It is Hudson Valley Renegades opening day at Dutchess County Stadium. The June 20 sun is shining and the joint is humming like a well-turned 6-4-3 double play.
Field crew chief Tim Merante edges the warning track behind home plate, uprooting stray grass. The bases appear for the first time ”“ super white, never touched.
Dave Neff identifies himself as “the beer guy.” His cart is full to the brim with canned suds. He is the wintertime marketing director for the club, as well.
“I sell baseball,” he said, noting he is not shy about stirring the crowd with a few dance moves. “How much fun is that?”
In the gift shop, kiosks of caps and rows of Renegades shirts and hoodies get a final squaring up from the club’s IT manager Andy Willmert.
Play ball and welcome to baseball, where, in the words of the club”™s information director, Rick Kubitschek, “We”™re in the business of selling family entertainment. It”™s not about winning and losing at this level; it”™s about developing players. We never know when Evan Longoria is going to show up.” Among those who have developed at Poughkeepsie are bona fide superstars Longoria (with the Rays) and Josh Hamilton (a Ranger).
The home team Renegades opened on the road, taking two of three from the Aberdeen (Md.) IronBirds. In a few hours they would lose their home opener to the Staten Island Yankees. But at this level ”“ “short-season class-A ball” ”“ it really is all about a few hours in the friendly confines: The fans cheer a great play by the other team and there is no booing the opposition.
“The Renegades”™ reputation is for service, a good time and quality play.”
The Renegades on any given night might have a future Hall of Famer patrolling the infield, but fans do not come to the ballpark to root for him because if he shows promise, he”™s gone ”¦ to the next level.
“It”™s better to win, but promoting the family baseball experience is really what”™s important,” Kubitschek said. “These players are not Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez ”¦ not yet. But you can”™t really interact with players like that; there”™s a lot of separation. Here, they”™re right in front of you.” He noted a game remains a few-hours affair, as opposed to driving to Yankee Stadium, an all-day prospect. “And at $6 for a ticket, you don”™t feel too bad if a child gets fidgety in the fifth inning and you want to leave.”
The fans since 1994 have embraced the equation: rooting for the laundry, as they say on the sports pages. By all accounts they are thrilled to do so: filling 96 percent to 98 percent of the Renegades”™ seats every night and drawing 160,000 last year for the 38-game home schedule.
The team was originally a Texas Rangers affiliate, then a combined Texas-Tampa Bay Rays team, and today is solely a Rays outfit. The fan catchment area extends from northeast New Jersey to Westchester County to Fairfield County, Conn., and Pennsylvania.
The Renegades typically field a team that would be considered a great NCAA all-star team; perhaps the top 5 percent of the college baseball pool. Unlike other pro sports, very few baseball players skip duty in the six tiers of minor-league play and that affords every Renegades game the opportunity to welcome potential Cooperstown talent to the diamond.
Local businesses are eager to align themselves with the talent and with a captive audience that will see their signs through nine innings (or more).
In the name of having a good time without the fuss of high-tight fastballs, fans may at times be invited to soak team sales director and one-time Yankee pitcher Joe Ausaino in the dunk tank. When the Friendly Honda tours the warning track between innings, fans try to toss balls through the sunroof ”“ five balls for a buck ”“ to gain a raffle spot to win the car”™s lease for a year at season”™s end. “It”™s very cool,” said Friendly salesman James Newton, who came to the ballpark opening day to deliver the car. “The fans love it.” Last year, about 50 balls made it through the roof to the big raffle.
Every fan knows baseball is often spelled béisbol and played accordingly with a Latin accent. The Renegades have certainly noticed. Management is making an ad push directed at the Spanish-speaking market. Once there, fans will find the Corona Cove dining area with fajitas and other Latin fare. (On July 10 ”“ an away game ”“ the stadium parking lot will host Brooklyn-based R&M Promotions”™ 16th annual Latin American Festival.)
Fireworks, too, are big draws and the Renegades have stacked the calendar with 13 shows (contracted locally, Kubitschek said, as is food and beverage). Ticket prices are $2 more on fireworks nights.
Bobbleheads remain a huge part of baseball culture and the Renegades do not disappoint. Evan Longoria and Josh Hamilton will have separate bobblehead nights this season (Longoria July 6 and Hamilton Sept. 3), as will Renegades field general Jared Sandberg (Aug. 3). Hamilton”™s two stints with the team ”“ in 1999 and 2006 ”“ bracketed his spectacular rise and fall and rise that is one of baseball”™s great ongoing comeback stories: In the depths, Hamilton even pawned his ”™99 Renegades New York-Penn League championship ring. All the bobbleheads will feature the players in the Renegades uniform. “They”™ll be lined up early for those games,” Kubitschek said. “People love those bobbleheads.”
