The Newark Bears ~ A Resilient Brick City Species

From the desk of:  THE BRICK CITY NINE

The Urban Grizzlies Endured Another Troublesome Summer in an Unfamiliar Environment.   Encroachment, Scarcity, and Long Cold Winters are All Part of Being a Newark Bear.


Offensively speaking, the Quebec Capitales had nary a player rank within the top ten in any of the big three categories; Avg.; HR; RBI.  One Cap player placed eighth in batting.  And one Cap placed tenth in RBI.  That's it.


But when it came to pitching; pitching; pitching; -  Quebec had an abundance.  That said, the Quebec Capitales rode the strength of their hurlers all the way to a championship over the New Jersey Jackals in the 2011 Canadian/American League Finals which concluded back on September 16th.   The title was Quebec's fourth in the seven year history of the CanAm League; and their third consecutive championship.

There have only been three other teams to win a CanAm Title.  Two of those clubs are no longer in the league. The Worcester Tornados remain as the only other club still in the circuit to claim a title.  Two former champs, the Sussex SkyHawks and the Nashua Pride, have folded since celebrating their titles. 
The Nashua Pride once played in the Atlantic League too; like another team; the Atlantic City Surf.  They both won Atlantic League Championships before switching over to the CanAm League; and inevitably folding operations.


And there-in lies our segway intended for the Newark Bears Baseball Club.


So how did the two time Atlantic League Champions do in their first year playing in the CanAm League? 


Well..., they finished 41-52 overall; good for 6th place.  Their finish was only one win better than the 7th place expansion Rockland Boulders' record.  And the last place New York Federals shouldn't be entered into this conversation as they were pretty much drafted into service.


Offensively, the Bears wound up being a light hitting group after Daryle Ward's contract was purchased and Tim Raines Jr.'s season tailed off.  Daryle Ward was a key slugger right up until his departure.  And after a furious start, fans as well as his team mates; not to mention his Pop; watched Tim Raines Jr.'s production fizzle in the second half of the season. 


If anyone, you'd have to declare Danny Santiesteban the team's offensive MVP.  His .328 batting average was tops on the team and ranked eighth in the league.  His team leading 74 RBI were only six off the top spot.  But 13 home runs; while good enough to lead the Bears; was a distant ten knocks from the CanAm leader.  Danny also finished first on the Bears in games; doubles; and triples.


Brandon Watson still qualifies as a Most Valuable Bear.  He led the Newark Bears in runs scored; at-bats; and hits.  His .323 batting avg. ranked second on the team only a few percentage points behind Santiesteban's mark as well as being second to him in games played.


But Quebec's championship proved you didn't need to slug your way towards a title.  What you needed was pitching; pitching; and more pitching.  Unlike Quebec, that's something the Bears didn't have in abundance.  No; in this department, the Bears were hungry for help.


Twenty-seven year old starting pitcher; Alex Smith was the only berry they really had.  Alex Smith pitched to a 10-3 record for the Newark Bears which ranked him sixth in the circuit.  The CanAm leader had fourteen wins.  His 3.39 ERA was quite remarkable considering he walked more batters that he struck out; fifty-six versus fifty-two.  In 111.2 inning pitched, he allowed 103 hits.  After Alex Smith, pitching was the Bears' Achilles heel all season long.  And many times; too many times; Coach Raines was forced into very unconventional methods of handling his pitchers.


But how did they do?


They joined the CanAm League for a reason; primarily because of their struggles at the gate.  The title goes back to Quebec again; the league attendance champs.  They pulled in three times more fans than the Bears did.  And what of Newark's nearest neighbors?  The expansion Rockland Bouders led the contingent of American based teams.  They along with Quebec were the only clubs to break the 100,000 mark.  New Jersey pulled in 85,000 fans which ranked them 5th in the league and 35,000 fans ahead of Newark.  New Jersey averaged 1,700 fans per game.  Newark was the only team beside Pittsfield, not to average better than 1,000 fans per game.  And in Pittsfield's case, their attendance situation is understandable.


The plan was to switch Independent leagues so as to cut operating costs due to the club's falling on hard times.  The Atlantic League became too costly for them to operate in while faced with an increasingly absent fan base.  And so the CanAm League provided a financially friendlier alternative in which to continue operations.  Did it help?  I have no idea.  I'm not privy to that information.  Do I hope it helped?  Absolutely.


