Super Sunday: D-Day Celebration and Bluefish Victory

Published on June 6, 2004 under Atlantic League (AtL)
Bridgeport Bluefish News Release


What a great D-Day ceremony this afternoon at the Ballpark at Harbor Yard! Two veterans throwing out ceremonial first pitches. The first was John Casey, a United States Navy vet who was in the Pacific Theater from 1942-1945. He still fit perfectly in his Navy whites. He brought a whole host of family and friends. Also throwing out a first pitch was a true D-Day hero, 86-year old George H. Burr, a Trumbull resident who grew up across the harbor from the ballpark on Pembroke Street. George also brought a whole group of his friends and comrades to the park, and was accompanied to the mound by his wife of 59 years, former Trumbull Town Clerk Vivian Burr. On June 6, 1944, he was a member of Company M, 116th Regiment, 29th Infantry Division that landed in the first wave of the assault on Omaha Beach as part of the D-Day Normandy invasion. George was wounded prior to entering the village of St. Lo. Thanks to Bluefish Booster Club President Tom White for introducing George Burr to us, and for extending the invitation to him to come the park to help us honor all World War II veterans. A special thanks also to Fred Biebel, the Director of the Governor's Bridgeport office for his efforts in getting the Connecticut National Guard to provide its Honor Guard to mark the D-Day Anniversary. And thanks, of course to Sgt. Kevin Filow of the C.N.G. for its participation.

And, of course, the day was made even more memorable by the Bluefish's fourth straight victory, a 3-2 win over the only team in the league, the Camden Riversharks, we had failed to beat in our first 27 games. Following a sweep of the Ducks on their home turf in Central Islip, the Bluefish are rockin' and rollin' now. They really deserve your support this week at the Ballpark at Harbor Yard, all six nights in a row, starting at 7:05 PM tomorrow night with a very special promotion (see directly below).

It finally happened. Our General Manager, he with the shaved head, finally flipped his wig. To boost attendance at tomorrow (Monday)night's 7:05 PM game against the Camden Riversharks, Charlie Dowd has gone mad. Specifically, he has announced that tomorrow night's game will be officially known as our first annual ‘Mad Monday'. Anyone who purchases a ticket for Monday's game will pay only half price for any seat in The Ballpark at Harbor Yard. Harbor Club Tickets are only 9 dollars and all prices go down from there with $6 Field Box seats, $4.50 Loge seats, $3 Adult Reserved and $1.50 Children Reserved seating. Tickets for Monday's game can be purchased at the Box Office or by calling 203-345-4800 x.150. All tickets are on a first come first serve basis while they last. There is no minimum or maximum amount to get in on this great deal. Also, because of the great price, there will be no group pricing for this game. You have to understand. The Bluefish never offer across-the-board ticket deals like this one. Don't expect to see another one this year. So let's make this game a special "Monday, Monday" as the Mamas and Papas would say. (You'll show your age if you understand that last reference.)

So, we didn't win again... Atlantic League Player of the Month for May was Doug Jennings of the Long Island Ducks who hit .357 and currently ranks in the top three in seven different offensive categories. Pitcher of the Month was Matt Carnes of the Somerset Patriots who went 3-0 with a 1.82 ERA in May. Our guys, by the way, who were candidates for these awards included Jose Amado who out hit Jennings, and Brian Langen who had a lower ERA than Carnes, who was signed over the weekend by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays organization. Maybe it's better we don't win those awards. At least we hold on to our stars awhile longer!

We did it! We broke the hex that was upon us at Historic Holman Stadium in Nashua, New Hampshire. After three straight come-from-behind victories over us, including two playoff games last September, we beat the Pride, at Holman, by a score of 5-2, thanks to the second victory over Nashua in a week hurled by Tim Cain, the winningest pitcher in Atlantic League history. He has now given up only three hits in the last 11 innings he has faced Nashua batters. Only 913 fans turned out in 47 degree weather to witness the jinx-breaker. Unfortunately, we dropped the other two games in the series up there, but at least we now know we can win in the old ballpark.

