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EXCLUSIVE |
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August 26, 2000 Baseball in the
Land By DAN ACKMAN If you take a ride on the Staten Island Ferry and
then board the S-62 bus, and ride it to the end, and then walk east
another half mile or so, you will see something that may surprise you: a
field of dreams. For the last two seasons the Staten Island
Yankees, late of Watertown, NY, have been playing games at the field on
the College of Staten Island.
The college is green enough, the city distant enough, the players
youthful enough, that on a summer night you can feel a thousand miles
away. If you close your eyes
you could be in Batavia. But soon it will be gone like Brigadoon. The Yankees, like the Mets with a
minor league club in Queens, will be moving to a brand new multi-million
dollar stadium near the St. George terminal overlooking New York
Harbor. Until then, they will
be inland, in the heart of the borough that still retains aspects of a
small town, even since Mr. Moses built his long bridge across the
narrows. In living memory, there had been no minor league
baseball in the five boroughs.
But in recent years several minor league teams have located in
nearby parts of Long Island and New Jersey. These teams are "independent,"
meaning they are not apart of a major league organization. They pay their own players and can
locate anywhere. Major League teams have the right to control what
affliated minor league clubs play in their territories. But the prospect of further
encroachment by outsiders led the Yankees and Mets to agree to each allow one minor league team in
the five boroughs. The Yankees approached Stan Getzler, who owned a
Cleveland Indians affiliate that was languishing near the Canadian
border. A group led by Mets
owner Fred Wilpon bought a Toronto Blue Jays team based in St. Catherine,
Ontario, and moved it to Queens.
Next year it will be renamed the Cyclones and will play in a
city-built stadium in Coney Island. The Staten Island Yankees will move
into a brand new park near the St. Georges ferry terminal.
The Mets-Yankees deal is to allow ‘short season’
Single A teams into the city.
This is the second lowest level of professional baseball so the
threat to the big clubs would be minimal. In fact, the
atmosphere at is as hostile as a baby golden retriever. Kids roam the stands and get to
mingle with the players. Many
of their parents know their neighbors in the next row, who may also be
their neighbors in Arlington or Linden Park. The concession area has the air of
a country fair. If anyone does have a
problem, he can take it up Mr. Getzler, who is always available in his
seat behind home plate. This
is not an approach likely to work with George Steinbrenner. Some of the more
visible fans occupy the stands behind third base. These are members of the Mitch
Seoane Fan Club. Mr. Seoane
is the Yankees’ third base coach, who has attracted his own club for no
other reason than “he’s a good guy,” in the words of club president Rick
Spitso, the principal of Intermediate School 24 on Staten Island. Mr. Spitso, like most
of the fans watching the team the Staten Island Advance calls “Our Yanks,”
says he comes to the minor league games rather than schlep up to Yankee
Stadium, not just because of Mr. Seoane, though that’s part of it, but
because of “the camaraderie” and “where else do you get to know the
owner’s family.” The surest way to get
into the Mitch Seoane Fan Club is be part of Mr. Spitso’s family. The vice president, Joe Kotowicz,
a Verizon field technician, is Mr. Spitso’s nephew. Mr. Kotowicz father and two
brothers are also in the club.
But so are the two beer girls who serve the third base stands and
so are the Getzlers. They
even allowed in Bob Catherwood, a retired postal technician, and and an
admitted Mets fan. It’s fashionable to
scoff at Single A baseball as “two steps above high school.” While this is literally true, they
are awfully big steps. Even
the average player on the team is likely to be a far better ballplayer
than the average high school has seen in a long, long time.
“There are guys right
on the verge of being great players,” said Mitch Jones, who may be one of
them. An outfielder from
Orem, Utah, Jones, 22, starred at Arizona State University before signing
with the Yankees. Like the other players on the team, he was a
superstar at every level and now has to adjust to being one of the
guys. It’s not unlike the
most talented singer that the local drama teacher has ever seen coming to
the city and struggling to get seen for a small part off-Broadway. The difference is most
minor leaguers learn their trade in towns like Oneonta, Jamestown, or
Pittsfield, not 10 miles from the World Trade Center. The difference between being a
minor leaguer in New York City compared to Williamsport is, well, probably
mostly the pitching. Asked the difference
between New York City and Medicine Hat, one member of the Queens Kings had
this to say: “Here, everyone throws harder, and they have more command of
the breaking pitches.” Minor league
ballplayers here, as elsewhere, are consumed by the game. They play a 76-game schedule, get
to the ballpark early, and leave late. During the season, they get just
two days off, one of which many spent sightseeing. On the other, they went to watch a
ballgame at Yankee Stadium.
The players tend to
sleep late, maybe lift weights, and head for the ballpark. After the game, they may get
something to eat, or they may ride the bus until dawn, the life of the
minor leaguers at all levels everywhere. What about after the season? Most have plans for winter ball in
places like Venezuela of the instructional league in Florida. During the season they earn as
little as $850 per month. On
the other hand, they are early enough in their baseball lives that they
all still have a real chance at “the show.” Some of the players
have become true New Yorkers.
“There’s just a lot more to do here than other places. Manhattan is right at your
fingertips right on the other side of the ocean [that is New York
Harbor]. You have the
opportunity do a lot of things,” said Dave Parrish, a catcher from Yorba
Linda, Calif., one of the team’s top prospects, and the son of Detroit
Tigers star Lance Parrish.
Parrish may not visit museums or browse in quirky bookshops, but he
does get a kick out of the fact that they’re there. In Staten Island, they
appreciate Mr. Parrish. John
Bruno, a court officer, was the first person to buy tickets to see the
team. A lifelong Islander and
Yankee fan, he went to the stadium the day before tickets went on sale,
and handcuffed his lawn chair to the door of his van to secure his place
in line. “The best thing to
happen to Staten Island in a long time,” he said. Mr. Bruno, who used to drive to the Bronx for baseball, also appreciates the minor league prices. A man who know his way around a concession stand, he noted that for $5 you can get a hot dog a bag of chips and a soda. Plus: free parking. Bruno like many of the
teams die-hards has gotten joined the booster club—“It’s like a fan club,”
he explains—and has gotten to know the players at barbecues, as has his
son. “Not one player has ever
turned down an autograph,” he said. The New York Yankees
have won three of the last four World Series. The Mets are real contenders this
year. These teams, with their
hundred million dollar payrolls, are here and now. But the players in Staten Island
exist is a world of pure possibility. And isn’t that what summer and
baseball are all about? |