MOOSIC — As the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Triple-A baseball franchise prepares to start a new era later this week, fans — from just several miles down the road all the way to Greenfield, Massachusetts — flooded the team clubhouse Sunday afternoon to snag a piece of RailRiders history.
Lillian Andrew, 29, a New York Yankees fan who lives in rival Boston Red Sox territory, made the approximately 250-mile trek to Lackawanna County after noticing a social media post about a RailRiders garage sale.
“I saw information about the event on Facebook and thought it was going to be interesting,” she said. “My husband and I are both baseball fans, and he was golfing today, so I came out with my mom.”
Andrew, who attended a RailRiders game for the first time this season, found good deals on backpacks, mugs and team gear — including a promotional jersey featuring the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Pierogies.
“I grabbed a couple of things that I thought people at home would like,” she said.
Patrons rubbed shoulders inside the clubhouse as they scoured racks for coveted jerseys and a line of eager shoppers stretched from the stadium entrance through the concourse.
For Brent Fico, 42, of Starrucca, PNC Field and the RailRiders hold a special place in his heart: He married his wife, Ashley, inside the sports venue in 2015.
“Our family has a lot of history with the team and the stadium,” Fico said. “We brought our youngest kids here, and spent a lot of time here. We love baseball, we love the area, so we thought let’s see if they would even do it. I told my wife this morning, it’s kind of like your wedding venue is getting renovated, so you want to see if you can have a piece of it.”
Ronald Freeman, 47, of Pittston, a lifelong Yankees fan, politely paused midinterview to grab another jersey off the rack for his wife, Jill, on Saturday.
“Most of them are for the missus — hence all the pink,” he said.
Freeman typically attends several RailRiders games during each homestand and cherished the opportunity to step into the same clubhouse as professional athletes, including current Yankees like Aaron Judge
“That’s the part I like the most, being an athlete myself: actually being in the clubhouse and seeing where your favorite players used to stand, crack jokes, stretch and warm up,” he said.
Droves of patrons browse items and wait in line during a garage sale for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders at PNC Field in Moosic on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026. (ROBERT TOMKAVAGE/STAFF PHOTO)
A variety of hats were available during a garage sale for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders at PNC Field in Moosic in Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026. (ROBERT TOMKAVAGE/STAFF PHOTO)
Lillian Andrew, 29, of Greenfield, Massachusetts, holds a variety of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders merchandise as she waits in line during a garage sale inside the team clubhouse at PNC Field in Moosic on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026. (ROBERT TOMKAVAGE/STAFF PHOTO)
People wait in line to enter the Scranton/Wilkes -Barre RailRiders’ clubhouse at PNC Field in Moosic for a garage sale on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026 as a videoboard teases the reveal date for a new team nickname on Saturday. (ROBERT TOMKAVAGE/STAFF PHOTO)
A line of patrons stretches from the stadium entrance to the team clubhouse during a garage sale for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders at PNC Field in Moosic on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026. (ROBERT TOMKAVAGE/STAFF PHOTO)
Ronald Freeman, 47, of Pittston, checks out a Christmas in July jersey during a garage sale for the Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders at PNC Field in Moosic on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026. (ROBERT TOMKAVAGE/STAFF PHOTO)
Brent Fico, 42, of Starrucca, waits in line to purchase a Christmas-themed jersey during a Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders garage sale on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026 at PNC Field in Moosic. (ROBERT TOMKAVAGE/STAFF PHOTO)
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Droves of patrons browse items and wait in line during a garage sale for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders at PNC Field in Moosic on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026. (ROBERT TOMKAVAGE/STAFF PHOTO)
Michael DiGiovine, 27, of Dickson City, a season ticket holder, hoped to get an early start on holiday shopping during the garage sale.
“Maybe we’ll get a Christmas gift if there is something I think somebody would really like,” he said.
Adam Marco, director of communications for the RailRiders, compared the rush of fans into the clubhouse — many of whom stood outside waiting for the doors to open — to the heyday of an annual post-Thanksgiving tradition.
“It’s like the Black Friday, Cabbage Patch Kids, Tickle Me Elmo of the ’80s, ’90s and early 2000s era, minus the trampling of folks at the door,” he said. “Everybody had something in mind they might be looking for. Hopefully they walked out of here with a memory.”
The sale included a vast collection of items from throughout the entire stadium, Marco said.
“We had jerseys, parking signs, (drinking) glasses, bobbleheads — just a wide array of things that were available in the team store or that you might have seen and never thought could be in your house.”
Set for another rebranding, the franchise started as the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons in 1989 and served as the Triple-A affiliate for the Philadelphia Phillies until the end of the 2006 season. From the 2007 season to the present, the franchise has been the top affiliate of the New York Yankees. The team name originally changed to the Yankees in December 2006 before switching to the RailRiders in November 2012, when the new name beat out other finalists including the Black Diamond Bears, Porcupines and Trolley Frogs.
Marco felt it was important to give loyal fans a chance to own their own slice of RailRiders lore.
“There have been staff members who worked here in the Red Barons or Yankees era, and everybody kind of has their own little piece of memorabilia they might have been able to take away,” he said. “This was that fan opportunity to do that as well. It’s bittersweet because you’re saying goodbye to this brand.”
A former RailRiders player even reached out about getting his jersey from five or six years ago, Marco added.
“I think it hits different people in different ways,” he said.
Fico looks forward to learning the new identity of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre baseball team.
“I’m kind of excited to see what it is,” he said. “Honestly, I wasn’t a huge fan of ‘the RailRiders,’ given the choices that were out at the time, but as a fan of the team, a fan of the area and stadium, and the people who work here, you just roll with it.”