Steve DelVecchio, Navigators Sports Information Department
In front of a crowd of nearly 2000 fans at Fraser Field on Thursday night, the North Shore Navigators made the most of a friendly exhibition match against the Dominican All-Star team. Playing in front of perhaps the most energy-filled crowd at Fraser this season, the Navigators used some of their usual crew, along with a few local ballplayers and a pair of the organizations co-general managers, to come up an 8-4 victory.
Getting the start for
“I was a little nervous at first, but I settled down,” Tower said. “It was a lot of fun. It was good to see some guys get to play in different positions than they’re used to. The atmosphere was awesome. I wish it could be like this every night.”
The Navigators would give Tower the run support he deserved in the home half of the third inning, scoring three times. All three runs were batted in by players not currently on the Navigators roster – Jesse Bruinsma of Curry college and Swampscott native Jason Blydell from
Coach Falcon was pleased with the way in which the players not on the Navigators roster were able to contribute tonight and give some of his players some always-welcomed rest.
“I was very happy with them,” Falcon said. “They helped us out a lot, I could not have asked for anything more. They did exactly what I was hoping for - they gave our guys a chance to rest.”
Although they came out on the losing side of the game, the highlight of the game belonged to Dominican All-Star center fielder Leonardo Vilorio. Navigators’ pitcher Chris Kowalski (
“Coach Falcon gave me a chance to hit tonight,” Kowalski said after asking about the catch which robbed him of a double. “I hit the ball and I get all excited, and next thing I know the guy made the number one play on Sportscenter there in center field. It was a great experience playing against these guys; playing a team with a different culture. [It was a] great atmosphere. The kid made a great catch so hats off to him. It was a great night all the way around.”
Another unfamiliar name followed
After making noise in the top of the ninth inning by scoring three times, Navs pitching was able to close the door on the Dominican All-Star team and enjoy an 8-4 victory.
The Navigators resume NECBL game action on Saturday night when they take on the Lowell All-Americans, in
14 comments:
worse game ever atten ded. period.
I thought the game itself was pretty good, quality-wise. Although some of the off field stuff (the band not getting the cue to stop playing, confusing substitutions that weren't clearly announced) could have been improved upon. Hopefully we will do better than that in the future.
All in all though, I thought it was a fun night, and it was nice to see some of the temporary guys come through.
Though I appreciated seeing this game and watching the players making some wonderful plays, I was not ready the the intensity of the speakers located on the sides of the field. You should have told me to bring noise cancelling headphones. I've probably lost some hearing tonight and I don't appreciate that.
Though this may be a cultural bias on my part, I did not appreciate the salsa band playing through game time (batters and game in play). Their playing seemed to say to me that they had either no concept of what you do at a ballgame or they did not care. They seemed more interested in hearing themselves play than being a part of the evenings festivities. It was almost as if the game was not as important as they thopught they were. I'm very disappointed that the management of the event did not get them to stop, as players and the coaches attempted to do. If this is the result of effort to bring people together, then I will not be a part of any future such events. We were there to see BASEBALL. The band could have waited until after the game to get into their thing. I was not impressed with their attitude, their not caring about the game or the fans (music was good but way too loud, to intrusive). I hope this does not happen again or I will not be there.
I don't think that sounded culturally biased at all. I loooved the style of music performed tonight at Fraser, but I too was dismayed that they kept playing through plays.
Hopefully we will take some steps to make sure that doesn't happen at future events - I will talk it over with some of the staff and I will post something here about our discussions.
Thanks for attending the game and for your support of the Navigators.
JG
I agree with the second anonymous guy. The game was good,but there were several bad things with the day. The music was WAY TOO LOUD and overlapped much of the eveing. Management should have got them to stop since everyone else was apparently trying to (minus the fans). I didnt like the onetime additions and it also seemed a little disorganized.
It was definitely a bit disorganized, but it was an exhibition game. Anyone who's ever been to a Spring Training game where they start bringing in guys with outside linebacker numbers in the 7th inning knows what I mean.
I agree that the music was way too loud. I don't think you'll find many who disagree.
Personally, I liked the one-time additions. They were all local guys, so they probably had friends and family present to watch them play - and a few of them might end up on the Navigators some day. After all, the Navs do have one more roster slot.
Thanks for reading
JG
Let's not forget that this was the first time the Navigators had done something like this with the musica and all, so gliches and a bit of disorganization was to be expected. I also wouldn't say that the managment didnt attempt to take care of the music playing into the game, if i remember correctly it only happened once or twice which leads me to beleive that it was explained to the performers what was expected.
Job well done! It was a fun and refreshing night, something everyone is not used to (probably why there will be so many complaints) Hope to see many more nights like that! Thank you to everyone who planned and helped to make it possible!
Thank you for your kind comments! I agree, it was refreshing and fun, and I hope that we'll see more big crowds in the future. I really think that we're turning the corner as an organization.
Thanks for your support!
JG
Thank you Navs for this wonderful Blog and website. Compared to other sites, you are the best. Thanks for letting people vent a bit. It is good to see participation on the plog in this way.
As I know this is the very first time this kind of event happen at Fraser Field. It about time people come to their home town ball park. I was very pleased and hope these kind of festivities happen more often. I am planning to bring family and friend to the park if this happens again. North Shore Navigators is a great team and I really congratulate them for such wonderful job. It is wonderful to read the newspaper and see good things instead of negatives news. Come on people lets enjoy the summer and stop complaining about minor things. This city is full of diversity, lets welcome new ideals to make this city free of violence and a better place to be.
Thanks! You hit it on the head. I'm glad you enjoyed the experience.
JG
I agree with some stuff.....
the music was loud and intrusive,it seemed like it could've been organised better (and will be the next time,for sure)
But we gotta look at the positives. It was a great culutral experience and there were a lot of people that were there.
Even though most of the people there wanted us to lose,they saw how good a team the Navs are. Hopefully the success of this event will intice more people to attend these games.
The music was great, but I too agree that it was way to loud and I'm sure everyone has learned from the mistakes of the evening. It was great to see the Navs give some local young men the opportunity to play that evening. It would have been nice if they let us know who they were and what position they played. The news paper article didn't even metion all their names and I'm sure it was a great experience for them.
I think with the new players it was really tough to figure out who they were and where they came from, etc.. Their names were pretty much just dumped on us, and new ones were being added right up to game time which made it nearly impossible to figure out who they were.
All in all it was a great night and I'm glad to know people of people enjoyed it. We look forward to even more success with an evening like this in the future!
Thanks.
Steve
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