SAL1 Charleston RiverDogs

Tickets for Inaugural "Legends in the South" Game on Sale Tomorrow

Published on March 31, 2016 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston RiverDogs News Release


CHARLESTON, SC - If you've ever dreamed of reliving the glory days of the 1990s Atlanta Braves or have fond memories of some of the great New York Yankees dynasties of the past, now is your chance to see some of the all-time greats in person.

The Charleston RiverDogs will host a contest between teams of New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves greats at the inaugural "Legends in the South" Baseball Game presented by Budweiser and Container Maintenance on Friday, May 27 at 6:35pm at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.

The Yankees Legends team boasts the likes of Bobby Richardson, Gene "Stick" Michael, and Ron Blomberg and will be opposed by a Braves roster that includes four players from Atlanta's 1995 World Series Championship side. Richardson will serve as the third base coach on a Bronx Bombers team that holds 15 World Series rings among them.

The Braves Legends' deep outfield is highlighted by four-time gold glover Marquis Grissom who spent two seasons as a member of the Braves. Grissom hit .272 with 227 home runs and 429 stolen bases in his 17-year MLB career with the Expos, Braves, Indians, Brewers, Dodgers, and Giants. Some of the Atlanta native's best seasons came as a member of his hometown club when he earned two of his four consecutive gold gloves as a member of the Braves from 1995-96. Grissom twice led the National League in stolen bases, swiping 76 and 78 bags respectively in 1991 and 1992.

Rounding out the Braves Legends outfield are two former members of the Braves 1995 World Series Championship side: Ryan Klesko and Dwight Smith. A native of Westminster, CA, Klesko's Major League career spanned 16 seasons as a member of the Braves, Padres, and Giants. The lefty slugger finished third in the Rookie of the Year voting in 1994 and was named to his lone All-Star team in 2001 as a Padre. Klesko made history with the Braves in 1995 when he became the first player in baseball history to hit a home run in three consecutive World Series games. Klesko hit .279 with 278 home runs and 1,564 total hits over his career and his .525 career slugging percentage with Atlanta still ranks fifth all-time in Braves history.

Smith hit .275 with 46 home runs spanning 813 games in his 8 year Big League career with the Cubs, Angels, Orioles, and Braves. Born in Tallahassee, FL but a graduate of Wade Hampton High School in Varnville, SC, Smith enjoyed a successful collegiate career at Spartanburg Methodist College before being drafted by the Cubs. Smith finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting in 1989 before going on to win his lone World Series ring with the Braves in '95.

Johnny Estrada, a one-time all-star selection and veteran of eight Major League seasons, will work with the experienced Braves pitching staff as the team's backstop. The switch hitting catcher touts a .277 career batting average to go along with 42 home runs in 612 games with the Phillies, Braves, Diamondbacks, Brewers, and Nationals.

Infielders Jeff Treadway and Jesse Garcia also feature in the Friday night showcase with the two nearly bringing a combined 1,000 games of Big League experience to the Braves Legends roster. A product of the University of Georgia, Treadway hit a consistent .281 with 28 home runs in 762 games over his 9-year MLB career with the Reds, Braves, Indians, Dodgers, and Expos, playing mostly second base. Garcia appeared in just 31 games with the Orioles from 1999-2000 before being traded to Atlanta. The Corpus Christi, TX native posted a .216 batting average with 5 homers in 171 games across a seven year Major League career while committing just 8 errors in 138 chances (.978), mostly at the second and shortstop positions.

A veteran of 13 seasons with 124 Major League wins, left hander Dennny Neagle joins the Braves roster and adds a resume that includes two All-Star selections and a third-place finish in the NL Cy Young Award voting in 1997. Born in Gambrills, MD, the lefty posted a career 124-92 record with a 4.24 ERA in 392 appearances (286 starts) in his time with the Twins, Pirates, Braves, Reds, Yankees, and Rockies. In 1995 with Pittsburgh, Neagle was a workhorse, leading the National League in starts (31) and innings pitched (209.2) and was named to his first All-Star team. In 1997 with the Braves, he posted a NL leading 20 wins with a career low 2.97 ERA en route to his second All-Star accolades.

Joining Neagle in the Braves pitching staff will be another left hander, Chris Hammond, an Atlanta native who featured in 2002 with the Braves as part of his 14-year Big League career. Hammond accumulated a 66-62 and 4.14 ERA in over 1000 career innings with the Reds, Marlins, Red Sox, Braves, Yankees, A's, Padres, and Reds. Primarily a starter through his first nine seasons in the Bigs from 1990-1998, Hammond experienced a career revival in Atlanta in 2002 when he appeared strictly as a reliever for the first time in his career and posted a 0.95 ERA with 63 strikeouts and just one home run allowed in 76.0 innings pitched. The left hander's wonder season came after he had sat out the previous two seasons after shoulder surgery.

Greg McMichael will suit up in a Braves uniform once again after logging over 500 innings with 459 strikeouts in his 8-year career in The Show to go along with a 31-29 record and 3.25 ERA out of the bullpen. The right handed hurler debuted with the Braves in 1993, a season in which he would be the runner-up for the National League Rookie of the Year Award.

Jeff Ridgway makes his return to Charleston as a member of the Braves cast after pitching for the RiverDogs in the 2001 and 2003 seasons when he toiled in Tampa's farm system. The left hander made his first Major League appearance with the Devil Rays in 2007 before he was traded to the Braves in 2008. The left hander out of Port Angeles, WA logged 10.0 innings and eight strikeouts in 13 career MLB appearances.

