baseball

The Cardinals 2010 5th-round draft pick, Nick Longmire, provided just about all the offense the Batavia Muckdogs (1-1) needed to win their home opener 7 to 5 over the Auburn Doubledays (1-1).

Longmire hit his first professional home run as well as two doubles and a sacrifice fly to produce 6 RBIs.

More than 1,400 of your friends and neighbors were on hand for the opener.

The winning pitcher was Andrew Moss, of Piedmont, Mo., who scattered five hits over five innings and gave up only one run. Moss (1-0), in his second tour with Batavia, walked one and struck out five.

Jose Gregorio Rada, of Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, picked up his first save of the season.

Batavia travels to Auburn tonight for a 6:05 p.m. game. The next home game is Saturday, June 26, at 7:05 p.m. against Scranton.

More pictures (including fan pictures)  after the jump:

As the Batavian Muckdogs head into their 2010 home opener at Dwyer Stadium, the team will feature a roster stacked with experience.

The majority of players on the 30-man roster has prior minor league experience, with a few familiar names to Muckdog fans.

Topping the list of familiar names are Alan Ahmady and Jon Edwards.

Ahmady was a 2009 NY-Penn League All-Star for the Muckdogs, hitting .292 with a .409 on-base percentage with 32 RBI and 42 runs scored.

Ahmady suffered an off-season set back when he tested positive for amphetamines. Ahmady told his hometown paper that when he was asked to start doing some catching, he felt he needed to get back on medication for attention-deficit disorder.

Right fielder Edwards was part of the 2008 championship team, hitting .304 with 6 HR and 16 RBI. In 2009, Edwards split time between Batavia and Quad Cities. While he smacked 13 HRs (11 in Quad Cities), he hit a disappointing .205. Edwards was a 14th-round pick in 2006. This is his third trip through Batavia.

Among the fresh new faces is Nick Longmire, a native of San Diego, who was selected in the 5th round this June by the Cardinals. As the highest draft pick on the squad, Longmire is expected to patrol center field.

Other players from last year's Muckdogs roster include pitcher LaCurtis Mayes and catcher, Luis De La Cruz, who was also part of the 2008 championship team.

Manager Dann Bilardello is in his first season with the Muckdogs. A first-round pick of the Dodgers in 1979, Biladello spent MLB time with the Reds, Expos, Pirates and Padres.

Game time tonight is 7:05. The first 1,000 fans will receive schedule magnets.

Jason Molino can hit. He's no Mickey Hyde, who easily won the "home run" hitting contest at Dwyer Stadium tonight, but he looked good at the plate and hit some shots.

It was the "Pep Dog Rally" in preparation of the season opener on Saturday. The turn out was good, and the evening was a heck of a lot of fun.

After the contest, the players of the 2010 Muckdogs introduced themselves and then fans were invited onto the field to collect autographs.

The player in the center of this picture is Nick Longmire. He's a 5th-round draft pick of the Cardinals, which means he's a legitimate prospect. He's a center fielder who has some power. That's cool. But what's really cool: He's a graduate of my alma mater, Grossmont High School, La Mesa, Calif. His mother also graduated from GHS, in 1978, two years ahead of me. So guess who will be my favorite Muckdog this season? Go Foothillers!

More pictures after the jump:

When you attend a Batavia Muckdogs game at Dwyer Stadium, if you think you're there to watch a baseball game, you've missed at least 65 percent of the reason to be there on a warm summer night.

The main reason to be at Dwyer is the people the stands -- your neighbors, friends and family -- and if you don't know anybody, just start talking, you'll soon make a new friend.

Bill Kauffman writes a lovely tribute to his friend Dennis Bowler for the Front Porch Republic, St. Dennis of the Bleachers.

The home opener for the Muckdogs is Saturday.  I hope to see you there.

My new 70-300 mm zoom lens arrived today, and since I bought it primarily to improve my sports photography, I thought I'd head over to MacArthur Park for some Batavia Minor League baseball action. I caught the Astros and the Athletics in a game of 8-10 year olds.

Mor pictures after the jump:

Here's a media release from the Muckdogs:

How would you like to live with the next Ryan Howard or Chase Utley this summer?

The Muckdogs are in need of your help in locating host families. The team comes to Batavia the weekend of June 12th and 13th. There are host families signed up for the season, but there is still a need to house at least 15 more players.
 
This is where you can help. Being a host family to a player has benefits:

1. You have a future St. Louis Cardinal staying in your home.
2. You become acquainted with young men from all around the country who love “America’s Favorite Pastime,” baseball.
3. You also get paid by the player for an amount you both agree upon.

So why wait? If you are interested or know someone in the Batavia area (within just a few miles of Dwyer Stadium) who might be interested in hosting a player or coach, please contact the Muckdogs office at 343-5454.

Thank you for your support!

