NYC to play its first 24-hour ballgame
by Keith Arias, Chronicle Contributor
04/22/2010
If you thought last weekend’s Mets and Cardinals 20-inning marathon game was long, you haven’t seen anything yet.
The Hollis-Bellaire-Queens Village-Bellerose Athletic Association is teaming up with the Brooklyn Cyclones for Extra Innings with HBQVB, the first 24-hour baseball game in New York City history, to raise money for charity.
Knights of Columbus (Holy Family Council 14520) created the event to raise money for different charities including the Fisher House Foundation, St. Mary’s Hospital for Children in Bayside and to help fund the HBQVB league. Fisher House is a program that provides “comfort homes” for injured or sick military personnel and their families to be together.
The Knights of Columbus member and event organizer John Saffian can’t wait for Extra Innings to start.
“I am excited to give all these young players the opportunity to raise money for good charities and for them to have an experience of a lifetime,” Saffian said. “They are going to step on the field of MCU Park, a professional baseball field, and it’s going to be an environment unlike anything they’ve been able to play in up until now.”
Extra Innings will be made up of players ranging from 5 to 18 year old.
They will have the opportunity to play at the MCU Park, which is the home of the Class A Brooklyn Cyclones, a minor league affiliate of the New York Mets. Players from HBQVB will get the major league treatment, including hearing their name announced over the public address system.
The plan is to put in the younger children of the league to play first and then as the sun goes down, the older players will take the field and carry on throughout the night. Saffian expects the players to be ready for the challenge of staying up without sleep.
“These kids are going to be jazzed,” he said. “These guys are going to be ready to go and psyched.”
Michael Otero, HBQVB tee-ball leader and the event coordinator, believes that the game is a win-win for both the kids and the community.
“When you can mix baseball and charity together, it’s a home run,” Otero said. “It’s great because registration numbers for all leagues are dwindling, unfortunately. It basically allows us to give something to show our kids that HBQVB is not only the biggest in the tri-state area, but we’re also unique and we do unique events.”
In order to participate in the event, players must be a member of HBQVB and parents must register their children on the event website, extrainningscharity.org. To raise money, parents and their children can send their link to their player profile to those who wish to donate. So far, 91 players have registered and one child has raised $1,500 for the occasion.
The children who raise at least $250 for charity will win the grand prize of an eat and meet with New York Mets great and current Cyclones manager Wally Backman at the Baseball Showcase in the future. Backman, who was part of the 1986 Mets team that won the World Series, is excited to be a part of this event.
“Count me in,” he said. “I’ve been involved in some great games, even World Series games, and our park in Brooklyn has seen some great baseball, but nothing like this. This is going to be a lot of fun, and history making at the same time.”
The 24-hour game is scheduled to start on Saturday, May 22 at noon. It will end on Sunday, May 23 at noon. The goal is to reach 100 innings by the end of the event. For those who want to attend, admittance into MCU Park is free of charge.
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