Sussex County Sports Blog

By Dan Cleary

7/30/2008 - No Place Like Home For Crespi

Scott Crespi is a little more wide awake when he gets to work in the morning these days. After all, he spent the last two-and-half months on the internet until 2 a.m. every day.

No, Crespi wasn’t involved in some crazy chat room or playing online poker, he was following his son, Ryan, as he played for the Reno (Nev.) Silver Sox in the Golden League, an independent league located on the West Coast.

“That was getting tough,” said Scott Crespi, a Sparta resident. “Five nights a week I was up to 2 in the morning, and then I had to get up for work in the morning. But now (Ryan) is home and that is great.”

And Crespi’s new home is the same as one of his old ones---Skylands Park. The former Pope John and Sussex County Community College star was signed by the Sussex Skyhawks of the Can-Am League Thursday and he played his first game with the squad Friday night where he promptly went 3-for-5 and stole a base in the Skyhawks’ 13-5 loss to Brockton before a full house at the ballpark.

Prior to the game, the team held a press conference where Crespi fielded questions about his homecoming and what it meant to him. He said all the right things as he was flanked by his past and his future, in Pope John baseball coach Vinnie Bello and Sussex manager Hal Lanier.

Both Lanier and Sussex Skyhawks General Manager Ben Wittkowski said the major reason they signed Crespi was that he was a good player and was having a MVP-type season for Reno (.354, 4 home runs, 28 RBI and 21 stolen bases), which was definitely true.

But both men kind of downplayed the local angle, and with all due respect to them, I think they maybe mistaken. Sure, both Lanier and Wittkowski said it was nice that Crespi was a local, but according to Wittkowski, the team won’t see a measurable jump in attendance due to his signing, which is no slight to Crespi, he said.

I know it is Lanier’s job to bring in players who can help the team win and it is Wittkowski's job to fill the seats. Signing Crespi is a win-win on both accounts and the Skyhawks should look to do more of the same in the future.

The talent level in the Can-Am League is fairly-high, and is better than the Golden League, according to Lanier. There are a lot of veterans and players that made it to the Bigs or reached Triple A or Double A, so the Can-Am is no glorified American Legion operation.

But other than Fireworks Nights, the Skyhawks have had a tough time drawing fans on a consistent basis. I know personally that Wittkowski has done everything in his power to fill the stadium. Ben is an unbelievably hard-working guy, and despite the Skyhawks better play this year, and great game-day promotions and giveaways, Wittkowski hasn’t found that magic solution, as George Steinbrenner once so eloquently said years ago, to putting “fannies in the seats.”

Well, maybe signing a few more locals could stir some interest in the club, as long as the players are good enough to compete. Now I know of a former local star who had a tryout recently with the club and was turned down and he eventually signed in another league.

Even though Lanier didn’t think he could make the cut in the Can-Am League, at least they gave him a look, and that is a great start. There are several former Sussex County Interscholastic League stars playing independent baseball, who in my opinion, could compete in the Can-Am League. A guy like former PJ star Tim Sweeney comes to mind. The former Rutgers star, who was drafted by the Montreal Expos back in 2002, is playing for the Newark Bears of the Atlantic League and he is hitting close to .300.

I’m not saying the Skyhawks should put together an All-SCIL All-Star team, because honestly, there aren’t enough quality players to make the team competitive at the Can-Am League level. But say, three-to-five locals, could really give the club a jolt at the box office.

After getting to know Lanier this year, I have every faith that he will put a winning product on the field. The former Houston Astros manager, who is also an absolute gentleman, has won everywhere he has been in his 12 years as a manager in independent baseball.

But I’m not so sure that even if the Skyhawks win the Can-Am title, it would solve their box office woes. I remember when former Jefferson star Shaun Stokes was drafted and signed by the St, Louis Cardinals, and he was assigned to play for club’s New York-Penn League affiliate at Skylands Park. There was a buzz in the air.

Yes, a lot had to do with the fact that the Cardinals were affiliated and people wanted to get a look at a star on the ground floor of his career. That was a big draw for some fans, the fact they maybe watching a future Major Leaguer. But having Stokes brought more media attention to the club and that’s the type of publicity you can’t buy.

Unfortunately for the Skyhawks, they don’t have that type of appeal. Many of their players will never play for a big league organization and some are on the downside of their playing careers, even though they are still fine ballplayers today. So the Skyhawks have to figure a way out of this jam. You look around the league and several of the clubs have no trouble consistently drawing 2,000-to-3,000 fans. But they are also not located just an hour away from the biggest city in the world which houses two Major League teams.

Another obstacle is that New Jersey is littered with baseball teams both affiliated and independent. The market is a bit saturated, and with so many teams close by, fans can drive just an hour or so to see a baseball game.

And I know Wittkowski, a very sharp guy, knows this as well, so why not take a chance on some more locals? Maybe that will keep the casual fan from going to see the Bears in Newark or the Skyhawks' sister club, the Jersey Jackals, in Little Falls.

But until Wittkowski finds that solution, local fans young and old should come out to Skylands Park to watch Crespi and the rest of the Skyhawks. With the economy being the way it is, there isn’t a better sports and entertainment value around and you would be supporting a local business that really cares about the community.

And it beats staying up to the wee hours of the morning following your favorite team on the internet, just ask Scott Crespi.

That’s it for now, see you on the sidelines.

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Sussex County Sports Blog

By Dan Cleary

7/30/2008 - No Place Like Home For Crespi