PC Battle at the Border: NY Nine wins again
-
- June
- 21
New York Nine’s Scout team won its third straight Battle at the Border. It defeated the Stamford Cardinals 2-0 behind a well-pitched game from Jimmy Bermubez. Not many of the local guys factored into the final.
The Nine went 6-0 for the tournament. Dan Sorine went 3 for 5 today (in three games) with a double and an RBI.
I was out at the U.S. Open today, but colleague Casey Tolfree will have a story on the tournament tomorrow.
This entry was posted
on Sunday, June 21st, 2009 at 9:12 pm by Josh Thomson. 
Print
| 
Email
Advertisement
Josh Thomson has done some of everything since joining The Journal News in
March 2003. He began working for the Gannett weeklies during the winter of
2002 as a freelance writer. He joined the daily staff soon after and has
since covered various high school and pro sports. Away from sportswriting,
Josh lives in Westchester and spends his free time either with his
fiancee, Sarah, or expertly managing his various championship-winning
fantasy sports teams. He's visited 21 major-league baseball stadiums and
insists that Fenway Park and Wrigley Field are the best by far. Josh
graduated from Carmel High School in 1998, then went to Boston University,
where, in 2002, he received a degree in communications with a minor in
history. 
Jake Thomases has covered baseball, hockey, girls basketball, and girls soccer for the Journal News since arriving in 2003. He previously interned at The Poughkeepsie Journal while attending Vassar College. He is socking money away under his mattress to buy the Knicks, at which time he will trade Jerome James to Cleveland for a ham sandwich.
Dan Sorine (Eastchester H.S.) was named tournament MVP and Sean Hagan (Mamaroneck H.S.) was selected to the ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM.
Congratulations to the NY9 and Coaches Millman and Lattimer. Solid team who played well the entire tournament. We were all happy to get the games in and the tournament committee should be applauded as well. Great job. To have a quality tournament like this in our area was just great.
Here is the list of colleges who attended:
St Leo, High Point, Albany, Winthrop, Canisius, New Haven, Siena, Pace, Rhode Island, SCAD, Buffalo, NorthEastern, Concordia, St Peters, Boston College, Manhattan, Fordham, Dominican, Fairfield, St Johns, St Rose, Ramapo, LIU,
Stony Brook, Hofstra
Very nice tournaout,
millman-lousy human
Here’s a question for some of you guys that graduated in the early 90’s. Are these kids better than we were in high school or are they getting more exposure? I’m just happy that these kids are getting exposure and have more chances to prove themselves and play at a high level in college. Good for them!
I want to give kudos to the real mvp’s – the PCYBL staff who worked tirelessly through the rain to enable 47 games to be played, while no other games in the area went off. Also to coaches Merc and Imbriale and the Clipper staff for assisting to bring in some great high profile schools who will certainly give many area ballplayers assistance to move on to the next level.
The tournament was first rate, and the most important thing that can be done is assist these student athletes to get to the next level.
Lastly, I don’t read blogs all that often, but when I have something to address or comment on, I use my real name…. I’d suggest anyone else out there who has some merit with what they have to say, or feels the need to defame others behind a keyboard, do the same. Any New York Nine player who posts here is encouraged to put their name to their comments and be accountable.
If lousy humans help get young men to college and become better human beings, then I thank you whole – heartedly for the compliment. Our schedule is online, http://www.newyorknine.org, come check us out.
Congrats to Stamford for a fantastic tournament, and we wish everyone involved the best of luck in the remainder of their respective seasons.
Lastly, congrats to coach Chiapparelli and the Tigers for doing something truly amazing – back to back state championships.
