ONEONTA _ With every change comes a new beginning, and a new generation of the Oneonta Tigers will be on display tonight.
With its new ownership in place, Oneonta begins its 76-game schedule in the short-season, Single-A New York-Penn League at 7:05 tonight, when the Tigers host the Tri-City ValleyCats on "Sam and Sid" night at Damaschke Field.
Sam Nader and Sid Levine, who had owned the franchise since its inception in 1966, sold the team last year to a group headed by New York City attorney E. Miles Prentice III. The sale was completed Dec. 5. Tonight's game will be the first under the new owners.
Nader and Levine will be honored with a pre-game ceremony that starts at 6:30 p.m. Former O-Tigers pitching coach Bill Monbouquette will be in attendance, as will Minor League Baseball President Pat O'Connor and NY-Penn President Ben Hayes. Prentice and other members of his group also are scheduled to appear.
Comments from former Oneonta players and coaches will be read over the public address system throughout the game. General manager Andrew Weber said Tuesday that former New York Yankees first baseman Don Mattingly was among the well-wishers to send in a note. Mattingly played for the Oneonta Yankees in 1979.
Prentice's group also plans to showcase changes made during the offseason, including an upgraded concessions menu, different souvenirs, a picnic area at the end of the right-field bleachers and an advanced ticket system at the main gate.
Oneonta will broadcast every game on the radio for the first time in team history this season. Assistant general manager Eric Knighton will handle play-by-play duties on WKXZ 93.9 FM. The broadcast also will be available online at www.oneontatigers.com. The live stream will start when Knighton goes on the air 15 minutes before first pitch.
Oneonta also plans to sell beer this season, but as of Thursday night, Weber said the team was still awaiting approval from New York state on their liquor license.
Fans can enter the park at 5:45 p.m. for 7:05 games this season. The home dugout also has been switched from the first-base side to the third-base line.
There will be baseball, too, of course. Tonight, the O-Tigers turn to a familiar face.
Jeff Gerbe, a 16th-round draft pick in 2006 who went 1-4 with a 5.08 ERA for the O-Tigers that year, has been pegged as the opening-day starter by first-year manager Howard Bushong.
Gerbe, who didn't play last year after having surgery on his right (throwing) shoulder, is rehabbing with Oneonta this season. He said he'll be capped at five innings or 75 pitches, whichever comes first.
"This has been pretty tough," said Gerbe, who reached Double-A Erie in 2007 and was at Detroit's major league spring training camp in 2008 before being shut down. He said he had surgery April 11, 2008. "You're pitching with a shoulder that didn't feel normal like it did before. The biggest thing for me is just learning how to pitch again, to get consistent strikes. Command hasn't really been a problem for me since I've been with the Tigers, but I'm finding myself having problems throwing strikes."
Bushong said consistency will be important for Gerbe.
"The key for him is if he's throwing strikes and if he's repeating his mechanics," Bushong said. "Because of the injury, he hasn't been out there enough to where he doesn't repeat his mechanics all the time. When he does, he's going to be fine and he has a chance to be OK."
Tri-City will send 19-year-old Colton Pitkin, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound left-hander, to the mound tonight. Pitkin, picked in the 41st round of the 2007 draft, is 2-2 with a 3.66 ERA over two professional seasons.
As for which nine will oppose Pitkin, Bushong said Thursday a lineup wasn't set yet and he likely wouldn't have it finished until this afternoon. But no matter who Bushong starts, he said, he's ready for baseball that counts.
"What's tough is extended (spring training) because you're playing in games and competing in games," he said, "but in reality, the game doesn't mean anything. Here, the games mean something."
He'll have a lot of tough choices, however, as Detroit sent seven of its top 15 picks from this year's First-Year Player Draft to Oneonta. That list includes third baseman Wade Gaynor, who was selected in the third round out of Western Kentucky. Gaynor, who hails from Hawesville, Ky., hit .371 and was fifth in the nation with 25 home runs for the Hilltoppers this spring.
"I can't wait," Gaynor said during the team's media day Tuesday. "My mom's coming up to watch the game. This is the first step toward the dream of playing in the major leagues, which a lot of these guys want to do, and we're looking forward to (tonight)."
One difference Gaynor will have to adjust to will be wood bats instead of aluminum.
"I have thought about that," Gaynor said. "Aluminum bats (balls) jump off there pretty hard, but pro hitters know how to swing it, so I don't know how big of an adjustment I'll have to make. It should be about the same."
Outfielder Jamie Johnson and catcher John Murrian were also top-10 picks for Detroit.
Johnson was picked in the seventh round out of Oklahoma. The Calhoun, La., resident hit .353 (90-for-255) in 63 games for the Sooners. Johnson had 13 home runs and 44 RBIs and was 18-for-20 in stolen base attempts.
Murrian, selected in the ninth round out of Winthrop University, hit .327 (67-for-205) with six home runs and 42 RBIs.
Besides Gerbe, two others played for Oneonta last season in pitcher Nick Cassavechia and first baseman Wade Lamont, the son of Detroit first-base coach Gene Lamont.
Cassavechia went 0-1 with a 3.60 ERA in three games with the O-Tigers last season. He allowed two runs in five innings, striking out eight and walking three.
Lamont played in 34 games last season, hitting .255 (27-for-106) with nine doubles and nine RBIs.
Bushong also will get help from coach Luis Quinones, who returns for his third season at Oneonta. An eight-year major leaguer who won the 1990 World Series championship with the Cincinnati Reds, Quinones will coach first base.
"He's huge," Bushong said. "This entire extended spring, I've gone to him with all kinds of questions about what's going to go on here, what to look for and things like that. He knows the league. He knows what different teams are going to try and do. You can't say enough about all the things (Quinones) can do to help us out."
Jorge Cordova takes over as pitching coach for the Tigers. Cordova, a pitching coach in the Venezuelan Summer League the past three seasons, went 44-26 with a 3.30 ERA over eight minor-league seasons with the New York Yankees, Florida Marlins, Reds and Tigers.
"He's new and he's young, but he's energetic and has a ton of fire in him," Bushong said. "He is really looking forward to this opportunity and I'm looking forward to working with him. ... He knows what he's doing. He knows pitching and he's been in this organization. He cares about the Tigers organization like all of us do and that's very important."
___
P.J. Harmer can be reached at pharmer@thedailystar.com or 607-432-1000, ext. 229.