For the past two days, young ball players from all over Western New York converged on the ball fields at MacArthur Park for the annual Michael Napoleone Memorial Baseball Tournament.

The tournament is named after a Batavia boy who succumbed to a form of leukemia and raises funds for a foundation in his name that assists families of children with cancer.

Ten teams in the 9-10 year old range and 10 teams in the 11-12 year old range competed. There was also a tournament for T-ball-age players.

More pictures after the jump:

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Are you ready for some baseball?

The Dwyer Stadium Box Office opens at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 22 for the 2010 season.

This is also the day when the Muckdogs will host their summer Job Fair, from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Positions available include picnic supervisor, cashiers, cooks, bartenders, batboys, and ushers. All applicants must be at least 16 years of age.

Additionally on Saturday, the Muckdogs will conduct the 3rd annual National Anthem contest. This event will begin promptly at noon. Auditions will take place at home plate and will be preformed a cappella.

The winner will sing the National Anthem and God Bless America at the July 3rd game between the Muckdogs and Auburn Doubledays. Runners up will be eligible to sing at remaining home games during the 2010 season. 

The Muckdogs open their 2010 home schedule on at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday, June 19 vs. the Auburn Doubledays.

Beginning May 22, the Dwyer Stadium Box Office's regular season hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday.

When I drove past Batavia High today, I saw the JV baseball team getting ready for a game. Coach Buddy Brasky told me the varsity team was getting ready for a game at Dwyer, so I went over there and snapped a couple of photos, too.

More pictures after the jump:

History. Community. Baseball. Three things Naomi Silver knows something about.

In 1956, 57 years after the Rochester baseball franchise was formed, the St. Louis Cardinals, which had owned and operated the Red Wings for the previous 27 seasons, decided to abandon the city. Naomi's father, Morrie Silver, made it his one-man mission to save baseball for Rochester.

Silver formed Rochester Community Baseball, Inc. In 72 days, Morrie sold enough stock in the team -- 8,882 shares to local investors -- to buy the team from the Cardinals, keeping it from being either shuttered or moved.

Today, Rochester is home to the only minor league baseball team that has operated in the same city since the 1800s.

Batavia is also a historic baseball city. The New York-Penn League was formed in Batavia and Batavia is one of only two cities -- along with Jamestown -- that still has teams connected to those original six franchises.

The Muckdogs trace their lineage to 1939.

It's that history, and the importance of baseball to the community, that attracted Naomi Silver and Red Wings General Manager Dan Mason, to the Muckdogs.

Prior to the 2008 season, the Muckdogs were on the ropes. 

The team lost $150,000 in 2007. It seemed nearly certain the NY-Penn League would force the team to move to a larger market. Silver and Mason heard about the dire straits of baseball in Batavia and decided to do something about it.

Rochester Community Baseball stepped in and paid off all of those debts and agreed to operate the team and see if the franchise could once again become a profitable operation.

Fewer than 200 cities in North America have professional baseball teams.

In cities such as Ithica, Elmira and Watertown, baseball fans are bereft each summer of the opportunity to see future stars swat homers the way Ryan Howard did a few years ago at Dwyer Stadium. They miss the joys of showing up at the ballpark and visiting with friends or mentoring grandchildren while watching young pros hone their skills in one of the most storied and historic leagues of professional sports.

"For Batavia to have a team is a great asset," Mason said. "It’s something that a lot of other cities would love to have. The pride that it generates, and the memories it generates for the fans in any minor league community, is something that is a great asset to the quality of life in that town."

Credit Rochester Community Baseball with saving the sport in Batavia, for now. It's the reason the Red Wings will accept a special recognition award Saturday from the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce. But it doesn't guarantee baseball in Batavia in 2011.

Even after winning a championship in 2008, the first year the club fell under Red Wings' management, the team still lost $100,000 in 2009.

This year's campaign is critical, Silver said, in determining the future of baseball in Batavia.

"I would have thought that last year we could have broken even," Silver said. "This year, we most definitely must break even. We should be better than that."

Fan support is important, but minor league teams survive on business sponsorships. At one time, local businesses were very supportive of the Muckdogs, but the sponsorships fell off in recent years. Muckdogs General Manager Travis Sick is working hard -- with help from superfan Russ Salway -- selling corporate sponsorships. The level of local business support, Silver said, will be key to determining the future of the Muckdogs.

"We’ll know in a relatively short time what the outcome will be,” Silver said. "We’ll be able to tell very soon what our sponsorships are going to be like. We won’t know if we’re going to draw more people until the baseball season starts."

It's clear that Silver and Mason care a good deal about baseball, history and community. It's woven into the mission and culture of Red Wings baseball, and it's why there's a Batavia Muckdogs team this year.

Now is the time, according to Silver, for the community to step up the effort to support baseball in Batavia.