Ian Millman
IS IT TRUE THAT THE PITCHER WHO PITCHED AGAINST THE CLIPPERS IN THE PLAYOFF NEVER MET THE COACH OR TEAM BEFORE AND WAS GIVEN A JERSEY IN THE PARKING LOT. NO WONDER WHY THEY DID NOT HAVE NUMBERS ON THEIR JERSEYS. IF ITS TRUE TAKE AWAY THEIR TITLE
AL, it is summer ball and the season just started. not really a big deal
Does anyone realize how big of a jerk the clipppers coach is? Mr. Mercurio is all about money and not the kids. He has sent bad mouthing emails about kids and coaches in the area. He has even sent emails about players who had injuries to the colleges they applied to. This man is a complete lowlife who should not be allowed to coach student athletes. Anyone who knows the truth know mercurio is a complete lowlife
The pitcher that you mention above for the NY9 was on their tournament roster that was submitted days/weeks ago. For many programs this was their first event so this is not uncommon and no one playing or coaching the game had issues with it. Many times kids from out of the area get to meet their teams for the first time at these events. Lots going on for kids, especially seniors with finals, graduation, family obligations.
Mr Millman runs a quality program and has for years. He doesn’t need to be questioned.
Dad, you should have gone to bed instead up posting at 2:00am.
Merc
BillyBarty posted this: Here’s a question for some of you guys that graduated in the early 90’s. Are these kids better than we were in high school or are they getting more exposure?
I think they are getting definitely more exposure then baseball players who played in the early 90’s. Are they better then the players from the 90’s that question will never be answered. It’s tough to compare players from this generation to players from other generations because the concept of sports have changed. I think it’s a interesting debate, but you will never get a true answer.
hey dad, i know coach Mercurio and he is far from what you are saying. He and the other coaches are very much involved with the kids and are looking out for the KIDS best interest. Its about having fun and being with teammates as well as makng friends for life. If you have ever watched them, they are always coaching. as for friends for life i can say you dont have any and instead of dad are you sure your name is not DUD
I actually have heard exactly what was mentioned above about the clipper coach. Why don’t you ask him yourself…the emails were written by the clipper coach himself. He threatens not to give kids money back, and he did in fact sent emails out to college coaches letting them know that one of his players had a shoulder injury because he was pissed that the boy wasn’t playing on his tournament team. This is not made up stuff. I won’t mention the names of the kids involved because it is not right. Mr. Merc is 100% NOT ABOUT THE KIDS. He overcharges and only wants recognition for his clipper team. To try and hurt a kids chances at a scholarship is so wrong i have no words.
Someone told me that someone told him and he heard it from another guy who told him.
My son doesn’t play for the Clippers but I have been told and then experienced first hand Coach helping my son. I made a call and he not only gave us some advice but made phone calls for us. Speaking with parents, there are numerous occasions when this is the case. I think you’d be very suprised.
I’m just curious as to why anyone who pays for a service or to be part of a team is looking for money back? Don’t these programs have to set a budget? pay for uniforms and equipment, book hotels, pay for airline tickets etc etc. My guess is whatever the amount comes to is then devided by the number of players.
Do not be so naive as to think that these teams are breaking even..Not for profit means all money needs to be spent, but where does it go?
..Do the math. $3,000 per 25 players equals $75,000…
Tournaments cost between $800 and $1000 each. Uniforms should cost less than $225 each for 2 sets. umpires are included in tournament fees. $85 for umpires in league games. Insurance is $200 or less. Hotels and air fare are discounted for baseball tournys but will be the largest expense.$15,000 let’s say.
Anyway you slice it, there is $40,000 or more going into somebody’s pocket. And then they over collect again in the Fall…....Nice cash cow for some lucky “coaches”.
My son has played for the Clippers in past years and like everything else there are 2 sides to a story but you have the gall to try and slander someone who has done so much good for so many kids.
I am familier with the case at hand. The kid played last summer for the team and he did well for himself after having a horrible HS season. Why did he succeed, one can only guess? He came to the 2 workouts before the fall season began and his mother wrote a check for him to play. he then never showed up for various reason, football, too busy, didn’t want to play whatever? Then the team was given the “he never intended to play” line. What you fail to realize is that at the signing party his mother was handed her original, uncashed check and he was treated like any other kid there. He is still friends with kids currently playing on the team.
