Renegades baseball is just as fun 30 years later

“There’s just something ….. right, comforting, relaxing, pick whatever adjective you’d like about being in the ballpark watching a game.”

Just over a year ago, I wrote those words at the old Substack in a post about the 30th anniversary of minor league baseball arriving in the Hudson Valley. If you indulge me, I will repeat some of the story here.

1994. Baseball was already the center of much of my attention as a 12-year-old but getting to attend games in person was never very easy. We lived about an hour north of New York City, but it wasn’t a place my parents were very fond of going with two kids, not to mention the cost even then for a family to attend a game.

The prospect of getting a new minor league franchise just minutes from home was unbelievable and yet that is exactly what was happening.

The Hudson Valley Renegades were born that summer, then a short-season affiliate of the Texas Rangers.

I couldn’t tell you how many games I attended that summer. I know my parents took us to a bunch. I’m sure I went to one or two with my Little League team and there were likely others. The memories are fond, though.

In one early game, I recall recognizing one of the vendors, selling ice cream sandwiches in the bleachers. It was a guy I knew from baseball, but he was a few years older than me. I’m not sure if I knew him because he had umpired games for me or if I played with him in Fall Ball, but I knew him. This may have been his first summer job outside of umpiring for all I knew, but at the time, I remember thinking it was the coolest thing that I had a “friend” who worked during the games. I was too naive to realize he was hustling for hours to barely earn minimum wage plus tips. I probably wouldn’t have cared at the time.

There, of course, were some memorable players on that first-year roster, too.

Short-season leagues often didn’t start until mid-June, right after the draft. Many of the players on these rosters were professionals for the very first time.

One of my favorites was Reid Ryan, who was a pitcher just like his father Nolan — another longtime favorite of mine. Dad was even in the building one day to see Reid pitch and it was hardly a secret that he was there.

Now, you need to understand a little first about the stadium that was built in 1994. This wasn’t anything spectacular by any measure of comparison. I have no doubt that significant improvements have been made since (I’d actually love to go back and see it now — MORE on this in a moment :)), especially given the fact that the club is now a full-season High-A affiliate for the New York Yankees. In ‘94, however, we’re talking about the true basics of a minor league stadium. The field was surrounded by a wooden fence, littered with advertisements. The stands were aluminum bleachers, the kind that got loud with every step as people walked up and down the stairs (picture a couple of hundred people stomping on them in unison as a rally thing). I’m not even sure if box seats existed that first season. If they did, it couldn’t have been more than 2-3 rows of seats. The teams didn’t even have clubhouses, utilizing trailers that were set up beyond the right field wall.

It was in one of these trailers that Nolan Ryan (who had just retired that prior winter) spent most of the game watching his son pitch, but somehow, everyone in the stands knew that he was there. We spent as much time looking down the right field line for him to come out as we did paying attention to the events on the field in front of us.

Reid was never a fraction of the pitcher his dad was. He was pretty solid that first pro season in Hudson Valley, posting a 2.90 ERA over 83.2 IP with twice as many strikeouts as walks, but he imploded the next year after moving up a level and soon found himself retiring. His entire minor league career totaled 162.1 innings of work.

Kevin Brown was the first of five players from that initial Renegades roster to reach the major leagues. Texas had selected Brown in the 2nd Round of the prior summer’s draft and he batted .246/.317/.414 over 265 plate appearances that first year in Hudson Valley.

Brown, a catcher, made his debut with the Rangers late in the 1996 season — going hitless in eight plate appearances across three games. His MLB career totaled a .254/.311/.450 line in 215 plate appearances over seven seasons with the Rangers, Blue Jays, Brewers, and Red Sox.

Eric Moody, a 6’6” right-handed pitcher, threw 19 innings for the Rangers in 1997 in his only stint in the majors. He posted a 2.83 ERA over 89 innings, winning seven games with the Renegades in ‘94.

Jim Brower, Texas’s 6th Round pick in the ‘94 Draft, only made a brief stop at Hudson Valley. The right-hander pitched just 19 innings for the Renegades before a promotion to full-season ball. He would have one of the lengthier careers of any Renegades player.

Brower made his MLB debut in 1999 with the Cleveland Indians and made 354 appearances over the next nine seasons, appearing with eight different teams. Most of Brower’s 574 career innings pitched came out of the bullpen, posting a 4.67 ERA and 1.484 WHIP.

Stephen Larkin struggled to a .198/.288/.274 line over 271 plate appearances for the Renegades. Texas traded him the next summer and he would eventually get into a single game for the Reds in 1998, going 1-for-3.

