Aquebogue man is Long Island Ducks’ new right fielder
A Long Island Duck
Long Island Ducks manager Kevin Baez remembers first seeing Sabatella play as a member of the Atlantic League rival Lancaster Barnstormers. A tall, athletic outfielder, Baez said he was quickly impressed with the kid. Then he looked at the roster and saw the words Wading River, New York.
“I said, this is a Long Island guy, what the heck is he doing in Lancaster?” Baez joked.
The manager knows firsthand about the type of opportunity the Atlantic League gives players as their careers move into the later stages.
A dozen years after Baez made his Major League debut with the 1990 New York Mets, he was playing for his former manager, Bud Harrelson, on the Ducks.
“I’m a kid from Brooklyn, so this gave me a chance to play at home, too,” he said of Long Island’s only minor league team. “I wasn’t ready to give it up and this team gave me a shot to keep playing.
“As long as you still want to compete and have that passion you should keep playing ball,” he said. “Once you lose that, it’s time to get a real job.”
Sabatella said he had spoken with the Ducks in the past, but, describing himself as an extremely loyal person, never wanted to break a contract with another ballclub.
While he knows his chances of ever playing in the major leagues are minuscule, Sabatella does have a goal for his time on Long Island. He wants to win a third independent league championship in this, his 11th season of minor league ball.
“Every player hopes to get their contract picked up [by a Major League franchise] and, of course, that would be nice,” he said. “But there’s nothing you show from being picked up other than being able to tell people, ‘I once got signed.’ One thing I can’t get taken away from me is a championship. That’s something you can physically show someone, a big ring on your finger.”
The Ducks have started the season strong with a 6-4 record through their first 10 games and Sabatella, who is batting leadoff and starting in right field, was red hot to start the team’s first homestand. Heading into Sunday’s game against the Sugarland Skeeters, he was batting .500 over his past four games, with three doubles, a home run, four RBIs and five runs scored.
That first home run, a long blast beyond the left-center field fence off former big leaguer Andrew Carpenter, came during a 2-for-3 performance Saturday in a 10-2 Ducks win.
“There’s nothing like being home,” Sabatella said. “This is a top-notch organization and they make it so you can get comfortable playing here.”
His parents, who now live in Aquebogue, have attended each game during his first homestand, as has his girlfriend.
His travel ball coach from when he was 12 years old was also in attendance when he hit his first shot out of Bethpage Ballpark Saturday.
“I had no idea he was here,” he said. “It’s great to see someone that you haven’t necessarily lost touch with, but haven’t been able to see for a while.”
The following morning, a large group of kids lined up along the dugout and met with each of the Ducks’ coaches and players for autographs. Amid the pack of children was a group from Wading River Elementary School, who were there for a school “fun day” fundraiser.
After meeting Sabatella, Wading River mom Colette Grosso returned to the stands with a message for the local kids.
“I said, ‘If you’re getting autographs, make sure you get one from number 44; he went to your school,’” she recalled during the game that afternoon. “They looked at me and said, ‘He did?’ This is great for them to see someone who came from where they come from and to see what he’s accomplished.”