Did anyone fail to realize that maybe a coach called our coach, as many do and asked when the kid would be playing/catching/pitching/hitting whatever? Sore arms, shoulders and all else are part of the game and coaches all realize that. It’s called being honest and no coach is ever intentionally or unintentionally going to hurt a player.
My question, is it better that a college coach know a kid is not 100% in advance or go see him play and and evaluate him as not being very good?
Slander however is a terrible thing and kids from the school up there have done very well by our program and coaches.
Finance101 –
and where is your accounting for “needs based” kids who receive scholarship assistance to allow them the same opportunities as those fortunate enough to have the resources? I didnt see that in your equation… oh, its not there. Many non-profit organizations have dozens of these children, but of course you know that, as obviously you accounted for that in your genius mathematical work. Lastly, these “coaches” get reimbursed mileage and tolls, as stipulated by the government, .51 cents a mile. Go paint all the misinformed,misguided, overopinionated, overenthusiastic parents who cry sour grapes daily with the same paintbrush you paint all the summer organizations, then wonder why it is college head coaches don’t chase quality, hard working kids who should and can perform at their programs because they dont want to deal with said parents.
Finance Guy is close $3000 X 25 is $7500
This is strictly guess work here since many teams collect 1 fee and cover all the players expences. Last year our team went to a Braves game while in Atlanta (65 tickets) and also visited a few college campuses that were 3 to 4 hours away. So there is quite a bit of misc money spent.
Estimated figures but I did check the Perfect Game fees and they are actually $1800 and they make you use their hotels or you can’t play this year. They are making money per room that expense is passed to us parents.
Toun entrance fees 2X 1000 and 3 X 1500 = $6500
Airfare 300 X 25 $7500
Hotels 22 nights 12 rooms X 145 = $38000
Van Rental for 17 Day X 3 = $6000
Meals 22 nights (breakfast,lunch and dinner) 25 players $30 per = $16500
uniforms 25 X 200 = $5000
Fuel(they do have to put gas in the vans), water, gatorade, misc expences $2500
This comes to about $82000 and the team hasn’t purchaed a baseball yet, purchased insurance nor paid the fees of $600 for each time they use a field or the stadium.
I’d say it’s a losing propositin and good thing we get sponsors to help out and at least help cover expences not listed here.
This is some very informative stuff as I have a younger player moving up. I always hear parents complaining about the costs and “this coach must be making money doing this”. It’s obvious that you have to do it for the enjoyment or love of the game because you’re not gonna get rich. I would have never thought that the expences get that high but unlike the Finance guys, I never tried to figure it out.
Do the coaches pay their own way too or is that built in or covered with sponsor money. Do they get paid? Where is that expense? These coaches are taking weeks off at a time to coach these teams. Either they’re wealthy or nuts. How can anyone chastise them? A kid didn’t play enough? what’s the deal?
Do these teams travel without the parents tagging along? Who watches these kids? This is a lot of responsibility
Notice a trend here…... on this blog, in the past, Fletcher of the Rangers has been knocked by persons unknown, and now coaches Millman and Mercurio are taking hits as well. This is just not right, as where would our kids in the Dutch/Put/West area be without having these three teams to play on ? There are always gonna be naysayers who question the coaching, accounting, whatever involving these teams. You are always gonna get disgruntled parents or players that badmouth these programs and most of it is pure unmitigated B.S.. Are these guys all perfect ? Probably not, but the accounting done by Clipper Parent is dead on. I have run teams at lower levels in the past myself, and always accounted for every $ spent and usually in the years I did it, paid money out of pocket because I did not want to hear anything from a bunch of ungrateful parents who never seemed to realize the personal sacrifices it takes to run one of these programs and my thing was nothing compared to what these guys do. Not even close. The Clipper coaches Mercurio and Imbriale, work tirelessly on behalf of anyone on their team, to place them at schools that equal their talent level. To answer Billy Barty’s comments about whether kids are better now , or just promoted better, I would say the answer is that organizations like the Nine and Clippers did not exist as much back in the day, and these guys are now building up a huge amount of connections , and when it comes right down to it, that is what is needed to get these kids seen and recruited. Unless you are a talent along the lines of an Aviles, you are gonna need some avenue to make yourself known and these teams do just that. It was not an accident that these scouts showed up this weekend to see our kids play. Does Joe M. do some self-promotion, yes he does, but so what , if I had a team like his, and a track record like his over the past 5-6 years I’d be out there making it known too. I have said it before on this blog, you get what you pay for with these teams. If your kid ends up in a college with money deferred by a baseball scholarship, than I don’t think you’d be complaining.
