Bluefish Hope to End Holman Stadium Jinx on National Donut Day
June 1, 2004 - Atlantic League (AtL)
Bridgeport Bluefish News Release
Today is National Donut Day , so our opponent this evening, the Nashua Pride, just happens to be giving away free donuts to its first 1,000 fans coming to Historic Holman Stadium to watch our Bluefish try to end the nightmare we've been experiencing at that park since the playoffs last year. Maybe their players will overdose on those donuts, and give us a chance to win a game up there. To make it even more torturous, we always start out the game beating those guys up there, and then we lose the lead in the late innings. Tonight's a good time to reverse that trend.
In our first home stand, we finished 7-5, and won four of the five series. If our defense had only held in our first game last Friday night against the Long Island Ducks, we might have won all five series. No matter. We're now planning for our next 6-game home stand beginning this Sunday when the Southern Division league-leading Camden Riversharks come to town. Camden is the only team the Bluefish failed to best in the first time through the league schedule. We weren't happy being swept down there, and we'll be out to even the score. The Sunday, June 6 1:35 PM game, by the way, will be extra special since it will be occurring on the 60th Anniversary of D-Day. We're honoring all veterans that day for our Remington Pre-Father's Day Extravaganza. There will be a special ceremony before the game. You won't want to miss it. Also, don't forget the HealthNet Fireworks Show at the conclusion of our Friday, June 11 7:05 PM game vs. the Atlantic City Surf.
Atlantic League trivia: Before last week's perfect game thrown against the Atlanta Braves by Arizona Diamondbacks' star righthander Randy (âthe Big Unit") Johnson, who was the last pitcher to throw a no-hitter against the Braves? Answer below. Look for one of our two adopted schools in Bridgeport to have two third-grade classes at the Ballpark at Harbor Yard on June 17 for the JP Morgan Chase baseball kickoff, a very special day at the ballpark where local elementary school kids will have a first hand on-the-field experience with our Bluefish players. The lucky school is Columbus Elementary School. Thanks to Lisa Pavla of the Columbus School for handling the arrangements there. And thanks, of course, to JP Morgan Chase for providing these kids with this extraordinary experience. Our other adopted school, by the way, is McKinley Elementary School. Trivia answer: John (the "Count") Montefusco, the pitching coach for the Somerset Patriots, back in 1976 when he was pitching for the San Francisco Giants. Courier News reporter Geoff Mosher (and beat writer for the Somerset patriots) also reports that Atlantic League assistant to the director Ellie Rodriguez caught six different no-hitters in his professional baseball career. The most memorable: the fourth of Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan's seven no-hitters.
We know most of you are still getting two of these newsletters at a time. We're working on fixing the problem, and appreciate your patience. We're pretty sure it has to do with the software serving our website.
Do you miss following the Bridgeport Barrage lacrosse team? The team did not fold; rather it reincarnated itself 150 miles south of here as the Philadelphia Barrage, and now plays its games at Villanova University. After two games, the team is 0-2, though, as always, it plays tough games against every opponent. Here's an excerpt from the team's web page (www.philadelphiabarrage.com): The Rochester Rattlers defeated the Philadelphia Barrage 24-17 Saturday night at Bishop Kearney Field to give Rattlers Head Coach B.J. O'Hara his first Major League Lacrosse win. The Barrage were led by four points from Blake Miller (2g, 2a) and three-point efforts from Roy Colsey (2g, 1, 2-pt g), Keith Cromwell (2g, 1 2-pt g) and Matt Striebel (3g). Greg Cattrano made 19 saves in the loss.
Tom Kulhawik is an avid runner and operates HI-TEK RACING in Stratford. He wrote us an e-mail thanking us for our efforts in launching the first "Home Run" race on Sunday here at the Ballpark at Harbor Yard to benefit Bridgeport Hospital. There were 300 runners, and already plans are being made to double that number when the race returns next May. Here's an excerpt from Tom's e-mail: "As an original and current Bluefish season ticket holder (with the Backus YMCA Group) I am proud that the organization is so involved in the area and community programs. The return on this investment is the positive comments heard from so many on the quality of the ballpark and the entire area around the ballpark and arena. Although most of us know better, there are still those that have misconceptions on the area and have never been to the area to enjoy a game or show at the arena. Events such as the one you helped make possible Sunday morning help to change that and will not only help the Bluefish, but Bridgeport in general which in turns helps all of us in the surrounding communities as well."
