Lakewood BlueClaws pitching coach Les Lancaster greets fans before a game against the Delmarva Shorebirds at FirstEnergy Park in Lakewood. Accessibility to the players and coaches has helped with the success of New Jersey’s professional baseball programs. STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER ERIC SUCAR More than 1 million spectators walked through the turnstiles to see professional baseball in New Jersey last year.
Despite rumors to the contrary, baseball is alive and well in the Garden State.
The Lakewood BlueClaws of the South Atlantic League (SAL) and Trenton Thunder of the Eastern League are affiliates of the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees, respectively. The Somerset Patriots in Bridgewater and the Camden Riversharks play in the independent Atlantic League, and the New Jersey Jackals of the Can-Am League play at Montclair State University’s Yogi Berra Stadium.
All five teams rank among the attendance leaders in their respective leagues.
The Lakewood BlueClaws’ Emmanuel Serra, 21, a former Phillies infielder, signs autographs for Manasquan-Brielle Little League players prior to the start of a game against the Delmarva Shorebirds at FirstEnergy Park in Lakewood. STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER ERIC SUCAR “Across the board, we all offer the same thing — a night out at the ballpark for a family to enjoy baseball,” Patriots President and General Manager Patrick McVerry said. “Summer and baseball, it’s the national pastime.” Riversharks Marketing Manager Mike Barone said his club offers “fun, familyfriendly, affordable entertainment.”
The BlueClaws have set attendance records in the SAL by catering to their fans.
“We have a lot of different options for people of all ages,” said Hal Hansen, the team’s director of marketing and promotions. “We have promotions that attract all kinds of fans.”
Most come to the game as families, he said.
Unlike their Major League Baseball counterparts, the minor league programs offer entertainment throughout the games. Between innings, fans can participate in activities such as races around the bases, bat spins, potato sack races or conga lines.
Fans find that the players are very accessible — greeting them to chat and sign autographs before games.
All the clubs are active in their respective communities.
“We work the community,” Barone said. “We look to give as much back as we can. We’re all working together.”
One of the calling cards for the BlueClaws and Thunder are their affiliations with major league clubs. Fans have the opportunity to see the top prospects and high draft choices of the Yankees and Phillies. There’s always a chance they may see a future Hall of Famer on his way up.
Former Brookdale Community College star Paddy Matera is playing minor league baseball for the Camden Riversharks. The Freehold Borough resident attended camp for the Cleveland Indians during spring training this year. “The Phillies have been phenomenal,” Hansen said. “They put their brand as our backers, and it validates us.”
Fans of the BlueClaws have had the chance to see the Phillies’ Cole Hamels, whose Lakewood uniform was recently retired, and Ryan Howard. Both made stops in Lakewood on their way to Philadelphia.
The program has had a good decade. The BlueClaws won three SAL championships in 2006, 2009 and 2010, and the Phillies won the World Series in 2008 and the National League pennant in 2009.
The rosters are different for independent baseball teams like the Patriots and Riversharks. There is no major league club giving their minor league affiliates the roster, and the players are often older, with more professional experience.
“A great benefit we as general managers get is to select the players we want here,” McVerry said. “We look for goodcharacter guys.”
Independent league players include Paddy Matera, a Brookdale Community College graduate now living in Freehold Borough. The 27-year-old infielder for the Riversharks acknowledged that there is a good chance this will be his final season of professional baseball. Soon to be married and the father of a 2-year-old girl, he knows his window of opportunity is closing.
Matera might have given it up after last season, but received a call from the Cleveland Indians inviting him to attend camp during spring training. Even though the American League club later released him, he got his first taste of the major leagues, which is why he’s back with the Riversharks.
“It gave me more drive to push and to get back,” Matera said of his experience with the Indians. “It was definitely a great feeling. I got an introduction as to what to expect.”
Far from discouraged by what happened over the winter, he hopes a good year with the Camden club will impress major league scouts who are taking an interest in the independent leagues.
“If you do well there, you’ll get picked,” Matera said.
McVerry noted that the Patriots have had five players signed back to major league clubs this year.
All was not lost for Matera in his Cleveland experience. Being a student of baseball, he soaked in everything he saw, from the different routines of the players to picking their brains. He knows he’ll be more prepared it he gets a call-up.
Everyone playing in the independent leagues is in it for the same reason, Matera said.
“Everybody’s dream is the big leagues. That’s what keeps us going. We’re not there for the money,” he said.
“It’s my drive and passion for the game,” he added. “I love the game so much. I always give 100 percent. I respect the game on the field.”
A love of the game drives these ballplayers, and fans can relate better to them than to some of the big-league players who have a sense of entitlement. In the majors, the game can seem more about business than baseball.
Along with low ticket and concession prices, promotions, a fan-friendly environment and the game itself, the independent teams and minor league clubs have something else going for them — location.
The clubs all agreed that it’s important.
“A large part of our success is location,” McVerry remarked, adding that Somerset County offers a large, affluent fan-base and a stadium — TD Bank Ballpark — that is accessible by car or train.
The BlueClaws draw from Monmouth and Ocean counties, and demographically they offer the same support system with their suburban population. The Riversharks, who look to South Jersey, draw fans from across the Ben Franklin Bridge in Philadelphia.