"We definitely want to get people involved in this," Silver said. "Everyone has a stake in this in Batavia. Whether you’re a fan that should be making a decision to come out to the ballpark or whether you’re a business and would hate to see baseball leave Batavia, we hope they'll all get out there.

"There’s hardly a community I can imagine," Silver added, "that would want to lose an asset like this."

Easily more than 200 people gathered at the Batavia Party House last night for the Batavia Muckdogs Booster Club's annual hot stove dinner and auction. There were plenty of laughs and people expressed a lot of excitement about the coming season, which could be a critical year for drawing enough community support to keep the team in Batavia.

At the podium, Brian Paris honors "The Voice of the Muckdogs," Wayne Fuller, for his many years of service to the team as the public address announcer and official score keeper. Fuller stepped aside from those roles after the 2009 season. But his voice won't be far from a microphone during the upcoming season; he'll serve as color man on WBTA's broadcast of games.

More pictures after the jump:

Todd Jantzi, left, and Patrick Weissand chat during the silent auction.

Brian Paris, left, and Ryan Gugel chat with a fan who drove to the dinner from Greece.

Board member Bill Kauffman gets a gift from the board honoring his service to baseball in Batavia.

Gretel Kauffman is in the foreground. Immediately behind her is local artist John Hodgins, watching the bidding progress for his winter landscape painting. It fetched $255, well above any other auction item.

Auctioneer Todd Jantzi makes a sale.

Daily News photographer Mark Gutman goofs when the camera gets turned on him for a change. Writer Alanna Stage gets a good laugh.

If the Muckdogs don't last in Batavia, it won't be because Russ Salway didn't put every ounce of passion he has behind the effort to save the team.

The Le Roy native spends at least 10 hours a week in an office at Dwyer Stadium calling on local and regional businesses trying to sell season ticket packages and special event attendance as well as stadium advertising.

If you bump into him around town, he's likely going to want to talk at some point about the Muckdogs and the need for fan support this season -- this season, especially.

Salway has also set up a group on Facebook called, appropriately enough, Let's Keep the Batavia Muckdogs in Batavia.

Russ Salway doesn't work for the Muckdogs or the Rochester Red Wings, who took over management of the team three years ago. Salway is a volunteer.

"We are obviously operating with a small staff, so we can't get to everything," said General Manager Travis Sick. "So to have somebody like Russ, who is so familiar with the community and knows a lot of people, is a great help.

"He's a tremendous help to us," Sick added. "A lot of people say they want to help, but very few come through like Russ. He's great."

Salway said he is putting so much time and effort to promote the Muckdogs because he can't image Batavia without minor league baseball.

"If we lose the team, we'll never get another one," Salway said.

Last season, the Muckdogs lost about $150,000. That deficit was covered by Rochester Community Baseball, the community group that owns the Red Wings. Club officials say they can't sustain those kinds of losses indefinitely. 

"The Red Wings are definitely behind baseball here, but we need to show some improvement," Sick said. "This is still a business and we can't sustain a hundred-thousand-dollar loss year after year. I don't want to call this a make-or-break year, but we've got to show some improvement."

And Salway says he's making progress. He's finding more people and businesses willing to make a commitment to the Muckdogs this season.

"People are really stepping up," Salway said. "There is no reason we can't make this work."

Sick said season ticket sales are slightly ahead of sales from this time last year.

Salway has become such an integral part of promoting Muckdogs baseball, that it's hard to forget it's not his real job. He has worked for O-AT-KA Milk Products for 15 years, where he mixes ingredients for speciality drinks. 

His schedule allows him to go to Dwyer Stadium to field phone calls for a couple of hours during the week. He runs the Facebook group from home at night.

You might think all of this extra time spent on a volunteer effort might put a strain on his personal relationships, but Salway said that his fiancee, Kellie Porter, is 110 percent behind his effort and even puts in volunteer hours herself.

Both Salway and Porter are doing it, not just for the community, he said, but for their children.

"My kids grew up down the road from Dwyer and we've been going to games for years," he said. "I want the team to remain for years so I can take my grandchildren. It's such a great thing for the community. It's a safe, family-friendly environment. It's really the last place in the county were you can go and see old friends and make new ones."

Sick said it won't take much for the team to show progress -- if more people would just go to one more game a year and a few bring some friends, that would help. The team draws about 2 percent of the population to games. If that number just ticked up a notch to 3 percent, it would make a huge difference, Sick said.

The Muckdogs are part of a tradition of professional baseball in Batavia that goes back to 1939. The New York-Penn League was founded in Batavia. Salway said Batavia shouldn't lose that continuity and that sense of history.

The next big event in the life of every Muckdog's fan is the Hot Stove Dinner on Friday at the Batavia Party House. It may be possible to purchase tickets ($25) at the door, but it would be better to buy them in advance at Dwyer Stadium.