With the conclusion of this past season, the book keepers may have truly realized a tangible and welcome reduction in costs.  But did it put the Bears and Newark Baseball on a safer river bank of survivability; even if just by a few salmon?  Again, I wouldn't know that.  But I still sense the Bears live a precarious existence.



With the recent maelstrom resulting from Fred Wilpon's blocking the N.Y. Yankees from placing their AAA-Scranton club in Newark's Riverfront Stadium for one season now subsided, I for one didn't see how that would have been a good situation for the Newark Bears, outside of some cosmetic upgrades to the park and a token infusion of petty cash. 


And here's why.


Newark baseball needs a permanent solution.   And it needs to be untethered from affiliated baseball. They need an incredibly original thought that does not take Gotham City into account.   That’s every-one’s problem.   They are Newark; not NYC.   They need something done independently with the concentration focused wholly on Newark and where the fan base should be coming from.  Their base gate must come from the nearby neighborhoods in order for any team to survive there.   They are surrounded by organizations respectively pulling in healthy gate receipts.; including a once gate challenged S.I. Yankees club just few years ago, who are now coming off their three best years attendance wise.


A one year stop in Brick City by a prospecting travelling road show would have done more harm to Newark than good.   The more I think about it, the worse I think the idea of having upper-level minor league ball around here is.   It’s akin to allowing Wal-Mart into the city and effectively putting Mom-and-Pops out of business.  Why snub noses at the Law of Diminished Returns?   Minor League Baseball teams are very important pieces of local economies outside the NY metro area.   It’s best if they remain on the outskirts of town.   We need to stop being so centric about where we live and how much clout we think it brings.


So with the Scranton Yankees planned invasion safely behind them now, the Bears need minds who can make Baseball work in Brick City and get them standing on their own four paws again.  Carpet Baggers need not apply.  Newark needs a Newark inspired solution.


Perhaps, until then, hibernation will go well for the resilient urban Bears, and a season of plenty finally comes their way next Spring.





Mike.BTB

Newark Bears ~ Trying To Claw Their Way Back Above .500

From the desk of:  THE BRICK CITY NINE



NEWARK BEARS:  Even Series With Quebec; Game Three Tonight.


The Bears have played the Quebec Capitales well this season.  And they continued Friday night with a win against Quebec in game two of a four game series up in the Great White North.


After getting shut-out 4-0 Thursday night in the series opener, it took eleven innings to gain victory Friday.  Three runs in the top of the frame sealed the deal for visiting Newark and spoiled things for the home crowd.  Sacre Bleu!  The game was a step in the right direction against a good team, as the Bears are struggling to get above .500 again.  They are currently two games under the mark and perhaps they can get things going in a more positive direction during the rest of this trip in Canada.


I guess you can say; Bears' starter; Alex Smith did it again.  He walked a bunch of batters; which is his custom; but yet, was relatively effective over 5.2 innings.  Quebec scored one time in the second inning.  The Bears staked Alex Smith to a 3-1 lead after five innings on RBI singles by Brad Jackson and Brandon Watson.  Then Alex got into trouble in the bottom of the sixth and surrendered the tying runs.


Newarks' bullpen was stellar and kept the Capitales scoreless in relief of Smith until Quebec scored one time in the bottom of the 11th inning.  Anthony Pluta; TJ Hose; and Matt Fitton; combined on four innings; no runs; two hits; 2 walks; and five strikeouts.  Newly signed Gregory Lane finished the game for Newark.  He allowed Quebec one run, but was credited with the win.


Back-to-back doubles by Brandon Watson and Paddy Matera drove home all three Newark runs in the top of the 11th inning to get the Bears on the winning side.

TONIGHT

Canadian/American League of Baseball

GAME THREE of FOUR

NEWARK BEARS (1-1)

vs.

Quebec Capitales (1-1)

From

North of the Border, Canada

 

MIKE.BTB

Newark Bears ~ Brockton Rocks In Return To The Den

From the desk of:  GROWLING IN BROOKLYN



NEWARK BEARS:  Brockton Provides A Rude Return To Riverfront Stadium For Bears.

After a rather successful road trip to Massachusetts and an off day Thursday, the Bears' return home to The Den wasn't quite what Newark had in mind.  There were no jars of honey waiting on the dinner table; nor puppy-like creatures happy to see master again.  Instead, Brockton showed up at Riverfront Stadium's door armed with bats and a complete lack of respect for being in some one's else's house.  You know how Friday night party crashers can be.


