LONG ISLAND DUCKS

The 'Long Island Ducks' are an Atlantic League team based in Central Islip, New York. Since the 2000 season, they have played in the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, which is not affilitated with Major League Baseball.
The name "'Ducks'" refers to the "Big Duck", which is 20-foot tall, 30-foot long structure in Suffolk County, where Citibank Park is located. In 1988, it was moved to Sears-Bellow County Park when the original site in Flanders was marked for redevelopment. Big Duck preservationists and the Friends for Long Island's Heritage campaigned to save it.^[1] The Big Duck, originally a marketing tool, is a tribute to Long Island's well-known duck farming industry.
The Ducks currently own the independent league baseball single-season attendance record of 443,142 fans. They reached this total in the summer of 2001, surpassing the previous record of 436,361 fans which the team had also set in 2000. The Long Island Ducks recorded their 2 millionth fan since the stadium opened in 2000. The Ducks reached the 3 million mark in attendance in September, 2006.
Bud Harrelson was key in founding the team. He started out as the Ducks first manager and currently owns part of the team.
The team plays in Citibank Park, formerly known as EAB Park.
The current team has 13 former major league players as well as 4 former all-stars.^[2]

Contents

History

John Rocker

José Offerman

Quick facts

Current roster

Retired Numbers

References

External links

History

The Long Island Ducks inaugural season in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball was 2000, even though the Long Island area had waited for professional baseball for many years. The New York Mets and the New York Yankees have the territorial rights to keep an affiliated team, Major or Minor League, from coming within 75 miles of their respective ballparks. The last attempt to come within the territory was made by Albany Colonie Yankees when they tried to move to Suffolk County, home to the Ducks, but the Mets prevented the move. The Albany team later moved across the Long Island Sound, to Norwich, Connecticut and became the Navigators, who are now known as the Connecticut Defenders. ^[3] Baseball fans in Long Island have been very excited about the Ducks and have led the Atlantic League's attendance since their beginning. Despite their success at the gate, the Long Island Ducks have not had success on the field until their 2004 Atlantic League Championship season when they defeated the Camden Riversharks in a three-game sweep. After the Ducks' 2004 championship season, the Ducks participated in the Atlantic League playoffs for the next three seasons.

John Rocker

In 2005, John Rocker signed with the Ducks in an attempt to revive his career. He asked New Yorkers to "bury the hatchet," claiming his willingness to play in Long Island proved he had matured since his controversial comments. Rocker was poorly received by the fans and ended up pitching with an 0-2 record and an ERA of 6.50.
On June 25, 2005 Rocker announced in a statement that "After pitching for two months with the Long Island Ducks, the consistency required to pitch at the Major League level, and the consistency I demand from myself, are not where they should be. As a result, I have elected to take a step back and reevaluate the options available to me. I would like to thank the Long Island Ducks organization for the opportunity they've given me to help me reestablish myself as a Major League pitcher."

José Offerman

On August 14, 2007 José Offerman, playing for the Ducks in a game against the Bridgeport Bluefish in Bridgeport, homered in the first inning off of pitcher Matt Beech. In his second at-bat, Offerman was hit by a pitch, causing Offerman to become irate and charge the mound with his bat in hand. He hit Beech's hands with the bat, as well as hitting catcher John Nathans in the head. Nathans was taken out of the stadium on a stretcher, and Offerman was arrested and taken into custody. ^[4]

Quick facts

:'Current uniform colors:' White with black pinstripes for home games and grey for away games. The home jersey has the word "Ducks" in script across the front and name and number on the back. Black hats with the a footprint of a duck in orange with white accents.
:'Current logo design:' The word "Ducks" in script in orange with black and green outline, and the stylized head of a duck inside the letter "d". The words "Long Island" are centered above the script in orange letters outlined in black.
:'Current mascot:' Quackerjack "QJ" (2000-present).
:'Current Broadcasters:' Radio: Chris King of the New York Islanders, 'David Weiss', former morning show host for WLIE and 'Mike Solano'
:'Current PA Announcer:' Bullet Bob Ottone of the former WGLI-AM fame, and most recently since 1977 as Station Manager for WXBA-FM, Brentwood High School's FM radio station (retired 2002).
:'Current Radio Stations:' WBZB-FM 98.5 & WNYG-1440

Current roster

'Active (25-man) roster'				'Coaches'
'Pitchers' ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 'Catchers' ★ ★ ★		'Infielders' ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 'Outfielders' ★ ★ ★ ★ ★		'Coaching Staff' ★ (Manager) ★ (Bench Coach) ★ (First Base Coach)

Retired Numbers

42, Jackie Robinson, retired throughout baseball.

References

1. The Big Duck
2. Pearlman: Minor Miracle
3. History of Long Island baseball
4. Offerman Charges Mound, Hits Two with Bat


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External links

★ Long Island Ducks

★ Atlantic League of Professional Baseball

★ Atlantic League blog

★ Atlantic League Independent

★ Suffolk County, New York