High Point Rockers 2019 Inaugural Season

Jamie Keefe (l.) and Frank Viola (r.) Autographed 2019 High Point Rockers Pocket Schedules

On August 7. 2017, the Bridgeport Bluefish announced that 2017 would be their last season. Close to one month later, it was announced that their franchise would be moving to High Point, NC. After a public-naming contest, it was announced July 12, 2018, that the team would be named the High Point Rockers in acknowledgement of the area’s history of furniture manufacturing.

A few months earlier, ground was broken on BB&T Point, the stadium that would house the new Atlantic League team. High Point University President Nido Qubein headed the team that would established the High Point franchise.

On May 2, 2019, the first home game was played in the stadium against the Sugar Land Skeeters.  Dante Bichette Jr. hit the first-ever home run in the new ballpark and had all 3 RBI’s in that night’s 3-0 win. Rockers starting pitcher Matt Sergey earned the first win in the new ballpark's history after going six, hitless innings in this inaugural game.

For the coaching staff of the Rockers, 790-win manager Jamie Keefe was brought in from managing the Rockland Boulders the year prior and Frank Viola was named pitching coach.

Viola, the St. John’s University alum, won the American League Cy Young Award in 1988, and the left hander was the Minnesota Twins World Series MVP in 1987.

Atlantic League, New York Met Infielders

Carlos Baerga Autographed 2009 10th-Anniversary Choice Card Set
Edgardo Alfonzo Autographed 2009 10th-Anniversary Choice Card Set

Switch-hitting infielder Carlos Baerga made his major league debut with the Cleveland Indians on June 10, 1990. The Puerto Rican native became the first second baseman since Rogers Hornsby to have back-to-back 200 hit, 20 HR, 100 RBI and .300 average seasons (1992 & 1993). Baerga was a key player in helping the 1995 Cleveland Indians achieve the American League Championship. The three-time All Star (1992-94) joined the roster of the 2001 Long Island Ducks and leveraged the league to return to the big leagues for four more seasons (2002-05). Baerga was named to the Long Island Ducks 10th Anniversary Team.

2000 National League All-Star Edgardo Alfonzo ranks fifth on the New York Mets All-Time Leader Board in hits (1,136) and seventh in RBI’s (538). After 12 years in the Major Leagues, the sure-handed second baseman made three stops within the Atlantic League joining Bridgeport in 2006, Long Island in 2007, and Newark in 2010.  Alfonzo was named to the Long Island Ducks 10th Anniversary Team.

Long Island Ducks Retired Jersey Numbers

Autographed Ticket Stubs from Davies, Navarrete and Harrelson Retired Jersey Nights

In the beginning of 2015, the Long Island Ducks announced that they would honor two of their retired, franchise players with jersey retirement ceremonies at Bethpage Ballpark during the season.

On June 19^th of that year, the 2004 Atlantic League Champion Series MVP, Justin Davies, was the first Duck to be so honored having his number 4 retired. Spending a total of six years in the outfield for Long Island (2000-05), Davies retired as the club leader in games played, runs scored, hits and stolen bases.

On August 16th, during the same summer, Long Island retired Ray Navarrete’s number 16. Navarrete played eight years with the organization (2006-13) and retired as the Ducks’ career leader in games played, hits, runs scored (surpassing Davies' mark of these three), home runs, RBIs, and doubles. Navarrete was a member of both the 2012 and 2103 League Championship teams and his late-inning, go-ahead 3-run  home run in game 5 of the 2013 series was instrumental to bringing the championship back to Long Island.

On August 3rd, in 2018, the Ducks memorialized a third jersey number to their left-center field Duckvision scoreboard. Long-time owner and former manager/coach Bud Harrelson had his special night; retiring number 3. Six months earlier, Harrelson publicly-announced that he has been fighting  an official Alzheimer’s diagnosis for more than 2 years which made for a very special night at Bethpage Ballpark.

2007 Atlantic League Champions Newark Bears

2007 Newark Bears Choice Team Set

In 2007, the Newark Bears defeated the Somerset Patriots in the Atlantic League Championship Series three games to one to claim their franchise’s second league championship.

