Last Thursday, the 2002 10-year-old Cal Ripken League Mid Atlantic championship baseball team from Monroe was honored in a ceremony at Yankee Stadium for their accomplishments last season, and so far this season.
In 1998, the Toms River National champions who won the Little League World Series were honored at Yankee Stadium in a brief ceremony behind home plate that included a 15-second comment by legendary Public Address announcer Bob Sheppard congratulating them on winning the Little League World Series that year. In 2000, the Harlem Little League Team was honored for winning their regional championship, before that accomplishment was later tarnished by the Danny Almonte scandal. Before last Thursday, the Yankees had honored only two youth baseball teams for their accomplishments in the past 10 years. Now there are three.
The following is an account from Chris Brooks, the president of the Monroe Township Baseball Association, on the events of the day.
The team arrived at the stadium on a charter bus at around 11 a.m., and their day of VIP treatment had begun.
Their bus pulled alongside the team bus of the Yankees’ opponent that day, the Baltimore Orioles. As each player descended the bus alongside the most famous sports venue in the world, you couldn’t help wondering if the team, now comprised of 11-year-olds, understood the magnitude of the honor and recognition they were about to enjoy.
They assembled in front of the Yankee offices, donning their purple-and-gold uniforms, near the press entrance to the stadium. Yankee broadcaster John Sterling entered the building, turning to the players and coaches, and acknowledged them, stating, "Look at all the purple people."
Roger Clemens, the scheduled starter for the Yankees, then scampered from the players parking lot, past the kids, looking over and winking at them, clearly with his game-face on.
The players were met by Gregory King, the Yankees’ special promotions manager who was responsible for coordinating their day. The kids were all armed with autograph material — balls, baseball cards, Sharpie markers, etc. Mr. King explained to the kids that because they will be near the locker room, and in the underlings of the stadium, that autographs were not allowed. He did, however, suggest that they go watch batting practice for a while, and that perhaps some players would sign for them in the public areas of the stadium. The kids unloaded all of their paraphernalia and entered the ballpark to watch batting practice.
At 12:10 p.m., the team was taken for a tour of Monument Park. Now, it’s hard for an 11-year-old to appreciate a bunch of statues and plaques for players that most of them had never heard of, or have only heard their dads talk about, but they all looked wide-eyed and all had smiles from ear to ear. They walked Monument Park, had a few great photo ops, and they made the journey back around the stadium to embark on what was an absolute dream of a lifetime for any Yankee fan, or for that matter, anyone who loves the great game of baseball.
They were escorted by Mr. King and his assistant behind the bleachers, through the old Yankee bullpen in right field, and into the corridor underneath the stands on the first base side of the stadium. They rounded the corner and passed the indoor batting cages that the Yankee players use prior to their games for extra batting practice. A few players, as well as team manager Oscar Vizcaino and assistant coach Ed Pritzlaff, stopped and took a peek at who was hitting. They peered through the doorway as if they were dreaming and watched as Robin Ventura took his cuts, while all-star Hideki Matsui awaited his turn. It was great to witness the kids getting all excited about seeing their heroes so close up in their domain, but is was equally rewarding to see the coaches acting like kids, calling out the players’ names as they recognize them, or as they walked past them.
The small group of batting practice fans now scampered to catch up to the group who was approaching the Yankee clubhouse. As they walked briskly to catch up with the group, all-star second baseman Alfonso Soriano had come out of the clubhouse and was walking toward the kids. They were all so star-struck, they just looked at him with their mouths open, not knowing what to do or say. One of the Monroe players said, "hey, that’s Soriano." The Yankee second baseman said "hi" and smiled as he passed the kids with his lumber over his shoulder on his way to get a few cuts in with Matsui and Ventura. Monroe’s manager, Oscar Vizcaino, said a few things to Soriano in Spanish which prompted a smile, a comment back, and then Alfonso disappeared around the corner with his spikes clicking on the concrete floor.
