MOOSIC — It’s still over two weeks until New York Yankees pitchers and catchers report to Tampa, and less than three weeks until the rest of the team joins them. The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders don’t even start their regular-season schedule until April 6, when they open a four-game set in Buffalo against the Toronto Blue Jays’ Triple-A affiliate.
However, even with a chill and a few snowflakes in the air, Saturday was a day for baseball.
The RailRiders held their Fan Fest, which featured a meet and greet with New York Yankees first baseman and former RailRider Tyler Austin, Crestwood grad and RailRiders pitcher Matt Wotherspoon, Hazleton Area grad and former RailRider Russ Canzler, co-owner and former Scranton/Wilkes-Barre pitcher Andy Ashby and a trio of northeastern Pennsylvania minor leaguers Max Kranick, Joe McCarthy and Kyle McMyne.
The RailRiders’ new Baby Bombers logo was also unveiled.
“I think it was a great turnout,” Ashby said. “We need to get this place jammed of course, being on the (owners’) side of it. The product that we put on the field player-wise is off the charts. They’re great. The organization, the farm system is unbelievable. We need to make the ‘wow factor’ for the fans to come in and enjoy themselves.
“I think things have changed this year. To see the turnout for this that we saw today was awesome and it’s an honor to be a part of it,” he said.
Saturday provided fans like 17-year-old Scranton native Michael Tucker the chance to get their photo taken with Austin and get anything their heart desired autographed. In a RailRiders knit hat and sweater, Tucker had a binder full of baseball cards in tow and made the most of the afternoon.
“It was great seeing these guys here,” he said. “You’re kind of rubbing elbows with them. It’s almost like they don’t seem as players, they seem as normal players. You get to meet them, talk to them, just talked about baseball and stuff. It’s cool.”
The chance to take a photo with the Yankees’ first baseman was an opportunity 27-year-old Peckville native Robin Trojanowicz, who was proudly sporting her No. 26 Austin Yankees shirt, couldn’t pass up. She made sure she thanked Austin for all of the RailRiders memories and wished him luck for the upcoming season.
“It was special because I watched him the past two years here at the Triple-A level, and then to see him make his debut in New York was exciting,” Trojanowicz said. “Now to see him come back — because it was kind of like, ‘Well, he’s in New York now. Maybe we’ll never see him again?’ — but it’s really great that he’s taking the time out to do this for the fans.”
For Wortherspoon, who joined the RailRiders during their run to International League and Triple-A championships, Saturday was a special day. Growing up in Mountain Top, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre franchise played a special role in the pitcher’s life.
“This is where I want to start a family some day,” said Wotherspoon, who heads to Tampa in a couple of weeks. “It’s special to come back and give back a little bit to this area (which) has given me so much. It was a nice day. It was really, really great event and I can’t wait to get 2017 started.”
Baby Bombers logo unveiled
“It’s a pretty special logo,” Austin said with a chuckle. “I’m pretty thrilled that, that’s going to be something on the hats. I think everybody around all of the baseball community is going to love that thing.”
The new Baby Bombers logo has been months in the making, ever since Austin and Aaron Judge went back-to-back to start their careers in the Bronx, and the positive reception brought a smile to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders president and COO Josh Olerud’s face Saturday.
The new caps will be worn on Sunday home games this season, and the kids club has been branded as the Baby Bombers Club.
“It was really kind of built around when (Austin, Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez) started flying up like that, and really, our staff, we were at that game when (Austin and Judge) hit that historical home run, the back-to-backs, and everything we heard about on the radio that day when we were leaving back was all about the Baby Bombers,” Olerud said.
“The social media push on (the logo) right now is nuts. We’re getting orders from all over already. It’s pretty cool that everybody received it like we thought they would, hoped they would,” he said.
Olerud and his staff asked the Yankees if they could use the name “Baby Bombers,” and once they got the OK, they pitched an image concept to Brandiose, a company that designs many logos for MiLB franchises. After a change in concept, the RailRiders had an image they liked and were ready to roll.
“We just said, ‘What about an actual baby? We want it to be meanish. Kind of cute and mean at the same time. Kind of that New York grit, but something that the fans would find fun,’” Olerud said. “They hit it on the head.”
The Baby Bombers merchandise is expected to be in the RailRiders’ team store within the next month. Olerud said the Baby Bombers merchandise will range from hats and T-shirts to baby apparel.
“Everything you can think of,” he said.
The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre president’s goal is to get the logo in Lid’s stores across the country, and making the logo a branding image.
