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Baseball's Hampton Whalers: a new game in town

BY ROBERT WARGAS | Special to Newsday

July 21, 2008

The East End is known for its beaches, summer cachet and untouched landscapes, but Rusty Leaver wants it known for something else - baseball.

He wanted that so much, he started a team. And so the Hampton Whalers were born.

A team of college players, its home field is at Mashashimuet Park in Sag Harbor. So far its inaugural season has been promising.

Far from a collection of summer sandlot scrubs, the Whalers have built a roster of 26 experienced collegiate players from as far as Peru State College in Nebraska and as nearby as the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University. Among them is Leaver's son, Gardner, whose 90-mile-an-hour fastball has won him attention from the New York Yankees.

"We made it a point to get kids from all over the country," said Leaver, who runs the Deep Hollow Ranch in Montauk.

As part of the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League, the Whalers are playing a 40-game season over eight weeks. Summer leagues are a staple for college ballplayers, who scramble to keep their chops up in the lull between academic years. The out-of-state players stay with local families.

For team inspiration, Leaver and the players look to the Cape Cod Baseball League, which has yielded dozens of pro ballplayers in its 114-year history, including the late Yankees' slugger Thurman Munson. Similarly, the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League has given the majors the likes of Long Island natives Craig Biggio and Frank Viola, both all-stars.

The idea for an East End collegiate team grew out of a conversation Leaver had with former professional pitcher Paul Gibson.

Reached on the road as he scouted talent, Gibson, who now runs the All Pro Sports Academy in Bellport, said summer leagues are troves of prospects for the majors. In particular, the league's use of wooden bats - not aluminum used by high schools - is seen as a true test of pitching and hitting skill.

"The summer leagues are a vital part of the process, especially for talent scouts," said Gibson, who pitched for the Mets, the Yankees and the Detroit Tigers. "There are so many opportunities for the kids to grow."

The Whalers already have some pro experience on the field with them. Julio Vega, a team coach, is a former outfielder for the San Francisco Giants. He also coaches at St. John's.

"It's important for the kids ... so they can play against good competition," Vega said. "A lot of them are excited just to be in New York."

One of those is Phil Klein, a 6-foot-7 freshman pitcher from Ohio's Youngstown State University. He pitched himself into league history this week when he threw the organization's first perfect game.

"My parents were, like, 'Wow, you're going to be in the Hamptons,'" said Klein, 19. "We really got lucky with this team. We have a good chemistry."

This is not a typical Hamptons summer of leisure for the Whalers. The team plays as many as seven games a week. It travels from the East End to play at St. John's and Hofstra and also upstate.

The four players staying with Leaver don't get off easy. To earn their keep, they lend a hand on his ranch in the mornings.

As a startup team, the Whalers initially had to worry about money. But local businesses helped them buy their equipment. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld and media baron Mortimer Zuckerman also cut checks.

Leaver admits that his personal vision of baseball is of the Norman Rockwell variety, of America's pastime before the big paychecks and high-profile scandals. He calls it "fine family entertainment in an age when you need that."