|
Baseball paradise in Staten Island Richmond County Bank Ballpark at St. George ... that’s a real mouthful to say isn’t it! The RCBB, for short, is billed as the home of “New York’s Biggest Block Party.” It is also the home field of the New York-Penn League Staten Island Yankees, known affectionately to locals as the “Baby Bombers.” I traveled to Cal Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen, Maryland on Saturday night with a friend of mine from college to catch a bus bound for the outpost of George Steinbrenner’s Evil Empire. The Staten Island Yankees are one of two teams brought to the city by then Mayor Rudy Guiliani in 1999, the other team being the Mets' NYP League entry, the Brooklyn Cyclones. The Baby Bombers were originally based in Watertown New York, but moved to Staten Island in time to begin the 1999 season on the campus of the College of Staten Island. In July 2000, they moved into their brand new ballpark which borders the ferry terminal. Initially, there was some fear amongst the locals that the team would be named the Staten Island Ferries, however, to their relief, they opened as the Yankees. The ballpark itself is a sparkling gem of a stadium which has a 'new-old' look to it. Fans enter the stadium by walking into the seating bowl from street level, parking lots or by commuter train. The view from the stands is spectacular. One can see the Manhattan skyline, Statute of Liberty and the harbor over the outfield fence. The backdrop often is enhanced by huge container ships entering and leaving the port, these ships are very imposing and tower over the ballpark. Events staged at the RCBB include Russian Heritage night, Jewish Heritage night, Irish Heritage night (featuring green beer and corned beef --- what else would you expect?), Hispanic Heritage night, Japanese Heritage night (where some lucky fan can win a free trip to Japan) and, of course, Italian Heritage night. Fans entering the stadium from the left field parking lot are greeted by a local band playing on the concourse. Last night's band was The Xcentrix! The ballpark features two Walls of Fame, one showing retired New York Yankees numbers and the other honoring honoring four New York area baseball scouts. Both are on the right field concourse. Outside the park, just over the left field fence, is a memorial to NYC firemen and policemen who were lost on September 11th. The memorial overlooks the water and is a beautiful memorial. Last night's game included a moving tribute to Chief Jerry Barbara, a fireman who gave his life at the World Trade Center. Chief Barbara’s widow was in attendance, along with family and friends, to raise funds for the Jerry Barbara scholarship fund. Videos of Chief Barbara’s photos were shown on the scoreboard after the game, accompanied by music. Afterward, the fans were treated to a spectacular fireworks display which was donated in the Chief's memory. The first Staten Island Yankee who made the majors was pitcher Jason Anderson, who debuted with the Bronx Bombers July 17th against the Boston Red Sox. His number 19 was promptly retired by the Baby Bombers. Other former players include outfielder Melky Cabrera. Former major league pitcher Tommy John managed the SI Yanks for two seasons. This year’s manager, Andy Stankiewicz, also a former major leaguer, has the team in first place in the McNamara Division. Last night's score was 3-2. Ripken's Aberdeen Ironbirds were on the losing end of the score. Interestingly, there were no extra base hits in the game. The runs were scored on a combination of walks, singles and sacrifice hits. Yanks starter, Garrett Patterson, went 3 2/3 innings, striking out six Ironbirds, walking none and surrendering three hits. Patterson threw a huge number of pitches in the first inning. His pitch count was augmented by about a dozen throws to first when the Ironbirds first hitter, Robert Andrews, nailed a single through the infield. I really question Stankiewicz's strategy here, as it was just the first inning, and the throws contributed to Patterson running out of gas in the fourth inning. The Aberdeen nine squandered a wonderful scoring opportunity in the first inning, when Anderson got on and advanced to second when the #2 hitter, Ryan Steinbach, drew a no outs walk. Patterson dug himself out of the hole by striking out Nolan Reimold, who was ahead in the count 3-0, getting Ryan Finan to pop out to center, then striking out first baseman Mark Fleisher to end the threat. In their half of the inning, the Yanks jumped on starter David Hernandez for two quick runs when leadoff hitter Brett Gardner walked, went to second on an errant pick off throw, then scored on James Cooper's single, which also drove in Felipe Garcia. The speedy Gardner scored the Yanks third run in the second, when he singled, went to third on catcher Ryan Dahlberg's overthrow of second while attempting to nail him stealing. He scored on a heads up play when Hernandez uncorked a wild throw which was blocked by Dahlberg. The ball rolled out of the batters box, but did not make it more than five yards from the plate. Gardner’s speed and baseball savvy allowed him to make it to the plate ahead of the catchers attempt to tag him. The Ironbirds scored their runs in the fourth after a tiring Patterson gave up back to back singles by Reimold and Finan. Both scored on consecutive sacrifices. The ‘Birds squandered two other scoring opportunities when they couldn’t advance the runners. Their last chance came in the eighth inning when, with two outs, reliever Jim Conroy issued three walks in a row and loaded the bases with Fleisher at the plate. Josh Schmidt entered the game and promptly fanned Fleisher for the second time, stranding the three runners. All told, seven Ironbirds were stranded on the base paths and 13 batters were retired by strikeouts. Hernandez and three Aberdeen relievers combined to fan six of the batters they faced. They did not give up any walks. --- John
Kazlo |
