Sound familiar? Benitez wasn’t even wearing a Mets uniform this time. Instead, the Newark Bears closer failed to hold a two-run ninth inning lead in the Atlantic League’s All-Star game Tuesday night, giving up four runs on five hits as the Liberty Division stormed back for a 7-5 victory.

Southern Maryland’s Mike Just tied the contest by working the count full against the former two-time major league All-Star. With one out and runners on second and third, Just blasted a two-run single up the middle to tie it at 5.

Bridgeport’s Luis Lopez ripped a RBI single down the leftfield line to plate Just with the game-winning run, tagging Benitez and the Freedom Division with the loss.

“Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose,” an upbeat Benitez said in the home clubhouse afterwards. “I felt like I wasn’t 100 percent until the last couple of batters.”

Benitez, who has taken over as Newark’s closer from former Red Sox Keith Foulke, said he wanted to win the exhibition but still was appreciative of the opportunity. The 36-year-old is a two-time major league All-Star but said earning the respect of fellow players, coaches and fans is important to him.

“You make the All-Star game because people picked you. You did something special,” Benitez said. “It’s a good opportunity to come back. It’s not the big leagues but to be in a situation here, it’s very nice. It’s cool for me and I take pride in being in the All-Star game.”

Just was the only Liberty starter to play the entire game, going 2-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored to earn MVP honors. Ducks closer Bill Simas entered in the eighth inning with the Liberty Division trailing by a run. Since the Liberty squad was the visitor, manager Butch Hobson wanted to ensure Simas got to pitch in front of the 20 scouts in attendance at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium.

The move left the Liberty squad with no more pitchers and Simas had to come out in the ninth for a five-out appearance. Yet Simas thrived on the workload, tossing a 1-2-3 ninth to close out the win.

“For us to come back like that, it’s a pretty big win,” Valentine said. “Even though it’s an exhibition, we’re here to win. Anytime you’re an All-Star, it’s an honor, wherever you are. And the talent that’s in this league; it’s pretty nice.”

The Freedom Division jumped out to a 3-0 lead after two innings, scoring once in the first before Lancaster’s Lloyd Turner blasted a two-run double down the leftfield line. Turner was in line for the MVP award if the Freedom team could have protected the lead.

Unlike last year’s All-Star game in Somerset, there was no pregame home run derby. Ray Navarrete represented the Ducks in the contest last year but still got to swing for the fences, knocking a two-run home run to left in the top of the third to put the Liberty Division on the scoreboard and cut the deficit to 3-2.

“Anytime there’s a home run derby, I always think it makes the All-Star game more fun,” Navarrete said. “Either way, I’m having a good time.”

The Liberty Division plated a run in the seventh before the Freedom squad picked up an insurance run charged to Ducks set-up man Joe Valentine in the eighth. Even the extra run couldn’t help Benitez, who started the ninth by allowing a weak infield single before Camden’s Jason Jacobs lined a single to right.

A pop out and a passed ball put two runners in scoring position for Just, who delivered his clutch hit. Just stole second in front of Lopez’s single and Camden’s Jon Knott brought Lopez home on a RBI double to left-center.

Atlantic League rules state that an extra-inning game would be decided by a homer-off, which would be baseball’s version of the NHL’s shootout where the game would be decided by a home run derby.

Freedom manager Chris Hoiles (York’s manager) said that scenario allowed him to use all his pitchers and save Benitez for the end, where it was his job to finish the inning without needing to worry about arms for extra-innings.

“I figured with what we have, Benitez is our closer and that was the best option I had,” Hoiles said.

No backflips accompanied Smith as he took his position during the Atlantic League’s All-Star pregame celebrity exhibition softball game. The 54-year-old said his crowd-pleasing acrobatic ways are a thing of his playing days.

“I play too much golf now. My back is stiff,” Smith said with a laugh inside Newark’s home dugout. “Don’t get old.”

