War Memorial Stadium...
"The Rockpile"  by

Bob Gaver

located in
Buffalo New York

Former home of the Buffalo Bisons!
"A group headed by Attorney Robert O. Swados, businessmen Van Beuren W. DeVries, J. Fred Schoellkopf, Paul A. Schoellkopf and George F. Goodyear had acquired the stock of Sportservice Corp. in 1965, and with it control of the club. The stated aims of the new operators were: 1. Restore the image of community ownership. 2. Bring major league baseball to Buffalo. They were to fail in both objectives a few years down the road. Meanwhile, failures on the field and at the box office were to assert themselves immediately. The team, under new Manager Warren (Sheriff) Robinson, was a disaster. At the end of May it was 8-21; on July 27 it was 30-79, and in the throes of a Buffalo-record 13-game losing streak. At this point, the Mets in need of a coach because of an injury to Casey Stengel, mercifully recalled Robinson and replaced him with Kerby Farrell. Under the old master the team did turn around (21-17), but not enough to avert the last place finish. The leading hitter, Cleon Jones, batted just .269. The three leading pitchers, Dennis Musgraves, Don Rowe and Darrell Sutherland, each won eight games; while Craig Anderson was 2-12, Carl Willey was 2-9 and Dennis Ribant 3-12. Duke Carmel, drafted in the fall of '64 by the Yankees for $25,000, was re-purchased for $12,500. He batted .163 in 82 games. Another old-timers game was scheduled. Again, it was rained out. Attendance withered to 97,695. The club announced it had lost $55,382" *Buffalo Bisons. The final record stood at a horrible 51-96 (.347).