Hudson Valley Renegades
Dad and I head to Heritage Financial Park in Dutchess County, New York, to catch the High-A Hudson Valley Renegades against the Jersey Shore BlueClaws.
Sights seen, nap taken, laundry freshly folded, we set out for Wappingers Falls, New York, and Heritage Financial Park, home of the Minor League Hudson Valley Renegades.
The Renegades came to life in 1994 when the Class-A Short Season Erie Sailors of the New York-Penn League moved to the Hudson River Valley. The rebranded Renegades retained the team’s affiliation with the Texas Rangers until 1996, when they became an affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. In 2021, following the reorganization of Minor League Baseball, the club moved into the High-A South Atlantic League (called the “High-A East” for one miserable year) and were affiliated with the New York Yankees.
Heritage Financial Park was built in 1994 for the arrival of the Renegades. Back then — in fact, until March 2023 — it went by the much more lyrical monicker of Dutchess Stadium, named for the county that runs about 40 miles along the eastern side of the Hudson River. The ballpark’s original price tag was $8.4 million, but its owners are currently engaged in a multi-year, $25 million renovation effort to bring it up to Major League Baseball’s new standards. When we visited, work was well underway on a building just beyond the left-field foul pole that will serve as the new clubhouse for the Renegades, with an event center on the upper floor.
Tall trees frame the outfield view of the ballpark, bringing serenity and focus to the diamond. The second level of seating is a steeper bowl, giving those fans a great view of the field and the bucolic scene beyond.
The Renegades have had some success in this ballpark, winning New York-Penn League championships in 1998, 2012, and 2017. Well-known alumni include Scott Podsednik, Jorge Cantu, Ryan Dempster, Evan Longoria, and Josh Hamilton.
The team we would see had taken the first-half title in the South Atlantic League’s North Division earlier in 2023. They would fall to the Greenville Drive in the league championship series in September.
It was “2000s Prom Night” at the ballpark. I ran into a few guys dressed for the occasion near the front gates but never saw them or any other reference to Prom Night for the rest of the evening.
Dad and I made our required stop at the Renegades team store to see what merchandise we would need to buy.
Because my goal is the Perfect Hat — the one, single hat I allow myself to get for each club — I have a tendency to get frozen with indecision in a minor league team store. I like a traditional home-field hat, with a classy, enduring, recognizable look. But I can be tempted by alternate takes on the brand or some wilder identities. Despite my research, I had not made up my mind when I arrived in Hudson Valley. One of the several variations of the main racoon-mascot theme would have worked. But then I saw the maroon-and-green (and green-and-maroon!) Retro Legacy caps and stared in wonder.
Next, I saw the veterans’ camo options and Hudson Valley’s newest alternate identity, the Cider Donuts — a local tradition — featuring new mascot Dusty the Donut. But there were also two additional racoon options: Marvel’s “Defenders of the Diamond” hero-style hat and the team’s Copa de la Diversión “masked phenom” identity, Fenómenos Enmascarados del Valle de Hudson. I felt flush with options. I stared a bit more, hoping it would bring clarity.
Guys, I’m in deep on this hat thing.
I eventually chose the fabulous Fenómenos Enmascarados del Valle de Hudson hat and walked away a happy customer. The masked phenom was also the star of a t-shirt giveaway for the night.
Moments later, I met up to chat with Tom Thrash, who had been following our trip before we arrived. Thrash lives in the Hudson Valley but spends a lot of his time traveling to ballparks, stadiums, and national parks. Thrash has been to all 30 Major League ballparks, all 30 NFL stadiums, 55 of the nation’s 63 national parks, and 219 of the 429 sites run by the National Park Service (including national battlefields, historic sites, etc.). I envy his experience, especially seeing so many national parks.
And the moment I saw his Retro Legacy hat (the green-and-maroon version, not the maroon-and-green version), I envied him a bit more.
