The Youngstown Ohio Works baseball team was a minor league club that was known for winning the premier championship of the Ohio–Pennsylvania League in 1905,[1] and for launching the professional career of pitcher Roy Castleton a year later.[2] A training ground for several players and officials who later established careers in Major League Baseball, the team proved a formidable regional competitor and also won the 1906 league championship.
During its brief span of activity, the Ohio Works team faced challenges that reflected common difficulties within the Ohio–Pennsylvania League, including weak financial support for teams.[3] Following a dispute over funding, the team's owners sold the club to outside investors, just a few months before the opening of the 1907 season.[4]
The club's strong record and regional visibility spurred the growth of amateur and minor league baseball in the Youngstown area, and the community's minor league teams produced notable players throughout the first half of the 20th century.[5] In the late 1990s, this tradition was rekindled, with the establishment of the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, a minor league team based in neighboring Niles, Ohio.[6]
- ^ Holl, Jim. "Ohio–Pennsylvania League of 1905". Society for American Baseball Research. Archived from the original on November 7, 2003. Retrieved March 4, 2007.
- ^ Roy Castleton at the SABR Baseball Biography Project , by Craig Lammers, Retrieved 2007-03-08.
- ^ Spalding's Official Athletic Library Baseball Guide (New York: American Sports Publishing Co., 1910), p. 217.
- ^ "Why Hogan Withdrew". The Youngstown Vindicator. February 24, 1907.
- ^ Landolf, Charles A. (April 1, 1977). "Youngstown Once Main Link in Minor League Loop Baseball Chain". The Youngstown Vindicator. p. 26.
- ^ "Mahoning Valley Scrappers Web site". Mahoning Valley Scrappers. Retrieved March 8, 2007.