It Ain’t Over ’til It’s Over. Now, It’s Over.



Main entrance to Yogi Berra Stadium, Jul-2002.

Interior of Yogi Berra Stadium, from the right-field berm, Jun-2004.

A gleaming office building punctuates the tree-lined setting on the north end of the Montclair State
University campus. This photo is from Jul-1998.

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Quick Facts: Rating: 3 baseballs
Since the last minor league games were played at Jersey City’s Roosevelt Stadium in 1978, there had been no professional baseball in the closer New Jersey suburbs of New York until the Northeast League came calling.

Floyd Hall, chief executive officer of K mart and a resident of Montclair, had a stadium and an ice arena built on Montclair State University lands in Little Falls, adjacent to the academic campus in Montclair. When an opening arose in the Northeast League, Hall bought in and started the New Jersey Jackals. The stadium was finished just hours before the home opener in May 1998. Fans hungry for economical entertainment flocked to the ball park for a fun night out. (Hall sold the team to Al Dorso in the spring of 2017. Dorso also owns the Sussex County Miners.)

Attendance at the modest park tailed off after a booming start, as the novelty wore off and local competition arrived in nearby Newark. However, the Jackals have held their own. Competitive teams haven’t hurt, either, as the Jackals won the Northeast League title four times in their first seven seasons.

The Jackals’ run at Montclair State ended in August 2022. The next month, the club announced that they were relocating to a refurbished Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson, one of only a few stadiums left in the nation that hosted Negro League baseball. Of course, the Red Hawks will continue to play here, and they have since been joined by the NJIT Highlanders, who put money into renovating the facility after utilizing several homes once Riverfront Stadium in Newark was demolished.

Getting to the Game

The stadium is on the north end of the university campus. An access ramp from Valley Road leads to the field and adjacent Yogi Berra Museum, opened about six months after the stadium and dedicated to the former catcher and manager, a Montclair resident until his death in 2015. However, the access ramp is one-way onto campus. All egress is to the south, making it difficult to leave the facility after a crowded game.

After about two seasons, the Jackals made a deal with the university parking manager to allow fans to park for free (building the cost into the ticket price). However, due to the expansion of dormitory housing and campus recreational facilities, parking near the stadium is limited, especially once school is back in session. Many fans now park in a relatively new garage located down the campus road.

NJ Transit rail serves the campus; Montclair State University Station at Little Falls is a short walk from the ballpark. However, trains only run on weekdays, and service is limited late at night. The closest bus on weekends leaves patrons on the south end of campus, and it is a ten-minute walk to the ball field.

Watching the Game

There are just two classes of seating, “box” and “bleacher”, $12 and $10 as of 2015. If the seating bowl sells out, which it can do on a fireworks night, the team will sell standing room tickets for $5.

“Box” seats are red plastic folding seats (which over time have bleached out to a deep shade of pink), taking up the majority of the bowl; aluminum bleachers with red backs flank these, above the cross aisle. Red is a prominent color for both the Jackals and the Red Hawks. The original plans had several suites being erected above the seating bowl, but those were never built. There is an owner’s box next to the press box, and there is also a private “sky box” built out from the museum.

Unfortunately, the same lack of suites that helps make for a more homey atmosphere also makes this a very difficult park during sunny afternoons or on rainy days. The only shelter from which the game is visible is under the Yogi box or under some picnic umbrellas.

Lineups are posted on a whiteboard behind the press box, the only place on the concourse where one cannot see the game. The team also prints copies of the lineup and game notes and distributes them free of charge, in addition to selling a program.

Enjoying the Game

While the concourse does not wrap around the stadium, there is a grass berm extending partway around the right-field foul pole, a popular area for kids to expend some energy and shag foul balls. This extends a modest kids’ zone down the first-base line. There is also a small arcade behind the plate. The Jackals also offer birthday party tables along the third-base concourse and a group picnic area down the third-base line, near the home bullpen.

Like most teams, the Jackals run all sorts of between-inning promotions. One of the most enduring is their variation on the mascot race, called “Tackle the Jackal”, in which the youngster catches up to the mascot as in any race but, instead of winning a race to the plate, is encouraged to tackle Jack the Jackal somewhere past third base.

Pictured is Scott Freier, aka “Trumpet Guy”, who has played at over a thousand baseball games since the early 1990s. He used to put in regular appearances with the New Jersey Cardinals, and he has been known to travel as far as Virginia to toot his horn, but he has established a home base with the Jackals since the club was started. From his seat in Section FF above the cross aisle near the third-base dugout, Freier serenades opposing batters with the “Army Duff” when they strike out, a la the old Dodger Sym-Phony at Ebbets Field, and he plays other tunes in an effort to rally the Jackals.


