In Major League Baseball, the All-Star break is an opportunity for most teams and most players to take a few days off and leave the limelight to a relative few players who've somehow captured the attention of a large portion of the nation's children (young and old). Here, the break means a good chunk of the Ithaca Lakers squad is hard at work representing their team and their division. The Ithaca Lakers are Ithaca's Northeastern Collegiate Baseball League team, and as of this writing (the day of the NECL All-Star game, as it happens) the squad has an embarassing 19-7 record with just thirteen games remaining in the regular season. Embarassing not for Ithaca, but for the other teams in what's traditionally been a fairly tight league. The team with the next highest standings in the Western Division (which Ithaca leads) is Cohocton; the Redwings had an 11-12 record as of Monday the 8th following a pair of home losses at Laker hands. (The top two teams in each division qualify for post-season play.)
Ithaca is used to winning ways; they've secured division titles three of their four previous seasons, and won the league championship in 1994, in only their third season. The team got its start in 1992, after the Ithaca Baseball Associates tried unsuccessfully to bring a minor league pro team to Ithaca. Member Gene Ziegler says the group of volunteers and investors was approached by the NECL after a Syracuse franchise folded.
The 1996 team bears little resemblance to that first 1992 squad, because the team is made up of NCAA-eligible college players. Everyone from 1992 has long since graduated, been drafted, or otherwise lost NCAA eligibility. In fact, only a handful of players remain from the 1995 season. These are among the cream of the college crop; they're the players who can't think of anything they'd rather do all summer than play ball, and NCAA rules prevent them from seeking paying baseball gigs. Players are recruited from all over the country, and have come from Wisconsin, the Citadel, UNC, California, and both Cornell and Ithaca College.
In fact, we can expect to see some of these players again--in the pros. Hardly a week goes by without word from one or another Laker "alum" who's working his way up through the minor leagues. Fan favorite Tom Tegeler, who played with the Lakers their first two seasons, is playing first base for the Newburgh Night Hawks in the Northeast League. Three-time Laker Jason Wesemann has reported to the Phillies' Batavia Clippers franchise. And would-be Laker Carmen Panaro was drafted by the expansion Arizona Diamondbacks as the season was about to begin, so he's reported to Phoenix.
This year, the stars of the team are the exceptional pitchers who, through July 4th, posted a combined 2.28 ERA (it's gone down a tad since then) and a combined 15-7 record, with six saves tallied. Ithaca College hurler Ian Stringer is on the squad adding some local flavor, and one pitcher, Gregg Henebry, has managed to maintain a 0.00 earned runs average even though he's pitched in five games. Henebry is 4-0 as of this writing. Tommy Miller was named Laker player of the week for the week of July 7th, for holding opposing batters to a .106 average so far this season. He has a great 0.45 ERA, three saves, and 27 strikeouts over twenty innings.
Three Laker pitchers are among the seven named to the Western Division's All-Star team: Mike Balicki, Anthony Salley, and Henebry. They're joined by catcher Don Schone and infielders Brett Kaplan, Brian Cannon, and Bo Betchman, and by five-year Ithaca manager Joe Brown, who'll coach the Western Division All-Star squad.
Laker baseball is the closest thing we get around here to "real" baseball. The hot dogs are hot and tasty (the sauerkraut comes at no extra charge), the infield is real Georgia clay, the bats are made of wood, and dozens of kids run after each foul ball. "Spoonball" gives three kids a chance to win a prize during the Seventh Inning Stretch by running around the bases carrying baseballs on wooden mixing spoons with one hand behind their backs, and there are lots of other opportunities for fun, games, and prizes.
There aren't many home dates left, so grab the kids and the picnic cooler and come on up to Ithaca College's Freeman Field before it's too late. The schedule's at http://users.aol.com/ithlakers/
Summer doesn't last forever, you know. The season ends soon.
| Photograph: Bomber Hurler Ian Stringer spends his summers on the Laker mound. Ithaca's pitching staff is its strong suit this season. Laker photograph © 1996 David Craig. Used with permission. |
Mark H. Anbinder is 14850's sports columnist, the Local Sports Editor at WVBR FM, and a Cornell alumnus.
