THE PATERSON BLACK SOX
NORTH JERSEY ADULT SEMI-PRO BASEBALL CLUB
Founded: September 2003

Founded By:  Scottie Vaccaro

Home Fields:  Larry Doby Field, Totowa Oval, & Buckley Park (all of Paterson, NJ)

SUMMARY:

The Paterson Black Sox Baseball Club is an adult semi-pro baseball team that is based out of the historic city of Paterson, NJ.  The team plays in the northern New Jersey area during the spring & summer months.  The Black Sox are managed by Scottie Vaccaro, with Josh Osband as the assistant manager, and Jeff DiGiulio as the team's captain.  2012 will mark the team's fourteenth season in their tenth year as a franchise.
2003 - After dissatisfying experiences with teams that were poorly coached and organized Scottie Vaccaro decided to try managing for himself.  In the Summer of 2003 Vaccaro organized players, picked a name for the team and created the Paterson Black Sox.  They played their inaugural season with the MSM League in the fall in the Roy Campanella A Division.  Finished the season in first place with an 8-2 record and had a postseason record of 4-1.  Defeated the NJ Yellow Jackets in the finals to become the league champions.  Coach Vaccaro was named Manager of the Year and Vito Marichal won the league's Championship MVP.

2004 - Played in the Tommie Agee Division with the MSM League in the Summer.  Finished the season in first place in their conference with a 6-4 record and had a postseason record of 1-2.  Were defeated by the Midland Park Orioles in Game 3 of the Semi-Finals.  Also played in the fall league in the Roy Campanella A Division again finishing with a 6-4 record.  Lost in their first playoff game versus the Bergen Gamecocks.  Very ironically, the team won both opening day games in each season with their starting pitchers tossing a "No-Hitter"....Manny "BuBu" Rodriguez in the summer and Luis "Ferm" Fermin in the fall.

2005 - The Sox attempted something new, but it didn't work out.  Joined the RVNABA Wood Bat League and suffered their first losing season in franchise history finishing the year at 2-16.

2006 - After a disappointing season in 2005, the Sox recruited new players to strengthen their roster.  Joined the ABA League that spring and played in the AAA Metal Division, finishing the season 14-6 and had a 2-1 postseason record.  The Sox went as far as the Championship Finals, but lost to the NJ Cubs 12-8.  Also played in the fall league with the ABA in the AA Metal Division, but the effects of the Championship game that summer followed the team into the fall season and the Sox suffered a losing season with a 2-7 record and missed the playoffs.

2007 - The Sox return to the ABA for the spring and played in the AA Division...finishing the season tied with the second best record at 12-8, but lost their first playoff game to the West Orange Wolfpack.  After a dissatisfying experience with the commissioner Larry Frank and the ABA the Sox decided to return to the league where they belonged...Mitch Miles and the MSM League.  Joined Roy Campanella A Division that fall and finished with a record of 7-3.  The Sox lost their first playoff game to the Fairview Royals.

2008 - The Black Sox started the year in a position where they needed to recruit almost an entire roster.  Disappointing at first, the Sox would later learn that the acquisitions of their new players were a blessing to the franchise.  The Sox played in the Roy Campanella AA Division.  Got off to a poor start but picked it up late in the year and finished in third place in the conference with a 10-10 record.  The Sox won their first playoff game against the Elmwood Park Yankees but would lose the following day in Round 2 versus the team they beat to win the Championship in 2003...the New Milford Yellow Jackets.  The Yellow Jackets would ultimately win the Championship that summer.  Within one week of opening day of the fall league the Sox decided to join the league again recruiting players to fill open roster spots of players not interested in playing in the fall.  The Sox would however miss the playoffs finishing the season with a 3-7 record.