In the final game of the series, Newark exploded for 13 runs, six of them driven in by Jose Herrera. Herrera had a game for the ages as he connected with three homeruns in this final game securing himself the Championship’s Most Valuable Player award.  

Managed by former 8-year MLB veteran Wayne Krenchicki, the 2007 Newark Bears had a formidable offense that carried them into the postseason. Newark had three of the top four leaders in league batting average on their roster (Victor Rodriguez .365, Jose Herrera .357, Ramon Castro .343) who contributed to their team as a whole having over a .300 batting average for the season. From the power side, six position players on their roster finished in double-digit homeruns; Keith Reed and Javier Colina both having more than twenty.

2007-named Atlantic League All-Stars Bobby Brownlie (8-4; 3.41) and Gary Knotts (7-5; 2.65 ERA) brought Newark consistency to the from the mound side throughout the season.

Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez - All-Time MLB Single-Season Save Leader

Autographed Francisco Rodriguez Official Atlantic League Baseball
Autographed 2018 Francisco Rodriguez Long Island Duck Pocket Schedule

On April 29, 2018, the Long Island Ducks announced that they had signed the all-time, single-season MLB save leader (62) Francisco Rodriguez to minor league deal. Also known as “K-Rod”, Rodriguez is ranked 4^th in all-time Major League career saves with 430 -- trailing only Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman and Lee Smith on the career saves list.

The Venezuelan-born closer, and six-time MLB All Star, lead the American League in saves in three different seasons (2005,06,08); having save conversion percentages of around 90% or higher in each of those seasons.

Chris Ashby - Atlantic League Consecutive Game Hitting Streak Record

Chris Ashby Autographed & Inscribed Game-Used Official Atlantic League Baseball

On Saturday night, August 16, 2018, York Revolution infielder Chris Ashy went 0 for 4 in a game against Somerset (which included a hit that was later in game changed to an error) and with that ended the first baseman’s 30-game consecutive hit streak -- establishing a new Atlantic League record.  Ashby had recently come out of retirement to enjoy the record run of his streak.

The post game wrap that night included an additional review of the overturned hit-to-error play that resulted in returning it back to the originally-scored hit – which extended Ashby’s streak and the Atlantic League record to 31 games – where his streak eventually ended.

Another unique situation that arose with an Atlantic League hitting streak, involved Joe Jiannetti’s 2006 hit streak that bridged two seasons (with 3 games in the beginning of 2007) and also bridged Jiannetti playing for two different teams (Atlantic City and Newark respectively). Originally, when the streak ended it was marked at 28 games. However, a post-streak audit discovered a game that was counted twice in the record keeping and Jainnetti’s streak was then adjusted down to 27 games.

Other notable Atlantic League consecutive hit streaks:

31 Games (2008) Chris Ashby - York

28 Games (2016) Isaias Tejada – York

27 Games (2006/07) Joe Jiannetti – Atlantic City/Newark

27 Games (2005) Billy Hall – Somerset

27 Games (2006) Victor Rodriguez – Newark

26 Games (2017) Anthony Giansanti – Sugar Land

Long Island Ducks 10th Anniversary Team

2009 10-Anniversary Long Island Ducks Choice Team Set

To celebrate their 10th season, the Long Island Ducks named their 10-year anniversary team and honored them back at Citibank Park on the night of August 8, 2009. To commemorate this anniversary, the organization issued a 21-card commemorative set, featuring  nine former Major League ballplayers along with future retired-uniformed players Justin Davies and Ray Navarrete. The honors were as follows: 

1B: Doug Jennings (MLB)

2B: Carlos Hernandez (MLB)

3B:  Carlos Baerga (MLB)

Shortstop: Edgardo Alfonso (MLB)

Left Field: Justin Davies

Center Field: Kimera Bartee (MLB)

Right Field:  Jason Johnson

Designated Hitter: Patrick Lennon (MLB)

Catcher: Francisco Morales (MLB)

Starting Pitcher: Randy Leek

Reliever: Bill Simas (MLB)

Ultility Player: Ray Navarrete

Owner: Frank Boulton

Coach: Bud Harrelson (MLB)