Billy:
I agree with Wildcat. The exposure and opportunities to been seen are not even comparable to what we had in the 90’s. They also have the ability to play all year. We really didn’t have these luxuries. In Rockland/Westchester you had WBA/Legion(only 2-4 teams). And if you had parents willing to drive(like I did) you went out to LI to play with either Bayside/LI tigers, etc..
In the end I feel the talent is still very similar, but the exposure is excellent now.
Dutch…excellent and informative post. I wish these teams were available in the 90’s. My father was driving me out to NY tech every day to play on the Bayside Yankees. It wasn’t fun and in the end, I became tired of it as well. Kids today have the opportunity of a life time..and it’s right in their backyard! Take advantage of it, don’t complain about it.
Hey how about the kids just get together and play on your own? These players and parents are ignorant to think that their kids need these coaches, and expensive travel teams. Do you think hagan needs the new York 9 for anything? These “showcases” are a joke. If you are good enough, the scouts will certainly find you. The coaches get paid between 5-9 thousand… Yeah ok, then we have to hear that they are “doing it for the kids”. Just tell the truth, you do it for the kids, the money and for your ego. Which is fine with most people, just don’t lie about it.
I’ve been following along here and I won’t touch on the money stuff since other then the parents and players on the team, it’s no ones business.
As far as track records, we’ve done well the past few years, all of us, NY9, Taconic and some of the new guys are up and coming. The guy who has been doing it the longest and takes more hits personally then anyone is Marc Cuseta and he runs an outstanding program that is on top year in and out. I have a lot of respect for him because this is a tirelss, thankless situation sometimes. When the kids come back from college each year and say thanks, it gets you going for another.
To get on Billy’s question as to are the kids better? the answer is NO. They have 10X the opportunity the kids in the 90’s had and 20X more then the guys in the 80’s. Indoor facilities, batting cages, instruction, showcases, tournaments like PG has in East Cobb, field complexes, the internet. The exposure kids get today is unbelievable. I send out 50-75 bulk e-mails each week letting college coaches know where we’ll be playing next, who’s pitching, who’s hot. Everyone of these coaches knows what kind of high school season our seniors had and what we have coming up. This is not just us either. This is common place. In the 80’s and 90’s most coaches knew 1 or 2 of the local college coaches and thats it.
This past weekend for the tournament, e-mails were constant with updates about weather, fields and more. To get coaches up here from FL, NC, SC and down from BC, RI is a testament to the quality of the players we have in our area and the fact that the information is getting out there. John and Pat did a great job with the tournament web-site and the rosters and information.
Also, no one mentioned that the big beneficiary to the tournament was the PortChester Youth Baseball League. There were some great young 10-12yr old players floating around all weekend.
Go Go
Not everyone is a 6’5” lefthander either.
What Go go said is so true. These kids don’t need any of this stuff. 10 kids hitting it around on the playground will attract lots of coaches and attention. Sean Hagan is who he is because of his talent, College Select, NY9 and the PG tournaments he went and pitched at and his HS. Isn’t it funny that Chapparelli is also coaching for the “9”. I guess he knows what works and must disagree with you too.
Players need to play. How else would a hitter become better if he didn’t play in all these games and face top pitchers? Look at Ryan Pennell. He pitched for College Select last fall and now the Clippers. He is facing much better competition than he ever would in his high school league and continues to develop.
Just playing High School baseball in Rockland/Westchester isn’t going to get you noticed properly. Yes their are special players like an Aviles, but the majority of the kids need outlets to be seen. So the thinking of playing sand lot and not needing anything is ridiculous.
http://www.pcbattleattheborder.com/
I suggest you go out to dinner with Mercurio and Imbriale someday. As you are sitting there eating your Chinese Food, their phones are constantly going off talking to one college coach or another getting some kid some looks.
