Happy Ground Hog's Day and Bluefish Pot Pourri
Published on February 2, 2004 under Atlantic League (AtL)
Bridgeport Bluefish News Release
Happy Ground Hog's Day, and Happy Birthday to our own Ari Johnson! Now that the Super Bowl is behind us, we know from six years of experience that our baseball ticket sales will be picking up, as folks begin to turn their attention to spring (hard to imagine with all the snow on the ground). Our Bluefish baseball ticket sales are already north of 80,000 tickets sold for the 2004 season, and we expect that number to mount rapidly in the weeks ahead.
That nationally televised (ESPN2) Fairfield University Men's Basketball game Saturday against Siena was a beauty! Even though the Stags had to compete for a Connecticut basketball audience with UCONN playing at the exact same time against Boston College, they were not deterred, and won going away 91-80 for the their third straight game. They raised their MAAC record to 5-4, and now go on the road for three key league contests (against Canisius, Niagara, and Rider) before returning home on Valentine's Day for a 3:30 PM tilt vs. Canisius. That's the first of four straight games at the Arena at Harbor Yard. Despite playing without Terrence Todd or Deng Gai, the Stags are playing their best ball of the year. The Women's team hasn't played as well, but despite their 4-6 league record, still feel they have a real shot at the league title. They play home at the Arena this Thursday night at 7:30 PM against St. Peter's, and are then home again vs. Canisius at 1:30 PM on Valentine's Day, as part of a great doubleheader (first the Women, and then the Men play Canisius).
Happenings in the âhood: The Pollack Building next to the old Read's Building on Broad Street is about to come down. One remaining issue: the relocation of the very popular Broad Street Café, a favorite eating spot in Bridgeport, especially at lunch time (best cheeseburger around). Once a new location for this restaurant is found, the building should be demolished as part of the conversion of the Read's Building into artists' housing. We're just hoping that the Broad Street Café ends up near the ballpark, and the other fine restaurants we already have near us. By the way, even though Remington Products has announced the closing of their manufacturing plant in the South End by the end of this year, the company is honoring the second year of its two-year agreement with us, and will be back as a valued sponsor this summer. They will retain their outfield billboard, and will once again be a game day sponsor of one of our games, most likely on June 6.
Our good friend, columnist Chris Elsberry of the Connecticut Post, prefers New Haven Windjammers as the new name for the Northeast League team coming to Yale Field this summer. We won't tell you which of the ten finalists we prefer, but we will tell you this: When we pitched the Baseball Foundation in New Haven about letting us bring an Atlantic League short season team there beginning in 2005, we commissioned a great logo with the team name we preferred. Suffice it to say that our name was, in part, one of the other nine finalists for the team name. The successful entrant will presumably be announced some time this week. We're keeping our logo just in case we're able to use it sometime in the future.
In the memo, we're always talking about baseball books that are worth reading. Here's a tip about a non-baseball book: Get and read Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code." It's a genuine suspense novel set mostly in Paris and London that will test your religious beliefs no matter what they are. Clive Cussler of the New York Times calls it "an amazing tale with enigma piled on secrets stacked on riddles". He's right.
An update on former Bluefish front office staffer John Farrell and his wife, Jeannie. They recently had their second child, a daughter, who joins big brother, Hank, in the Farrell family. John is expected to join the front office staff of the newest Atlantic League team, the Lancaster Barnstormers. We wish John and his family well in his new job as he relocates back to his home state of Pennsylvania.
Most baseball fans know that Denny McLain won 31 games for the 1968 Detroit Tigers, the first time any pitcher had won 30 games since Dizzy Dean in 1934. The Tigers won the World Series that year in a thrilling 7-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals and its ace Bob Gibson whose 1.12 ERA that year was the third lowest in 20th Century National League history. The pitching star in that series for the Tigers, however, was not McLain, but portly southpaw Mickey Lolich, who went 3-0, outpitching Gibson 3-1 in the deciding seventh game. Here's a great bit of trivia about Lolich from "The Golden Age of Baseball": Lolich was actually born a righthander, but switched as a toddler to become a lefthander after a motorcycle fell on his right shoulder!
