MetroSports Magazine July/August 2015

MetroSports Magazine

Triple Crown Sports NYC Baseball Experience 2015 Randall’s Island July-August 2105

Rich in NYC Sports Legends

FDNY v NYPD Gaelic Football

Contents

p. 33

July-August 2015

Features 4 Welcome to NYC Triple Crown Sports returns for the 2015 summer season 4 Randall’s Island Sports Legends Randall’s Island’s Sports History 8 Triple Crown Sports 2015 NYC Baseball Experience Teams, Photos and Results 33 NYPD vs FDNY Gaelic Football A preview of September’s coverage

Regular 37 Sports Photo Tip

Action Photography by Clark Thompson

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MetroSports Athletes of the Month May/June 2015

C olorado-based

Triple Crown Sports returned to New York City this summer with their wildly popular and highly competitive boys baseball and girls softball tournaments, drawing players from the New York Metro region and from across the country. First up, in late June, was the boy’s New York City Experience Baseball Tournament conducted on Randall’s Island at the foot of the Triboro Bridge followed by Triple Corwn Sports’ second anual Northeast Nationals fastpitch softball tournament.

Twelve teams from the NY Metro region, Georgia, Washington and the Dominican Republic faced off against each other in a five day, seven game elimination tournament held in two age divisions. A New York Metro area team, the Gators Baseball Club from Mohegan Lake, NY, prevailed in the 13 year-old bracket beating teams from Connecticut, New Jersey, Georgia and New York. The 14 year old division championship was captured by the DB Hawks of Pelham, NY, prevailing over teams from Connecticut, Washingon state, and Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.

July will feature the Northeast Nationals Softball Tournament back on Randall’s Island.

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MetroSports Magazine (MSM) is published six times a year by the New York Sports Photo Group.

MSM is available online and can be downloaded in electronic format for viewing on tablet and hand-held devices, laptop and desktop computers and purchased as full-color glossy print editions.

Founder: Warren Rosenberg Publisher: New York Sports Photo Group: nyspg.com Features Editor: John Chuhran Director of Photography / Layout / Web: Warren Rosenberg Associate Photo Editor / Social Media: Clark Thompson Photo Contributors: Clark Thompson, Warren Rosenberg Proofreader: Melissa Tougas Advertising: For rate card contact warren@nyspg.com Please direct all inquiries to: warren@nyspg.com Visit us on the web at: MetroSportsMag.com

MetroSports Magazine accepts and welcomes photos, short articles, opinions and letters from our readers. There is no guarantee that unsolicited contributions will be published and MetroSports Magazine assumes no responsibility for failure to publish or for editing published contributions. The Contents of MetroSports Magazine consist of copyrightable and/or copyrighted material and cannot be reproduced without the express written consent of the publishers.

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Randall’s Island, NYC

Home of the 2015 NYC Baseball Experience

N

ew York City’s Randall’s Island is not only the site for Triple Crown Sports’ NYC Baseball Experience and the Northeast Nationals Fastpitch Softball Tournament, but it is also a well-known NY Metro area mecca for sports of all types.

Randall’s Island has served as the home for New York’s first professional soccer team, the NY Cosmos on which international soccer star, Pele, played. In 1936 in front of an audience that included President Franklin Roosevelt, Jesse Owens qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team with a victory in the 100 meter dash at the Randall’s Island Olympic Trials and went on to win 4 Olympic Gold Medals at the 1936 Berlin games. Jesse’s victory was reenacted in 2004 by U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist Justin Gatlin to celebrate the opening of the island’s Icahn Stadium and recapture a bit of Randall’s Island history. On May 31, 2008, six time Olympic Gold Medalist, Usain Bolt, set a new world record for the 100 meter dash, also in Icahn Stadium.

The history of Randall’s Island in NYC dates back to 1637 when Dutch Governor Wouter van Twillin purchased it from the Lenni Lenape tribe of Native Americans. Since that time, the island has been used for a number of purposes including a Civil War veteran’s rest home, burial ground, a juvenile delinquent detention center and various medi4 | July-August 2015

cal facilities. In 1933, by act of the New York State legislature, Randall’s Island was designated a recreational facility. New York City Parks Commissioner and builder Robert Moses oversaw the construction of playground, ball fields, and a sports stadium, originally known as Triborough Stadium and then as Downing Stadium and which was replaced in 2002 with the modern Icahn Stadium. The lights used at Icahn Stadium to light the field were taken from the old Ebbets Field, the former home of the Brooklyn Dodgers prior to their move to L.A. Back in the days when baseball was a segregated sport and before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, the Black Yankees of base-

ball’s old Negro League played their 1938 season in Triborough Stadium on Randall’s Island although most of their home games were played at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Also calling Triborough Stadium their home field were one of New York’s earliest professional football teams, the New York Yankees of the old AFL. Triborough Stadium was renamed Downing Stadium in 1955 and, in 2002, was torn down to be replaced by Icahn Stadium in 2004 and which is still in use on Randall’s Island today.