Mark Little was the last of the original Renegades to reach the majors. The outfielder slashed .293/.357/.457 that first year as a pro. The 8th Round draft pick was arguably the most valuable player in the lineup for the Renegades.

Little would be traded a few times in his career. He made his debut in 1997 with the Cardinals and ultimately spent time with five teams over parts of four seasons, hitting .247/.332/.352 over 282 PA.

The Renegades finished with a .500 record that first season (37-37). The next year they reached the playoffs, going 47-27 with a roster that included future major leaguers Ryan Dempster, Scott Podsednik, and Mike Venafro.

We moved overseas late that summer — something I wrote about previously — so my tenure regularly attending Renegades games came to an abrupt end there. We came back “home” the subsequent few summers but I don’t recall spending enough time in the area to get to any more Renegades games. There’s been little reason for me to go back since.

Much has changed in the Renegades’ history since. The affiliation switched to the Rays for the 1996 season and then to the Yankees in 2021 when MLB shuffled the minor league system drastically and Hudson Valley was bumped up to High-A ball. Presumably, that change was only possible with major upgrades having been made to the stadium since it first opened in 1994. There’s no doubt the talent level on the field is much different.

Getting to go to a game in person was a major thrill for me at 12 years old. It’s still exciting now, at 42, even when I get them to less frequently. There’s just something ….. right, comforting, relaxing, pick whatever adjective you’d like about being in the ballpark watching a game.

This weekend — thanks to a wonderfully thoughtful birthday gift from a lady I’m quite fond of; Hi Sarah! — some friends and I returned to see the Renegades play.

We had just as a good a time as I remember those games being as a kid.

Quickly, it was obvious that Heritage Financial Park has seen plenty of upgrades in the 31 years since it opened. Everything has been upgraded, down to the concessions and merchandise store. We got to our seats and immediately noticed the turf field (which was installed in 2014).

Our seats, I should note, were right in the first row behind home plate on the third base side. Phenomenal seats to watch a game from! I could have talked to the Renegades players while in the on-deck circle (there may have been a question relayed to one about whether the team pays for bats — we saw several broken bats in the game — but it went unanswered).

Hudson Valley had just opened their season on Friday, splitting the first two of a three-game series with the Jersey Shore Blue Crabs (Philadelphia’s High-A affiliate).

Eight of Philadelphia’s Top 30 prospects (per MLB Pipeline) started the year on the Blue Crabs roster. Five — #9 Devin Saltiban (DH), #14 Bryan Rincon (SS), #15 Carson DeMartini (3B), #17 Mavis Graves (LHP), and #30 Dylan Campbell (OF, but played 2B on Sunday) — appeared in Sunday’s game. Graves pitched three innings, striking out seven despite not showing much velocity, while the four hitters combined to go 2-for-19.

The best player on the Blue Crabs roster Sunday was center fielder Raynel Heredia, who had a pair of hard-hit doubles. He also drove in a run and scored another.

Eight of New York’s Top 30 prospects also are on the Hudson Valley roster, though with most of them being pitchers we only got to see a pair in the game.

New York’s #2 prospect, George Lombard Jr., spent the game at shortstop and hit second. He went 1-for-3 with a groundout, strikeout, hit-by-pitch, walk, and finally a sharp single to right field in his last at bat. Lombard then took off to steal second, with a fantastic jump, but was called out on a play that probably should have been called the other way from where we sat.

NY’s #6 prospect, Bryce Cunningham, was on the mound to start the day. It was Cunningham’s pro debut, which I found cool. The Yankees have developed a habit of shutting down pitchers for the year after selecting them in the draft. Cunningham was selected by the Yankees in the second round last July.

The 6’5” right-hander from Vanderbilt impressed. Cunningham threw five innings, allowing a pair of runs on five hits, to earn the win. He showed great command, not walking a batter (I don’t even recall many 3-ball counts) and striking out seven, before being pulled in the sixth inning at 76 pitches.

Four Renegades relievers — Will Brian, Sebastian Kean, Bryce Warracker (who at 6’8” is just massive on the mound), and Huey Morrill — worked four nearly perfect innings to finish out the game.

Omar Martinez (catcher), Jace Avina (center field), Jose Colmenares (second base), Kiko Romero (first base), and Andrew Hall (right field) each had a pair of hits in the game. Martinez broke at least two bats. Hall hit a towering 3-run homer to right field.

Hudson Valley won the game, 6-2 (box score).

Going to Renegades games was a great time in 1994.

It was just as great in 2025.