You pay 3k to get a potential 45k scholarship and you have the audacity to question these guys?
My guess is you are pissed that you dont have what these guys have, the time and patience to put up with idiot parents and who only give a damn about young players who want to play baseball in college.
So they make a few bucks doing it…so what? This is America isnt it? Last I heard, it was ok as long as there were people out there who were willing to pay.
Stop the bashing and ask them out to dinner someday to see what they really do before you comment.
When you went out to dinner. Who picked up the check? Lots of surplus cash in these programs as we can see…...This is America and everyone has a right to earn a buck…..Just come clean, and stop with self praise and admit that it is a business to turn a profit, as well has to win baseball games, and hopefully get kids looked at for college. It is not volunteerism coming from the goodness of anyone’s heart.
The worst case scenario on playing with an elite summer travel team is that it will make you a better high school baseball player. Playing summer travel will at least make you a better player. Best case is it gets you scouted by schools and pro scouts.
I went to the website for Battle at the border to see the list of what colleges were there. Very impressive but can someone tell me where was Marist,Iona, Manhattanville and all the other local schools? How could they miss such an opportunity? If all these quality schools were there don’t you think they should have been?
I feel that these coaches and programs are the primary reasons their players get recruited. I just graduated this year and did not get recruited, and while I’m not a Sean Hagan or Aviles, I could’ve have been recruited to a college for baseball. I received no exposure playing in the summer with the team I was on, and that is where baseball players get their looks: on their summer programs. Having a coach that talks with colleges adds to your chances of being recruited. Yes, players like Sean Hagan will be found by colleges because of their natural talents, but there are many players that committed this year because of their connections(summer ball, coaches, overall exposure given). There are plenty of players with an 80mph fastball and projectable body. All it takes is knowing or playing in front of the right people at the right time. Being recruited for most is a pro-active process, and these programs allow players to be proactive. I wish I had payed the money to be a part of one, it would’ve change my college situation completely. It would’ve changed a lot of people’s college situations.
Look at any high school roster, see the good ball players, and then see who isn’t committed. There are plenty of “should have”s, and maybe they would have been committed if they played on a better summer league team.
The Marist Head Coach had just resigned to become the pitching coach at Wake Forest. That is an open job. As far as Iona? Who knows. Dude there’s a reason they are bad
Pat Carey is the coach of Iona. He smells. What was once an excellent baseball school is now flat out atrocious. They have about 10 wins in the past two years.
Money? Money? Unless your “jungle of Africa poor” you dont want a coaching job with a summer team. Even if they were able to keep all of the money and spend none of it on travel or entry fees and then split it
amongst the four coaches when you figure it out by the hour they are making about $2.00 per hour. For some of you idiots on this thread that would be overpaying but for quality coaching and recruiting assistance thats a steal.
Whats the matter???? Your 2009 son didnt get to go play baseball at college? Get over it and stop hating the people that are helping kids that deserve to move on.
I dont know any of these coaches but i guarantee they could make more money serving coffee at Dunkin Donuts.
HOMEREUN: Your right he smells. What a job he did in killing that once proud program.
Why wouldnt Manhattanville be there. They claim to be building a good program. Who is the coach?
Marist should have sent a coach and the old coach should have represented Wake forest.
This was a home game for these guys. What were they thinking
money? good points. The Iona thing is frustrating and flat out pathetic. Giving him another year is awful. They are not even competitive. He needs to be fired.
Pat Carey was at the Super 17 Tournament @ Jack Cust’s Diamond Nation all 3 days. As was St John’s, Baylor, Virginia, Pitt, Pace, Kansas, Georgetown, Rutgers, Hofstra, and many other top programs.
There is more then one coach at Iona, just as St John’s, Pace, Hofstra and I’m sure more and these guys covered 2 events.
