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Fowl Ball! Heading into play this past weekend, there was only one team in the Atlantic League that the Long Island Ducks had not won a series against this season: the Bridgeport Bluefish. Despite struggling mightily in the second half so far, the Bluefish always seem to be especially motivated when playing the Ducks. The cross-sound rivals split the first two games giving the Ducks a chance to take the series with a win on Sunday. However, falling behind 7-0 and making five errors in just the first five innings alone, was not exactly the recipe for success Long Island was looking for. Fortunately for the Ducks, their high powered offense was up to the task as Everett, Rose, Alfonzo and company rallied to score eight unanswered runs and miraculously won the game by a score of 8-7. It was the second time in one week that the Ducks had come back from seven runs down to win a game. This feat is quite impressive in itself but if not for the continuous string of blunders in the field, Long Island would not have been down by that many runs to bebank gin with. In fact, the Ducks have made 14 errors in their last seven games yet have somehow managed to win five of them. "Jose (Offerman) in particular had an off day and he just has not looked comfortable out there in the field recently," said Ducks manager Dave Lapoint about his second baseman who made two of the five errors in the win over Bridgeport. "But what I think happened is the team wanted to pick him up because he is definitely one of our favorites," Lapoint continues, "So in that way, I feel like this game was actually great for the overall team morale." While the Ducks once again proved their resiliency with the come from behind victory, it was certainly still a frustrating day for Long Island starting pitcher Randy Leek. It was the lefthander's third start since returning to the Ducks after two months of playing in Taiwan. Leek has been as consistent as any starter the Ducks have had this season and had actually thrown a complete game shutout earlier in the week, but on this day just about every break went against him. Manager Dave Lapoint, a former major league pitcher, knows what it is like to be on the mound when the defense is having a bad day. "When you're a pitcher, every time there is an error you reach down into your adrenaline to try to pick that error up and make sure that guy doesn't score," Lapoint explains, "Randy had to do that five times in one game, of course one was his own error, but it is hard to keep reaching back over and over again and still come out on top." Leek still managed to give the Ducks a full six innings allowing only six hits, and although Bridgeport had seven runs up on the scoreboard, only one of them was earned. After the game, Leek was making no excuses and would not put any blame on the defense behind him. "I didn't make pitches when I needed to and it was just one of those games where I did not have my best stuff," says Leek, "There were a few miscues in the field but I hold nothing against those guys, they have been doing a great job behind me all year. Nobody is trying to make errors and I made one myself in the game too, I certainly wasn't planning to throw that ball into rightfield." Out of all the errors in the game, the two most surprising mistakes came on what should have been standard rundown plays. "I don't think we have had four rundown plays the whole year," says manager Dave Lapoint, "So all of a sudden it happens twice and it has not been done in awhile, but I guarantee it won't happen again, they will be ready for it next time." As for Leek, the pitcher says he just needs to get back to what he was doing in every other start this season. "I know I have not lost any confidence and I don't think the guys have lost any confidence in me either," says Leek, "It is just one game, so I just have to come back next time and pitch better." LEEK TAKES A TRIP TO TAIWAN Back in early June, Randy Leek had a perfect record of 3-0 and the Ducks had won in each of his five starts. Manager Dave Lapoint talked often about the likelihood of losing one of his best starters to a major league-affiliated team. Indeed, Lapoint did lose Leek, however it was not to affiliated ball as he had expected but rather to Taiwan. With his first baby on the way, Leek needed to make more money, and with no guarantee of being signed by a big league club, he made the difficult decision to leave the Atlantic League to go play in Taiwan for a bigger paycheck. "Going to Taiwan was a good experience for me," says Leek, "I got to see a part of the world I never would have seen otherwise. Making the transition from playing on Long Island right near my hometown to playing in another country was definitely hard but it showed me another culture and a whole different way of life." According to Leek, his manager in Taiwan did not speak any English and his pitching coach spoke only a small amount of English. Luckily, each team had their own interpreter which made it a little easier for the foreigners playing there to communicate with the rest of the team. Leek also says that the atmosphere at games was a lot different in Taiwan than here in the United States. "They didn't get a whole lot of people but the crowd that was there really got into the games," Leek states, "It was funny, there were drums and whistles and horns, there were always chants going on; so it was loud in that regard, but it was unusual for me and it took some getting used to." The stay in Taiwan would last a little less than two months for the 30-year-old Levittown resident. Leek needed to get back to the States to be with his wife who was six-months pregnant but he does not regret his decision to go there in the first place. "Before I left I said if anything it will be an experience and it was," says Leek, "I am honestly glad that I did it but at the same time I am also glad to be back home on Long Island." Now that he has returned to the Ducks, Leek wants to do whatever he can to help the team (currently in first place, four games ahead of Newark and eight games ahead of both Bridgeport and the Road Warriors) win the second half and go on to the playoffs. "I think that is everybody's goal in here," says Leek, "We have a great group of guys and everyone gets along, so hopefully we will be able to pull it out." EXTRA INNINGS:
•Citibank Park was a popular place to be last week as two familiar faces made the trip to Central Islip to take in a Ducks game. Former Mets and Yankees star Darryl Strawberry took pictures, signed autographs and threw out the ceremonial first pitch before Thursday's game. Strawberry was appearing to raise awareness for his charitable foundation which works to help children with autism. New York Islanders goaltender Rick DiPietro, who has previously taken batting practice with the Mets, spent some time hanging out with the Ducks players and took a few swings in the batting cage prior to Friday night's game. With Ducks slugger Carl Everett looking on, the left-handed hitting DiPietro smashed a pair of balls over the fence in right-field.
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