I had some time to pick up dinner before the first pitch. There weren’t a lot of exotic ballpark food options available — mostly hot dogs, sausages, burgers, chicken sandwiches, and tacos — but I was happy to see an outdoor grill in use for hamburgers. I typically avoid getting a burger at the ballpark, because they’re often kept wrapped under heat lamps, killing the taste and texture of everything inside. These burgers looked to be on the path to greatness.
My choice: a sausage with peppers and onions. Nothing fancy, but also freshly grilled and excellent.
I took a walk down the right-field line, where four-seat patio tables were set up for fans looking to socialize. Renegades players had come out to warm up and sign autographs for kids leaning over the first row.
Hudson Valley’s opponent for the night was the Jersey Shore BlueClaws — the High-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies — who would win the division in the second half before losing to the Renegades in the playoffs.
The game led off with Renegades right-hander Brendan Beck on the mound. A second-round pick in the 2021 draft out of Stanford University, Beck had jumped straight to the High-A level in his first Minor League season and was thriving. He would make nine starts for the Renegades in 2023, finishing with a cool 1.74 ERA with 35 strikeouts and just seven walks in 31 innings of work.
Beck hit the third batter he faced but otherwise left the first inning unscathed.
Brendan Beck
Gabriel Cotto
The BlueClaws started left-hander Gabriel Cotto. A seventh-round pick in 2018 from the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy, Cotto had made slow progress through the Phillies system. He began the 2023 season pitching very well for the Single-A Clearwater Threshers, with a 4-0 record and a 2.78 ERA in eight games, but he had labored to find his groove in his first experience in High-A baseball.
Cotto gave up a leadoff single to the former first-round pick Spencer Jones, an outfielder who was the #3 prospect in the Yankees organization at the time. But Cotto also survived the first without any further damage.
In between innings, there was steady stream of activities on the field and atop the home dugout: a pool noodle sword fight, musical hula hoops (instead of chairs), a veteran salute, pop culture trivia, a Lego-style stacking contest, a dance competition, and a tiny girl getting $1 for every (generously estimated) mile per hour on her three pitches combined.
Beck recorded another scoreless inning in the second as the sky grew dramatic, patches of dark but unthreatening clouds rearranging themselves with each pitch.
Cotto allowed a single and a walk to start the bottom half, but he was saved by a line-out double play.
While I zipped about the ballpark getting photos and video, Dad made a new friend in the front row, bonding over their respective custom scorekeeping solutions.
Jersey Shore broke through in the top of the third, collecting two singles and a walk to take a 1-0 lead.
The Renegades once again managed a single and a walk off Cotto in their half of the third, but once again they were unable to push a run across.
I found Renegades mascot Rascal the raccoon hanging out with new mascot Rosie the skunk. The team had hinted at an inter-species love affair between the mascots throughout the season. Sure enough, early in 2024, the Renegades announced the two will be married in a special wedding celebration during a game in July.
This will not be the first time two Renegades mascots have been hitched. Rascal’s “parents,” Rookie and Rene, first appeared in 1995 and were married in a similar ceremony two years later.
The BlueClaws manufactured single runs in the fourth and fifth innings to take a 3-0 lead while Cotto left the bases empty in those two innings. It had been Cotto’s strongest stretch of the season. But he led off the sixth giving up three consecutive singles that would result in two Hudson Valley runs and was pulled from the game. Cotto wound up posting a 6.15 era in 14 appearances with Jersey Shore and was released from the organization the following January.
Jones tied the ballgame for the Renegades in the bottom of the seventh with a double to center field, scoring designated hitter Antonio Gomez. But Jersey Shore answered with two runs in the top of the eighth and took a 5-3 lead into the homestretch.
The Renegades put the lead runner aboard in the ninth, but Jersey Shore closer Matt Russell got strikeout-ground out-strikeout to earn a 5-3 win for the visitors.
We had a pretty rotten streak going. In seven days, we had suffered two rainouts and five losses for the home team. It was a good time for a “day off” in Cooperstown.