Mamaroneck has been nationally ranked in their season ending final poll by Baseball America Magazine. Congrats to coach Chap and all the players.
http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/high-school/team-rankings/2009/268423.html
Super 17… let’s not put Iona near any of those other programs you mentioned(except for maybe Pace) See that’s the problem.. he is recruiting kids who are out of Iona’s league. He needs to be realsitic, take a step back and build the program back up. Stop going for the one superstar and get kids that will continually enhance your program.
3000 dollars to play 6 weeks of summer baseball…. Now that is comical. No wonder inner city kids don’t play baseball anymore. If your parents have3000 dollars to pay for this, then they also have money for college. If you play on a team because you love it, that’s great. If you play on a team because you think you’ll get a scholarship…. Then save you 3k and put it towards tuition.
Very good point terric. How is an inner city athlete ever going to get seen when they can’t afford to play on NY 9, of the Clippers, or Bayside, or the Titans etc etc etc.
Maybe the excess cash the team makes can go each year to a scholarship program to allow 1 kid per summer to play for free. Obviously a screening process would have to occur. Make sure the student is focused in school, willing to commit etc. If colleges give aid to students in need, why don’t our $ making summer teams do the same?
Have to disagree. My son always plyed summer ball with his highschool teammates (it was fun, it was not expensive) and we hoped, being that he was a 2 year starter on the varsity, leader of the team, AA school on and on, that he would get recruited and possibly play in college (loves the game). Scholarship money would be a bonus. It’s late for us since he finished his senior year but he wanted to try and play the most competitive baseball he could this summer, goodby town ball.
What has happened? he is playing for one of these elite travel programs and after just 2 1/2 weeks of games, he has an offer to not only play in college but to also get money for his academics and get baseball scholarship money.
For us this has just been an unbelievable few weeks. My son has never played in front of college coaches before. Now every game we play there are coaches in attendance.
When speaking of the New York Nine, please know what you are talking about before including us in any of your misinformed postings. As a 501c3 Non-Profit, we currently have over 20 student athletes on our rosters whos families fall below the national median for family income, including two current members who have recently lived in government assisted housing.
We make sure that we use our resources to enable ALL student athletes regardless of national origin and economic background to allow them the same opportunities of all other players. This is the premise that the Nine was built on. Again, I welcome you to all do your research on our organization, http://www.newyorknine.org and then hopefully some will realize you talk out of ignorance and anger, and not out of facts.
Ian Millman
President, New York Nine
And for any companies or private individuals looking to make a tax deductable donation in which 100% of your contribution goes towards STUDENT ATHLETES who are in need, then the New York Nine is a worthy choice. All donated monies go towards student athletes, and tutoring, not our coaches. Coaches are paid mileage reimbursement and tolls, while their travel is covered through our team registration. Lastly, our registration cost is under $1,000… I will not comment further on this board other than to say there are some other great programs as well, run by quality coaches who do have kids’ interests first hand.
I like the way this guy is using the blog as an infomercial for his team. Answer me this milkman, how much do the coaches make to coach these teams? They get paid about 5 k , is this not true? More? Is this public knowledge? Being “non-profit” I would think it has to be. So are you guys doing it for the kids, or foroney or both?
Ian… let me preface by saying that I am all for the type of program you run. I was a former Bayside Yankee(in the late 80’s) and I had a great experiece.
The anger I am seeing revolves around the use of “non-profit” as well as the attempt to make it seem like a coach does this for free.
Non-profit doesn’t exclude salaries. In my line of business, I deal with hundreds of non-profits..and trust me when I say, the top level people aren’t poor. So in my eyes, I don’t see a point in trying to convince readers that your organization as a whole is salary free and not profitable.
Now with the coaches, you are not getting rich doing this. In fact they are under paid. You are not expected to release salaries, nor should you(it is no one’s business) But to make it seem like it is charitable work is a lie.
In the end, I am 100% for a program of this nature and I think from a student athlete perspective it is worth every penny. Your program has been great thus far and I wish you much success.