The Newark fans were supposed to greet their team with cheers upon them returning from their first ever CanAm visit to Massachusetts in triumph, having been victorious in two consecutive series wins.  And after a 2-1 first inning lead, they did just that; cheer.  But jeers quickly found their seats and settled in to watch as Brockton pounded the Bears early; often; and late; once they began play after a two and half hour rain delay.


Brockton scored one in the first and three more in the third inning.  Then, The Den's roof just caved in under the weight of eleven more Brockton runs.  That seven run fifth inning seemed like too much for Newark to recover from.


With the score 15-5 by the seventh inning, hibernation would have been an acceptable option at this point.  More torrential rain would have been OK too.


Now, either the Bears are starting to face better pitching with most teams having played 20 games or so, or the Newark hitters, like Raines Jr; Alvino; and even Santiesteban are starting to come down to earth a bit.  Tim Raines Jr. has cooled off considerably in his last three games or so after maintaining a torrid streak that kept his batting average above .400 for a spell.


Then while I was putting this together, other Bears stepped up and started to radically change the complexion of this game.  They scored six runs in the bottom of the seventh inning.  Daryle Ward smashed his ninth home run of the season; a solo shot.  With one out, Burt Reynolds jacked another solo home run; his seventh.  Gossage was hit by a pitch and Matera singled setting up Brandon Watson's single for another Bears' run.  Then, shortstop Juan Martinez tripled, scoring Watson and Matera making it a 15-11 game with two more innings to go in the game.


Continuing to claw back, the Bears gamely picked up one more run in the eighth inning making it a
15-12 game now.


But in the top of the ninth and final frame, Brockton had about a much as they cared to put up with tonight.  They came to Newark intent on busting up the Bears and retaliated for Newark's little show of resiliency by scoring two more runs in their top half for good measure.  And it's a good thing for them they did.  Because the Bears showed still yet a little more fight in them by taking those two runs back.  But they still ended up three runs short by the time this 17-14 contest was finally over.


Newark's starter; Jesse Estrada, suffered and allowed the brunt of the damage incurred by the Bears tonight.  In 4.2 innings pitched, he relinquished twelve hits and eleven runs.


Tonight's result aside, so far, this is shaping up into a marvelous rivalry.


Quebec has won 9 out of their last ten games and continue to sport the Leagues best record.  Newark's record after Friday night's loss drops to 13-8, which is still second best in the League, but four games behind the Capitales.


Game two of this three game series with Brockton is tomorrow; Saturday - 6:35pm.




Mike.BTB

Newark Bears ~ Take Rubber Game Against Worcester Tornadoes

From the desk of:  GROWLINGS FROM BROOKLYN


NEWARK BEARS:  Leave Worcester With Second Best Record In CanAm League.


FINAL:
BEARS...........6
Tornadoes......1

Newark wins first series between each other two games to one.



The Worcester Tornadoes won their first shut out of the season Tuesday night against these Bears, and they were looking to do it again in the rubber game of this series.   Worcester starter; Nick Serino; and Bears' starter; Alex Smith traded zeroes through the first sixth innings.


The Bears were stymied trying to overcome a one and two run deficit last night and were having trouble again getting on the scoreboard Wednesday.


But with the commencement of the seventh inning, the second game started; i.e. - late innings.  Serino started the seventh but got into quick trouble.  Worcester deferred to their bullpen with Ryan Walfield.  And by the time the seventh inning was over, the Bears were leading 5-0.  The Bears' at-bat was highlighted by an RBI single by Kyle LaMotta; Brandon Watson had an RBI sac fly; Tim Raines Jr.'s two run triple; and a double by Ward scored Raines.


Alex Smith completed the seventh inning for Newark before he too was done for the evening.  He left surrendering only four hits and no runs allowed.  A high, five walks and two strikeouts complete his line.  It was his third win this season.


Chris Rollins would give up a run in one inning of relief and Mikey Mehlich closed out the ninth in a non-save situation.


The win improves the Bears' record to a League second best 13-7, behind Quebec.


After a travel day tomorrow, the Bears start a series against Brockton in Newark.