Smith last played a competitive game in 1996 before retiring from the Cardinals. After getting inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2002, the 15-time All-Star is relishing his role as an unofficial ambassador to the game.

Current players like Armando Benitez, who was representing the Bears, flocked over to Smith for a hug and a picture. Newark’s Michael Hernandez also wanted to pose with the 13-time gold glove award winner. Behind the backstop, fans clamored for autographs on baseballs, programs and ticket stubs.

Smith said the attention was hard to envision when he first came up with San Diego in 1978. After getting traded to the Cardinals, Smith earned a plague in Cooperstown, playing in St. Louis from 1982-1996, registering 2,460 career hits. That hit total is still impressive considering Smith’s claim to fame was his defense, where he finished his career with a .978 fielding percentage.

“There’s a positive legacy that you want to leave to where you had a positive impact on the sports,” Smith said. “I tried to conduct myself in a manner that would hopefully get me to this point to where people would come up to me, as they do now, and tell me how much they appreciate the way I went about my business.

“I’ve always taken a lot of pride in the way I’ve approached this game. I’ve never taken the game for granted and now I’ve reaped the rewards of it.”

Smith reached base with a first-inning single, where he immediately fist-pumped a mascot. It was just one of many light-hearted moments in a game featuring entertainment personalities and current big-name athletes like Justin Tuck from the Giants and the Jets’ Thomas Jones and Kerry Rhodes. Newark native Queen Latifah also participated as a team captain.

The softball comparisons brought up comparisons to a favorite off-the-field Smith memory. The famous 1992 episode featured Smith on the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant team that included then-major league stars like Steve Sax, Wade Boggs and Roger Clemens.

So, what softball moment did Smith enjoy more?

“Oddly enough, that’s one of the most-asked questions, people ask me a million questions about the Simpsons episode,” Smith said with a chuckle. “It was all a voice over. None of us were in the studio at the same time.”

Playing in Newark’s home ballpark brought Smith back to an independent league. It’s the same type of set-up for which Ozzie’s son Dustin is playing, as the younger Smith is currently leading United League Baseball in steals for Coastal Bend.

“He’s been in the league for a little bit,” Smith said. “A lot of people think it’s easy for sons or daughters of professional athletes to get in the business. It’s tough to break in. I had to take a different route to the big leagues and I’m hoping it’s the same case for him.”

But this wasn’t a hum-drum day. Before the game, not a soul was found in the press box, where a pre-game dinner awaited, and the staff scurried around Citibank Park checking numbers and tickets at each of its gates. The Ducks 4 millionth fan was expected that day and nothing could change the historical significance of the event, no matter what Gary Carter’s team did later that night.

And at about 20 minutes before game time, it happened when Brett Liquori of Stony Brook, NY walked through the turnstile, making the Ducks the fastest North American professional sports franchise to reach the magical 4 millionth fan mark with a stadium the size of Citibank Park.

“I’ve owned baseball teams before,” said Ducks principle owner Frank Boulton. “My team down in Wilmington, DE, they were nice people and when Buddy [Harrelson] and I would go down there, we said ‘Gee this would be great on Long Island.’ So it was always my goal to put a team here.”

But then he added with a laugh, “Am I surprised that we got 4 million fans faster than anyone in a 6,000 seat stadium? Yeah.”

The Long Island Ducks have been a slam dunk from the beginning for Boulton. With a very dense baseball friendly population and rising costs for Mets and Yankee tickets, families were look for an alternative, and one that would cater to the casual fan, rather than the corporate monster.

“The casual fan will go to the baseball game,” Boulton said. “We have a lot of casual fans who go to five or six duck games a year, but don’t know a player on the Yankees other than Derek Jeter. Part of it, coming here, is to be close to the action. The ballpark is always clean and people are always nice. If you are not a baseball fan you will have fun watching Quackerjack race some children around the bases. In all of minor league baseball, you short of have a license to have more fun at the event.”

