“Yes, You Can Play”: Syracuse Challenger Baseball Brings Smiles to the Community
By Ian Quinn
SYRACUSE, NY– When walking up to the Carrier Park Field of Dreams in Syracuse, a sense of belonging and love is felt as soon as you walk through the wrought iron gates.
Carrier Park Field of Dreams is home to the Syracuse Challenger Baseball organization, where people of all ages with special needs play baseball for free, on fields built specifically for them.
“Challenger Baseball provides an opportunity to children and adults with special needs, whether they have developmental disabilities, physical impairments, neurological conditions, difficulties with hearing or speaking or sight,” said executive director Dom Cambareri, who has lead Syracuse Challenger Baseball since 2004. “All of those don’t matter because it provides them the opportunity to play baseball side-by-side with their peers in a friendly and welcoming environment.”
Located in the East Syracuse suburbs, the Carrier Park Field of Dreams was built in 2016 from the vision of Cambareri, who wanted players to have the opportunity to play at a state-of-the-art facility, that is accessible to all. The 24-acre lot was acquired by way of the Town of DeWitt, who donated it to them, realizing the impact a league like Challenger Baseball could bring to the Syracuse community. The league plans to expand the Field of Dreams to accommodate more fields so multiple teams in the league can be playing at the same time.
“The Carrier Park Field of Dreams has an amazing impact on the league,” said Dee Perkins, deputy program director at Syracuse Challenger Baseball. “Right now, we have 18 teams playing and neither field that we are playing on has enough fields for all of our players to play concurrently.”
Over 260 players are presently enrolled in the league and it is consistently growing. They are an official member of the NY District 8 Little League, which means the Challenger Baseball players could, if selected, have an opportunity to travel to Williamsport for the Challenger Little League World Series.
The volunteers of Challenger Baseball help make this organization flourish as they assist the children and adults with running the bases, batting tips or even just cheering for the players on the field.
The impact of the league has changed the lives of not only the players, but their parents as well.
“Challenger Baseball has made our son Danny feel so proud when he hits that baseball and everyone cheers for him,” said parent Gretchen Mulcahey, who has a son who plays in the league. “He loves seeing all the coaches and players. Just the smile on his face says it all!”
Cambareri puts the mission of Syracuse Challenger Baseball perfectly.
“If you could picture a set of parents bringing a child to the baseball field or park. Maybe the child is in a wheelchair. Maybe the child has some neurological condition that doesn’t otherwise allow him to participate in typical sports. He sees a group of kids playing on the diamond and he looks up at his mom and dad and says, ‘Do you think that they will let me play?’ The answer of the Challenger Field of Dreams is, ‘Yes, you can play’.”
From Peanuts and Cracker Jacks to Shifts and Analytics
By Ian Quinn
It’s September 9, 1978. The New York Yankees are playing the Boston Red Sox in a critical AL East matchup. Thurman Munson, the Yankees catcher and captain is up in the top of the fourth. Willie Randolph is on second. Munson hits a ball up the middle to score Randolph and give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. In the stands, fans with sharpened pencil and scorecard in hand, fill in the latest action– a hit and run batted-in for Munson.
Flash forward to March 29, 2018. It’s Opening Day for the reigning World Series Champion, Houston Astros. Justin Verlander is facing hitter Joey Gallo in the bottom of the first inning. Manager AJ Hinch looks down at a large stat sheet that tells him where Gallo is most apt to hit the baseball. He moves his third baseman Alex Bregman to left field to have four outfielders and just three infielders. Gallo flies out to Bregman in left field. Coincidence or baseball’s “new math”?
Baseball has always been a game of numbers. However, these statistics and numbers have become more extensive and complicated as the game continues to evolve. Instead of Batting Average being the statistic batters focus on, On-Base plus Slugging or OPS is the stat that most analytical managers look for in players. It shows the batter’s ability to get on base and hit for power which are two valuable assets to have as a hitter in today’s game. To judge how valuable a player is to a team, a statistic known as Wins Above Replacement or WAR has been very prevalent in the past few years.
Some players, such as former 15-year Major League veteran Jayson Werth, believe the game is being ruined and is not what it once was. Werth was quoted on The Howard Eskin Podcast saying, “I think it’s killing the game. It’s to the point where just put computers out there…and let them play…it’s a joke.”
While Werth has a point, this addition of sabermetrics, as it is called amongst the analytical baseball community, has added a unique level of excitement to the game. Watching the 2018 Tampa Bay Rays, a team projected to be one of baseball’s worst at the beginning of the season, win 90 games was remarkable. Those wins came courtesy of a decision by manager Kevin Cash to start the games with an opener, instead of a normal starting pitcher. The use of an opening pitcher prevented the opposing team from seeing the same pitcher, which can lead to confusion for hitters. The shift in the infield and outfield by the eventual World Series champions, Houston Astros, was a spectacle to watch. Each shift has meaning and played a major role in the Astros winning the World Series. The question remains, did the Astros outplay or outsmart their opponent?
Smart baseball is good for the game, and at times the game can outsmart the analytics. During the 2018 season, Didi Gregorius, shortstop for the New York Yankees, a notorious pull-hitter from the left side of the plate, bunted down the third baseline for base hits. Other left-handed power-hitters such as Orioles first baseman Chris Davis and Texas Rangers first baseman/outfielder Joey Gallo have not adapted to the shifting and their numbers illustrate that.
As with most sports in America, games do change, but not as drastically as baseball has in the past decade or two. What started as a leisure sport is now arguably the most mathematically-driven sport in the world. Is it time for fans to trade in their pencils and scorecards? Stay tuned.
