The way Paul Samulski sees it, if people are looking for something to do this summer, they can’t go wrong with an Albany Dutchmen baseball game.
Samulski, the team’s president, points to the passion of the Dutchmen’s players, as well as the Dutchmen’s array of entertainment options and their low admission prices (the priciest tickets are $5).
You’ve got nothing to do this evening? Samulski said. `You drop $10 and you’re in. Our prices are very reasonable.`
Now in their second season, the Dutchmen play their home games at Albany’s Bleecker Stadium. Members of the New York Collegiate Baseball League, the Dutchmen feature college players who spend the summer with host families in the area. The team plays nearly every day in June and July, with the season kicking off at 7 p.m. on Friday, June 4, against the Cooperstown Hawkeyes.
Jason Brinkman, the Dutchmen’s general manager, said opening night will be exciting, with a live radio broadcast, free admission for youth softball and baseball players, a visit from the Albany AquaDucks mascot and amphibious vehicle, and more.
`We’re going to make that a huge event for us,` Brinkman said.
The team hopes people will come out that first night and be eager to return for more.
Like Samulski, Brinkman said the Dutchmen have plenty to offer.
`Even if you don’t like baseball, there’s going to be something you can enjoy,` Brinkman said, specifically mentioning the team’s food and drink selections as well as giveaways that are planned throughout the summer.
`There’s really a lot going on,` he said.
Brinkman knows a thing or two about trying to find entertainment options in the area, having grown up in the Capital District. A 2000 graduate of Guilderland High School, Brinkman studied sports management at the University at Michigan, which helped him land a job with the Dutchmen last year. Impressed with his work as assistant general manager, the Dutchmen offered him the general manager post before this season started.
Brinkman hopes to use his new position to lure people to the ballpark for reasons both professional and personal.
`I do take kind of a personal pride in seeing a local team succeed,` he said. `It does disappoint me when they fold.`
While both he and Samulski said they strongly support other sports teams in the area, they’re proud of the niche the Dutchmen fill, particularly the closeness the players enjoy with the community.
`They’re so accessible,` Samulski said. `There’s no distance between them and the fans.`
To that end, every weekend throughout the summer, and often on weeknights, Dutchmen players are out volunteering, whether they’re conducting clinics with Little League teams or helping at charity events. Last year, the team held a special day at the stadium for Jacob Shell, a Burnt Hills boy battling cancer, and players passed around a hat to take up a collection for the Shell family — this despite being college students without paying jobs.
`That story shows that not only do we require them to [be involved], but they want to do it,` Brinkman said.
As noble as last year’s players may have been, they struggled to win games, putting up an 11-29 record. Brinkman said the Dutchmen weren’t brought to Albany until a month or two before the season, which put the team at a disadvantage when it came to recruiting and signing players.
`The product on the field wasn’t as good as we had hoped,` Brinkman said.
This year, in contrast, prospects were signed months in advance, and Samulski said the organization is eager to give some of the nation’s top college players the chance to play in front of scouts and possibly achieve their dreams of being major leaguers.
The roster is dotted with some familiar names, boasting players from Siena College, the University at Albany and St. Rose. Brinkman is also excited about the recent signing of Albany High graduate Mike Hughes, who plays at Coastal Carolina University.
`He’s really kind of a bigger name in the area,` Brinkman said.
`At the end of the day, there’s really good baseball,` Samulski said ` not to mention live music, bounce houses and other attractions for kids, on-field contests between innings, expanded concessions and a stadium that’s recently been upgraded.
`It’s a very cozy, intimate environment over here,` Samulski said.
For a schedule and other information, visit www.dutchmenbaseball.com.“
