Long Island Ducks: The 2018 season is another shot to continue the run

The Long Island Ducks begin their 18th season in the Atlantic League. They kicked off the season with a family fest and media day. After we were fed, the Director of Media Relations Michael Polak would introduce the people who were talking. We would be hearing from General Manager Michael Pfaff, Long Island Ducks owner Frank Boulton, Long Island Ducks manager Kevin Baez, pitching coach and pitcher John Brownell, Jair Jurrjens and Travis Snider. It is worth noting that Jurrjens and Snider were signed by the Ducks in the offseason. It is worth noting that there are eleven former MLB players who are on the 2018 roster.

In addition to Jurrjens and Snider, the Ducks are welcoming former MLB players like Daniel Fields, Jordany Valdespin, and David Washington to name a few. I asked manager Kevin Baez about the influx of MLB talent and he said, “It helps the team, but there is MLB talent on every team in the Atlantic League”. Another thing that was mentioned by Frank Boulton was that every player in the Atlantic League will be wearing a patch that says JK.

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The JK patch will honor Joe Klein who was one of the founders of the Atlantic League. Essentially he was Boulton’s, right-hand man. He ended up passing away in 2017. Additionally, he mentioned was that there will be a new team entering the league in 2019. Thus, they will be based in High Point, North Carolina. They are replacing the Bridgeport Blue Fish, who ceased operations following the 2017 season after they could not renew the license on their ballpark.

After all the media day and fan fest, there was a game to be played. The Long Island Ducks faced the New Britain Bees, who were starting their third season in the Atlantic League. It is also worth mentioning that the Bees are managed by former New York Met Wally Backman. The Ducks would end up winning the spring training game by the score of 6-2. This win was led by the magnificent work of Jake Fisher who went 4 innings with giving up 1 run on 2 hits and striking out 3. The hitting was also there for the Ducks. In fact, the moment of the game for me was in the seventh inning. That is when Alec Sole, Robert Garcia, and David Washington would drive in three runs to put the game out of reach.

The Ducks continue their spring training schedule on Monday when they play local amateurs, Long Island Black Sox. The start time for that game is 1:00 pm. If you are a season ticket holder, you can go to the game for free. If not and you want to go, you will need to donate $5 to the Quacker Jack Foundation. The home opener for the Long Island Ducks will be May 4th. They play the Maryland Blue Crabs at 6:35 pm.

Stay tuned to WBLZMedia throughout the 2018 season for the Long Island Ducks as they try to capture another championship. Here are two sound clips from General Manager Pfaff and Manager Kevin Baez.

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