First In 2019 At Home(?)

This year I plan on being a bit more selective with my trips to minor league baseball games. As of now I'm officially out of cards to get signed (by anyone currently on the SIY roster). Maybe if a few guys get called up from Pulaski as the year goes on that'll change, but it does feel good knowing that in two games alone I managed to knock out all of the cards I had intended to get signed.

This was my first Staten Island home game of the year (last time it was in Brooklyn), and it dawned on me that I've seen a game there every year since 2013. Six straight years of Baby Bomber goodness.

Autographs

The first autograph I got was courtesy of Wellington Diaz. Diaz was originally signed by the Yankees as a non-drafted international free agent back in 2017 out of the Dominican Republic. Until this point the righty has mostly been used in relief (even earlier in the year he was used out of the 'pen in class-A Charleston and high-A Tampa) but with Staten Island he's being stretched out into a starter. Guess Yankees brass really wants to see what Diaz can do with some more innings to eat through. If his first start as a SI Yankee is any indication (five IP, two hits, zero earned runs, eight strike-outs), they might be have something special in Diaz.

Next up is an autograph from Marcus Evey. Evey was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 20th round of the 2018 MLB Player Draft. In 2018 he spent most of his time in rookie ball (GCL and Pulaski) in relief and here in 2019 he's a part of a bullpen again in Staten Island. He had a pretty great interview with Pinstriped Prospects last year and for me the key takeaway is that he's armed with a fastball (with some splitter action), curveball and slider.

Here's an autograph of SIY's defensive coach, Teuris Olivares, or "T.O." as many call him. Olivares was originally signed as a player by the Yankees way back in 1995. He spent several years in the Yankees org before he was eventually cut. He kept the dream alive with several years in indy ball after that. Eventually he retired as a player and turned to coaching. He spent five years coaching down in the DSL with the Yankees org before serving as a defensive coach for the SI Yanks in 2016 (and 2017). In 2018 he served as the defensive coach for the Pulaski Yankees.

My last autograph from this game was courtesy of an opponent(!), Angel Manzanarez of the New York Mets/Brooklyn Cyclones. Manzanarez was signed out of Venezuela by the New York Mets as a non-drafted international free agent back in 2014. His rise and development have been slow, but it's also been steady. Manzanarez is a steady infielder (primarily shortstop) who's had some moments with the bat. Although thus far this season he's largely been on the bench.

The Game

It's funny. Even though yesterday was my first game in Staten Island this year, everytime I go to the ballpark I barely feel like nearly a year has passed since I last went. Guess that's what happens when you go (too) many times like I do.

The Staten Island Yankees roster this year can be split up into two parts. Intriguing young talent the org wants to see more of, and minor leaguers rehabbing and working their way back to the higher levels. I bring this up because the starter for this game was supposed to be Brian Keller, a triple-A starter who's working his way back after an injury. Then he got replaced by Nick Ernst, another pitcher who's supposed to be in Charleston but working his way back after an injury. Minor league rehabs for MLBers is interesting but minor league rehabs for MiLBers is something I've only had scant experience with before. Seeing this much thrown at me (others include Leonardo Molina and Nick Green) this early into the season is something.

Ernst's SI debut was iffy. He threw a lot of strikes but got himself into some trouble at times. He went three innings and relievers Anderson Muñoz and Keegan Curtis (who likes Hi-Chews!) kept the Cyclones at two runs.

The SI Yankees' offense came to life in this game. Juan De Leon is having a bit of a power surge at this early stage in the season and it's welcome to see after a few stagnant years. Other international free agent standouts like Miguel Flames, Oswald Peraza and Ezequiel Duran also had some key moments in the game. Yankees third rounder Jacob Sanford made his pro debut with the club but left the game early. I assumed it was a precautionary measure due to a hit by pitch, but apparently it was always going to go down that way as the team tries to ease him to pro-ball (source: Pinstriped Prospects). Yankees won 5-2!

Er, sorry, the Pizza Rats. On Saturdays the team turns into the Pizza Rats. Something I (and only I) completely forgot about.

Anything Else?

Being that it was my first home game (and possibly last one until someone with cards gets assigned to SI) I grabbed a few programs and whatnot. The programs feature some great pieces celebrating the history of the Staten Island Yankees, written by Robert Pimpsner. The team's photographer, the guru behind Pinstriped Prospects, and the biggest SIY fan I know.

Also grabbed a pocket schedule. Don't worry Mark "Hoylr" Hoyle, I've got a spare one for you too. You're covered.

Oh and lest I forget how nice the area around the ballpark is now!

Before this year the boardwalk area around the ballpark was really dead. But since last year there've been major efforts put in to make it a more attractive tourist destination. Something that can compete with Brooklyn's Coney Island. Of course it won't because no one wants to ride a ferry, but I'm sure people appreciate the effort. Now the area has a mall and is due to get an even bigger mall in the vicinity. Bold move considering how retail outlets are a bit of a tricky thing to invest in in the age of Amazon "records your conversations then immediately shows you ads for products you only mentioned verbally in a conversation once" Prime. Eh whatever, at least this part's open again so I don't have to walk all around the bus stop to get to the ballpark.

And that was my latest game in SI. When will the next one be? I'm not sure. If SIY wants me to attend more games the org should immediately assign Jake Agnos, Anthony Volpe and Ryder Green to Staten Island.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care :).

2019 IP Auto Count: 17