The New York Penn League opens its season this evening, and of course it will be in exciting fashion. It is the 75th year of the Class-A short season league, that often features many of the most current draft picks. It is one of the oldest leagues in Minor League baseball, and still one that promotes the promise of a bright Major League future.
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The NYPL reached new heights at the turn of the millennium. That is when teams like the Staten Island Yankees, the New York Mets’ Brooklyn Cyclones and the Aberdeen IronBirds — Cal Ripken, Jr.’s team — joined on and reshaped the direction of the league. Anytime you add a Yankees and Mets franchise as well as one that a beloved Hall of Famer owns, heads are going to turn.
Tonight the NYPL kicks off this 75th season in high fashion. The SI Yankees 22-year old left handed hurler Derek Callahan will throw out the first pitch of the season against the cross-town rivals Brooklyn Cyclones. The Yankees first round draft pick Kyle Holder is expected to start at shortstop for the Baby Bombers.
There will be a new team debuting this evening as well. Well, kind of a new team. The Pittsburgh Pirates Jamestown Jammers picked up and moved this offseason relocating to West Virginia. They are the first NYPL team in their 75 year history to play out of West Virginia and they took on the Black Bears mascot in honor of their state’s animal.
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While a bevy of new fans will be on hand to inaugurate their new team and stadium, they will be in for an even bigger treat. Tyler Glasnow, the Pirates top pitching prospect who started the year as the No. 12 prospect in baseball, will be making a rehab start for the Black Bears debut.
The State College Spikes, the St. Louis Cardinals affiliate who defeated Bregman’s Tri-City ValleyCats for the 2014 NYPL title, will be opening their campaign with their sites set on a feat that hasn’t been accomplished since 2007. That was when the Staten Island Yankees capped off their second consecutive championship and no team has done it since.
Saved by the Bell night. Game of Thrones night. ALS Challenge Bobblehead night. The NYPL brews excitement not just through their fun promotions, but through the promise of showcasing the best of tomorrow’s talent. Who is set to make some noise in 2015? We find out tonight.