Staten Island team will be added to Atlantic League in 2022 season
Long Island Ducks manager Wally Backman raises the 2019 Atlantic League Championship trophy and players applaud at a gathering to celebrate the champions at Bethpage Ballpark on Oct. 8, 2019. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The Ducks are getting a natural rival.
The Atlantic League, which has included the Ducks since 2000, announced the addition of a Staten Island team in 2022 Friday. Mayor Bill de Blasio, Borough President James Oddo, and the New York City Economic Development Corporation announced an agreement with Staten Island Entertainment to bring an Atlantic League team to St. George waterfront stadium next season, the league announced in a news release on their website Friday.
The team name will be announced following conversations with local elected officials, community members, and ‘other stakeholders,’ the release said.
The ownership group for the new Staten Island team includes Manhattan billionaire John Catsimatidis. It also includes comedians and Staten Island natives Pete Davidson and Colin Jost, according to reports.
The Atlantic League is undergoing a rapid transformation. This season alone, three teams have been added — the Lexington Legends, West Virginia Power, and Gastonia Honey Hunters. The Somerset Patriots — a longtime stalwart — and the Sugar Land Skeeters have moved on to become affiliates of the Yankees and Astros, respectively.
The league, which now has eight teams, expects to expand to 12 ‘over the next few years,’ according to the league’s website.
On Staten Island, the new team will replace the Staten Island Yankees, a former Yankees affiliate that was lost when Major League Baseball contracted 40 minor league teams at the end of 2020.
