The Road Warriors are a

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

team owned by the

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, and the headquarters are l ...

. The

traveling team In professional team sports, a traveling team (also called a road team) is a member of a professional league that never competes in a home arena or stadium. This differs from a barnstorming team as a barnstorming team competes in exhibition games ...

has operated intermittently throughout the league's history, usually being activated in years when the league otherwise has an odd number of teams.

History

The original plan was for the team to be known as the Lehigh Valley Black Diamonds, based in

Northampton County, Pennsylvania Northampton County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 312,951. Its county seat is Easton. The county was formed in 1752 from parts of Bucks County. Its namesake was the c ...

, where a planned 5,000-seat stadium called the Lehigh Valley Multi-Purpose Sport Complex in Williams Township near

Easton, Pennsylvania Easton is a city in and the county seat of Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city's population was 28,127 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Easton is located at the confluence of the Lehigh River and the Delawa ...

, was slated to be completed by 1999. In the interim, the team played the league's inaugural 1998 season as the Newburgh Black Diamonds at

Delano-Hitch Stadium Delano-Hitch Stadium is a stadium in Newburgh (city), New York, Newburgh, New York (state), New York; it has a current capacity of 3,100. Early years Baseball in Newburgh goes back to the 1860s: the Hudson River club played from 1863 to 1867, co ...

Newburgh, New York Newburgh is a City (New York), city in Orange County, New York, United States. With a population of 28,856 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is a principal city of the Kiryas Joel–Poughkeepsie–Newburgh metropolitan area. ...

. However, the owners of the Lehigh Valley complex and the team filed for

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

and left the stadium unfinished. Rather than stay in Newburgh, the league took over the franchise and transformed it into a traveling team. In 2000, the team played in a small ballpark in

Quakertown, Pennsylvania Quakertown is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of 2020, it had a population of 9,359. The borough is south of Allentown, Pennsylvania, Allentown and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Bethlehem and nor ...

, with little to no fan support. One game had a paid attendance of two people. Former

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

third baseman Wayne Krenchicki managed the team from 1998 to 2000 before becoming the manager of the

Camden Riversharks The Camden Riversharks were an United States, American professional baseball team based in Camden, New Jersey, from 2001 to 2015. They were a member of the Liberty Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, then unaffiliated with ...

from 2001 to 2006. The Lehigh Valley Multi-Purpose Sport Complex was demolished in early 2005, without ever hosting a single baseball game. The team was renamed the Pennsylvania Road Warriors for the 2002–2004 seasons. In 2005, the

Lancaster Barnstormers The Lancaster Stormers (formerly known as the Lancaster Barnstormers) is an American professional baseball team based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It is a member of the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a "partner l ...

took the place of the Road Warriors. When the Nashua Pride left to join the

Can-Am League The Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball, commonly known as the Can-Am League, was a professional baseball league with teams in Eastern Canada and Northeastern United States. Founded in 2005 in Dayton, Ohio, the league was for ...

, the league re-established the Road Warriors for the 2006 season to replace the Pride. With the move of the

Atlantic City Surf The Atlantic City Surf were a professional minor league baseball team based in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The Surf was most recently a member of the Can-Am League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. The Surf played its home gam ...

to the Can-Am League for the 2007 season, the Road Warriors remained to fill the gaps in the schedule until the

Southern Maryland Blue Crabs The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs are an American professional baseball team based in Waldorf, Maryland. They are members of the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, an independent "partner league" of Major League Base ...

joined in 2008. The Road Warriors returned in 2011 to fill in scheduling holes left by the departing

Newark Bears The Newark Bears were an American independent league professional baseball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They were a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and, later, the Canadian American Association of Professional Bas ...

and in 2018 as part of the

Bridgeport Bluefish The Bridgeport Bluefish were an American minor league baseball team based in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The team was a member of the Liberty Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, which was not affiliated with Major League Baseb ...

's relocation to

High Point, North Carolina High Point is a city in the Piedmont Triad region of the United States, U.S. state of North Carolina. Most of the city is in Guilford County, North Carolina, Guilford County, with parts extending into Randolph County, North Carolina, Randolph, ...

; that relocation was scheduled to be completed before the 2019 season. They were to be activated again for the 2020 season following the departure of the

New Britain Bees The New Britain Bees are an American collegiate summer baseball team based in New Britain, Connecticut. They are a member of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL), a wood-bat league with teams in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connectic ...

to the

Futures Collegiate Baseball League The Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL) is a collegiate summer baseball league that began play in 2011. Entering the 2025 season, the league has two active franchises in Massachusetts, two in Connecticut, and one each in New Hampshire and ...

, but did not compete as the season was canceled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Following the addition of the

Staten Island FerryHawks The Staten Island FerryHawks are an American minor-league professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Staten Island. They are a member of the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a "partner league ...

as the ALPB's ninth team in 2022, the "filler" team spot that would've normally been given to the Road Warriors was purchased by the owners of the

Lexington Legends The Lexington Legends are an American professional baseball team based in Lexington, Kentucky. They are a member of the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a "partner league" of Major League Baseball. The Legends have ...

. This team, the

Wild Health Genomes The Wild Health Genomes were an United States, American professional baseball team based in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 2022, they were a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, an MLB Partner League. The Genomes were owned ...

, shared Wild Health Field with the Legends and were replaced by the Spire City Ghost Hounds in 2023 and the

Hagerstown Flying Boxcars The Hagerstown Flying Boxcars are a professional baseball team that began play in 2024 in Hagerstown, Maryland. The franchise competes in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball in the North Division and play their home games at Meritus Par ...

in 2024. The 2004 Pennsylvania Road Warriors finished with the worst record in Atlantic League history at 23–103. The Road Warriors' 2007 season proved to be their most successful as they finished at 43–83. Contributing to the team's disadvantage is the Atlantic League does not grant the team any "designated" home games, meaning they never receive the

home field advantage In team sports, the term home advantage – also called home ground, home field, home-field advantage, home court, home-court advantage, defender's advantage or home-ice advantage – describes the benefit that the home (sports), home team ...

other teams have, so must always hit first. (This is in contrast to

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

policy, which grants "designated home" status to teams forced to move games to their opponent's stadium.) There have been two players to make it to Major League Baseball after suiting up for the Road Warriors. Catcher

Robinson Cancel Robinson Cancel Castro (born May 4, 1976) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1999 to 2011 for the Milwaukee Brewers, New York Mets, and Houston Astros. Early life Cancel was ...

appeared in 19 games for the 2003 Road Warriors before making it back to MLB in 2008 with the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

. Pitcher Alberto Castillo also made it to the major leagues with the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

. Castillo pitched for the Road Warriors in 2006 and 2007 before being invited to spring training with the Orioles in 2008. Castillo quickly pitched his way up the system and appeared in 28 games with the O's going 1–0 with a 3.81 ERA and 23 strikeouts.

Retired numbers

*42,

Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first Black American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the Baseball color line, ...

, retired throughout baseball

References

External links

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball
{{Atlantic League Atlantic League of Professional Baseball teams Traveling teams