The Long Island Ducks are an American professional minor-league baseball team based on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

in Central Islip,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. The Ducks compete in the North Division of the

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league based in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. The Atlantic League's ...

(ALPB), an independent "partner league" of Major League Baseball. The Ducks played their first season in 2000, two years after the ALPB inaugural season. Since their inception the Ducks' home ballpark has been

Fairfield Properties Ballpark Fairfield Properties Ballpark is a 6,002-seat baseball park in Central Islip, New York that serves as the home of the Long Island Ducks, an independent professional baseball team that is a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball ...

, formerly known as Bethpage Ballpark (2010-2020), Suffolk County Sports Park (1999), EAB Park (2000–2001), and Citibank Park (2002–2009). The "Ducks" name refers to Long Island's duck-farming heritage (itself represented by the Big Duck ferrocement) and recalls the former

Long Island Ducks The Long Island Ducks are an American professional minor-league baseball team based on Long Island in Central Islip, New York. The Ducks compete in the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB), an independent "partne ...

professional ice hockey team. The team's first manager was Bud Harrelson, a part-owner of the team and a former major league player.

History

The Ducks, the only professional baseball team located on suburban

, began play in 2000, and from 2000 to 2019 won four ALPB championships. Team owner

Frank Boulton Frank Boulton is a baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning wh ...

expressed his contentment with the Ducks in 2007 to ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...

'', saying, "The Long Island Ducks are the best thing I've ever done in baseball." A league rivalry developed between the Ducks and the Bridgeport Bluefish, with the two teams contesting the "Ferry Cup" from 2009 until the latter team's termination in 2017. The Ferry Cup name referred to its sponsor, the Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Company, which was utilized by the teams and their fans for traveling to each ballpark. Former Major League Baseball (MLB) player and MLB Hall of Fame member

Gary Carter Gary Edmund Carter (April 8, 1954 – February 16, 2012) was an American professional baseball catcher whose 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career was spent primarily with the Montreal Expos and New York Mets. Nicknamed "the Kid" for his y ...

managed the Ducks in 2009. Following Carter's death in 2012, the Ducks dedicated the season to his memory and wore a commemorative patch on their uniforms. Former Major League Baseball players to have played on the Ducks include Dontrelle Willis, Ramon Castro, Ben Broussard, Leo Rosales, Josh Barfield, Bill Hall,

Bryant Nelson Bryant "Bry" Lawrence Nelson (born January 27, 1974) is a former second baseman and outfielder who is currently a free agent. He played during one season for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). Career Nelson was originally drafted ...

, Ian Snell, and

Lew Ford Jon Lewis Ford (born August 12, 1976) is an American professional baseball outfielder and hitting coach for the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins and ...

. Rich Hill played with the Ducks in 2015, prior to his return to the majors in 2016 with the Boston Red Sox. In 2017, pitcher

Éric Gagné Éric Serge Gagné (; born January 7, 1976) is a Canadian former professional baseball pitcher who played 10 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), most notably for the Los Angeles Dodgers. After signing with the Dodgers as a free agent in 1995 ...

attempted a professional baseball comeback with the Ducks; that same year,

Nate Freiman Nathan Samuel Freiman (born December 31, 1986) is an American former professional baseball first baseman who played for the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball in 2013 and 2014. In 2013, baseball writer Tim Brown wrote, "Near as anyone ca ...

, Henderson Alvarez, Quintin Berry, and

Tim Melville Timothy Macgill Melville (born October 9, 1989) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds, Minnesota Twins, San Diego Padres, and Colorado Rockies. Melvi ...

played with the Ducks and later joined an MLB organization or foreign professional league.

Logos and uniforms

The official colors of the Long Island Ducks are black, green, orange, and white. The primary logo features the "Ducks" wordmark in orange with black outline. The wordmark begins with a stylized, cartoon duck head in the form of a capital cursive "D." Since 2015, OC Sports has been the official on-field headwear of the Atlantic League. The home caps are black with the duck head logo centered on the front. The away caps are black with an orange brim and the duck head logo. Batting helmets are black with the webbed-foot logo. The Ducks wear uniforms produced by

Rawlings Rawlings may refer to: *Rawlings (company), a U.S. sports equipment company *Rawlings, Maryland, an unincorporated community in Allegany County, Maryland *Rawlings (surname) Rawlings is an English-language surname. Notable people with the name in ...

. The home jersey is white with black pinstripes with the "Ducks" wordmark centered across the front. The numbering on the jersey is primarily in green with white outline and black drop shadow. The away jerseys are grey with the "Long Island" cursive wordmark centered across in green with white and orange outline. The numbering is in green with white outline and orange drop shadow. The alternate is an orange jersey with the "Ducks" word mark centered across the chest.

Season-by-season records

* 4 Atlantic League Championships (2004, 2012, 2013, 2019)

Radio

All games are broadcast over the Ducks' official YouTube channel, website, and (beginning 2017) Facebook Live. For 2017,

WRHU WRHU (88.7 FM) is a college radio station licensed to Hempstead, New York, owned and operated by Hofstra University and broadcasting an eclectic radio format. Since the 2010–11 NHL season, WRHU has been the radio home of New York Islanders ...

/88.7 served as the radio home of the Ducks (replacing previous broadcaster

WRCN-FM WRCN-FM (103.9 Hertz, MHz) is a radio station broadcasting a Talk radio, News/Talk radio format, city of license, licensed to Riverhead (CDP), New York, Riverhead, New York and serving East End (Long Island), eastern Long Island. The station is o ...

103.9). Michael Polak, Chris King, and David Weiss currently serve as the team's official broadcasters.

Mascot

The Long Island Ducks' official mascot is an

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

duck named QuackerJack. He wears the Ducks' full home white uniform with green and white sneakers. He debuted on March 18, 2000, at then-Citibank Park. His name alludes to a popular baseball game food produced by the Cracker Jack brand, and the quacking sound of a duck.

Current Roster

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Retired numbers

; 4 (Justin Davies): Outfielder and franchise record holder for stolen bases. Retired on June 18, 2015 ; 16 (Ray Navarrete): Utility player and franchise record holder for runs, hits, home runs, RBI, and doubles. Retired on August 16, 2015 ; 42 (

Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line ...

): Second baseman. Retired throughout professional baseball on April 15, 1997 ; 3 ( Bud Harrelson): Part owner of Long Island Ducks. Retired on August 3, 2018

References

External links

Long Island Ducks official website
{{Authority control Atlantic League of Professional Baseball teams Sports in Long Island Baseball teams in the New York metropolitan area Baseball teams established in 1998 1998 establishments in New York (state)