Game Date League Level Result
305 Fri 3-Jul-1998 Northeast Ind. NJ JACKALS 6, Massachusetts 4
314 Wed 22-Jul-1998 Northeast Ind. NJ JACKALS 4, Albany 1
322 Fri 7-Aug-1998 Northeast Ind. NJ JACKALS 9, Elmira 6
46 Wed 14-Apr-1999 BCSL American HS Rutherford 4, CLIFFSIDE PARK 0
18 Sat 22-May-1999 NCAA Regional Div III New Jersey 11, MONTCLAIR STATE 6
357 Fri 18-Jun-1999 Northeast Ind. NJ JACKALS 14, Adirondack 4
407 Tue 4-Jul-2000 Northeast Ind. NJ JACKALS 6, Allentown 3
501 Sat 1-Sep-2001 Northeast Ind. NJ JACKALS 3, Albany 2, 10 inn
510 Fri 21-Sep-2001 Northeast Ind. Elmira 10, NJ JACKALS 3
19 Sat 23-Mar-2002 Nonconference Div III SUNY Cortland 6, MONTCLAIR STATE 3
531 Tue 16-Jul-2002 Northeast Ind. NJ JACKALS 11, Brockton 8
552 Wed 21-Aug-2002 Northeast Ind. NJ JACKALS 5, Allentown 2
556 Wed 28-Aug-2002 Northeast Ind. NJ JACKALS 2, Berkshire 0
564 Wed 4-Sep-2002 Northeast Ind. NJ JACKALS 3, Elmira 0
565 Thu 5-Sep-2002 Northeast Ind. NJ JACKALS 2, Elmira 1
569 Mon 9-Sep-2002 Northeast Ind. NJ JACKALS 13, Adirondack 1
570 Tue 10-Sep-2002 Northeast Ind. NJ JACKALS 9, Adirondack 3
22 Fri 18-Apr-2003 New Jersey Div III MONTCLAIR STATE 7, Kean 6
586 Fri 13-Jun-2003 Northeast Ind. NJ JACKALS 5, Québec 1
600 Sat 21-Jul-2003 Northeast Ind. North Shore 7, NJ JACKALS 6
613 Wed 6-Aug-2003 Northeast Ind. Québec 2, NJ JACKALS 1, 1st
614 Wed 6-Aug-2003 Northeast Ind. NJ JACKALS 4, Québec 3, 2d
644 Thu 4-Sep-2003 Northeast Ind. NJ JACKALS 10, Brockton 0
645 Fri 5-Sep-2003 Northeast Ind. Brockton 3, NJ JACKALS 1
26 Sun 28-Mar-2004 Nonconference Div III Rensselaer 9, MONTCLAIR STATE 6, 8 inn, 2d
659 Fri 18-Jun-2004 Northeast Ind. NJ JACKALS 9, Québec 1
665 Fri 9-Jul-2004 Northeast Ind. NJ Jackals 7, ACES 1
668 Tue 13-Jul-2004 Northeast Ind. NJ JACKALS 1, Elmira 0, 2d
688 Fri 6-Aug-2004 Northeast Ind. NJ JACKALS 9, New Haven 1
710 Fri 27-Aug-2004 Northeast Ind. NJ JACKALS 5, Bangor 4
713 Sun 29-Aug-2004 Northeast Ind. Bangor 22, NJ JACKALS 2
714 Mon 30-Aug-2004 Northeast Ind. NJ JACKALS 6, Bangor 0
716 Wed 1-Sep-2004 Northeast Ind. NJ JACKALS 6, Elmira 2
718 Fri 3-Sep-2004 Northeast Ind. NJ JACKALS 10, Elmira 3
722 Thu 9-Sep-2004 Northeast Ind. NJ JACKALS 5, Bangor 4, 10 inn
723 Fri 10-Sep-2004 Northeast Ind. NJ JACKALS 5, Bangor 4
726 Thu 16-Sep-2004 Northeast Ind. North Shore 2, NJ JACKALS 1
740 Sun 19-Jun-2005 Can-Am Ind. Worcester 6, NJ JACKALS 2
753 Sat 23-Jul-2005 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 6, North Shore 0
762 Fri 5-Aug-2005 Can-Am Ind. Grays 13, NJ JACKALS 11
783 Tue 30-Aug-2005 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 7, Worcester 4
784 Wed 31-Aug-2005 Can-Am Ind. Worcester 8, NJ JACKALS 7, 12 inn
785 Thu 1-Sep-2005 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 9, Worcester 1
37 Sat 25-Mar-2006 Nonconference Div III SUNY Cortland 7, MONTCLAIR STATE 1
38 Sat 1-Apr-2006 New Jersey Div III MONTCLAIR STATE 7, Rowan 6, 1st
39 Sat 1-Apr-2006 New Jersey Div III Rowan 2, MONTCLAIR STATE 1, 2d
810 Sat 3-Jun-2006 Can-Am Ind. Worcester 6, NJ JACKALS 3, 1st
811 Sat 3-Jun-2006 Can-Am Ind. Worcester 5, NJ JACKALS 3, 2d
813 Fri 30-Jun-2006 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 13, Sussex 0
837 Mon 14-Aug-2006 Can-Am Ind. Québec 12, NJ JACKALS 5
840 Fri 18-Aug-2006 Can-Am Ind. New Haven 12, NJ JACKALS 2
43 Sat 7-Apr-2007 New Jersey Div III Rutgers-Camden 5, MONTCLAIR STATE 2, 1st
44 Sat 7-Apr-2007 New Jersey Div III MONTCLAIR STATE 26, Rutgers-Camden 8, 2d
865 Sun 17-Jun-2007 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 8, Grays 4