Just to humor you, whoever hides behind fake names…. multiply .51 cents per mile by the amount of mileage a coach drives in a certain summer (ranges based on their home town), plus repayment of bridge or tunnel tolls. If a coach drives 3,000 – 4,000 miles per summer they will get $1,530 – $2,040 plus toll reimbursement.
Ian Millman
President, NY Nine
Firstly, I’d like to say that Joe Mercurio and Ian Millman don’t need to be spending their time defending themselves on the Journal News blogs. Their time is better spent with the programs that they have built, their day jobs (which, surprising or not, both men do have) or their families. However, I’m sure they are here posting because they do feel personally offended at some of the attacks they are receiving from some people here.
On the note of Coach Mercurio, while I have never played for his team, I can say that several times throughout high school and into college, he has reached out and attempted to assist me in whatever I needed and didn’t even think twice about money. I have been with him at several tournaments and games and have seen him speaking for hours with college coaches and professional scouts about his players. I am not aware of how much his program charges to play, nor am I in a position amass an opinion on the subject, but I can say that if he does somehow make money off of the operation (which I doubt), it most certainly is miniscule in comparison to the hours he puts in.
I’ve been involved with the New York Nine organization since it’s inception in 2006. I’ve gone through my lumps with the administration, just as everyone would in 3+ years of dealing with people. But here’s what matters: I am now playing college baseball. Am I playing at a top notch Division 1 school? No. Am I a major draft prospect who is going to play professional baseball? No. But I am playing. I wanted to play college baseball, and the people involved with the organization made it happen.
The money I spent with the Nine went towards league fees, tournament entry fees, plane costs, equipment costs, hotel costs, transportation costs, uniform costs, among other things. Ian Millman’s house is filled with piles of paperwork and boxes of baseball equipment for the New York Nine. I have never spent more than an hour with Ian without his phone ringing and having some player or coach or scout on the other line speaking about the organization.
As Ian said in his post above, if you look through the rosters of the teams in the New York Nine organization from this year and past years, you will find dozens of players listed from inner city schools, with little to no income to supplant the cost burden on the organization. By simply looking that Steve Mandl, the head coach at George Washington High School in Washington Heights, is the assistant coach of the New York Nine Scout Team, one can understand the relationship the organization has with kids from a less fortunate financial background. A perfect example of a kid who came from a household with nothing and was helped by the New York Nine would be Alibay Barkley. Alibay was drafted by the Angels with the last pick in the MLB Draft a few weeks ago, and his home life is fairly well documented in the area (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/15/sports/baseball/15barkley.html?_r=1). Alibay would be the first to say that without Ian Millman and Steve Mandl’s help, he would not be a professional baseball player right now. He probably wouldn’t even have a high school diploma, let alone signing a contract with the Angels.
This summer, I am proud to come back and assist the New York Nine in whatever way I can, whether it be maintaining the stats, coaching first base or just showing up to watch some games. The Nine provided me with a great place to be for more than half of every year of my high school baseball career, somewhat of a scapegoat from an otherwise miserable high school baseball experience. The people in the organization, Steve Mandl, Stan Latimer, Tyler Abrams and especially Ian Millman, have provided me with more than I could have ever asked for. Again, they didn’t get me a scholarship to a D-1 school. I’m not going to be on any team’s draft boards. But I love playing the game of baseball. And they provided me with the opportunity to play baseball at the highest level for several years, and beyond. The money my family spent with the organization wasn’t an investment for future accolades and scholarships, it was an investment for entertainment, fun and passion.
I don’t encourage any other players to post here because frankly, the entire concept of the opinions said here is nonsense. If you can’t be man enough to tell everyone who you are, then you shouldn’t be man enough to bad mouth someone. And if you honestly feel that these men are in it “for the wrong reason”, then why spend your time on the Internet complaining about it and do it yourself?
If nothing else was taken out of my post, just know that at least there is one person that is grateful for everything these men do. And it’ll be a sad, sad day the day they stop doing it because a few cowardly naysayers decide they are “lousy humans.”
