Why a Duck?: The Long Island Ducks in 2019

[Edgy MD]

Wally Backman's Long Island Ducks have signed a former underling of Wally's from his days managing in the Mets' system — none other than free-swinging, drama-making, hard-to-spell outfielder https://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/kirk-nieuwenheis-1.28711088Kirk Nieuwenhuis.



Former Mets starter and Cubs GM Ed Lynch will serve as Backman's pitching coach in 2019, and former Mets prospect Tyler Badamo will return for a second season as part of Lynch's staff. A native of Mount Sinai in Suffolk, Badamo will certainly be a candidate for the all-time Duck record for growing up closest to the home ball park in Bethpage.



The stupid Atlantic League, dying for a purpose, have agreed to become a guinea pig league for the majors, serving as subject for experimentation for rules the majors are pitching but haven't yet adopted, including electronic ball/strike assistance for the home-plate ump, and the banishment of shifts.



Backman has switched from the fu manchu to a Gardenhirerian Van Dyke, and it doesn't look half bad:



http://liducks.com.ismmedia.com/ISM3/std-content/repos/Top/2012%20Websites/Splash%20Page/Images/2019-Opening-Night-Ticket-Sales-Splash-Page-Update.png>

[MFS62]

If I want to see future Mets instead of ex-Mets, Hartford is the closest place (for me) to see the AA Binghamton team.

Here's the promotions schedule:

https://www.milb.com/hartford/news/yard-goats-release-2019-promotional-schedule/c-303629864https://www.milb.com/hartford/news/yard-goats-release-2019-promotional-schedule/c-303629864

Note the name changes during the season.



Side note, is there a Going to the Game thread yet?



Later

[Edgy MD]

[nymr83]

crowd-sourcing housing options on twitter. wow. don't you have an AGENT who should be able to find these things out for you?

[Benjamin Grimm]

Perhaps there aren't many agents who want to represent a Long Island Duck.

[Edgy MD]

He should move into The Big Duck.



https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ad/Big_Duck_2018_05.jpg/1200px-Big_Duck_2018_05.jpg>

[seawolf17]

It's much smaller in there than you think. About the size of a studio apartment, though, so it might work.

[seawolf17]

[seawolf17]

And apparently, from the same draft, Akeel Morris is a High Point Rocker, where he'll join pitching coach Frank Viola: http://atlanticleague.com/about/press-releases/?article_id=1168http://atlanticleague.com/about/press-releases/?article_id=1168

[G-Fafif]

While Matt den Dekker has retired from the Flock, T.J. Rivera has quacked the active roster.

[Edgy MD]

Newsday, 6/25 wrote: Former Mets pitcher Ed Lynch has https://www.newsday.com/sports/local/ducks/ed-lynch-ducks-1.32955103stepped down as Ducks pitching coach after spending the first two months of the season in that role, the team announced Tuesday. Long time minor league coach Rick Tomlin, who spent time coaching in both the Mets and Yankees systems, was named as Lynch's replacement. Lynch, 63, stepped down to ‘spend more time with his family,' the team said. “We spoke with Ed after Sunday's game and this was the direction he decided to go in,” Ducks president and general manager Michael Pfaff told Newsday Tuesday afternoon. “…We were grateful that Ed was part of the staff for the first few months of the season and wish him nothing but the best.” Despite losing nine pitchers to other professional organizations since the beginning of spring training, Lynch's staff led the Atlantic League in strikeouts (459) and ranked second in ERA (3.74). Entering Tuesday night's game against the New Britain Bees, the Ducks held a 1 ½ game lead over the Somerset Patriots in the Liberty Division first-half race with 14 games left. The winner of the first half earns an automatic berth in the postseason. Prior to accepting the Ducks job, Lynch has never been a pitching coach at the professional level. He pitched eight seasons in the big leagues, mostly with the Mets and then the Cubs. He was the Cubs' general manager from 1994-2000, director of player development with the Padres, special assistant to the GM for the Mets and Cubs, and, most recently, a scout for the Blue Jays from 2010-15.

Kirk Nieuwenhuis also put in his papers today too. Coincidentally or not, it's the https://risingapple.com/2019/07/12/mets-kirk-nieuwenhuis-home-runs/fourth anniversary of his three-homer game.

[G-Fafif]

Kirk is also stepping down to spend more time with Ed Lynch's family.