874 Thu 2-Aug-2007 Can-Am Ind. Atlantic City 7, NJ JACKALS 2
902 Fri 7-Sep-2007 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 3, Nashua 1
903 Sun 9-Sep-2007 Can-Am Ind. Nashua 4, NJ JACKALS 0
46 Fri 21-Mar-2008 Nonconference Div III SUNY-Cortland 11, MONTCLAIR STATE 2
50 Sun 6-Apr-2008 New Jersey Div III MONTCLAIR STATE 15, Ramapo 9, 1st
51 Sun 6-Apr-2008 New Jersey Div III Ramapo 4, MONTCLAIR STATE 1, 2d
929 Fri 18-Jul-2008 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 5, Worcester 2
941 Sun 3-Aug-2008 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 5, Ottawa 2
950 Sun 17-Aug-2008 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 6, Atlantic City 4
957 Sun 24-Aug-2008 Can-Am Ind. Brockton 7, NJ JACKALS 5
960 Thu 28-Aug-2008 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 6, Sussex 4
52 Sat 21-Mar-2009 Nonconference Div III MONTCLAIR STATE 5, SUNY Cortland 4
53 Sat 28-Mar-2009 New Jersey Div III MONTCLAIR STATE 5, Rutgers-Camden 3, 1st
54 Sat 28-Mar-2009 New Jersey Div III MONTCLAIR STATE 8, Rutgers-Camden 3, 2d
1005 Fri 7-Aug-2009 Can-Am Ind. Québec 4, NJ JACKALS 3, 12 inn
1008 Mon 10-Aug-2009 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 12, Nashua 1
1011 Thu 13-Aug-2009 Can-Am Ind. NH Defenders 8, NJ JACKALS 6
1027 Tue 1-Sep-2009 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 5, Worcester 4, 10 inn
1029 Thu 3-Sep-2009 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 6, Worcester 5, 10 inn
63 Sat 20-Mar-2010 Nonconference Div III MONTCLAIR STATE 5, Rensselaer 2
64 Sun 21-Mar-2010 Nonconference Div III Rensselaer 9, MONTCLAIR STATE 6, 10 inn
67 Fri 2-Apr-2010 New Jersey Div III MONTCLAIR STATE 6, Rutgers-Newark 4
68 Sat 3-Apr-2010 New Jersey Div III Rowan 8, MONTCLAIR STATE 7, 1st
69 Sat 3-Apr-2010 New Jersey Div III Rowan 6, MONTCLAIR STATE 3, 2d
1058 Thu 10-Jun-2010 Can-Am Ind. Pittsfield 6, NJ JACKALS 0
1059 Sat 19-Jun-2010 Can-Am Ind. Québec 5, NJ JACKALS 1
1062 Wed 28-Jul-2010 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 4, Brockton 1
1073 Fri 13-Aug-2010 Can-Am Ind. Worcester 10, NJ JACKALS 2, 1st
1074 Fri 13-Aug-2010 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 2, Worcester 0, 2d
1082 Fri 20-Aug-2010 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 5, Sussex 4
73 Fri 22-Apr-2011 New Jersey Div III MONTCLAIR STATE 12, William Paterson 2
1122 Wed 22-Jun-2011 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 2, NY Federals 1
1123 Thu 23-Jun-2011 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 15, NY Federals 7
1128 Fri 22-Jul-2011 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 4, NY Federals 3
1134 Tue 2-Aug-2011 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 2, Québec 0
1146 Tue 16-Aug-2011 Can-Am Ind. NY Federals 8, NJ JACKALS 4
1155 Fri 26-Aug-2011 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 5, Brockton 4, 8 inn, 1st
1156 Fri 26-Aug-2011 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 3, Brockton 2, 8 inn, 2d
1157 Sat 27-Aug-2011 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 5, Brockton 3
1160 Mon 29-Aug-2011 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 5, Brockton 1
1161 Tue 30-Aug-2011 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 6, Newark 1
1173 Tue 13-Sep-2011 Can-Am Ind. Québec 3, NJ JACKALS 0
1174 Wed 14-Sep-2011 Can-Am Ind. Québec 4, NJ JACKALS 3
1187 Mon 25-Jun-2012 Can-Am Ind. Québec 3, NJ JACKALS 0
1191 Sat 7-Jul-2012 Can-Am Ind. Newark 4, NJ JACKALS 2
1193 Fri 13-Jul-2012 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 4, Rockland 3
