North Shore Navigators owner Rosenfield has
high hopes for upcoming season
By Steve
Krause / The Daily Item
Somehow, it was entirely appropriate that Phil Rosenfield
picked the Porthole Restaurant to unveil the new name -- and
logo -- for his North Shore Navigators baseball team.
Not only are their logos somewhat similar, but Rosenfield
thought long and hard about a name for his new venture, and
tapped into the area's rich sailing history for the name.
"I know the history and the background of this area has a
lot to do with mercantilism and the science of navigation,"
he said. "The seafaring industries had a lot to do with the
nation's growth."
The Navigators, who will play at Fraser Field beginning in
June, are part of the eight-team New England Collegiate
Baseball League, described by Rosenfield as an "elite
premiere wood bat summer league."
The league will consist entirely of college players, most of
whom use aluminum bats during their regular seasons.
There are a few differences between this league and the one
in which the North Shore Spirit -- tenants at Fraser Field
for the previous five years -- played. For one thing, it's
not a professional league and the players won't be paid. For
another, all the players are culled from the nation's
colleges, and, as manager Jason Falcon says, they're all
Grade A players. "They come here," said Rosenfield, "to get
experience and to make the contacts they need to further
their careers.
"They play hard," Rosenfield said. "They know their future
depends on it."
There will be similarities between this team and the Spirit,
too, however. Rosenfield hopes to run several big
promotional events, and hopes to have the US Olympic
baseball team in here this summer. Also, he said, the
Navigators plan fireworks displays.
Mostly, however, Rosenfield wants to make the Navigators a
sort of community property.
"We want to make sure everyone has a part," he said. "We
want this to be community baseball."
Like the Cape Cod League, players in the NECBL are housed
within communities, which, says Rosenfield, gives people in
the area a stake in what happens at Fraser Field.
"In Holyoke (where the team was located before Rosenfield
moved it to Lynn), you'd have people in the stands who knew
all the players, and knew what they'd done the night
before," Rosenfield said.
Rosenfield also said he has already spoken with Lynn School
Superintendent Nick Kostan about continuing the school
reading program started by the Spirit.
"We'll be in the schools in March and April to get that
going," he said.
Also, Rosenfield said, the team will ask various community
groups to man the concession stands during games.
"We want them to come in, and have a good time," he said.
"And at the same time, it gives us the opportunity to give
something back."
Rosenfield's Holyoke team, which Falcon says will comprise
about 85 percent of this year's Navigators, finished with
the best record in the NECBL last year, losing the title on
a walk-off homer in the playoffs.
"We're expecting to win a championship this year," he said.
"We promise to bring exciting and winning baseball to this
area."
