Rockland Boulders
| Rockland Boulders | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||
| League | Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball | ||||
| Location | Pomona, New York | ||||
| Ballpark | Palisades Credit Union Park | ||||
| Year founded | 2011 | ||||
| League championships | 1: 2014 | ||||
| Division championships | 2: 2014, 2015 | ||||
| Former ballparks | Provident Bank Park | ||||
| Colors |
Blue, red, black, white, gray | ||||
| Mascot | Boulder Bird | ||||
| Ownership | Bottom 9 Baseball | ||||
| Manager | Jamie Keefe | ||||
| General Manager | Shawn Reilly | ||||
| Media | The Journal News | ||||
| Website |
www | ||||
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The Rockland Boulders are an American independent professional baseball team based in Pomona, New York in Rockland County.They are a member of the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball, also known as the Can-Am League. The team was one of three teams joining the league for the 2011 season, joining former Atlantic League champions the Newark Bears and New York State League team the New York Federals. The Boulders played their first game on May 26, 2011, against the Bears at Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium. The team played their first home game at Provident Bank Park on June 16 defeating the Brockton Rox, 3-1 in front of a sold-out crowd.
The "Boulders" name refers to Rockland County's plethora of boulders in its landscape. The team's primary color, blue, alludes to the former Brooklyn Dodgers, which held their spring training events at Bear Mountain State Park during the 1940s. The red honors the neighboring Rockland County Fire Training Center. Boulder Bird is the official team mascot and "disco" Seth Cantor is the teams play-by-play announcer.
History
On May 26, 2011 the Boulders won their first official game by a score of 11-5 over the Newark Bears after coming back from a 4-1 deficit. On July 24, 2011, in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs, Joe Hage (23) hit a walk-off grand slam at Le Stade Municipal in Quebec City, Canada to give Rockland a 7-4 win over the Quebec Capitales. It was the first grand-slam in Boulders history.
On September 4, 2011, the Boulders announced they had signed former New York Mets player Howard Johnson to a two-game contract to play alongside his son, Glen. Both games were played against the Newark Bears.[1]
Although the Boulders played their first 20 games away due to construction of the new stadium, they finished their inaugural season second in the league with an attendance of 123,518 tickets sold.
The Rockland Boulders signed their first three players Tommy Giles, Eric Flynn and Ryan Mollica, from Suffern in its history in March, 2011. Of these three, Mollica remained and played in 86 games. On August 22, 2013, Boulder's pitcher Charlie Law pitched a complete game no-hitter defeating the New Jersey Jackals with the first no-hitter in franchise history.
On July 7, 2014, Outfielder Jerod Edmondson singled off Ryan Bollinger of the Trois-Rivieres Aigles in the top of the fourth inning at Trois-Rivières, breaking the all-time Can-Am League record for career hits. His 700 career hits breaks the record previously held by current Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Chris Colabello.[2] On August 25, 2014, the Boulders beat the Trois-Riveres Aigles and clinched the playoffs for the first time in the franchise's history. The Boulders will play the New Jersey Jackals the first round.[3]
On September 2, 2014 The best-of-7 Parkway Series between the Rockland Boulders (Palisades Interstate Parkway) and the New Jersey Jackals (Garden State Parkway) began. The Boulders captured their first league championship beating New Jersey 4 games to 2.[4]
Palisades Credit Union Park
The Rockland Boulder's new Palisades Credit Union Park, originally known as Provident Bank Park (name change was announced on Monday, April 25, 2016) voted on by the league's eight field managers and media representatives as the 2011 Can-Am League Playing Surface of the Year, contains 4,500 seats, 16 luxury and 11 loge boxes. The dimensions of the playing field are 323 foot left-field line, power alleys of 383 feet leading to the 403 foot center wall and 313 foot right-field line. The park also includes a 34-foot x 52 foot scoreboard, as well as a 75-foot ribbon sign board. Other features include special hearing-impaired seating with loudspeakers installed under each seat, Kids Zone playground, and community rooms beside food courts and kiosks. The park also contains an indoor batting cage used by players to warm up prior to games and is open to the public during the game. Baseball fans that visit Palisades Credit Union Park may notice a similarity to Camden Yards, Fenway Park, and Citi Field as the park is partly designed after those stadiums.
On September 4, 2011, the Rockland Boulders played to the largest crowd in its inaugural season - 6,300 fans - to see former New York Met Howard Johnson become one of the few players to have the opportunity to play in a professional game with their son. In 2012 the Boulders led the league in attendance with 161,375 fans.
On August 17, 2014, the team drew 6,239 fans.
Season-by-season records
| Rockland Boulders (2011–2016) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | 1st Half | 2nd Half | Total | Finished | Playoffs |
| 2011 (8 Teams) | 19–27 (7) | 21–25 (6) | 40–52 | .435 | Did not qualify |
| 2012 (5 Teams) | - | - | 48–52 | .480 | Did not qualify |
| 2013 (5 Teams) | - | - | 49–51 | .490 | Did not qualify |
| 2014 (4 Teams) | - | - | 56–40 | .583 | Defeated New Jersey Jackals, 4-2, to win league championship |
| 2015 (6 Teams) | - | - | 63–34 | .649 | Lost to Trois-Rivières Aigles, 3-2, in semifinals. |
| 2016 (8 Teams) | - | - | 58–42 | .580 | Won Opening Round over Quebec Capitales 3-2 Lost Championship to Ottawa Champions 3-2 |
| Totals | 314–271 | .537 | Totals | ||
Broadcasting
The Boulders have three radio stations that provide broadcasts of their games. The stations are WNBR 1260 AM, WLNA 1420 AM, and WRCR 1600 AM.[5] The Boulders games are also available to watch online on the Can-Am league TV website and some games on Optimum channel 78 in Rockland County or FIOS channel 1.
Current Roster
| Rockland Boulders roster | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Active (22-man) roster | Coaches/Other | ||||||||
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Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
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Manager
Coaches
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References
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rockland Boulders. |
- Rockland Boulders
- Rockland Boulders Roster
- Can-Am League
- American Association of Independent Professional Baseball official website
- Rockland Boulder's News
- Listen Live
- Watch Rockland Boulders Game
