The Olean Oilers were a minor league

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

team located in

Olean, New York Olean ( ) is a city in Cattaraugus County, New York, United States. Olean is the largest city in Cattaraugus County and serves as its financial, business, transportation and entertainment center. It is one of the principal cities of the Souther ...

which played primarily in the

New York–Pennsylvania League New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

from 1939 to 1966, with a hiatus in 1960. Starting in 1959, the team shared nicknames with its major league affiliates. A 2012 collegiate team with the same name played in the New York Collegiate Baseball League for several years. Both teams played their home games at Bradner Stadium.

History

Professional team

The team played in the

from 1939 to 1951 and from 1955 to 1958. The league was known as the Pennsylvania–Ontario–New York League from 1939 to 1956. Their inaugural home game on 11 May 1939 was played in front of 3,300 spectators. The Oilers were affiliated with the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Californi ...

from 1939 to 1948, the St. Louis Browns in 1949, and the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

from 1956 to 1958. The Oilers played their home games at Bradner Stadium. The Oilers' president, Josephine Ross, was the only female president of an affiliated minor league team in 1959.

Collegiate summer team

Starting in 2012, the Olean Oilers name was revived as a member of the New York Collegiate Baseball League. The team began play in the summer of 2012, initially playing on the campus of Saint Bonaventure University before returning to a renovated Bradner Stadium in 2014; a crowd of nearly 2,000 fans watched the Oilers during their first game back at Bradner. In their fourth year of play as an amateur squad, the Oilers won the 2015 NYCBL championship; the next year, the team went on a 24-game winning streak near the beginning of the season, doubling the previous league record, en route to a league record 39 wins and a second consecutive championship, won before a league record 2,876 fans at Bradner. Despite concerns over competitive balance as well as admitted discussions with the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, the Oilers have shown a general preference to stay in the NYCBL for 2017.

Year-by-year professional record

Notable alumni

* Mike Andrews (1962) MLB All-Star * Ralph Branca (1943) 3 x MLB All-Star *

Jim Coates James Alton Coates (August 4, 1932 – November 15, 2019) was an American professional baseball pitcher. A right-hander, Coates pitched in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees (1956, 1959–62), Washington Senators (1963), Cincinnati ...

(1951) 2 x MLB All-Star *

Hal Gregg Harold Dana Gregg (July 11, 1921 – May 13, 1991) was a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Brooklyn Dodgers (1943–47), Pittsburgh Pirates (1948–50) and New York Giants (1952). Gregg batted and threw right-handed. ...

(1941) MLB All-Star *

Jim Hannan James John Hannan (January 7, 1940 in Jersey City, New Jersey) is an American retired professional baseball player who pitched in Major League Baseball from 1962 to 1971 for the Washington Senators, Detroit Tigers and Milwaukee Brewers. The ...

(1961) * Ken Harrelson (1959) MLB All-Star *

Gene Hermanski Eugene Victor Hermanski (May 11, 1920 – August 9, 2010) was a Major League Baseball outfielder. A native of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, he attended Seton Hall University. Signed by the Philadelphia Athletics as an amateur free agent in 1939, Her ...

(1941) * Bob Montgomery (1962) * Bobby Morgan (1944) *

Danny Ozark Daniel Leonard Ozark, born ''Orzechowski'' (November 26, 1923 – May 7, 2009), was an American coach and manager in Major League Baseball. As manager of the Philadelphia Phillies (1973–August 31, 1979), Ozark led the Phils to three consecutive ...

(1942) * Paul Owens (1951, 1955-1957) *

Bobby Richardson Robert Clinton Richardson, Jr. (born August 19, 1935) is an American former professional baseball second baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees from 1955 through 1966. Batting and throwing right-handed, he ...

(1953) 8 x MLB All-Star; 1960 World Series Most Valuable Player *

Andre Rodgers Kenneth Andre Ian Rodgers (December 2, 1934 – December 13, 2004) was a Major League Baseball shortstop who played for the New York / San Francisco Giants (1957–60), Chicago Cubs (1961–64), and Pittsburgh Pirates (1965–67). He also played ...

(1954) * Stan Rojek (1939) * Mike Ryan (1961) * José Santiago (1959) MLB All-Star *

Dick Stigman Richard Lewis Stigman (born January 24, 1936) is an American former professional baseball player, a left-handed pitcher who appeared in seven Major League seasons (1960–1966) for the Cleveland Indians, Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox. Born ...

(1955) 2 x MLB All-Star

References

External links

Baseball ReferenceOfficial site of the current team
This article is based on th
"Olean Oilers"
article at Baseball-Reference.com Bullpen. The Bullpen is a wiki, and its content is available under the

GNU Free Documentation License The GNU Free Documentation License (GNU FDL or simply GFDL) is a copyleft license for free documentation, designed by the Free Software Foundation (FSF) for the GNU Project. It is similar to the GNU General Public License, giving readers the r ...

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