ADVERTISEMENT

Coach Pike's Repping RU

Great positive energy from him. Reminds me of a buddy of mine from childhood. He knows he made a great choice coming here.
 
Great positive energy from him. Reminds me of a buddy of mine from childhood. He knows he made a great choice coming here.
Hopefully, he stays a long time and we end up putting up a statue of him. I know it's early, but I can see it happening.
 
Too bad he just didn't have to only WALK from his office in the RAC to throw out that 1st pitch.

That would have been nice to have that facility here. What could have been...
 
Too bad he just didn't have to only WALK from his office in the RAC to throw out that 1st pitch.

That would have been nice to have that facility here. What could have been...

- could have been? that was a long time ago - the Somerset Patriots ballpark opened June 7, 1999 - and the decisions were made even longer before that
... and at the time there was a huge amount of skepticism about the likelihood of minor league baseball success in the metro-area suburbs - and Rutgers was still in therapy trying to come to grips with what it really really meant when they would tell themselves they wanted to go "Big Time"

Maybe there was an opportunity to build the ball park somewhere else - but who knows how that would have turned out - and don't forget the original intent was that this was going to be a dual occupancy stadium - baseball ownership held the rights to field another franchise in the league - "The Bridgewater Blasters" - now that never came to pass - but it was in the original thinking - would have made for a busy busy busy ballpark - and lots of traffic all baseball season long.
 
Maybe there was an opportunity to build the ball park somewhere else - but who knows how that would have turned out -
There was and it was on our land. But you're right at that point we still didn't know what we wanted to do.

And I was never a fan of unaffiliated minor league baseball. Feel you need some sort of MLB connection for it to really work.

Good for the Patriots that they've stuck around.
 
If you are not affiliated, where do you get your players from? You might as well be in an independent league, and those franchises come and go. You might get fans with promos, funny hat nights, etc, but if you want a small cadre of real baseball fans that will buy season tickets every year, you have to be affiliated. That way, you can showcase your own kids that have a shot at moving up, but also hot prospects from other teams. A few years ago, the High A Jupiter team had Yelich and Ozuna for the year, and Stanton and Fernandez for half the year. Seeing these guys improve as they played was more important than the wins and losses. As time went on, promotions slowed--we didn't get the souvenir baseballs, bobbleheads, etc, since attendance stayed poor either way. But the real baseball fans enjoyed the games, and spotting future stars early.
TL
 
If you are not affiliated, where do you get your players from? You might as well be in an independent league, and those franchises come and go. You might get fans with promos, funny hat nights, etc, but if you want a small cadre of real baseball fans that will buy season tickets every year, you have to be affiliated. That way, you can showcase your own kids that have a shot at moving up, but also hot prospects from other teams. A few years ago, the High A Jupiter team had Yelich and Ozuna for the year, and Stanton and Fernandez for half the year. Seeing these guys improve as they played was more important than the wins and losses. As time went on, promotions slowed--we didn't get the souvenir baseballs, bobbleheads, etc, since attendance stayed poor either way. But the real baseball fans enjoyed the games, and spotting future stars early.
TL
And that's why I had hoped we got the place built here. Maybe the Patriots don't make it and then we're "stuck" with it.
 
And that's why I had hoped we got the place built here. Maybe the Patriots don't make it and then we're "stuck" with it.
I just moved from Rockland county where they have a beautiful stadium for an independent league team. The building went way over budget. The town (Ramapo) regrets the decision immensely. Same for Newark etc.
 
And that's why I had hoped we got the place built here. Maybe the Patriots don't make it and then we're "stuck" with it.

Yes - it would now be fantastic if the Somerset Patriots 6,100 seat stadium were right on the Rutgers campus (Clemson's excellent stadium is 6,272 seat)
- but I kind of feel that local politics / whining / protest - about noise, crowds, traffic, parking would have made it one incredible uphill battle to get it to become a reality - and could have forced an array of compromises that would have choked the potential for any success totally out of the picture.
 
... - but I kind of feel that local politics / whining / protest - about noise, crowds, traffic, parking would have made it one incredible uphill battle to get it to become a reality - and could have forced an array of compromises that would have choked the potential for any success totally out of the picture.
Isn't it sad as Rutgers fans we have to look and consider that kind of stuff almost all the time when things like this come up? LOL
 
  • Like
Reactions: RUMBA-JK
If you are not affiliated, where do you get your players from? You might as well be in an independent league, and those franchises come and go.

The Atlantic League gets a lot of former MLB players who want to pad their stats with the hopes of getting re-signed. A bunch of players do get their contracts purchased during the season.

Somerset is the last original Atlantic League team still standing as of next year. They're a successful franchise that's extremely involved in the surrounding communities.
 
On no!!!! Does that mean we now have to give up a home game and play a basketball game at the Somerset Patriots field?
 
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT