By P.J. Harmer
Staff Writer
A long-standing Oneonta tradition is back.
The Oneonta Outlaws of the New York Collegiate Baseball League will play the Albany Dutchmen at 6:30 p.m. July 4 at Damaschke Field, team co-owner Keith Rogers announced Friday in an e-mail to The Daily Star.
The game will be free and coincide with the city's 18th annual Hometown Fourth of July Celebration in Neahwa Park, the home of Damaschke Field. Last year, more than 6,000 people participated in the celebration, helping the Single-A Oneonta Tigers of the New York-Penn League to draw 1,522 fans _ one of their best attendance figures of the season.
The O-Tigers left Damaschke Field for Dodd Stadium in Norwich, Conn., earlier this year. The Saratoga Phillies of the NYCBL then moved their franchise to Oneonta and became the Outlaws.
The 2010 NYCBL schedule, which was out before the Phillies moved to Oneonta, originally had the Outlaws playing at 5 p.m. July 4 at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown against the Cooperstown Hawkeyes. That would have ended a run of at least 10 years of free baseball games at Damaschke Field on Independence Day.
Steve Pindar, the Outlaws' president of operations, said Friday that Rogers and co-owner Dan Scaring wanted to continue the tradition of free Fourth of July games at Damaschke Field. As a result, the Outlaws tinkered with their schedule to create two July 4 games as they will visit Cooperstown at 1 p.m. and travel back to Oneonta to host the Dutchmen at 6:30 p.m.
The latter game was originally scheduled for July 2 at Damaschke Field. Pindar said Friday night that the Outlaws will fill their July 2 vacancy with a home exhibition game at 7:05 p.m. against the Newport Gulls of the New England Collegiate Baseball League.
"We're excited about this," said Pindar, who added that fans who donate a canned or non-perishable food item during the July 4 game at Damaschke will receive a free ticket for a future Outlaws game. "It allows us to continue the tradition."
Rogers announced the schedule changes eight days after The Daily Star ran a story about the lack of a July 4 baseball game at Damaschke Field for the first time in at least 10 years.
The celebration will end with fireworks at night. Last summer, O-Tigers' fans were allowed to watch the fireworks display from the stands at Damaschke Field. Pindar said the same will be true this year.
The Outlaws are scheduled to play 23 games at Damaschke Field this season. Their home opener is June 6 against Amsterdam.
P.J. Harmer can be reached at pharmer@thedailystar.com or 607-432-1000, ext. 229.
