The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Bluefish will leave behind lots of memories
With news coming out this week that the Bridgeport Bluefish will be leaving the city at the conclusion of this season, David Borges takes a trip down memory lane with the team.
News that the Bridgeport Bluefish will be leaving the city at the conclusion of this season is certainly sad for local minor-league baseball fans.
When the team debuted in May, 1998, it caused quite a buzz in the city. The Bluefish led the Atlantic League in attendance in that first season (305,123) and again in 1999 (335,123) when they won their first and only league championship.
Attendance remained strong for a few more years but has taken a precipitous dip more recently. Entering this weekend’s action, Bridgeport was dead-last in the eight-team Atlantic League in attendance, averaging just 2,929 per game.
Still, that doesn’t erase the good times and history the franchise has garnered over the past 20 years. The team has long been a landing spot for former major-leaguers trying for one more shot, including Wily Mo Pena, Edgardo Alfonzo, Shea Hillenbrand and Endy Chavez, among many others. This year’s roster alone features exMLBers Manny Delcarmen and Sean Burroughs, along with pitching coach Rich “El Guapo” Garces.
It’s also been home to many local players over the years, including Adam Greenberg, Matt Iannazzo, Mike Porzio, Mike Tarsi and, most recently, West Haven’s Mike Aquilino — a former UNH star who was plucked from the West Haven Twilight League this summer and made three starts for the Bluefish before being released.
It’s those kind of feelgood, local stories that perhaps will be missed most when the Bluefish leave town. According to owner Frank Boulton, the franchise has already looked into several new locations, including High Point, North Carolina, and cities in New York, New Jersey and Texas.
Here’s a look at some of the most prominent moments (good and bad) in the franchise’s history:
• March 2, 1998: Brian Cornelius, a native of Guyana, South America, is the first player to sign a contract with the Bluefish. Cornelius, who reached Double-A in the Tigers’ organization in 1992 and 1993, played two seasons in Bridgeport.
• May 21, 1998: The Bluefish played their first game, before a sellout of 5,300 at The Ballpark at Harbor Yard. The team would go 1,318-1,272 over the ensuing 20 seasons, entering this weekend’s action, and qualified for the Atlantic League postseason eight times.
• September, 1999: Despite some delays caused by Hurricane Floyd, Bridgeport defeats the Somerset Patriots, 3-1, to win its first (and, to this point, only) Atlantic League championship. The team went 7842 overall for the season, still its best record ever, and led the league in attendance for the second straight season.
• 2006: Prior to the season, original owners Mickey Herbert, Jack McGregor, Mary-Jane Fostar and the Bridgeport Waterfront Investors sold the team to Get Hooked, LLC, a group of investors from Fairfield County that included McGregor and Foster.
• Aug. 14, 2007: An ugly night, when former major-leaguer Jose Offerman, playing for the Long Island Ducks, charged the mound after being hit by a pitch at The Ballpark at Harbor Yard and hits Bluefish catcher John Nathans and pitcher Matt Beech with a bat. In 2014, Nathans, who suffered a concussion due to the attack, was awarded nearly $1 million in damages.
• October, 2008: Atlantic League CEO Frank Boulton purchases the Bluefish and takes over day-to-day operations. Boulton also owns the Long Island Ducks.
• April 29, 2011: Playing for the Bluefish, Guilford’s Adam Greenberg exacts a small amount of revenge on the Ducks’ Valerio De Los Santos, singling off him in the eighth inning in a game at the Ballpark at Harbor Yard. Six years earlier, Greenberg, in his Chicago Cubs debut, had been hit in the head by De Los Santos (who was pitching for the Marlins) in his first and (to that point) only major-league at-bat.
• June 27, 2012: The Bluefish defeat the York Revolution, 2-1, to become the first team in Atlantic League history to record 1,000 victories.
• July, 2015: Team hosts the Atlantic League AllStar Game for the third time (also in 1999, 2006). Capping off the week is the “Heroes for Heroes” Legends Game, which features former Yankee stars (Dwight Gooden, Jim Leyritz, Matt Nokes, Charlie Hayes) against ex-Red Sox standouts (Oil Can Boyd, Ellis Burks, Bill Lee, Mike Timlin). The game ends in a 1-1 tie.
• May 29, 2016: Serving as guest manager for the Bluefish, softball star Jennie Finch becomes the first woman to manage a professional baseball game. She guides the Bluefish to a 3-1 win over Southern Maryland at the Ballpark at Harbor Yard. Finch is one of several celebrity guest managers for the Bluefish over the years, including Pete Rose (2014), Roger Clemens (2016), Paul O’Neill (2015) and Ozzie Guillen (2016).
• Aug. 8, 2017: The City of Bridgeport announces that it plans to turn The Ballpark at Harbor Yard into a concert venue, spelling the end of baseball at the facility.