By Ed Adamczyk
For the 350 lovers of the game who convened Friday afternoon in the Grand Ballroom of downtown Buffalo’s Adam’s Mark Hotel, the Buffalo Bisons’ annual Hot Stove Luncheon provided exactly what they needed — some cheerful talk about baseball and some confidence in the upcoming season.
It was also announced that the Bisons will host the 2012 Triple-A All-Star Game at Coca-Cola Field, the event’s 25th anniversary. The first was also held here in 1988 to coincide with the debut of the stadium. The guest speakers on Friday included Omar Minaya, general manager of the New York Mets, the Bisons’ major league affiliate; Randy Mobley, president of the International League; and Terry Collins, the Mets’ minor league field coordinator.
Collins spoke warmly of his affection for Buffalo and his association with the city, having been the Bisons’ manager in 1989-91 and a 1992 inductee in the Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame.
“There is change coming. It’s going to get better. With my love for this town and this team, I will not stand for what it went through,” he said, a reference to last year’s 56-87 record, the worst in the International League, and the rocky first year of the Bisons’ relationship with its injury-riddled parent club (the Mets, with one of baseball’s highest payrolls, finished 70-92 and a disappointing fourth place in the National League East Division, behind the Philadelphia Phillies).
It was not a day for mourning the past, though. Events such as these focus on the upcoming season and the optimism every team generates before Opening Day (April 14 and only 82 days away, it was regularly invoked), and each speaker was received with enthusiasm, as though the audience sought an indicator that spring, and baseball, was on its way.
Minaya, the keynote speaker, was excited about the Bisons.
“We want to have a winning team here, guys who play the game right, a winning product and a baseball experience the community can be proud of,” he said to fervent applause. He pointed out probable future Bisons Ike Davis, the Double-A Binghamton first baseman who batted .309 in 2009, and catcher Josh Thole, a .381 hitter for Caracas in the Venezuelan winter leagues.
While Replica Jersey Day, the traditional Father’s Day Game, and a Dwight Gooden bobblehead giveaway were all mentioned, it was the 2012 All-Star game announcement that was the surprise of the luncheon.
Mobley reminisced about the first of these events, which drew a capacity crowd of 19,500 to then-Pilot Field (Collins was the manager of the losing side, a game that included future major leaguers Gregg Jeffries, Sandy Alomar and Steve Finley), and spoke of plans for a comprehensive program in 2012, “a multi-day celebration” to include “a home run derby, luncheons and fan fest-type activities.”
Thus will Buffalo again be the center of the baseball world.
To those in attendance at Friday’s proceedings at the Adam’s Mark, it felt as though the world of baseball had already arrived.