The Triple Crown Sports NYC baseball and softball tournaments continue the historic sports legacy on Randall’s Island.

Let MetroSports Magazine put you on the cover using one of the photos from the tournament.

Order your custom, commemorative poster of your TCS NYC Experience.

For information contact: warren@nyspg.com

Titans Baseball Club Bronx, New York

Titans Baseball Club League: Inner City Youth Baseball Program AAU Subordinate Tournament Finish: 4th Place Tournament Highlights: The Titans scored an early-tournament shutout over the Elmsford Crusaders in Game 1 and scored their scond victory over the Crusaders in an 11-1 Game 6 win. The team showed well in their Championship Round Game 7 loss to the UB Team from Santo Domingo.

One of the three NYC hometown teams, the Titans welcomed the TCS NYC Baseball Experience competitors into their backyard for a fun-filled week of baseball.

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UB Team Baseball

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

UB Team Baseball League: Santo Domingo, DR Tournament Finish: 3rd Place Tournament Highlights: The UB Team opened the tournament splitting its first two games on Monday with the Outlaws from Washington state. With a topnotch pitching staff, the UB Team won two of its seven games by shutout, against the Outlaws Blue from Washington and the Titans from the Bronx, NY. Traveling from their home city of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, the UB Team traveled the second farthest disatnce to participate in the 2015 TCS NYC Experience.

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Elmsford Crusaders Scarsdale, New York

Elmsford Crusaders League: Rockland Baseball Association Tournament Finish: 6th Place Tournament Highlights: The Crusaders scored 17 runs during their seven tournament appearances, winning Tuesday’s Game 3 against a well-coached UB Team from Santo Domingo, the Tournament’s ultimate 3rd place finisher.

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Buckhead Braves Atlanta, Georgia

Buckhead Braves League: Buckhead Baseball League Tournament Finish: 2nd Place Tournament Highlights: The Buckhead Braves finished the 2015 tournament with an impressive 5-2 overall record with their only losses coming at the hand of the ultimate 13U tournament Champion Gators. The Braves opened the tournament scoring a total of 25 runs in Monday’s first two games while giving up only 5.

Website http://www.buckheadbaseball.com/ 12 | July-August 2015

New York Angels New York, New York

New York Angels League: Uptown Inner City League Tournament Finish: 6th Place Tournament Highlights: The NY Angels played a respectable and competitive set of baseball games, scoring an impressive early-tournament win on Tuesday over fellow NY team, the Throgs Neck Braves, scoring a total of 13 runs in that game.

One of the three NYC hometown teams, the NY Angels welcomed the TCS NYC Baseball Experience competitors into their backyard for a fun-filled week of baseball.

Website: http://www.uiclbaseball.com/ 14 | July-August

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TCB Heat, 13 Niantic, Connecticut

TCB Heat, 13 League: Team Connecticut Baseball Tournament Finish: 4th Place Tournament Highlights: The Heat opened the 2015 tournament with an impressive win in their first game, scoring an 8-1 win over New Jersey’s Bergen Express. The Heat followed up Tuesday morning with an even more impressive 12-0 shutout over the Throgs Neck Braves.

Website http://www.teamconnecticutbaseball.com/ 18 | July-August 2015

TCB Heat, 14 Niantic, Connecticut

TCB Heat, 14 League: Team Connecticut Baseball Tournament Finish: 5th Place Tournament Highlights: The Heat scored an impressive 10-4 win over New York’s Elmsford Crusaders in Tuesday afternoon’s game. The teams met again in the Championship round on Friday with the Heat once again victorious with a 7-2 outcome. \Website http://www.teamconnecticutbaseball.com/

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Throgs Neck Braves Bronx, New York

Throgs Neck Braves League: Westchester Baseball Association Tournament Finish: 5th Place Tournament Highlights: The Braves opened the tournament with two very hard fought games against their southern namesake, the Buckhead Braves from Atlanta, Georgia. They finished the tournament with a 7-4 win on Friday over rival New York City team, the NY Angels.

One of the three NYC hometown teams, the Throgs Neck Braves welcomed the TCS NYC Baseball Experience competitors into their backyard for a fun-filled week of baseball.

