York League (PONY League), was formed in a local hotel that has since been demolished. Original league cities included Batavia, Bradford, Hamilton, Jamestown, Niagara Falls, and Olean. The Muckdogs were founded in 1939 as the Batavia Clippers, however the team was not in operation during the 1954–56 and 1960 seasons after dropping out of the league for financial reasons. During the 1957 through 1959 seasons the team was known as the Batavia Indians, upon their final return to the league in 1961 the team was known as the Batavia Pirates until changing their name to the Batavia Trojans in 1966 until 1987. From 1988 through the 1997 season the team brought back the historic Batavia Clippers name before changing to the Muckdogs in 1998 based on a fan poll that chose the nickname and logo. The "Muckdogs" name was inspired by Genesee County's mucklands. Batavia celebrated their 80th anniversary during the 2019 seasons as the only founding member of the league still in existence. The Muckdogs franchise was surrendered to the league prior to the 2018 season. The team was then operated as a ward of the league. After the cancelled 2020 minor league season, Major League Baseball took direct control of Minor League Baseball and discontinued short-season play. The Muckdogs were not among the teams invited to remain in affiliated baseball. The city received offers from collegiate summer baseball and semi-professional leagues for 2021. After being purchased by CAN-USA Sports, the Muckdogs joined Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, a collegiate summer league, for 2021. Logo and mascot The Muckdogs logo adopted in 1998 is a dog on a crushed fence in the shape of an "M" surrounded by muck with baseballs on either side. The team also has an alternate logo of a B with a dog. The Muckdogs currently have one mascot, Dewey, however had three mascots who would make appearances throughout the season at Dwyer Stadium in recent years. The team's original mascot Maxwell T. Chomper, Homer and Slider. Season-by-season record Affiliation As the Muckdogs, Batavia was affiliated with the Philadelphia Phillies from 1998, having been already affiliated with the Phillies since 1988, through the 2006 season. Beginning with the 2007 season, the Phillies chose to move their Short-Season A affiliate closer to Philadelphia with the Williamsport Crosscutters. Meanwhile, the Muckdogs signed with the St. Louis Cardinals. Prior to the Cardinals and Phillies affiliation Batavia was also