MOOSIC – The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees introduced an unlikely duo as their new leadership during a July 9 press conference in the PNC Field parking lot.
Rob Crain was brought in as president and general manager while Jeremy Ruby returned to the team as executive vice president.
As a native of Burlington, Mass. and a graduate of Springfield College in Mass., Crain had a hard time picturing himself winding up in a spot like Lackawanna County, working with the Yankees.
“I have to thank the New York Yankees,” Crain said after landing a position with the top minor-league affiliate of the most famous franchise in American sports. “As a kid growing up 20 minutes from Fenway Park, never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I’d thank the New York Yankees for anything.”
Crain joins the Yankees after four years as assistant general manager of the Pacific Coast League’s Omaha Storm Chasers, the top affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. He was with the Storm Chasers through the opening of Werner Park and will lead the Yankees through preparation of the debut of the reconstructed PNC Field.
Mandalay Baseball Properties CEO Art Matin called the Storm Chasers “one of the most successful franchises in minor league baseball.”
SWB Yankees LLC, the new franchise owner, is a partnership between Mandalay Baseball and the New York Yankees. Matin has been serving as interim general manager of the team since it was purchased from Lackawanna County. Former Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees general manager Kristen Rose resigned shortly before the franchise sale was completed.
“Rob is a well-respected baseball executive and his most recent experiences in Omaha fit perfectly with our opportunity and commitment to provide an outstanding experience for all our fans and stakeholders,” Matin said.
Crain began his career in professional baseball with the Southwest Michigan Devil Rays.
“What we’re going to do is create 72 events,” Crain said, “72 events that are focused around the sights, the sounds, the smells, the fan experience.”
Crain will be getting help from Ruby, a Lackawanna County resident with a long baseball history.
Less than 18 months ago, Ruby made a decision that many Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees fans have made.
After 13 years, Ruby stepped away from the team.
The former Valley View baseball standout is back after resigning from his position as Abington Heights athletic director.
Changes on the horizon, including the debut of a reconstructed PNC Field in 2013, lured Ruby back just as the Yankees are hoping will happen with many of the fans who became disillusioned.
“I’m a baseball lifer and here we are,” Ruby said. “This project started and I got a little excited.
“It’s going to be amazing. I’m sold. I’m all-in.”
Ruby was drafted in the 38th round of the 1994 Major League Baseball Draft while he was still playing for Valley View in the playoffs. The son of veteran Houston Astros minor league pitching coach Gary Ruby and great-grandson of late Major League umpire Joe Paparella had a brief professional playing career before graduating from East Stroudsburg University in 1998.
After joining the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons as an intern in 1998, Ruby stayed with the franchise. He became general manager in 2005 and became executive vice president/general manager when the team switched affiliations from the Philadelphia Phillies to the New York Yankees.
“When he reached out most recently and said he was so excited about what he was hearing, we started talking to Jeremy,” Matin said. “We started thinking ‘wouldn’t it be great if Jeremy wanted to come back’ and Jeremy was thinking ‘wouldn’t it be great if they wanted me to come back’.
“Things have worked out. It was an easy decision to embrace the return of Jeremy.”
Ruby will handle community relations and special events. He will also work on sales of club-level and suite-level seats.
“I had to do it,” Ruby said. “I just couldn’t pass up this opportunity. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance in a brand-new, $43-million facility, to be the best of the best.”
Ruby said he enjoyed his work as athletic director, but feels a special attachment to baseball.
“It’s just something that’s been in my family,” he said. “I can’t get away from it.”
In addition to introducing Crain and announcing the return of Jeremy Ruby as executive vice president, Matin provided updates on many issues being addressed while the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees are spending the 2012 season on the road.
Matin said more than 500 truckloads of debris and 3,000 tons of steel have been removed from the construction site.
The name the team contest has brought out nearly 2,700 suggestions.
Matin said that between 60 and 70 percent of seats will be available to fans at $10 or less per game.
ALL-STAR BREAK
The announcement came as the top levels of minor league baseball shared an All-Star Break with Major League Baseball.
Montrose graduate Rich Thompson is getting settled in with the Durham Bulls, his third team in what has been an eventful 2012 season.
Thompson is hitting .278 in 23 games since joining the top farm team of the Tampa Bay Rays. He has a home run, eight RBI, nine stolen bases and 17 runs scored for Durham.
The outfielder started the season with the IL North Division-leading Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the top farm team of the Philadelphia Phillies. Thompson batted .307 with 11 RBI and seven stolen bases in 30 games with the Allentown-based team.
A trade landed the 33-year-old in the Major Leagues for just the second time. He played nine games for Tampa Bay, picking up his first Major League hit and stealing two bases, but wound up just 1-for-17 (.059) in nine games.
Despite not being able to play at home, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees made it to the all-star break with a 48-43 record.
The Yankees were third in the IL North, four games behind the IronPigs (52-39) and 2 1⁄2 games behind the Pawtucket Red Sox (51-41).
Ronnier Mustelier ranked sixth in the league in batting average at .305. Jack Cust was tied for third with 19 homers and fourth with 57 RBI and 52 runs scored. Brandon Laird was tied for seventh with 21 doubles.
Ramon Ortiz was seventh in the IL with a 2.94 earned run average. Kevin Whelan was third with 12 saves.
The Binghamton Mets were 41-47 and fourth in the Eastern League Eastern Division, 8 1⁄2 games behind the co-leaders, the Trenton Thunder and New Britain Rock Cats.
Binghamton’s Matt Den Dekker and Eric Campbell rank 1-2 in the EL in hitting with .340 and .328 averages. Den Dekker is no longer with the team after earning a promotion to Buffalo of the IL.
The Mets also have the players ranked second and third in the league in earned run average. Collin McHugh is at 2.41 and Zack Wheeler is at 2.62. Like Den Dekker, McHugh’s effort landed him in Buffalo.
ALL-STAR GAMES
Binghamton’s Campbell continued his batting production in the Eastern League All-Star Game Wednesday night in Reading when he drove in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth and earned Most Valuable Player honors in the Eastern Division’s 5-4 victory.
Campbell finished 2-for-3. He doubled as a pinch hitter in the fifth inning and came in to score on a sacrifice fly by Binghamton teammate Jefry Marte.
Marte also had a single in his other at-bat.
Armando Rodriguez struck out two and walked one in a scoreless inning of relief.
Juan Cedeno was Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s only representative in Wednesday’s 25th annual Triple-A All-Star Game.
Cedeno retired the Pacific Coast League in order in the eighth without allowing a ball out of the infield. He struck out one and got two groundouts.
The PCL won, 3-0.
TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com or followed on Twitter at @tomjrobinson.
