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The days of the Wilkes-Barre Barons were numbered in 1955 as the Eastern League announced the franchise was moving in less than a week.
				Eastern League president Thomas H. Richardson made the announcement a day after the league&rsquo;s Board of Directors held an emergency meeting in Wilkes-Barre. The vote was unanimous to move the team to Johnstown where it would be renamed the Johnnies and begin play there on July 1. Manager Mike McCormick and general manager Chuck Lucas were retained.
				Johnstown lost pro baseball five years earlier when the Class C Middle Atlantic League folded. Wilkes-Barre had been a member of the Eastern League, which was formally the New York-Penn League, every year since 1923 &mdash; except for 1952 when the team moved to Reading.
				Team officials warned weeks earlier if attendance didn&rsquo;t improve at Artillery Park, the team would move. The Barons drew 1,921 fans for their season opener on April 19, but their average attendance through the first 38 home games was 732. A crowd of 888 showed up for the game on the day the announcement was made.
				The following day, the Barons announced fans would be admitted free, yet only about 1,400 spectators showed up. They swept a doubleheader from Albany, winning 5-4 in the completion of a game suspended May 8 and 8-7 in the regularly scheduled contest.
				The Barons were pounded 20-8 by Albany in the third game of the series and then on July 29 played their final home game, losing 11-8 to Albany before 649 fans.
				In a bit of an oddity, reliever George Zackey won both ends of the doubleheader and was the losing pitcher in Wilkes-Barre&rsquo;s final game before the move.
				Johnstown held onto the franchise through the 1956 season as the New York Giants moved their affiliate to Springfield, Mass., in 1957.
				1967
				The Phillies&rsquo; Frank Gaiteri had pitched two no-hitters so far in the Luzerne-Courtdale-Pringle Little League and held the Dodgers hitless through six innings when he had to leave the mound with the score 0-0. Little League rules prohibited pitching more than six innings in a game.
				So in the seventh, Gaiteri took matters in his own hands and slugged a two-run homer for a 2-0 victory. Leo Lupinski pitched one inning of relief for the victory.
				The Dodgers&rsquo; Ron Gorki also pitched an excellent game, allowing one hit through six innings before exiting.
				1969
				Course pro Frank Gavel said 6,330 players used Wilkes-Barre Municipal Golf Course thus far in the facility&rsquo;s first year in business. He gave the report at the General Municipal Authority of Wilkes-Barre meeting.
				The course had brought in nearly $25,000 though greens fees, cart rentals, locker usage and the driving range.
				1969
				A West Pittston man brought a winning 1-9 ticket to Pocono Downs to collect his winnings &#8211; $34,532. The previous biggest winning ticket was cashed in for $33,955 in 1966.
				The man declined to be identified because &ldquo;every salesman in the country will be knocking on my door.&rdquo;
				The winning amount would be worth $249,967 today based on the inflation calculator on dollartimes.com.
				2010
				Josh Savokinas fell a single short of the cycle, going 3-for-3 with six RBI as Plains defeated Wilkes-Barre 13-2 in American Legion baseball.
				Zach Ell added three RBI while Mike Merritt homered.

On This Date: Wilkes-Barre lost the Barons as franchise announced move in 1955