The Bronx Bombers will be led from the coach's box by the three-time World Series champion and Sumter, SC native, Bobby Richardson. The former South Carolina head coach hit .266 with 34 homers over his 12 year career from 1955-1966, all with the Yankees, and appeared in the World Series seven times. Richardson was named the World Series MVP after hitting .367 with 12 RBI and still stands as the only player from a losing team to be selected for the award. He also piled up five gold gloves and seven All-Star selections. Serving as the Gamecocks skipper from 1970-1976, Richardson led USC to their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 1974 and a College World Series appearance the following year.

Blomberg, most famous for being the first designated hitter in Major League Baseball history, joins the Yankees Legends squad and touting a career .293 average with 52 homers across eight Major League seasons with the Yankees and White Sox. Born and raised in Atlanta and one of two first overall picks in Yankees history, "Boomer" was selected by the Bronx Bombers in the 1967 draft, and made history when he appeared in the DH slot in a game at Fenway Park on April 6, 1973.

Michael, a native Ohioan and 10-year Big Leaguer, joins the squad of Yankee greats after stints as a player, manager, and general manager in New York. Nicknamed "Stick" for his lanky frame, the 6'2" switch hitting infielder was a career .229 hitter with 15 home runs in 973 career games with the Pirates, Dodgers, Yankees, and Tigers. An adept fielder, Michael posted a career .962 fielding percentage while playing mostly second and short and was a master of the "hidden ball trick," successfully pulling off the stunt five times in his career. After his playing career, Michael enjoyed stints as the manager for the Yankees (1981-82) and Cubs (1986-87) before serving as the General Manager in New York from 1991-95.

Charlie Hayes laces up his cleats once again after a 14-year MLB career that included a World Championship with the Yankees in 1996. The Hattiesburg, MS native concluded his career with a .262 average and 144 home runs in over 1,500 games with the Giants, Phillies, Yankees, Rockies, Pirates, Brewers, and Astros.

Homer Bush also joins the Yankees Legends roster with a resume that includes seven years Major Leagues and a World Series ring with the Yankees in 1998. Bush was famously dealt to the Blue Jays after the '98 season as a piece in the deal that sent Roger Clemens to New York. The right handed hitting second baseman out of East St. Louis went on to bat .285 with 11 home runs and 65 stolen bases in 409 career games with the Yankees, Blue Jays, and Marlins. Bush's second stop in the minors came in Charleston in 1992 when he hit .234 in 108 games with the Rainbows.

The Yanks' pitching staff will be anchored by former Big League relievers Brian Boehringer, Jeff Nelson, and Ramiro Mendoza, all former pieces to New York's dynasty of the 1990's that hold nine World Series rings between them. Boehringer boasts a 10-year Big League career that included stints with the Yankees, Padres, Giants, and Pirates, including the 1996 World Champion Yankees. The right hander out of St. Louis, MO was 26-32 with a 4.36 ERA in 356 career appearances in the Bigs. Nelson racked up four World Series championships as a member of the Yankees from 1996-2000 and posted a career 3.41 ERA in 15 seasons with the Mariners, Yanks, Rangers, and White Sox. A teammate of Nelson's on all four World Series years with the Yankees, Mendoza had a 10-year career where he accumulated a 59-40 record with a 4.30 ERA in 342 appearances from 1996-2005 with the Yankees and Red Sox.

Jim Leyrtiz will work behind the plate for the Yanks at The Joe. The Ohio native produced an 11-year Major League that included two World Series rings with the Bronx Bombers in 1996 and 1999, both over the Braves. "The King" accumulated a .264 average with 90 long balls and 387 RBI in 903 career games with six different teams. Leyrtiz is most famously known for two career postseason walk off home runs, a 15th inning solo blast in game 2 of the ALDS over Seattle in '95 and his game tying two-run shot off of Braves closer Mark Wohlers in Game 4 of the World Series in '96.

The Braves and Yankees Legends rosters are subject to change and additions to the Legends teams will be announced in the coming weeks.

General admission tickets for this once-in-a-lifetime event start at just $12 and go on sale on Friday, April 1. Box seats will be sold for $25 each, lower reserved seats are $20, and upper reserved tickets are for $15.

Tickets may be secured by calling 843/577-DOGS (3647), online at riverdogs.com or at the Riley Park Box Office.

Various VIP meet and greet opportunities will be available for auction beginning on April 15 on riverdogs.com/auction and offer fans once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to rub shoulders with the shining cast of former big leaguers. Auction items include a spot at a welcome reception and mix-and-mingle dinner with the Braves and Yankees Legends' teams on Thursday, May 26, from 7-9pm and a pregame luncheon on Friday, May 27, from 1:00-2:30pm at a local restaurant.

Fans can also bid on a unique opportunity to take batting practice on the field, suit up in full uniform and experience the game from either the Braves or Yankees dugout with one spot for each team available for auction. Finally, secure your spot with the RiverDogs online auction to golf side-by-side with a Legend on Saturday, May 28, at Kiawah Island's Ocean Course. Tee times and participating players are to be announced.

The RiverDogs, the Class A affiliate of the New York Yankees, begin their season - the 20th in their history at The Joe - on April 6 with an exhibition game against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans at 7:05 pm and then follow that with Opening Night, also at 7:05 pm, that begins a seven-game homestand. Ticket information may be secured by contacting the box office at (843)577-DOGS (3647) or online at www.riverdogs.com. For those that can't make it out to The Joe, RiverDogs baseball can be heard all season long on WTMA 1250 AM.

Check out the Charleston RiverDogs Statistics

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



South Atlantic League Stories from March 31, 2016


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