The group assembled just outside the clubhouse, and the players gazed at the images on the walls: Ruth, DiMaggio, Gehrig, Mantle, Rizzuto, Berra, Mattingly — the who’s-who of Yankee lore was all around them. One coach said as the players stood there waiting for the next Yankee to walk by, "Do you realize how many Yankee legends have stood in this very spot?" Until then, nobody had given it much thought. In this moment just before going onto the most hallowed ground in professional sports, Vizcaino began instructing the kids on fundamentals, quizzing the kids on certain aspects of the game, and telling them to pay close attention to how the Yankees go about their pre-game business. The message to this group of 11-year-olds was to note the focus and concentration of these athletes. Vizcaino rarely lets an opportunity to school his players go unfulfilled.
Mr. King said it was time to go on the field. The players and coaches were led down a long, narrow, somewhat dark corridor with sunlight bursting through at the end. One by one, the Monroe Purple and Gold ascended from the photographers’ end of the Yankee dugout onto the field. As they looked in awe at the panorama of the "House that Ruth built," you couldn’t help wondering if someday, someone on this team would have a chance to play here. Would one of these kids have the skill and get the breaks necessary to be that one in a million player?
The players assembled and walked some 125 feet from the end of the dugout to the area behind home plate, assembling in three rows just in front of a glistening white interlocking NY. They looked at the crowd behind the screen behind home plate as the legendary voice of the Yankees, Bob Sheppard, said, "Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Please direct your attention behind home plate and welcome the Monroe Township, New Jersey, 2002 Mid Atlantic 10-year-old Regional Champion All-Star Team." For the next three minutes, the players and coaches listened intently as their list of accomplishments from the 2002 season, and so far for the 2003 season, were announced to the matinee crowd.
The team’s championship photo flickered on the Diamond-Vision scoreboard as Sheppard wrapped up his commentary by saying, "Let’s give the Monroe Township 10-year-old Mid Atlantic Regional Champions a warm round of applause and wish them luck in their pursuit of another championship this season."
There were goose bumps, oh yes, there were giant goose bumps.
Eddie Layton began playing the Hammond organ as the Yankees and Orioles threw long toss and ran wind sprints. The Monroe players were led off the field as the Yankee faithful cheered them on. They walked slowly past the Yankee dugout, peering in to see their heroes before they went to their seats to enjoy the ball game as their moment in the sun, at least for this day, was almost complete. Waving to the kids were Yankee Manager Joe Torre, side-kick Don Zimmer, Derek Jeter, Jeff Weaver, Todd Ziele, and the rest of the Yankees as they prepared for action. They descended back down through the end of the dugout, and back underneath the stadium.
And as luck would have it, one more thrill for this day, for these kids who will never forget this moment, as they passed the Yankee locker room one last time, standing in the doorway was Jason Giambi, along with Yankee trainer Gene Monahan. He winked and waved as each kid walked by on their way to their seats.
And there it was, despite the Yankee loss 5-3 to the visiting Baltimore Orioles, a perfect day. These youngsters got a chance to relive their accomplishments of last summer, a chance to be recognized by the most successful team in the history of team sports, and a day of access to their heroes that for many of these youngsters is a once-in-a-lifetime chance, all thanks to the New York Yankees.
In 20 or so years, when these kids have families of their own, and their playing days are long behind them, they’ll tell their children about the day the Yankees honored their accomplishments of the summer of 2002, when they went all the way across country to play in the 10-year-old World Series.
They’ll sit in the stands and show their sons and daughters where they stood, what Yankee legends they saw that day, and who knows, maybe they’ll be telling their kids about the guy on the Yankees that they played with back in Monroe Township, New Jersey, when they were 10 years old.
The 2002 champions from Monroe are Zachary Batchelor, Timothy Brix, James Domino, Ryan Miller, Eric Paone, Adam Peterson, Chris Pritzlaff, Frank Ruopoli, Nicholas Russo, Keith Sanchez Andrew Sullivan, Alex Vizcaino and Kyle Waldron.