St Louis, MO - In a press conference from Batavia, NY, the St. Louis Cardinals and Batavia Muckdogs announced a new two-year player development agreement that will bring Cardinals baseball to Batavia beginning next season. By aligning with the Muckdogs, St. Louis was able to keep its short-season affiliation within the New York-Penn League. The Cardinals were affiliated with the State College Spikes this past season.
Cardinals' Assistant General Manager John Mozeliak attended the press conference in New York and said, "The club is pleased to be able to remain in the New York-Penn League. Batavia has always been a place our clubs have enjoyed playing at as visitors, so it will be nice to call Dwyer Stadium home." Mozeliak added, "We hope this two-year agreement is just the first of many years to come between the Cardinals and the Batavia organization."
St. Louis played at Augusta, New Jersey, from 1994-2005 until that team was purchased prior to this season and moved to University Park, PA., to become the State College Spikes. The State College club went 39-36 and finished in third place in the Pinckney Division, 3.5 games behind Auburn.
A rich tradition of baseball surrounds the Batavia club, as the city has hosted minor league baseball almost continuously since 1939. Batavia had been home to the Philadelphia Phillies short-season club for the past 19 years (since 1988).
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