Massapequa Coast Little League players meet Mets at Citi Field
Massapequa Coast players watch the Mets during batting practice at Citi Field before a game against the Dodgers on Tuesday. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
On Tuesday, the Massapequa Coast Little League team got to meet the Mets.
Starting with visits from star shortstop Francisco Lindor and continuing with slugger Pete Alonso, Long Island’s Little League World Series team got to spend time outside the home dugout at Citi Field hobnobbing with the Mets before watching the big leaguers host the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Little Leaguers got fist bumps, photos, autographs and congratulations from Mets players -- and a bag full of goodies from catcher James McCann, who called one of the players into the dugout and filled his backpack with “Dubble Bubble” gum. Just like the big leaguers chew.
The Massapequa players have gotten a lot of accolades and honors after becoming the first team from Long Island to reach Williamsport since Rockville Centre in 1978.
“This is probably the coolest out of everything that we’ve had since coming back,” said pitcher/outfielder Brendan Hanley. “We get to meet all the players and we’re on the field.”
Lindor is the Mets’ No. 3 hitter, but he led off as the first player to come over and say hello to Massapequa. Other players who visited included Tomas Nido, Brett Baty, Luis Guillorme, David Peterson, Edwin Diaz and Daniel Vogelbach.
“It’s great to have this experience,” said pitcher/outfielder Lucas Mininni. “It’s great that they actually want to meet us and say hi to us.”
Getting to meet big leaguers was something the Little Leaguers were supposed to do during the World Series in Williamsport, Pa. But rain messed with the schedule and Massapequa wasn’t able to meet players from the Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox.
“We unfortunately did not have the opportunity to meet any of the professional baseball players,” said coach Roland Clark. “Now the boys are actually getting to see some of the current-day baseball heroes that they look up to and cheer for, so it’s nice.”
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
