When Major League Baseball announced its plan two years ago to help encourage youngsters to take part in the national pastime, a program called RBI (Rebuilding Baseball in the Inner-City), one of the cities targeted was Jersey City.
After all, Jersey City had been a hotbed of baseball talent for ages, with a host of former major leaguers like Johnny Kucks, Jim Hannan, Kevin Bearse, John Valentin and Willie Banks all hailing from Jersey City.
But in recent years, for some reason, the numbers of younger kids playing baseball has dwindled considerably, especially in inner-city locations like Jersey City. The local Little Leagues are witnessing a considerable number of teams shrink in size. Some leagues have totally fallen by the wayside. Kids are just not that interested in playing baseball nowadays.
Thus, the reason why Major League Baseball instituted the RBI program, to try to encourage kids to play baseball like they used to in the 1950s and ’60s.
Last year, MLB’s RBI program held its first-ever tournament, with teams from most of the nation’s major cities participating. Jersey City was glad to enter teams in both the 15-and-under and 18-and-under divisions, as well as a softball team.
This year, the RBI Eastern Regional tournament is being held in Jersey City, with action going on in practically all of the city’s fields this weekend.
The 15-and-under tournament, which will feature two teams from Jersey City, namely a Jersey City team and another from the Jackie Robinson League, will be played at Pershing Field and Lincoln Park’s newly refurbished facility.
The Jersey City 15-and-under team will be coached by Danny Suarez of Hudson Catholic, with assistance from Ed Ward of New Jersey Institute of Technology, along with Josh Beteta and Wilmer Mendez of CREATE Charter.
Some of the other municipalities coming to Jersey City for the RBI tourney include New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Baltimore, Westerville, Maine, Pawtucket, R.I., Harrisburg, Pa., Southern Queens of New York and Newark.
The 18-and-under Jersey City team has a fine coaching staff, headed by veteran Mike Hogan of Ferris, with assistance from Pat Laguerre of St. Mary’s, Ron Hayward of Marist and Dave Weber of St. Peter’s Prep.
The 18-and-under Jersey City team will play Jackie Robinson on Friday, Baltimore on Saturday and Philadelphia on Sunday, with all games slated for 12 noon at Caven Point’s Cochrane Stadium.
Each of the age brackets will have pool play to determine divisional champions.
How about this for a reward? The championship games will be played Monday at Yankee Stadium. That’s right, the top youngsters in this RBI tournament will get to play on the same field that generally graces Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez.
“It’s a big thing for the kids to be playing in Yankee Stadium,” Hogan said. “Last year, the championships were held in Trenton at Waterfront Stadium, which is a nice ballpark. But having it this year at Yankee Stadium is a big goal for the kids.”
Hogan is also glad that the regional tournament is being hosted in Jersey City, under the guidance of Jersey City Recreation supervisor Joe Napolitano Jr., also known as “Smokin’ Joe,” to local wrestling fans.
“We’re playing at home on familiar fields, sleeping in our own beds,” Hogan said. “It really makes a difference for us. We’re not packing up early and hitting the road and sleeping in a hotel. We’re home.”
While last year, the RBI program simply held a tournament, this year, there was an actual league that played a series of games in Jersey City, prior to the regional tourney.
“It was a full-fledged league,” said Hogan, who coached one of the teams in the league. “Each team played at least 12 games. Average kids don’t normally get a chance to play. You have to go back to the days of the old Build Better Boys Baseball league [which disbanded in the mid 1990s] to see so many kids playing baseball again. This is an idea that worked. It gave a lot of kids a chance to play baseball this summer.”
As for the Jersey City team that will play in this tournament, Hogan and his staff has assembled a very competitive team filled with former and current Hudson County standouts, several of whom once graced The Hudson Reporter All-Area team in their day.
The pitching staff features Fabian Roman, the former Marist ace who was drafted in June by the Kansas City Royals. Roman has yet to sign a professional contract, so he’s eligible to pitch in this tourney.
Other pitchers include Rob “Hammer” Doughty, the former Hudson Catholic standout currently at William Paterson; Juan Cruz, the former St. Mary’s standout; Patrick Farrell, the former Marist standout now at St. Peter’s College, and current high school players Michael Martucci of St. Peter’s Prep, Nelfi Marte of Ferris and Wendell Rodriguez of County Prep. The latter two were All-Area honorees this spring.
A pleasant surprise has been CREATE Charter’s Mark Ciaston, who perhaps flew under the radar a little because of where he played. Other pitchers include Jonathan Rodriguez, formerly of St. Anthony and currently at Wilmington College in Delaware, and current Hudson Catholic player Mike Kelly.
The starting catcher is two-time All-Area performer Eddie Sorondo of Marist, who should draw his fair share of professional attention next season, and Reyvis Rivas of County Prep as a backup.
E.J. Schaefer, who played at St. Peter’s Prep, is the starting first baseman, with Cruz and Wendell Rodriguez sharing time at second base. Martucci, Ciaston and Jonathan Rodriguez share time at shortstop, with Roman and Doughty doing more than an admirable job at third.
Evan Pimentel, the Hudson Reporter’s Player of the Year this season for County Prep, is one of the team’s outfielders. Pimentel will head to Rutgers in the fall. Farrell, Darryl Velez (Ferris) and Omar Polanco (St. Mary’s) round out the outfielders.
Needless to say, it’s a talented team representing Jersey City in what should be an exciting tournament. And who knows? Maybe we’re watching a Jersey City team playing in Yankee Stadium next week.
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.