We strive for excellence..........on, off, before, during, and after
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Upcoming events!!!
Ripken awards will be held Friday, November 13th.
Best of luck to our Fall 9 Yr Olds and 12 Yr Olds who both will play for the championship this weekend. Congrats to our 10 Yr Olds who ost a tough game in the championship....
Haddad to the Rescue
With our league feeling the same pinch so many other companies and individuals have experienced in these difficult economic times, the Haddad family, who has been doing business in Bayonne since 1948, stepped up to the plate and hit a game-saving grand slam for Bayonne Cal Ripken Baseball. With Foot Locker announcing the termination of the field sponsorship in January, the league was faced with its worst fiscal challenge in its history. Having gone "all-in" on the light project a year prior, the league was operating at a deficit even before the Foot Locker decision came down. So when Foot Locker decided to discontinue their $15,000 per year sponsorship, things looked very bleak for the program.
In stepped Rick Mina, former CEO of Foot Locker, who was the man that approved the original sponsorship deal over 5 years ago. Since the day Rick left the Foot Locker corporation, he felt compelled to make amends by helping us find a new sponsor. And after developing a relationship with the Haddad family, Rick suggested we all meet for lunch. Retired Public Works Director, Frank Carine, orchestrated the meeting and within minutes, Haddad Brands CEO, Ed Haddad, said, "Done deal. Let's eat!"
A HUGE THANK YOU SHOULD BE IN ORDER TO THESE INDIVIDUALS THAT HAVE STEEPED UP TO "SAVE" OUR PROGRAM SO THAT YOUR KIDS WOULD CONTINUE TO PLAY ON THE GREATEST YOUTH DIAMOND OF OUR TIME:
The Entire Haddad Family
Rick Mina
Frank Carine
IT'S ALWAYS COMFORTING TO KNOW THAT YOU LIVE IN A TOWN THAT IS FULL OF CARING INDIVIDUALS. AND TO KNOW THAT ONE OUR BIGGEST BUSINESSES IN TOWN IS NOT TOO BIG TO DO THE LITTLE THINGS !!!!
PICTURED ABOVE: L to R: Richard Haddad, Bob DeChiaro, Ed Haddad, and Nick Brancatella
Pilvosky makes history on opening day.
History was made at the Yard in the opening game of 2009, Brandon Pilovsky who plays for Amadeo & Miller set a major league record by throwing the 1st PERFECT GAME in our 12 yr history defeating Chris Corner 5-0 This stud who struck out 9 has been a star since he was 6 yrs old on the Valley National Bank team in the rookie league. You will be hearing a lot about him in future years. Congrats to Brandon!!
Click on links below to see News clips:
Channel 9 News clip
Channel 4 News clip
Click on link for 101wins homepage early Friday morning!
1010wins homepage
Way to go BRANDON!
“If you build it……………………… they will come” – Field of Dreams, 1989
If you’ve seen the movie, you know the line well. The voice heard by Kevin Costner, who stars as a corn farmer and avid baseball fan, inspires him to build a baseball field on his farm with hopes of having legendary baseball players come play on it. In the end, the field is a state of the art baseball palace, and the players do, indeed, come.
In August of 1997, Bayonne Cal Ripken Baseball (then known as Bayonne Bambino Baseball) set out on a similar mission. With a vision to produce the greatest youth baseball program of its time, a group of men formed a league and called 5th Street field their home.
The field was a disaster. The compound was more than questionable. There were no dugouts, no press box, no running water, no electricity, no outfield fences, no scoreboard, no clubhouse, no bathrooms, and no concession stand.
But one thing that was not missing………. was a dream. A dream to make this “baseball diamond-in-the-rough” a place that both kids and parents would someday to be proud to come to.
In just 10 short years, the lot at 5th Street Field has become The Yard @ Haddad Stadium.
From four men with a “pipe dream” to over 75 volunteers and growing today………..
From having an outfield fence made of construction fencing to erecting the Sign Monster in left …
From carrying numbers out on a home-made scoreboard in between innings to the Orange Crush..
From sitting on park benches behind make-shift fencing to building Major League style dugouts…
From keeping score behind the backstop in a lounge chair to doing it in the Press Box…..
From the Port-a-Jon to the first-rate Rest Room facilities…………
From selling soda from a cooler to selling everything in the Stop N Shop Snack Shack……………
From having meetings off site in a recreation building to having them in our own Club House…….
From playing on a dangerous field to installing Field Turf – the most amazing playing surface of our time.
From Mission Impossible to Mission Accomplished !
In 1998, you’d have been reluctant to take your dog to this compound………In 2005, the Foot Locker Corporation entered into an agreement to have their illustrious name stamped on it. Then, in 2009, Haddad Corporation took over sponsorship rights for the field.
A big dream, dozens of great people, and a vision that never stops with an emphasis on doing what’s right for the kids of our town. And from 1998 through 2003, we did it all without having a mandatory registration fee to participate. Imagine that !
If you’re not growing, you’re dying…….and without a big dream, you’re dead. We want to pave our parking lot. We’d like to upgrade our clubhouse.
We won’t stop dreaming and we hope you can help us be a part of the already historic movement we call Bayonne Cal Ripken Baseball.
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