Team Which Started After Thunder Bay Whiskey Jacks Relocated

Independent Baseball Trivia Question

On September 28, 1998 the press release came out from the Northern League about the Thunder Bay Whiskey Jacks team being sold and relocated.  Which team replaced the Whiskey Jacks in 1999?

Answer:

The Schaumburg Flyers.  Link to archived press release here:  https://web.archive.org/web/19991114081931/http://www.northernleague.com/releases/092898.html

Release reads as follows:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 28, 1998

For Information Contact:   Brian Newport, NL Media Relations (919) 956-8150 northernlg@earthlink.net

Whiskey Jacks Sold, Will Relocate to Schaumburg, IL

Durham, NC – The Thunder Bay Whiskey Jacks have been sold to an ownership group in Schaumburg, IL, where they will relocate and begin play in 1999. The sale and relocation were approved at the Northern League’s annual board of director’s meeting in Minneapolis over the weekend. Thunder Bay, a member of the Northern League since its revival in 1993, was unable to secure a local buyer. It had gone through some financial difficulty following a strike by Thunder Bay’s unionized city workers in mid-May. The city-owned stadium was closed for a month, costing the club more than $200,000 in lost ticket sales, concessions and merchandise. Ticket sales throughout the 1998 season had faced a steady decline. Schaumburg, whose “Flyers” will sport uniforms and caps of navy, gold and burnt orange, begin play in 1999 in a new, 7,000 seat stadium. The neo-classic ballpark, which is being funded by the Village and the Schaumburg Park District, will cost upwards of $12 million and will be located between the Village Metro Station on Springingsguth Rd. and the Elgin O’Hare Expressway. The stadium will feature the same field dimensions as Chicago’s Wrigley Field as well as ivy-covered walls. The Flyers will be lead by managing owner Rich Ehrenrich and general manager John Dittrich. Former Chicago White Sox slugger Ron Kittle has been named the club’s field manager. He will inherit a Whiskey Jacks roster than won the first-half Eastern Division title in 1998.

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