ind. Camden 5, NEWARK 4, 10 inn, 1st
973 Sat 13-Sep-2008 Atlantic Ind. NEWARK 7, Camden 2, 2d
977 Wed 17-Sep-2008 Atlantic Ind. York 5, NEWARK 3
978 Thu 18-Sep-2008 Atlantic Ind. Somerset 4, NEWARK 2
56 Thu 2-Apr-2009 Nonconference Div I Marist 12, NEW JERSEY TECH 2
994 Thu 16-Jul-2009 Atlantic Ind. Somerset 27, NEWARK 10
1010 Wed 12-Aug-2009 Atlantic Ind. NEWARK 5, Lancaster 4
1026 Mon 31-Aug-2009 Atlantic Ind. York 10, NEWARK 5
1046 Sat 26-Sep-2009 Atlantic Ind. NEWARK 13, Somerset 12
1047 Sun 27-Sep-2009 Atlantic Ind. Somerset 8, NEWARK 3
65 Sun 28-Mar-2010 Nonconference Div III Stevens Tech 2, RUTGERS-NEWARK 1
1069 Fri 6-Aug-2010 Atlantic Ind. NEWARK 10, Somerset 8
1080 Wed 18-Aug-2010 Atlantic Ind. NEWARK 8, Lancaster 3
1081 Thu 19-Aug-2010 Atlantic Ind. Lancaster 8, NEWARK 2
1096 Tue 7-Sep-2010 Atlantic Ind. Southern Maryland 8, NEWARK 4, 1st
1097 Tue 7-Sep-2010 Atlantic Ind. NEWARK 7, Southern Maryland 3, 2d
1121 Wed 8-Jun-2011 Can-Am Ind. NJ Jackals 4, NEWARK 0
1132 Thu 28-Jul-2011 Can-Am Ind. NEWARK 9, NY Federals 6
1135 Wed 3-Aug-2011 Can-Am Ind. Pittsfield 11, NEWARK 1
1154 Thu 25-Aug-2011 Can-Am Ind. NJ Jackals 7, NEWARK 1
76 Sat 24-Mar-2012 Nonconference Div III RUTGERS-NEWARK 5, Penn State Abington 2
1186 Mon 18-Jun-2012 Can-Am Ind. NJ Jackals 6, NEWARK 1
1207 Mon 6-Aug-2012 Can-Am * Ind. NEWARK 11, KC T-bones 4
1220 Mon 20-Aug-2012 Can-Am Ind. Worcester 10, NEWARK 8
1224 Fri 24-Aug-2012 Can-Am * Ind. Lincoln 9, NEWARK 0
79 Sat 30-Mar-2013 New Jersey Div III RUTGERS-NEWARK 5, Montclair State 4, 11 inn, 1st
80 Sat 30-Mar-2013 New Jersey Div III Montclair State 2, RUTGERS-NEWARK 1, 2d
1266 Fri 9-Aug-2013 Can-Am Ind. Québec 6, NEWARK 3
1273 Thu 15-Aug-2013 Can-Am Ind. NJ Jackals 5, NEWARK 3
82 Sat 22-Mar-2014 Nonconference Div I NEW JERSEY TECH 2, Rider 1
85 Sat 28-Mar-2015 Nonconference Div I NEW JERSEY TECH 4, LIU Brooklyn 2, 2d
96 Sun 14-May-2017 Atlantic Sun Div I Kennesaw State 15, NEW JERSEY TECH 5
* Interleague play (vs. American Association).
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This page updated 19-Aug-2019