Spring hopes eternal. This relentless winter finally gave way to a beautiful spring. The birds are out, days are longer and my two favorite words of summer are spoken-“Play Ball!”
The Long Island Ducks, looking to improve upon their 73-67 mark last year, hosted the Sugar Land Skeeters in their home opener Friday. Bethpage Ballpark, was packed with families enjoying a fabulous night out, baseball in its purest form and a celebration of Ducks’ star Lew Ford. Ford earned Atlantic League Player of the Year honors for 2014. To present Ford with the award was the 2009 Atlantic Player of the Year, Ducks’ legend, Ray Navarrete. The first 1,500 fans through the gates received bronze statutes honoring Ford.
For 5,905 who flocked to the nest of the 3-time Atlantic League champions , this contest certainly fit the bill. Dominate pitching, clutch hits, as well as some shoddy defense by the Skeeters all were factors that helped improve the Ducks’ record to 6-4.
The stage was set, the opening lineups were announced, and we celebrated our nation… Time to play ball. John Brownell (2-0) toed the rubber for the second time this year and set Sugar Land down in order. In the bottom of the first.
The Skeeters, managed by former MLB All Star Gary Gaetti, played quality baseball but the Ducks got to Skeeters’ starter Dan Meadows (0-2) early. Wading River’s Bryan Sabatella started things off for the Flock with a lead-off double, and scored on Ford’s RBI single. The Ducks never looked back from there. In the second inning, a clutch hit by shortstop Dan Lyons knocked in catcher Jose Morales, who finished with 3 hits on the day. Lyons was then able to score on an error by Skeeters’ centerfielder Denny Almonte, who bobbled a Sabatella hit up the middle. Sabatella also finished with 3 hits on the day. After the second inning, our feathered friends of Central Islip were up 4-0.
Meadows pitched a quality game after the second inning, as the Ducks did not score until the bottom of the seventh when Sabatella scored on reliever Robbie Weinhardt’s wild pitch. Brownell tossed 8 scoreless scattering 4 hits and striking out 5. “I wanted to finish it,” said Brownell when asked how much he wanted to go the distance for a complete game shutout, “but I knew I was getting tired and it was probably smart to hand the ball over to the bullpen…it’s too early [in the season]and I threw a lot of pitches.” Considering that and the fact that it was a chilly evening, certainly made for a wise decision to avoid injury to the Flocks’ ace hurler. Brownell has yet to earn a run across 15 innings of work this season, while only allowing 6 hits and 3 walks.
I was impressed that game time was a mere 2 hours 12 minutes. It’s interesting to note that in a preseason game, the Ducks hosted the Bridgeport Bluefish at Bethpage Ballpark in an experimental 9 inning game with rules proposed by acclaimed novelist Paul Auster. In that exhibition, held on a beautiful Saturday afternoon April 18th , batters were out if they fouled a pitch off with two strikes, and a batter walks on three balls. Despite toying with the traditional rules of the game in an effort to improve the pace of play, that game took 2 hours 15 minutes! This suggests to me that efficient pitching and timely hitting can certainly speed a game up without the need for implementing Nomar Garciaparra fixing-of-the-batting gloves-excessively rules in the batters’ box or the need for a pitching clock in between pitches.
I look forward to the passion that is Ducks’ Baseball. The roster is full players that are in their early 20s or late 30s and most have had significant minor league experience and some, experience at the game’s highest level….the “show.” Well, my fellow flockers, this squad certainly put on a show. They play to stay in the lime light; they stay in the Atlantic League to keep playing the game they love; they play for the applause. It is refreshing to know that us baseball fans of all ages can watch the greatest game on earth played at a high, competitive level live, right in our own backyard!
The Ducks play open a series with rivals Bridgeport May 5th.
This is going to be a great season. For a full schedule check out LIDucks.com
