During their first homestand of the year, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders enjoyed their largest Opening Week attendance since 2019.
That was music to Shawn Reilly’s ears.
With the Yankees’ Triple-A team back home at PNC Field for the next two weeks, the team’s new president and general manager hopes fans continue to show up to the ballpark. They’re scheduled to begin a series tonight against the Rochester Red Wings before entertaining the Buffalo Bisons from April 28th to May 3rd.
Yankees shortstop
Anthony Volpe is scheduled to continue his rehab assignment in the series against Rochester. This will be his first series in a RailRiders uniform since his 22-game stint to close out the 2022 campaign, just before his promotion to the big league for Opening Day 2023.
“If you put on a good show for them, people will come out,” Reilly said at the team’s Media Day on March 25th. “A lot of times the harsh winters lead to great seasons for baseball teams because people miss sitting outside.”
A native of Niagara Falls, New York, Reilly began his career in baseball with the Niagara Falls Rapids in 1992, the western New York-based Jamestown Jammers in 1993, and two seasons as general manager of the New York Mets’ Florida spring training facility in Port St. Lucie. He then was the senior vice president at Core Communities in Port St. Lucie for 15 years.
In 2011, Reilly returned to baseball and the Empire State as the founder and co-owner of the New York Boulders. The team started in the independent Can-Am League and won the championship in 2014 and lost in the final in 2016 and 2017. In October 2019, the Can-Am League merged with the Frontier League, and that’s where the team currently plays.
During his tenure, Reilly helped build the Boulders into a flagship franchise. He did it by creating a great family experience at games. Clover Stadium is 29 miles from Yankee Stadium, so the Boulders had to differentiate ways to get people to come to their games.
“Over time, we found out that our ballpark – and most ballparks – 70 percent of the people come out because it’s affordable family entertainment,” Reilly said. “So we focused on the mascots and the fun things like the playgrounds and the cotton candy. That’s really why people come; good baseball is just a bonus.”
Coming to the RailRiders this season, Reilly has that same mentality. Every night they’re putting on a show and he wants people to come out and see the show.
That’s why the team has added some new promotions, amenities, food items as well as tweaked some things. “I’m coming in and have a fresh set of eyes, so there’s a bunch of things over time I’m going to look at,” Reilly said. “This is a beautiful ballpark, but having a fresh set of eyes can freshen it up a little bit.”
Reilly is proud of the massive new video scoreboard that spans nearly 3,000 square feet — 1,876 square feet larger than the previous board. It has interactive software so fans can text and put themselves on the videoboard.
Starting at the end of May, to make game times more fan-friendly, they will move from 6:35 p.m. local starts to 7:05 p.m. on weeknights. Sunday first-pitch times were switched to 1:35 p.m. Already hosting firework shows following Friday night games, Reilly added them after Saturday games beginning in mid-May. As a result, those start times have been moved from 4 p.m. to 6:35 p.m.
“We’ve got to increase our reach because it’s still a small market. It’s one of the smallest markets in Triple-A; I thought I read 22nd out of 30,” Reilly said. “So one way I wanted to try to expand our reach is to have Saturday fireworks and see if we can get more people to drive in from Middletown (NY) and western New Jersey. I think they will.”
Parking was lowered from $8 to $5 and cash is accepted. Reilly’s reasoning: Rather than fumbling for change or using a card machine, you can get people in faster. And kids can run the bases after every game, not just following Sunday matinees.
Having a good team should help draw people, too, with players like Jasson Domínguez, Spencer Jones and top pitching prospects Carlos Lagrange and Elmer Rodríguez.
“Fans don’t have to be diehard baseball fans to know who these people are. These are legitimate big-league players,” Reilly said. “We’re very fortunate to have the Yankees as our parent club. People know they load up on signing major leaguers and many times they end up in Scranton. I would dare say this team in Scranton is probably one of the best teams we’ve ever had here.”
Also, Reilly believes fans will see more Yankees on rehab assignments coming to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre rather than Somerset.
“I think this year our schedules don’t align. When they (Somerset) are home, we’re on the road and when we’re home, they’re on the road,” Reilly said. “But you can’t deny the geography. Somerset is closer. If (the players) have a place in New York City, they can sleep in their own bed. I get it. But I think this year because of the way the schedule lines up, if someone has to rehab and Somerset is on the road, I’m pretty sure they’re coming here.”
Indeed, Volpe played at Somerset this past week with Scranton up in Syracuse, and now that the Patriots are hitting the road for Binghamton, he’s joining the RailRiders at PNC Field rather than going on a minor-league road trip.
The RailRiders (10-10) limp into the series against Rochester, having dropped three straight and four of five in the series last week in Syracuse. The series finale was postponed by inclement weather and rescheduled for Wednesday, June 3rd, as part of a doubleheader.
Jones batted .313 (5-for-16) in five games with two doubles, two home runs, four RBIs, three runs, two walks, six strikeouts and two stolen bases. He remains tied for the International League lead in RBIs with 21.
Ernesto Martinez Jr. hit .364 (4-for-11) in four games with two home runs, four RBIs and three runs. On the mound, Rodríguez earned his first Triple-A win, pitching 5.2 scoreless innings on two hits, two walks, six strikeouts and one hit-batsman in a 4-1 triumph April 15.
Rochester (11-10), the Washington Nationals’ Triple-A affiliate, is coming off a six-game series split with Buffalo. They’ll be led by Dylan Crews, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft made famous by his LSU teammate Paul Skenes, who went first. Sent down by the new front office in D.C. to refine his game to start the year, Crews is hitting .284/.388/.418 in 80 PA on the young season. Also on the Red Wings’ roster is old friend Andrés Chaparro, who was in the Yankees’ organization from 2015 through 2023, culminating in a 25-homer season for the RailRiders before moving on to the Senior Circuit. Two weeks ago, the RailRiders took four of six games from the Red Wings at ESL Ballpark in New York.