1204 Fri 3-Aug-2012 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 3, Newark 2
1228 Tue 28-Aug-2012 Can-Am Ind. Newark 11, NJ JACKALS 9
1230 Thu 30-Aug-2012 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 10, Newark 3
1231 Fri 31-Aug-2012 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 10, Newark 9
1238 Mon 10-Sep-2012 Can-Am Ind. Québec 10, NJ JACKALS 3
1262 Mon 5-Aug-2013 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 4, Newark 1
1267 Sat 10-Aug-2013 Can-Am * Ind. NJ JACKALS 3, Wichita 1, 1st
1268 Sat 10-Aug-2013 Can-Am * Ind. Wichita 2, NJ JACKALS 1, 2d
1292 Fri 6-Sep-2013 Can-Am Ind. Québec 6, NJ JACKALS 4
1293 Sat 7-Sep-2013 Can-Am Ind. Québec 5, NJ JACKALS 4
1310 Thu 19-Jun-2014 Can-Am * Ind. Winnipeg 2, NJ JACKALS 1
1321 Sat 26-Jul-2014 Can-Am Ind. Trois-Rivières 12, NJ JACKALS 10
1326 Fri 1-Aug-2014 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 4, Rockland 3
1330 Mon 4-Aug-2014 Can-Am Ind. Québec 8, NJ JACKALS 1
1333 Fri 8-Aug-2014 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 4, Rockland 1
1357 Wed 3-Sep-2014 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 3, Rockland 2
1358 Thu 4-Sep-2014 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 3, Rockland 2
1361 Mon 8-Sep-2014 Can-Am Ind. Rockland 4, NJ JACKALS 0
1381 Fri 19-Jun-2015 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 3, Ottawa 1
1395 Sun 2-Aug-2015 Can-Am Ind. Rockland 10, NJ JACKALS 4
1401 Tue 11-Aug-2015 Can-Am Ind. Trois-Rivières 9, NJ JACKALS 5
1411 Fri 21-Aug-2015 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 11, Québec 3
1414 Mon 24-Aug-2015 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 18, Garden State Grays 0
1432 Wed 9-Sep-2015 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 4, Québec 3
1433 Fri 11-Sep-2015 Can-Am Ind. Québec 4, NJ JACKALS 3
1439 Fri 18-Sep-2015 Can-Am Ind. Trois-Rivières 7, NJ JACKALS 3
1440 Sat 19-Sep-2015 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 7, Trois-Rivières 5
1441 Sun 20-Sep-2015 Can-Am Ind. Trois-Rivières 2, NJ JACKALS 1
1454 Fri 27-May-2016 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 7, Trois-Rivières 2
1460 Thu 16-Jun-2016 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 5, Shikoku Island 3
1482 Mon 15-Aug-2016 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 3, Québec 1
1485 Wed 17-Aug-2016 Can-Am Ind. Québec 7, NJ JACKALS 5, 1st
1486 Wed 17-Aug-2016 Can-Am Ind. Québec 3, NJ JACKALS 2, 2d
1516 Fri 9-Sep-2016 Can-Am Ind. Ottawa 8, NJ JACKALS 3
1554 Wed 14-Jun-2017 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 17, Dominican 8
1557 Thu 22-Jun-2017 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 4, Cuba 3
1561 Fri 21-Jul-2017 Can-Am Ind. Ottawa 6, NJ JACKALS 2
1577 Fri 11-Aug-2017 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 4, Sussex County 3, 11 inn
1581 Mon 14-Aug-2017 Can-Am Ind. Rockland 6, NJ JACKALS 2
1584 Thu 17-Aug-2017 Can-Am Ind. Rockland 4, NJ JACKALS 1
1606 Thu 7-Sep-2017 Can-Am Ind. Rockland 3, NJ JACKALS 1
1643 Sat 9-Jun-2018 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 5, Rockland 3
1647 Wed 13-Jun-2018 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 15, Dominican 0
1656 Thu 28-Jun-2018 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 6, Salina 2
1664 Wed 11-Jul-2018 Can-Am Ind. Rockland 5, NJ JACKALS 4, 11 inn
1667 Wed 18-Jul-2018 Can-Am Ind. NJ JACKALS 1, Trois-Rivières 0, 11 inn, day
* Interleague play (vs. American Association).
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