News and notes from around the New York Collegiate Baseball League.
The Names Game
AUBURN, N.Y. — They call him “Auburn Eddie” on Syracuse Salt Cats radio.
The front office brass for the Auburn Doubledays call him “Eddie the Intern.”
“Scoreboard Eddie” might fit.
Syracuse Salt Cats center fielder Ed Charles runs the Falcon Park scoreboard when he isn’t tracking fly balls down for the New York Collegiate Baseball League team that was in town for a doubleheader on Saturday.
“There is another one. The guys here call me ‘Dirty Eddie.’ My jersey is always a mess and always dirtied up,” Charles chuckled as he looked down at the Carolina blue jersey smeared with Falcon Park dirt. The dirt matched the burgundy numbers on the jersey.
The 1980 Philadelphia Phillies would love the shirts. That is what you get in a collegiate summer league baseball .
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Kids Day: Utica and Adirondack
Picking up where he left off
Hitting streaks are something Chris Bostick knows well. When the NYCBL last saw Bostick, the Gates, New York native was hitting .413 with 17 extra base hits. Bostick was the first NYCBL player to take advantage of a new rule allowing high school graduates chosen in the MLB draft to gain instant eligibility. Selected by the Oakland A’s in the 44th round of the 2011 draft, Bostick started playing with the Webster Yankees on June 12th. He responded with an 18-game hitting streak. Bostick signed with the A’s in late July. He started his professional career with a 13-game hitting streak and finished his first season hitting .442 including six doubles, a triple and a home run with the Arizona-League A’s.
Bostick currently plays with the Vermont Lake Monsters of the Class A New York-Penn League. The middle infielder has a hit in each of Vermont’s first six games this season. Fans interested in seeing Bostick should mark their calendars. The Lake Monsters play at Jamestown, July 11-13 and at Auburn, July 25-27. Unfortunately, Vermont does not play at Batavia.
Bellamy on the move
After spending the 2011 season on the shelf, former Geneva Red Wing Kyle Bellamy was recently promoted to Double-A. Bellamy started 2012 with the Winston-Salem Dash of the Class A Advanced Carolina League. He appeared in 18 games striking out 29 and walking eight in 27 innings of work. Bellamy moved up to the Birmingham Barons of the Southern League. Bellamy has made appearances with the Barons. This is Bellamy’s second stint with the Barons. In 2010, the right-hander went 2-2 in 20 games for Birmingham.
Expansion anyone?
When the 2013 season opens, the NYCBL will welcome two new teams. Cal Kern, the NYCBL’s Director of Franchise Development, recently reported that Batavia and Honeoye Falls will join the New York Collegiate Baseball League. The Honeoye Falls Hornets will play at HF-L High School. Funds are being raised to install lights at the school’s field. The Batavia Honey Badgers will split home games between Dwyer Field in Batavia (the current home of the Class A Muckdawgs) and Genesee Community College.
There is also a growing interest in bringing an NYCBL franchise to Bradford, Pennsylvania.
Syracuse’s MASH unit
They are not known as the 4077th. No, Hawkeye Pierce doesn’t don a uniform. Neither does Col. Sherman T. Potter (although his home spun wisdom always comes in handy), nor “Hot Lips” Houlihan for that matter. But the Syracuse Jr. Chiefs can mash. The Jr. Chiefs are averaging a league-leading 10 runs per game. Alex Sanchez, Jr. leads the way hitting a league-leading .500 (24-for-48) for a team that is batting .337. Syracuse’s team OPS is 1.072. All this production with only six Jr. Chiefs going yard – Christian Knott, Brian Witkowski and David Wolak have each connected twice on long balls.
The Utica Brewers led the league last season scoring just under six runs per game.
Countdown to the All-Star Game
Wednesday, July 11th the NYCBL will descend upon Sal Maglie Stadium (or the “Barber Shop” as it is affectionately known) for its annual mid-season gala. The day’s events get started with lunch at the Como Restaurant. The skills competition will take place from 1:30-4:30 with first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m.
Named after the Niagara Falls native, the stadium in Hyde Park take its nickname from Maglie who was known for giving batters a close shave. Maglie hit 10 batters in 1950 and averaged six per season for his 10-year career. Interesting to note that Maglie was banned from MLB for four years. Not because of his penchant for going high and tight, rather Maglie played in the Mexican Leagues. This was frowned upon by the establishment, and Maglie paid the price. Yes, in the 1940s professional baseball in Mexico was thought to be on par or better than the Major Leagues.
And “The Barber” even appeared on What’s My Line:
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