The book was published in February, 2004, only one month after Tug McGraw's tragic death at age 59 from brain cancer. It's called "Ya Gotta Believe! My Roller Coaster Life as a Screwball Pitcher and Part-time Father, and my Hope-filled Fight Against Brain Cancer". It's Tug McGraw's very, very frank discussion of his life, including especially his zany behavior as a top-flight closer for the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies, and his difficult personal life, marred most probably by an undiagnosed bipolar disorder that led to huge highs and deep lows throughout his life. The book is Tug's autobiography, co-written with New York Times author Don Yaeger. It is riveting and, at times, painful reading since Tug so graphically describes his aberrant behavior. You find yourself wishing he wasn't that way, most notably with respect to the way he treated the women and children in his life. Particularly poignant is his relationship with his famous son, country singer Tim McGraw, who he fathered in a "one-night stand" in Jacksonville while in the minor leagues, and then disavowed as his child for many, many years after that. Incredibly, he eventually acknowledged his fatherhood, and became quite close with Tim and Tim's wife, Faith Hill, at the end of his life as he battled the cancer which took his life. Worth reading. There are several references to former Bluefish manager and Mets' teammate Duffy Dyer, including a great vignette about how his first wife confused Duffy with him on the ball field.

Happenings in the ‘hood: We hardly ever make political statements in this publication, but we can't resist this time: Huge kudos to Bridgeport mayor John M. Fabrizi for deciding not to seek a 15% property tax surcharge on Bridgeport commercial and industrial businesses. In making his decision, Fabrizi stood up to many who were calling for the surcharge, including even key staffers working for him. At a critical juncture when this city needs to do everything possible to encourage businesses to come to Bridgeport, and for existing businesses to stay in Bridgeport, a 15% tax surcharge on businesses would have sent exactly the wrong message. Speaking of business taxes, here's a trivia question. Of the three communities of Shelton, Trumbull and Bridgeport, who has the highest net grand list (2002-2003 data)? Answer: Trumbull: $3.33 billion; Shelton: $3.17 billion; Bridgeport: $3.11 billion. Fairfield, by the way, has a net grand list of $7.15 billion.

OK, guys only: how do you like the pages of the Connecticut Post that are displayed over the urinals in the Men's Rooms throughout the ballpark on our game days? Our sponsor for this "creative" advertising is The Voice, an advertising and marketing firm which is assisting us again this season in promoting all that we do here at the Ballpark at Harbor Yard, and also at The Klein and the Playhouse on the Green. Sorry, gals, we don't have anything even remotely similar in the Ladies' Rooms.

Greg Sarra, a sports reporter writing in Friday's edition of Newsday, took a cheap shot at our closer, Mel Rojas, who struggled as a reliever when he pitched for the Mets a few years ago. After our team had built up a 14-4 lead going into the ninth inning against the Long Island Ducks, our manager Chico Lind brought in Rojas to pitch the bottom of the ninth, mainly to get Rojas some work since he had thrown very little recently. This was the same strategy employed by Ducks manager Don McCormack when he brought in Ducks closer Bill Simas to throw the top of the ninth for the Ducks. So here's what Sarra wrote: "Bridgeport brought in closer Mel Rojas to pitch the ninth inning. With a 10-run lead, the Bluefish must have thought it was safe. Mets fans might not have agreed." For those of you Bluefish fans who are Cablevision subscribers, and who like to channel surf, you might have been pleasantly surprised if you surfed to Channel 83 for that Thursday night Ducks-Bluefish game in Central Islip. That's because the game was televised on Channel 18 in Long Island, and on Channel 83 for those of us in Connecticut. The next time this may happen again is on Tuesday, July 20 when Cablevision will once again televise the Bluefish-Ducks game on Channel 18 in Long Island. Let's hope once again they also televise that game on Channel 83 here in Connecticut. And let's hope for the same game results (a 14-4 ‘Fish win).

The Amateur Softball Association has selected Stratford as one of 22 cities to host the USA Softball Women's National Team on its "Aiming for Athens" tour. The team makes its stop at the Frank DeLuca Hall of Fame Field on Saturday, July 17 and marks the second time Stratford has been selected as a host site during the pre-Olympic tour. Tickets for the July 17 game are now on sale and can be purchased by contacting Stratford Softball Tournaments, Inc. at (203) 385-4052. SSTI, the Town of Stratford and the Connecticut Amateur Softball Association are the proud hosts of the USA team. This is the last stop on the tour for the Olympic team (they have been on tour since February) before they head directly to Athens. If you have never seen top-flight fast-pitch softball, you should go witness this event. You will be amazed at how good the pitchers are, leaving the hitters with less reaction time than our Bluefish players get at the plate, both because the pitchers can "bring it", and because they are throwing from a much closer distance (1/3 closer). Should be a sellout, so get your tix now.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Atlantic League Stories from June 6, 2004


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.

OurSports Central