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At the short-season Class-A level of baseball, the name of the game is development: physical, emotional and mental.
On Opening Night on June 17 at Dutchess Stadium, fans witnessed that development compressed into a single game. The Hudson Valley Renegades lost 13-7 to the Aberdeen Ironbirds in front of 4.523 fans at the ballpark in Fishkill.
The Renegades were done in by a disastrous first inning, in which the Ironbirds scored nine runs, three of them earned. The runs were surrendered by starter Tyree Hayes in two-thirds of an inning of work.
Hayes, the son of former New York Yankee Charlie Hayes, allowing five hits, capped off by a grand slam by Aberdeen’s Tom Baxter. Knuckleball specialist Diego Echeverria allowed two more runs in the top of the third and by the fifth inning the Renegades were in a 13-1 hole.
However, the home team refused to lay down in the fifth inning, after a botched double play by the Ironbirds led to a bases-loaded opportunity for Hudson Valley’s Michael McKenna, who hit a ball that found its way past the Aberdeen second baseman for two runs. Robbi Estrada followed up with a two-run double.
The Hudson Valley bullpen was stellar in the latter stages of the ballgame. Robert Della Grotta threw three innings of hitless ball and Travis Rieser followed with a hitless frame of his own.
Hayes (0-1) took the loss while Adberdeen’s Cole McCurry recorded the victory for the Ironbirds.
Coming together quickly
Although more than half the Renegades have been playing together since spring training, at least 10 players were drafted just last week and the entire team coalesced last Friday and spent a couple of days together at a local hotel. Due to poor weather over the weekend, the team only got in a few practices in before the bright lights of opening day.
The ’Gades held a media day on June 16, where first-year manager Joe Alvarez laid out his philosophy. Baseball has gathered many stamps on the manager’s passport during his 29-year coaching career that has included stops in Mexico, Columbia, Dominican Republic, South Korea, Japan and Canada.
“I’ve always said that when baseball becomes a job, I would quit and so far, I’m still in uniform,” he said.
This is the first year in the Tampa Bay Rays organization for Alvarez, who managed last year with the Phillies Class A affiliate at Lakeland, N.J. He promised an aggressive, scrappy team.
“We’ll have an exciting club. I love the running game and we’re going to do as much as we can with that to create excitement and create ways of scoring runs. If we are able to have a strong pitching staff and a strong defense that means you’re going to be in the ballgame most of the time and we’re going to find ways of winning games by scratching, biting and fighting for a run here and there,” said Alvarez.
At this level of baseball, the composition of the roster is in a constant state of flux, so the team is relying on four returning players to provide leadership on and off the field. Right-handed pitcher John Baird played with the Renegades last year during the final month of the season after signing late. Baird said professional baseball took a little getting used-to.
“It was my first taste of pro ball and it was kind of nerve-wracking because you guys have so many fans here, but I’m really excited to be back.” Baird said the biggest on-field adjustment was going from pitching against aluminum bats to wooden ones.
“You can do a lot more by throwing low in the strike zone. In college, it’s not as forgiving, but at the opposite end of the spectrum, everyone in the lineup is the best there is. I found out that getting a ground ball is more important than trying to strike everybody out,” he said.
This year’s roster hails from all over the United States, as well as the Dominican Republic and Argentina. Outfielder Michael McKenna is in more familiar surroundings, hailing from Staten Island, by way of Florida Atlantic College. Being close to home can be a double-edged sword, said McKenna.
“I’d rather not be in Staten Island, because I just want to focus on baseball, but being close to home is a little cool too.”
Alvarez plans to rotate his pitching staff liberally to avoid the overuse that he said is common in college baseball. Righty Shane Dyer, selected in the sixth round of last week’s draft, said his coaching staff at South Mountain Junior College in Phoenix always kept him on strict pitch count of between 100-115 pitches per start.
For Dyer, his between-starts preparation is the key to success.
“If you don’t keep your body in pitching formation, then you’re going to be out of sync out there.” Dyer plays catch daily to keep his arm limber and emphasizes cardiovascular work to hone his endurance.
Two Renegades have a unique insight into professional ball, being the progeny of former major leaders. One is pitcher Christopher Andujar, the son of former Cardinals star Joaquin Andujar, and the other is Hayes, who said he picked up some intangibles hanging around big-league clubhouses.
“I learned that it’s a grind every day and you have to come to the ballpark wanting to be here and you have to play as hard as you can everyday. There are ups and downs, but you have to stay in the middle, have a good work ethic and work your tail off,” said Hayes.