2009 - During the offseason the Black Sox received their first sponsorship...Jimmy Geez Sports Bar & Grill.  Tshirts were also donated by NJSA.  The team decided this year they needed a new look.  They opened the season with rare all-white uniforms.  The jerseys were sleeveless and pants had black stripe on the side.  They also added the color red to the team's design.  They were also one of the few teams to have both home and away uniforms (away uniforms were the previous home uniforms....black mesh jersey and white w/black pinstripe pants).  The Black Sox had high hopes coming into the season, with most of their players returning from the season before.  They returned to the MSM League Roy Campy AA Division  However, a poor 0-4 start and injuries and rainouts throughout the years plagued the Sox.  The Sox finished the season 7-13, which was good enough for third place in their conference and a seventh seed in the playoffs.  They played the much rivaled Fairview Royals in the first round.  The Sox looked promising at first, taking an early 9-1 lead....but the injuries and absense of players all season hurt them again the playoffs.  With a short pitching staff and lineup the Sox would lose the game in the end 13-12.  Just finishing short of their fourth semi-finals appearance in franchise history, the Sox were still pleased that they made the best of what they had and played well enough to make the playoffs.  The Sox did not play in the fall season, only their second time in seven years.

2010 - The Black Sox started the season with nine players returning from the previous year.  Jimmy Geez Sports Bar & Grill also returned to the team as their official team sponsor.  Nestle Waters of North America joined the Black Sox sponsorship team by donating a year supply of Poland Spring Water.  For the first time in team history the Sox wore custom team hats, which were black with a white letter "P" representing the city of Paterson outlined in red.  They also added "away/alternate" uniforms...wearing black tshirts with "Paterson" written in white on the front.  These shirts were worn with grey pants when the team played on the road, and worn with white pants as an "alternative" uniform.  Once again the Sox started the season slow but played strong in the middle of the year....starting 1-4-1 before improving to 5-4-1.  The team held the third seed in the league most of the year, but fell apart in the end due to injuries and absence of starting pitchers.  The Sox suffered nine losses by a run differential of three runs or less.  The Sox kept their composure in the postseason and defeated the Hudson Master Blasters (who beat the Black Sox all three times they met in the regular season) in the first round.  For the fourth time in franchise history the Black Sox advanced to the semi-finals where they faced the first place Fox & Hound Hurricanes.  The Hurricanes swept the Sox in two competitive games, and eventually advanced and won the championship.  The Sox finished the regular season at 8-11-1 with a postseason record of 1-2.

2011 - The Black Sox returned to the Roy Campanella AA Division (now called the Billy Miller League) for the fifth straight season.  The team started the season with fifteen players.  Jimmy Geez returned as the official team sponsor for the third straight year, Nestle Waters returned as the team's official water sponsor/supplier, and BIGS Sunflower Seeds joined the team donating a season's worth of assorted sunflower seeds.  The team began with a modest start, winning their opening day game and headed into the Memorial Weekend break with a 4-4 record.  The Sox picked up their sixth win of the season versus the Fairview Royals at the Totowa Oval in Paterson, which also marked the team's 100th franchise victory.  Their best record of the season was after their close Father's Day win with a record of 7-5, which at the time was good for third place.  However, the team would suffer six straight losses to drop to 7-11.  The team's eighth, and most important, win of the season came against the Middlesex Twins late in July.  Diego "El Once" Santos pitched a complete game shutout to lead the Sox to a 10-0 victory...which resulted in the Sox clinching a playoff berth.  The team finished the season 8-12, which ranked them fifth in the league.  The Sox traveled down the shore to face the Shore Hammerheads in the first round of the playoffs. After defeating this team two of three times they faced off in the regular season, the Sox would suffer a loss and elimination from the playoffs.
TIMELINE OF THE PATERSON BLACK SOX FRANCHISE

TOTAL SEASONS:
13

REGULAR SEASON:
W-L
93-103-1 (.474)

POSTSEASON:
W-L
9-12 (.428)

COMBINED RECORD:
W-L
102-115-1 (.470)

TOAL GAMES PLAYED:
218

CHAMPIONSHIPS:
1

CHAMPIONSHIP APPEARANCES:
2

PLAYOFF SEASONS:
10