So, with the first month of competition in the Atlantic League behind us, who's "done good" from our team? Our designated hitter and clean-up hitter, Jose Amado, is hitting a robust .380 which is good for fourth best in the league, and his on-base percentage (.470) is 3rd best in the league. Asbel Ortiz is second in the league in triples with three. Mel Rojas leads the league with five saves, and Brad Cornett leads the league in innings pitched (37.2) and is fifth in strikeouts (25). Brian Langen is second in the league with an 0.82 ERA while Tim Cain in 7th best at 2.84. As a team, the Bluefish have the sixth best (of eight teams) batting average at .273, and the third best pitching ERA at 3.93.
Richard Sandomir of the New York Times penned a nice article Sunday entitled "At (Your Name Here) Arena, Money Talks" about naming rights deals at ballparks and arenas all over the country. You can check it out at http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/30/business/yourmoney/30sports.html. In the article he notes that in 1988 there were only three naming rights deals with a total contract value of $25 million, but that today there are 66 deals worth $3.6 billion. And that's only major league stuff. Sandomir says "that means that more than half the arenas and stadiums in professional baseball, football, basketball and hockey now bear corporate names, creating new cultural touchpoints that may be difficult for fans accustomed to the sound of a Fenway Park or Yankee Stadium." Editor's note: we are actively seeking a naming rights sponsor for our ballpark. There are already three ballparks named in our league (Long Island, Somerset and Camden), with a fourth on the way (Lancaster), and none of them have the extraordinary "intermodal" access we do, in plain view of an Interstate highway, a major state roadway, a train station, a ferry and a bus terminal. So if you know of any potential naming rights sponsors, let us know.
Developments around the Atlantic League: The Evening Sun in York, PA reports that the York City School Board will now be voting on June 7 whether or not to drop plans for a proposed $24 million baseball stadium at Small Athletic Field. The stadium, if built, would be home to a second Atlantic league team in Pennsylvania to be owned and operated by Keystone Baseball and veteran baseball owner Peter Kirk. The other team, of course, is the Lancaster Barnstormers, which had its groundbreaking on April 28 for a new 6,000-seat facility, to be ready for Opening Day, 2005. So it looks like York may be out (for now), but Lancaster is all systems go! Meanwhile, in Yonkers, NY, the Journal News is reporting that the designated developer for the intended ballpark, Baltimore-based Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse has agreed to put up money needed to acquire property for the ballpark if the $11-$15 million the City of Yonkers was counting on from the State of New York does not materialize. Despite this positive development, the Journal News states that "nothing will get done until the council transfers ownership of the parking lot (where the ballpark will be built) to the Yonkers Community Development Agency and rezones the area. The council has made no move to do either." Hard to handicap this one, but we know that Jack McGregor and Mary-Jane Foster who have been pursuing Atlantic League baseball in Westchester County since 1999 haven't given up hope that this project will get done in time for a team to be playing there by the 2006 season.
Bluefish Trivia: We all know about Rickey Henderson playing in our league for the Newark Bears, but did you know that we have a left-handed reliever, Stevenson Agosto, who was once traded for Rickey? On August 13, 1997, the Anaheim Angels traded a player to be named later, Ryan Hancock, and 20-year old Agosto to the San Diego Padres organization and received Rickey Henderson. The Angels then sent George Arias (August 19, 1997) to the Padres to complete the trade.
Atlantic League Stories from June 1, 2004
- Beechy Keen - Long Island Ducks
- Patriots Bounce Back With 7-1 Win Over Surf - Somerset Patriots
- Surf Drown Patriots 7-2 - Somerset Patriots
- Pride Fall To 'Fish, 5-2 - American Defenders of New Hampshire
- Bluefish Hope to End Holman Stadium Jinx on National Donut Day - Bridgeport Bluefish
- Hit Blackjack Every Day Till June 21 - Atlantic City Surf
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