Ducks continue their winning ways

It really is true, what people with the Ducks say about how selfless this year's team is. In the middle of their raucous celebration Sunday, after they clinched the second-half division title, veteran John Rodriguez -- just off a 4-for-4 afternoon -- made a point to get a squeegee and clean the champagne-soaked clubhouse carpet.

That was punctuation on a distinctive regular season, which ended with a 5-2 win over the Bridgeport Bluefish at Bethpage Ballpark. The Ducks franchise has been a success by just about every measure since it debuted in 2000, but its list of firsts this year showed that the club never has let itself become as stale as yesterday's champagne.

They will open the playoffs at home Wednesday night against either Bridgeport or Southern Maryland. "This is what it's all about. This is why you're still playing baseball," said Ducks outfielder Lew Ford, who played for the Twins in the 2003 and 2004 postseason against the Yankees. "It doesn't matter what league you're playing in when you have a good team like this."

"When I was in affiliated ball, I heard about the Long Island Ducks being the greatest independent team in pro sports, they were like the Yankees of minor-league baseball," said Ray Navarette, in his sixth Ducks season, who fell just short of the Atlantic League home run crown with 27. "Unfortunately for me, the Mets released me in 2006, the Long Island Ducks called and my life really has changed forever. I live here now. This is my team, I love this place.

"I think everyone can say this was the best team they've ever played on. For the front office people, I think they're going to be able to say this was the best team that they've ever worked with."

Frank Boulton, the team's founder, owner and CEO, did say just that. He is mindful that the Ducks won both halves of the season for the first time and had a franchise-record 51 home wins (in 71 games). Under first-year manager Kevin Baez, they had their first "triple crown" pitching champion as Mike Loree led the league with 14 wins, 131 strikeouts and a 1.98 ERA.

The Ducks have always seemed like a gold mine, from a business perspective, and sure enough, this year they attracted their 5 millionth fan and recorded their 600th sellout. But the ballclub seemed sprinkled with gold dust. Kraig Binick, a former Newsday All-Long Island football player at Chaminade, signed on as a fifth outfielder and wound up leading the league in hitting at .343.

Binick, 26, barely noticed when the Ducks began playing in 2000. His uncle Tony Pilewski bought season tickets but Binick never went. Now he is one of the main reasons to go watch them.

"Long Islanders know their baseball," said Binick, a Hicksville resident whom Ford believes can make it to the big leagues. "They're always reading up on their stuff; they know everything about every team. They know this is a team that works hard, that's blue collar."

Rodriguez, a .313 batter for the season, said: "A couple of days ago, I heard on a hip-hop station, they shouted out the Long Island Ducks. That kind of made me feel good."

So he was proud to be a team guy, the cleanup man in the celebration mess. "Well," he said, "that was because it was next to my locker."