Long Island Ducks
| Long Island Ducks | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| League | Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (Liberty Division) | ||||
| Location | Central Islip, New York | ||||
| Ballpark | Bethpage Ballpark | ||||
| Year founded | 1998 | ||||
| League championships | (3) 2004, 2012, 2013 | ||||
| Division championships | (4) 2004, 2011, 2012, 2013 | ||||
| Colors | Green, orange, black, white |
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| Ownership | Frank Boulton, Bud Harrelson, Seth Waugh | ||||
| Manager | Kevin Baez | ||||
| General Manager | Michael Pfaff | ||||
| Media | New York Newsday | ||||
| Website | www |
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The Long Island Ducks are an American professional baseball team based in Central Islip, New York. They are a member of the Liberty Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. Since the 2000 season, the Ducks have played their home games at Bethpage Ballpark - formerly known as EAB Park, Citibank Park, and Suffolk County Sports Park.
The "Ducks" name refers to Long Island's duck-farming heritage, which is further represented by the Big Duck ferrocement. The Big Duck is in Suffolk County, in which Central Islip is also located.
The Ducks set the independent league baseball single-season attendance record at the time by welcoming 443,142 fans during the 2001 season. This surpassed the previous record of 436,361 fans which the team had also set in 2000. The Ducks reached the 5 million fan mark in attendance in July 2011 and welcomed their Atlantic League record 6 millionth fan in mid-2014.
Bud Harrelson, a 1971 Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner, is a part-owner of the Ducks. He was the first manager of the team following a stint as the New York Mets manager.
Residents of Long Island anticipated the arrival of professional baseball for many years, until the Ducks' inaugural 2000 season. The New York Mets and the New York Yankees own the territorial rights to keep an affiliated team, Major or Minor League, from moving within a certain distance of their respective ballparks.
Baseball fans on Long Island enthusiastically support the Ducks, and the team has led the Atlantic League in attendance in 12 of their 14 seasons. In 2007, team owner Frank Boulton expressed his contentment with the Ducks to Baseball America saying, "The Long Island Ducks are the best thing I've ever done in baseball."
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