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Bergen Express Maywood, New Jersey

Bergen Express Tournament Finish: 3rd Place Tournament Highlights: The Express split their opening day contests against Connecticut’s TCB Heat with a tough loss in game one but coming back strong to win the second game. They went on to win their next three games, two of them with double digit run scoring, and splitting the final two games on their way to a respectable 3rd place tournament finish.

Website http://leaguelineup.com/welcomeasp?url=ber genexpressbaseball 24 | July-August 2015

Gators Baseball Club Mohegan Lake, New York

Gators Baseball Club League: Team Connecticut Baseball Tournament Finish: 1st Place Tournament Highlights: The Gators were crowned 2015 TCS NYC Baseball Experience Champions with after a tough 6-5 win over Atlanta Georgia’s Buckhead Braves. In four of their six tournament games, the Gators scored double digit runs with some extremely effective hitting while the pitching staff held opponents to single digit scoring in 5 of the 6 games played.

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Outlaws Blue

Bonney Lake, Washington

Outlaws Blue Tournament Finish: 2nd Place Tournament Highlights: The Outlaws Blue might have finished in a very respectable 2nd place but took first place honors in distance traveled to participate in the TCS NYC Experience tournament.

In Thursday’s game against New York’s Elmsford Crusaders, the Outlaws amassed a tournament high 16 runs on the way to their second of three tournament wins.

Website https://www.facebook.com/pages/OutlawsBaseball-Club/236310499741647 28 | July-August 2015

DB Hawks

Pelham, New York

Diamond Buddies Hawks League: Westchester Baseball Association Tournament Finish: 1st Place 14U Tournament Highlights: The Hawks opened the tournament with back-to-back wins on Monday. They then went on to achieve a perfect tournament record winning every one of their six tournament games, twice scoring 10 runs a game while holding their opponents to 5 runs or less. In 3 games, the Hawks held their opponents to only 1 run and went on to win a shutout victory over the 3rd place UB Team from Santo Domingo.

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Below. One of New York’s ‘Bravest” from the Randall’s Island FDNY Training Center watching the Outlaw Blues take on the Elmsford Crusaders.

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NYPD vs FDNY Gaelic Football Right next to the Randall’s Island ballfields which host the Triple Crown Sports NYC Baseball Experience and the Northeast Nationals Fastpitch Softball Tournament is the training academy for New York City’s firefighters, the FDNY, also known as New York’s Bravest. Along with NYC’s other uniformed services, the Police Department and Department of Corrections, these public servants work 24/7 keeping us safe. In their spare time, these heros test eachother in some highly competitive sports.

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Look for our full coverage of NYC’s uniformed services sports in the September issue of MetroSports Magazine

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Sponsored by Hunts Photo & Video

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Sports Photo Tip of the Month Photographing Baseball & Softball

H

ere are some pointers for capturing great action shots on the baseball/softball field.

There are basically four ideal shooting positions that allow you to cover most of the game action and which work well using a single camera and lens combination. Most of your time would be well-spent only at positions A and B. You will only occasionally need to reposition yourself at C for pitcher shots. The ideal lens for these positions to be the 70-200 f/2.8.

Position A, behind the first base coach, is the single, most ideal position where I spent most of my time. Shooting from this position allows you to shoot straight down the baseline at home plate to capture right-handed batters as they stand at the plate. A great still capture of each player as he or she stands to bat with, full concentration on the pitcher, is easy to get. You’ll also be able to get some good pictures of the batter swinging and, occasionally the luck shot of the ball flying off the bat.

Whether the batter gets a hit or a walk, you’ll also be able to get an action shot of the player coming straight at you, in a trot or full run, as they move to take first base. Occasionally, you’ll want to move to position B to get the left-handed batters straight on. . Position A allows you to catch close-up action at first base using the 70mm end of your lens. As you watch the game action you’ll pick up quickly if the first base coach has his/her runners take large leads and steal second base with some regularity. If so, be ready for some great action in the pick-off play. Position A puts you

in the ideal place to capture the runner sliding back into first in a cloud of dust, the first base player poised to make the tag and the pitcher watching the action and, more often than not, throwing the ball. Finally, from Position A and using the long end of your lens, you’re also well-positioned to get the play at second base.

To get some great action photos of the pitchers, you’ll need to occasionally move to position C .Position C looks challenging because you’ll have to shoot through the fencing of the backstop. Actually, this is not at all difficult. If you place your lens right up to fence, centered on one of the small fence openings, have your aperture wide open and your focal length zoomed out, the fence wiring will be thrown so far out of focus that it will simply appear as a slightly dark shadow around the frame of your image. A natural vignette. You get wonderful facial expressions and, frequently, the ball in flight as it moves towards the plate. Shooting in burst mode will get you a nice sequence of images, one of which is sure to have the “money shot.

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