Mike.BTB

NEWARK BEARS ~ Brick City ROX Brockton

From the desk of:  GROWLINGS FROM BROOKLYN

NEWARK BEARS: Team's First Trip To Brockton Starts Off With Win Over Rox.

Last week against Quebec, I caught a listen of the Brockton Rox web caster in between games of a double header, who had nary a good thing to say about the Bears.  During last night's web cast, it seemed he picked up where I left him off last.

So when 3,012 Brockton fans watched their home town team lose to the Bears by a score of 6-4 last night in the opening game of a three game series, I was pleased.  Payback is a real stitch in the baseballs sometimes.  The Bears might not have even realized their honor was at stake last night. 

But I did.  *wink!

In rehashing what happened to the Rox in his post-game wrap, my new favorite announcer was in a quandary as whether to credit the Bears for hitting three home runs, or rationalize that his starting pitcher was just missing pitches.  He reminded his audience countless times the Bears' Ward, Raines, and Watson, who all homered in this game, all had Major League experience.  ...And his point was?


But to his credit, he called them pesky.  Gee Wally!  Thanks.  However, he did say they'd be a problem for the Rox this season and would give them trouble for sure.  And that's the fairest thing I heard him say about the Bears in two opportunities I had to listen-in on his call.


So, Brockton's starting pitcher; Mike Smith; was just missing pitches.  Riiight.  The Newark Bears place four hitters within the top ten batters in the league.  Tim Raines Jr., who fell below .400 last night is second in the League with a .397 batting average.  Daryle Ward is fourth sporting a .372 average.  Billy Alvino is fifth with a .370 average and Danny Santiesteban is seventh with a .350 average.  Not enough for ya?  At number eleven in the League?  Newark's DH, Brandon Watson is batting .338 also.  So yea...I can see where Mike Smith was just missing pitches last night.


In addition to his fifth home run of the season, Tim Raines Jr. upped his League leading RBI total to twenty.


The Bears' starter; Alex Smith; walked four batters and as such, didn't have as neat a line as Mike Smith did.  But Alex Smith made sure the five runs his offense scored for him held up and in the process earned himself his second win of the season.

BROCKTON ROX

NEWARK BEARS

TONIGHT

(Bears lead series 1-0)

NEWARK BEARS

vs.

Brockton Rox

GAME TWO

From somewhere up in Massachusetts

Mike.BTB

NEWARK BEARS ~ Win Fifth Straight Versus N.Y. Federals

From the desk of:  GROWLINGS FROM BROOKLYN

The Trolley Went To Newark For Today's Game.

 

NEWARK BEARS:  Complete Five Game Sweep Over New York Federals In Monday Matinee.

FINAL:

New York Federals....2

Newark Bears.............8

Newark used four pitchers Monday against the New York Federals.  Bears' starter Jesse Estrada allowed the only three hits New York would get all day.


In the top of the third inning, an error by Jeff Toth and a wild pitch by Estrada led to the Feds scoring two unearned runs for an early 2-0 lead.  But that was all they'd get.  The Bears used the long ball and shut down pitching Monday afternoon to complete a five game sweep over the N.Y. Federals.

#51 - Jesse Estrada's Line:

6 ~ innings.
86 pitches; 57 strikes.
3 ~ hits.
2 ~ runs.
0 ~ earned runs.
1 ~ walk.
6 ~ strikeouts.





Kyle Morrison; TJ Hose; and Mikey Mehlich all threw an inning each in relief of Estrada.  They combined to allow no runs; no hits; one walk and two strikeouts.


The Bears decided to address New York's 2-0 lead in the home fifth.  With one out, Paddy Matera reached on an error by the first baseman.  Brandon Watson singled Matera to third base.  Number two batter, Kyle LaMotta singled, scoring Matera and advancing Watson to second.  Tim Raines singled.  Brandon Watson scored when Daryle Ward lofted a sac-fly to left tying the game at two.


After a double steal executed by Kyle LaMotta to third and Raines Jr. following to second base, Danny Santiesteban was hit by a pitch to load the bases.  Danny was not at all please with the pitch and expressed his displeasure with the Fed's hurler; even pointing at him at one point.  The situation quickly diffused until the next batter, Jeff Toth, was also plunked with a pitch.  This one however forced in LaMotta from third and gave the Bears a 3-2 lead they would not relinquish.

#2 - Tim Raines Jr.

