By STEVE KRAUSE
The North Shore Navigators open their season tonight on the road — in Portsmouth, N.H., against the Seacoast Mavericks. They’ll have their home opener Saturday at 6 p.m. against the Martha’s Vineyard Sharks.
The Navs are now in their 10th season at Fraser Field and it’s safe to say they’ve been a welcome addition to the city. But it’s hard to pile compliments on the team without sounding dismissive of that which came before, whether it’s the Lynn Sailors, Massachusetts Mad Dogs or North Shore Spirit.
That’s because all of these organizations — even the Navigators — are often swimming upstream when it comes to summer baseball in Lynn. The reason usually given is the spectre of the Red Sox just 10 miles down the road.
I don’t think that’s the reason. These days the Red Sox end up being a very expensive family night out when you consider the cost of a ticket, multiplied by four or five; parking (if you don’t take the T), the outrageous food prices, and other ancillary costs such as souvenirs.
All of the minor-league or college-league teams that have come into Fraser Field bill themselves as fun, affordable family entertainment — with the accent on affordable. You can see good baseball, have a little run, and still have money left over to buy groceries.
So no, it’s not the Red Sox. But it’s hard for these teams to come in here and play on a nightly basis with all the other baseball that goes on in the summer. Lynn may be down to five Little Leagues from the seven it had at its zenith, but every one of those five leagues field an all-star team that begins competing for a spot in the Little League World Series at the end of June. That tournament spills over into the first part of July, and the winner goes onto the next level. There’s also softball, which follows roughly the same process.
Add onto this Babe Ruth, which runs post-season tournaments at three age levels. Last year, the 15-year-olds went all the way to the Babe Ruth World Series.
All of these games draw clientele away from the Navigators (and Spirit … and Mad Dogs), especially in the beginning, when fans are fragmented into several locations so they can watch their sons and daughters play. It’s bound to affect the gate for the Navs.
So, like Avis, the Navs — and others — have to try harder. They’ve all modeled themselves after real minor league-affiliate teams, with between-innings games and contests, in an effort to make themselves more attractive to kids of all ages. If you’ve ever seen “Bull Durham,” that’s pretty much what you get at a Navigators game.
I will admit, way back in the beginning, I chafed at all this minor-league stuff. I remember complaining to Nick Lopardo, who owned the Spirit, that it was unnecessary, and that people around here were too sophisticated for that.
We had our healthy disagreements, but one thing nobody can deny is that without Lopardo, the Navigators wouldn’t exist, and neither, for all intents and purposes, would Fraser Field. At least not in its current capacity.
He’s the one who got the turf put in, and reconfigured the stadium to conform to standards that have allowed the facility to flourish both as a venue for the Navigators, but as a viable park for the state tournaments when they’re looking for neutral sites, and, last year, for the New England Regional Babe Ruth Tournament.
Lopardo tried, and it’s really a shame that it didn’t happen for him the way he’d wish it did.
You can also safely say that thanks to Lopardo, the Navigators came in, figuratively speaking, on third base. They had a ready-made facility and a market that had at least been tested enough for them to feel confident they could make a go of it.
Current general manager Bill Terlecky is smart enough to know, however, that the Navs didn’t hit a triple to get to third base. He’s worked arduously for more five years not only to build the Navigators up as a baseball team, but as an asset to the community. If there’s an event, the Navigators are represented. That included all of the Little League opening days in April, and it also included events such as Harrington Reads, a day where civic leaders read to the students at the school.
One thing that the Navs have going for them is that their roster is comprised of college players who are generally looking to improve themselves in summer ball. They are not professionals, which certainly reduces overhead compared to an independent league team full of players who are getting paid.
The Futures Collegiate Baseball League might not be on a par with the Cape Cod League, but it’s excellent baseball and the Navigators do a great job entertaining the kids. There really is a family atmosphere there, just as there was with the other organizations.
All of the aforementioned teams fought the label that semi-pro, or minor league, ball in Lynn would never take hold. There are some who still feel that way.
I think they’re wrong. Perhaps it was a matter of finding the right combination that would make it work.
It seems as if the Navigators have found that combination.