It's not a great baseball book, unless you happen to be a huge fan of the St. Louis Cardinals and their 1982 World Championship team. The book is called "Whitey's Boys: A Celebration of the â82 Cards World Championship". The authors are Rob Rains and Alvyn Reid, with a foreword written by none other than the book's namesake, field manager Whitey Herzog. Essentially, the book tracks the lives of 17 of the players on that championship squad, form 1982 to 2002. Atlantic League fans will appreciate the chapter on pitcher Dave LaPoint who was only 23 that season. He stated 21 games that year for the Cardinals, and was the starter in Game Four of the World Series. This baseball season, Dave will be entering his second season as Long Island Ducks Pitching Coach and his first as a member of the front office staff. Dave is a veteran of 12 major league seasons. He made his coaching debut in 1992 with San Pedro De Marcoris of the Dominican Winter League and spent the 1995-1996 as both general manager and pitching coach for the Adirondack Lumberjacks. As an account executive for the Ducks, Dave will be a member of their sales team, assisting with sponsorship sales. Query: Do they sell there, or do they just sit back and take orders? Just kidding. J
We are proud to welcome back Shaw's Supermarkets as a renewing sponsor with us for the 2004 baseball season.
Vertical Alliance's Sports Marketing Newsletter this week wants to know what sports industry professionals think about selling merchandise for fans' dogs. The National Basketball Association apparently recently unveiled NBA team clothing for dogs that includes a $30 replica jersey and a $55 team varsity jacket. Five Major League baseball teams also market dog apparel. Consider that Americans spend $30 billion annually on their pets (not counting food), that two-thirds of dog owners but holiday gifts, and 44% of dog owners buy vacation souvenirs for their dogs. It should also be noted that the majority owner of the Bluefish has a standard poodle, and our general manager has two dogs...
Looking for something different to do for Valentine's Day? You could always jump in your car and head to Lancaster, PA where our league's newest team, the Lancaster Barnstormers, will be holding a big "Baseball is Back" fan fest. Former Major Leaguers Tommy Herr and Brooks Robinson will be there, and there will be lots of interactive activities for the fans, including skill challenges and youth clinics. Check out the team's website at www.lancasterbarnstormers.com.
Atlantic City's newspaper, The Press, is reporting that Atlantic City Surf owners Frank Boulton (majority owner) and Tony Rosenthal (minority owner) have resumed control of the Surf. For the past two seasons, a local group headed by Surf GM Mario Perrucci had leased the team from Boulton and Rosenthal, and had an option to buy the team outright. There was also a second local group, headed by "entertainment mogul" Steve Kurtz (an agent who once represented pop singer Christina Aguilera) and including Perrucci, which also tried to put together the financing to purchase the team from Boulton and Rosenthal. With both local efforts failing to buy the team, Boulton was quoted by The Press reporter Bill LeConey as saying "We're coming back in with a lot of energy, a lot of excitement". Perrucci will continue as GM under Boulton's direction. The newspaper article also discussed the possibility that the Surf could eventually be moved to a short-season division of the Atlantic League, playing about 50 games at home between Memorial Day and Labor Day rather than the longer schedule the league currently has (with 72 home games from early May to late September). Boulton finished the interview with LeConey by saying "I don't need to sell Atlantic City. But I thought that local ownership was an important component. If there's anybody out there locally that wants to come and invest in this club and be our partner, that's OK. But if my daughters end up running the business someday, that would be fine, too". Editor's note: Boulton's daughters, Whitney and Morgan, are too young to be running a professional baseball team, so look for the Surf to be around a long time in Atlantic City.
Mickey Herbert
Atlantic League Stories from February 2, 2004
- Happy Ground Hog's Day and Bluefish Pot Pourri - Bridgeport Bluefish
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