Brandon Watson had an RBI in the sixth inning.  But the Bears broke out for another four runs in the eighth frame.  Tim Raines Jr. crushed a three run home run, and two batters later, Danny Santiesteban delivered another four-bagger to give the Bears an 8-2 lead.

#28 - Danny Santiesteban

GALLERY

 

First Pitch; Lead-off batter ~ #1 - Brandon Watson

(Left) #5 - Kyle LaMotta  ~  (Right) #33 - Daryle Ward

#44 - Jeff Toth

3B - Todd Gossage

(Left) #31 - Billy Alvino  ~  (Right) #10 - Paddy Matera

 

Tim Raines Jr. is on deck as Tim Raines Sr. looks on.

Ron Karkovice and Tim Raines.

Victory.

EXTRA INNINGS:

 

Up Next for Newark:

The New Jersey Jackals come to Newark Tuesday as they resume their Essex County Executive Challenge Series.




Mike.BTB

NEWARK BEARS ~ Scratch Out Victory In Ninth Inning

From the desk of:  GROWLINGS FROM BROOKLYN



LINK:   Newark Bears

NEWARK BEARS:  After Blowout Victory Thursday, Bears Scratch Out Win In Ninth Inning Tonight.

FRIDAY FINAL:
New York Federals....7
Newark Bears.............8

A truly entertaining game in Newark on this late Friday afternoon.


The Bears were cruising again leading 3-0 after three innings played. 

In the second inning, Daryle Ward led off with a triple.  The next batter, Danny Santiesteban, promptly drove him in with a single.  After Santiesteban advanced to second on an error by N.Y. Feds' pitcher Giuseppe Granito, the struggling Todd Gossage made good with an RBI driving in Santiesteban from second with a single for a 2-0 Newark lead.  The Bears tacked on a third run when N.Y.'s Giussepe Granito was charged with his second error of the game which eventually led to an unearned run for Newark in the third inning.

In the top of the fourth frame, the Federals struck back and touched Newark starter Ryan Lobban for three runs off three hits to tie the game at three.

With the preliminaries out of the way, this game really got started with Newark's next at-bat.  In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Bears struck for four runs while sending Fed's pitcher Granito to an early shower after pitching 3.1 innings for New York.

With one out, Newark DH Burt Reynolds singled.  Todd Gossage then collected his second hit of the game.  Hot hitting Billy Alvino likewise, promptly singled to drive in Reynolds.  Paddy Matera-(2B) drew a walk to load the bases with Bears.  Then the big blow.  Brandon Watson cleared the bases with a triple putting the Bears up 7-3.

The teams traded zeroes on the scoreboard over the next three innings.

In the top of the eighth inning, the Feds mounted another comeback.  Three runs scored had the Federals within a one of the Bears.  Newark pitcher Kyle Morrison got touched up for three hits and all three runs.

The top of the ninth could have been viewed as a bad omen.  A wild pitch put a Federal runner in scoring position who was quickly driven in by an Andrew Barbaro single.  And this game was now tied an in threat of slipping away from Newark

But the Bears had last licks and made the most of their chance.  To lead off the home ninth, Tim Raines Jr. was hit by a pitch and taken out of the game.  Kyle LaMotta, pinch running for Raines advanced to second on a 3-1 FC.  Daryle Ward was intentionally walked.  Both runners advance on a Santiesteban sacrifice fly.  Burt Reynolds then singled home Kyle LaMotta from third for the Bears game winning run.

The Newark bullpen wasn't nearly up to the task this afternoon.  Kyle Morrison and Mikey Mehlich combined for three innings; six hits; and four runs allowed (one walk and two strikeouts) to let the New York Federals back into the game.  But because the Bears were able to string together a couple of hits in the ninth and win, these types of implosions often go over-looked and Mikey Mehlich earns a win.


It was good to see Todd Gossage get two RBI and a couple of hits.  He needs the confidence boost right now.

No word yet about Tim Raines Jr. leaving the game.  He was 0 for 3 today with one RBI.


The Newark Bears have now evened their record at 4-4 for the season.  Their .500 winning percentage also leap-frogs them into fourth for the moment; two and a half games back of first.


Bear lead five series vs. Federals two games to none.

Next game:   Saturday, June 4 ~ N.Y. FEDERALS @ NEWARK BEARS



Mike.BTB