Hr’s
I appreciate the kind words… when we incorporated, we were approved as an “unsalaried” non-profit. We are not allowed under our structure to distribute any kind of salary – just reimbursable expenses. Officers of our organization are also not allowed to draw salary. Every member here holds a full time job, ranging from teachers to small business owners to assistant collegiate baseball coaches. Our specific jobs afford us the time to do this and the people involved truly love the game and helping young people succeed in life and in sport. For those who know all of our coaches, and have dealt with them, they would be able to back up this claim. In these days of individual selfishness and greed, it is rare to have such people under one organizational roof… but we’ve gotten lucky enough to do so. I agree that people involved in these organizations shouldnt lose money- and we make sure that our coaches dont… but the above listed numbers are accurate.
Ian Millman
President, NY Nine
I think Merc stinks and so does that Imbriale guy, but at least they pick up the checks at chinks.
And I for one think Mike D is a tool.
Ian:
Thanks for the explanation/clarification(I apologize, I forgot to mention that non-profit possibility) To be honest, I am the Education field and most NP’s that I have dealt with are salaried, so it slipped. What is sad, is many are also extremely corrupt and that is where a lot of questioning can come from.
You have been forthcoming and your explanations have been thorough. I tend to believe the negative bloggers will back off and if anything you made the NY Nine look even better.
Are you going to re-schedule the Bayside game? If yes, where will it be?
Josh,
Thanks, you are a class act and a very bright young man. I’m sure that a tremendous future lies ahead for you. Ian, I’ll see you and the guys down south.
Merc
I coach for the NY Nine and we don’t do it for the money, because it is very little if any, but we are trying to teach the game to players who want to learn and move on in the game of baseball, that’s it, we play today we win today, we don’t wory about getting paid!! PERIOD. Ian keep it going
Coach Chap,
How much pay is it ?? Please tell the truth…No need to get defensive. Scores of summer coaches do it for free in Westchster County…....Just asking?
truth- Are you dense or something? Or just choosing to be an idiot? Ian Millman just explained how the government REQUIRES the whole process work. Stop complaining about all the guys that do things for our kids and grow up
along another line, Josh, what to do you think about the punishment the two players from South received. Some role model. they let the whole team now got suspended 5 games and now is joining the volleyball team to sit out their suspension. all wrong
disappointed.. Your post really isn’t clear, can you explain the actual suspension? No need to elaborate on the reason for the suspension( I am aware of what happened)
the rule is if you get in trouble with drugs on or off campus you have to miss a 1/4 of the season. it has happened in the past at south. they are just going to have to sit out their respective games.
They should have to sit out at least the season when they got caught. They should not be allowed to join a sport they never played and sit out their suspension there/ Also, it no wonder that drugs are such a problem. They were not caught with simple chewing tobacco, but with heavy duty drugs and by the police. Unfortunely, their parents only care about baseball and are not doing any punishment. And then to award one of the them with honorable mention when the two of them blew any chance South had of beating North Rockland. The rule needs to be changed.
Both kids at South need help/counseling etc. Whether they play or dont play sports, should not be the major concern or discussion point of this blog. The courts/police/parents/schools need to do the things that will get these kids on productive paths again.
Disappointed, if this is really true, that is awful. That is a major loop hole.
Clarkstown S. Technically this is a sports blog, so the athletic aspect needs to be addressed. Personally, I think that is the only part that should be spoken about. Digging up the dirt on what happened and why is no one’s business except the kids and their families.
HR’s thanks for reenforcing my point.
I am a teammate of the two players and will be again next year. This is about the sports. Both players let our team down before the first game of sections. I personally don’t want either on my team next year because of this. They let us down and are in school laughing about how they are taking volleyball next year so they don’t miss any baseball. It is all a joke to them
I agree
The fact that the south kids are treating this as a joke, is an indictment of all of the institutions(parents,courts,schools), that allow the behavior in the first place, and then do nothing to incent different behavior.
we get milage period!!
Here is the site for all the photos from the Battle at the Border.All the photos are free for all the players to download. http://s964.photobucket.com/albums/ae130/battleattheborder/