History
Syracuse has been represented in professional baseball since 1877, when the Syracuse Stars competed in the League Alliance, an early minor league. Syracuse fielded two major league versions of the Stars: in the 1879 National League and the 1890 American Association. Apart from those seasons, however, the Stars were members of high minor leagues such as the Eastern League (forerunner to the International) and the New York State League through 1917. From 1918–27, they competed in the International League and were an early farm team of the St. Louis Cardinals. In 1928 the IL franchise moved to Montreal and became the Montreal Royals. The Stars moved down one classification to the New York–Penn League for 11⁄2 seasons before moving to Utica, New York.
The Chiefs' franchise dates back to 1934, when the International League's Jersey City Skeeters moved to Syracuse and were renamed the Chiefs. The franchise played in the IL through 1955 (winning five championships), but was sold and moved to Miami as the Marlins for the 1956 campaign. A team known as the Chiefs competed in the Class A Eastern League (then two levels below the IL) during 1956–57, but moved to Allentown, Pennsylvania on July 13, 1957. Syracuse was without baseball until the 1961 season, when the Royals franchise was abandoned by its owners (the Los Angeles Dodgers) and moved to Syracuse.
The Chiefs have played in Syracuse without interruption since their rebirth in 1961. The team was renamed the SkyChiefs in 1997. The name reverted to the original "Chiefs" in December 2006.
From 1978 to 2008, the Chiefs were the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. On September 20, 2008, the Chiefs signed a two-year affiliation agreement with the Washington Nationals, ending their relationship with the Blue Jays. The Toronto–Syracuse affiliation was the longest of the eleven major league affiliations the Chiefs have had since 1936.
The Chiefs played at MacArthur Stadium from 1934 to 1996, moving to then-P&C Stadium in 1997. In 2008, the Chiefs wore a decal on their uniforms with the letters "HB" to commemorate Harold Berman (former member of the Chiefs' board of directors), who died after the 2007 season. In 2009, the Chiefs wore a decal on their uniforms with the letters "HM" to commemorate Hy Miller (former state assemblyman and former director on the Chiefs' board), who died after the 2008 season.
In 2010 the Chiefs celebrated their 50th season of community-owned baseball (1961–2010), wearing 1961 jerseys during every Thursday home game. They also brought back radio announcers from the past, such as Syracuse University alumnus Sean McDonough and Dan Hoard. The Chiefs went 76–67, with top pitching prospect Stephen Strasburg going 2–1 in five appearances.
In 2011 the Chiefs played in their 51st season of community ownership, wearing throwback jerseys at every Thursday home game in celebration of the 35th anniversary of their last International League Governors' Cup championship team (managed by Syracuse Wall of Fame member, former manager Bobby Cox). The Chiefs added four alternate jerseys to their rotation for the season: one for Latin American Day, a second for Jackie Robinson Day (commemorating Negro League uniforms), a third for national holidays such as Independence Day and Memorial Day, and a fourth for Breast Cancer Awareness Night. The Chiefs played the Pawtucket Red Sox on August 20 at Fenway Park as part of a doubleheader in conjunction with the sixth annual Futures at Fenway event, featuring games involving Boston Red Sox minor-league teams. The Chiefs, behind starter Brad Meyers, defeated the PawSox 3–1 before more than 29,000 fans. At Alliance Bank Stadium the Chiefs added a "Home Plate Club" to the stadium: premium seating in the first four rows behind home plate, with waitstaff for merchandise and concessions.
On May 14, Chiefs DH Michael Aubrey went 4 for 4 (all hits home runs) in an 11–0 victory over the Durham Bulls, becoming only the second player in team history to hit four home runs in a game (Gene Locklear hit four home runs in one game on July 14, 1977). On August 27, Stephen Strasburg pitched his only rehab game for the Chiefs against the Rochester Red Wings. He gave up two hits in the sixth inning (his only hits allowed before departing with the Chiefs leading 1–0), although he received no decision in Syracuse's 4–3 win which won the Thruway Cup for the third time (their other wins were in 1999 and 2010). The club's record for the season was 66–74, 14 games out of first place and fourth in the six-team North Division.
In 2012, the Chiefs opened at home against the Rochester Red Wings on April 5. Top pick and prospect Bryce Harper (since promoted to the Nationals) made the opening day roster. Randy Knorr did not return for a second season as manager, as Tony Beasley was promoted from the Harrisburg Senators. The Chiefs will play all 16 games against the Scranton/Wilkes Barre Yankees at Alliance Bank Stadium in 2012 during stadium renovation in Moosic, Pennsylvania. On May 7 the Chiefs unveiled a new high-definition video board in left field, replacing the board which stood from the stadium's opening in 1997 to 2012.
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—Malcolm Bradbury (b. 1932)
“Like their personal lives, women’s history is fragmented, interrupted; a shadow history of human beings whose existence has been shaped by the efforts and the demands of others.”
—Elizabeth Janeway (b. 1913)
“To care for the quarrels of the past, to identify oneself passionately with a cause that became, politically speaking, a losing cause with the birth of the modern world, is to experience a kind of straining against reality, a rebellious nonconformity that, again, is rare in America, where children are instructed in the virtues of the system they live under, as though history had achieved a happy ending in American civics.”
—Mary McCarthy (1912–1989)