Capital Region deserves affiliated Double-A baseball

ALBANY, N.Y. — To paraphrase a tune from “Ol’ Blue Eyes,” that’s life (that’s life). That’s what all the people say. There’s no baseball in April. Opening Day in May. As the Tri-City ValleyCats are readying to open their regular season, it’s wild to me that the Capital Region hasn’t experienced April Double-A baseball in 30 years.

How can an area of this size not have at least Double-A baseball, let alone any affiliated baseball? It is absurd!

Due to the 2020 Major League Baseball decision reducing the number of affiliated minor league teams, 36 teams were eliminated across 23 states. Hence, New York’s Capital Region has been without affiliated minor league baseball since 2020.

It’s puzzling when one considers that the Capital Region’s metropolitan statistical area (MSA) population of 941,000, compares near or above other regions of the state where they have affiliated baseball teams. Buffalo, 1.1 million has the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons (Toronto Blue Jays), Rochester, 1.1 million houses the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings (Washington Nationals), Poughkeepsie, 703,000, boasts the High-A Hudson Valley Renegades (New York Yankees), Syracuse, 653,000, hosts the Triple-A Syracuse Mets (New York Mets), and Binghamton, 243,000, has the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies (New York Mets).

One can’t fault Capital Region baseball fans for MLB’s decision-making. From their inception in 2002, nearly three million ValleyCats fans walked through the turnstiles at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium. Plus, from 2010 to 2019, the team averaged 4,196 fans per game, or 93% of capacity, additionally, in their last five seasons in the New York – Pennsylvania League, the club placed in the top three in league attendance. One of the cities that ranked ahead of Tri-City in attendance was Brooklyn, which is essentially a major league city.

According to baseball-reference.com, one month into the 2024 campaign, Binghamton’s per-game average attendance is 1,442, Syracuse’s is 2,449, Rochester’s 3,632, Buffalo’s 4,026, Hudson Valley’s 2,334 and Brooklyn’s is 1,715.

You’re telling me this area can’t average somewhere around those totals? Please!

Unfortunately, no one from MLB to the ValleyCats to local officials has been able to tell me why the Captial Region was left out. Is it inadequate facilities? Lack of local ownership? Lack of corporate and business support? Lack of a stronger political push from local, state, and federal officials?

It’s also absurd that the Yankees could place their Double-A or Triple-A affiliate here but presently have clubs based in Somerset, N.J., and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Pa. respectively.

At one time, Yankee baseball worked here, and if a proper stadium had been built, it would probably still be here.

From 1985-1994 the Albany Colonie Yankees, a Double-A Eastern League minor league affiliate of the New York Yankees called Heritage Park home for 10 years.

Nearly 100 players who made it to the major leagues honed their craft at the ballpark by the airport. Including Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, and other players who contributed to their 90s run of dynastic success who played at Albany, guys like Jim Leyritz, Andy Fox, and Brian Boehringer.

Amongst other notable names to have played here were Al Leiter, Gerald Williams, J.T. Snow, Roberto Kelly, Hal Morris, Doug Drabek, Pat Kelly, Randy Velarde, Andy Stankiewicz, Russ Davis, Sterling Hitchcock, Bob Geren, Brad Ausmus, Russ Springer, Mike DeJean and even “Primetime” himself Deion Sanders.

While their parent club in New York was sleepwalking through the late 1980s and early 1990s, Heritage Park was the place for exciting Yankee baseball on the way to the big leagues.

That explained why Albany in 1985 smashed and set the Eastern League record for attendance with more than 324,003.  In fact, as the Oakland A’s Double-A affiliate in 1983, Albany drew more than 200,000 fans for a team that finished in last place.

From 1985-1987 Albany led the Eastern League in attendance and from 1985-1990 Albany was top three in attendance each year. If one counts the A’s days (1983-1984) Albany finished in the top three in attendance from 1983-1990.

Attendance figures were skewed in the last remaining years (1991-1994) due in part to a fan base alienated by constant rumors and attempts by ownership to move the team.

As for on-field moments, perhaps no more memorable moment happened than in 1986 when Yankees legend Ron Guidry pitched in a rehab start for three innings in front of a packed beyond-capacity crowd of 14,491.

Former players like Reggie Jackson or Willie Randolph also visited the park to help with the younger players, and scouts with radar guns by the dozen to watch former Yankee fire-balling lefty prospect Brien Taylor pitch in 1993, a year before he ruined his arm in a fight.

In 1994 during the strike, Buck Showalter who managed the Albany-Colonie Yankees to a championship in 1989, their second of three (1988, 1989, 1991) with many of the players who would contribute to World Series Championships in New York, was on hand to scout players who would also contribute to those championships with Gene “Stick” Michael and Billy Connors.

After the 1994 season, the team left, along with its cheap quality affiliated minor league baseball until the Short Season Single-A ValleyCats arrived in 2002

This happened mostly because there was no local ownership and no local businesses were willing to step up and keep the team in Albany. Nobody wanted to put any money towards improvements of a ballpark that was unfortunately built before the Camden Yards era. Failure also stemmed from the state level of government to local politicians in Albany County and the Town of Colonie, who years after the team left could never build a new stadium to secure another team.

As a lifelong Albany resident, I’ve noticed how people say it’s great that we’re centrally located about two to three hours away from other major cities like New York, Boston, and Montreal. That’s fantastic but tell me how many people can practically go to three games a week while plopping down $100 bucks a ticket, plus tolls, gas, parking, concessions, etc., get home at 2 a.m., and go to work the next day? If you said yes, then you’re a better and wealthier fan than I.

That’s why I miss having that high-level, affordable, accessible, baseball so much. You give me a state-of-the-art baseball stadium with around 7,000 seats, the high-level product of Double-A baseball, and coupled with a promotional marketing team and organizational know-how the ValleyCats front office possesses, it will thrive here. It’s a guaranteed winner and this area with a rich history of Double-A baseball deserves it!