Baseball Fun on the Hudson

The stadium is in Dutchess County, named for the Duchess of York,
way back when people spelled duchess with a “t.” She went on to become
Queen of England when her husband became King James II.

If the New York Yankees were looking for fun when they invited the Hudson Valley Renegades to be their High-A minor league team, they came to the right place. It’s a special night at Dutchess Stadium, with a giveaway bobble head celebrating Rick Zolzer, who skillfully directs game-night hijinks as the public address announcer. He got national attention 25 years ago, when an umpire who was having a bad night ejected him from the game.

Dutchess Stadium is nestled in the hills where the Taconic and Marlboro mini mountains come together and where I-84 crosses from Newburgh, N.Y., to the east side of the Hudson River. It’s just a short ride to the ballpark from the Metro-North train station at Beacon.

Caps for the Hudson Valley Renegades and two of their alter-egos,
Los Fenomenos Enmascarados and the Hudson Valley Veterans.

The Renegades played in the low-level New York-Penn short season league beginning in 1994 after the team moved from Erie, Pa. They became an affiliate of the expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1996, an association that continued until last year’s reorganization of the minor leagues.

In a kind of one-for-one swap, the Yankees adopted the Renegades as their High-A minor league team for the 2021 season, while the Rays took the Yankees’ place in Charleston, S.C., with the River Dogs. For the Renegades, it was a big promotion to full-season minor league baseball, with a big-time major league affiliate just down the river. The River Dogs also wound up with a major league team that’s a little closer to home.

Both teams offer an exceptional baseball experience, where it’s easy to have a good time. When you buy a ticket to Dutchess Stadium you get two shows for the price of one. First, there’s a baseball game. The comes the show between innings from Zolzer’s booth at the top of the seats behind home plate.

An outburst of Cotton-Eyed Joe in the middle of the seventh inning.

As an example, the Renegades staff and camera crew did a quick roundup of youngsters in the seventh-inning stretch for what Zolzer called, “a group of random kids sing ‘Take Me Out to the Ballgame.’” A traditional stadium-wide sing-along of “Take Me Out” followed. Then came a quartet of “Cotton-Eyed Joe” dancers that turned into a huge circle, like a flash mob, when a group of revelers poured down from their party suite to join in the dance.

Between innings, “Zolz” and the fans are celebrating his ejection with a game of “Let’s Make a Deal.” He asks for an item, like a stress ball, a clean diaper, a tube of hand cream, or $1.52 in dimes, nickels and pennies. The first fan to reach the announcer’s booth with the item wins a prize. My favorite item was “a speeding ticket.” The winner was a guy who was caught going 35 mph over the limit.

My favorite among the inductees in Professional Baseball Scouts Hall of fame.

Zolzer has been behind the microphone for the Renegades since the beginning, which would make him a kind of star even without his infamous ejection. I would say he’s more famous than most of the inductees in the Professional Baseball Scouts Hall of Fame, whose plaques are mounted on the wall outside the entrance to the stadium. Zolzer is more than a game-time celebrity. Several years ago he was promoted to Vice President in the front office.

Read the story on the side of the box. Rick Zolzer's head doesn't bobble
as he climbs out of his booth, but his arm waves "bye-bye."

The story of the ejection is recounted on the box holding the souvenir bobble arm figurine that was given to the first 1,000 fans. There might be other versions of what went down that long ago night. Do a little internet research and I’ll let you make the call.

The bobble promotion was supposed to be part of a 25-year celebration of the ejection in August 1995, but there was no baseball in the minor leagues last year. The rescheduled 2021 version of Zolzer night was threatened by rainstorms and by an accident on I-85 that tied up traffic around the stadium for miles. The game started a half-hour late after the skies cleared, and all the bobble heads were gone after fans overcame delays of as much as an hour to get to the game.

Party in a paper bowl from Sweet and Boozy Ice Cream.

 
I have to say a word about Sweet and Boozy Ice Cream and their outrageous concoctions. As far as I can tell, you can only get these treats at the original faraway location in Katy, Texas, west of Houston, and on game days at Dutchess Stadium. I chose a big cup of cotton candy ice cream flecked with tiny chocolate bits and topped with whipped cream and peanut m&m’s.

Next time I might try one of their wine-infused flavors or maybe a sensational sundae like Zolz’s Oh, My Oreos. It’s one thing to be tempted by the description of a sundae that is loaded with cookies and an actual ice cream sandwich. It’s quite another, and quite intimidating, to see one glide by your seat in the hands of another fan.

Tarps stayed on the pitcher's mound and home plate until the coast was clear.

Rain and traffic couldn’t stop the fun at Dutchess Stadium, but the visiting Jersey Shore Blue Claws threw a wet blanket over the fun on the field. A lead-off single, a walk and a home run put the Phillies High-A team ahead early in the game. The Renegades scrapped their way back and went ahead in the bottom of the fifth inning, but the Blue Claws scored three runs in the top of the sixth to regain the lead. The Renegades tied it up at 6 runs apiece in the seventh, but Jersey Shore scored one run in the top of the ninth, then put down the home team in order for the win. Final: Jersey Shore Blue Claws 7, Hudson Valley Renegades 6.