The Ducks have been fortunate, being in such a densely populated area. With so many people, it’s easy to draw. Add to the fact, the team gets name talent on the field and the winning formula is obvious.

But that’s not the case with every Atlantic League team. Although the league has done well over the years, some of the lesser franchises, such as Nashua  (now the American Defenders of New Hampshire in the Can-Am League) and Atlantic City (now defunct) were dropped to other leagues, as Boulton, who also serves as the league’s CEO, strived to put make his league the top independent league in baseball.

Although those two franchises were dropped in the past due to what Boulton described as demographics and population, two more teams almost were lost this past offseason with the Bridgeport Bluefish and Newark Bears both going through ownership changes due to the poor economy.

Both teams were saved in the end, though, with new ownership coming into Newark, while Boulton himself coming into to save Bridgeport.

Even though, it seems strange for an owner to head up two rival clubs, this is commonplace in the Atlantic League.  Lancaster, Southern Maryland, and York currently has the same ownership group and in the past, Somerset’s Steve Kailfer owned Newark at the same time, while Boulton himself had a piece of the Surf and Riversharks over the years.

Bridgeport, though, gave Boulton a challenge. Can he take the Duck formula and have it work on a floundering franchise? Right now, it’s too early to tell, but the results have been positive.

“That’s a work in progress,” Boulton explained. “The first part is we put a new field in, spruced up the ballpark, put a new ticket system in so fans can access their ticket. We made it more fan friendly.”

Boulton has Ducks general manager Michael Pfaff supervising the off the field operations, with former Nashua Pride general manager Todd Marlin holding the position of general manager. Boulton and Pfaff also promoted members of the Ducks staff to head up similar positions in Bridgeport.

More importantly though, Boulton has the Bluefish conducting business the way the Ducks have been over the past 10 years.

“We are reaching out to the corporate sponsors that we have done business in and believe in the way we have done business, signing them up for a three-year deal,” Boulton said. “So in that way you are not always renewing. All the signage [on Long Island] is sold on a rotating basis and if we had to renew everything on a one year deal, we would be in trouble. A lot of ballparks, that’s what they do, they have one year deals. So if our sponsors know they can lock in lower prices and they feel it’s a benefit to lock in.”

It’s too early to tell if it will work long term and poor weather has Bridgeport last in the league in average attendance after the first month of the season. But Boulton seems to have the right people in place and seem to be going in the right direction.

As is his Ducks. Like the Bluefish attendance is down due to the weather during the first month of the season, but it always picks up as the weather gets warmer. With inexpensive tickets, free parking and moderately priced concessions, Boulton heads up one of Long Island’s biggest success stories and it doesn’t have any signs of changing.

After all, he has 4 million examples to prove it.

The board – which consists of Harmon Killebrew, Peter Kirk, Brooks Robinson, Dr. Tom Songster and John Horshok, who has been named chairman of the board – will explore building a 5,500 seat stadium by 2011.

“This is a significant opportunity for all Loudoun County residents. Minor league baseball is unique in offering family affordable fun,” Horshok said in a press release. “To be able to offer it to the community without using any public funds distinguishes this project as a wonderful chance to promote the community in a very special way-minor league baseball is a lightning rod for fun.”

Despite the economy, the Atlantic League is still drawing fans with a Long Island Ducks enjoying its 4 millionth fan at last night’s game. According to league CEO Frank Boulton, the league attendance is only down because of the poor weather in the Northeast and not the economy.

“The casual fan will go to a baseball game and we have a lot of casual baseball fans,” Boulton said. “Part of it is that the fans are close to the action and if you are not a baseball fan, you will always have fun. Minor league baseball has a license to have a little bit more fun.”

Actually the economy may have enhanced minor league baseball with families looking for cheaper alternatives, which the Atlantic League affords fans.

If a team is put into Virginia, the Atlantic League will go back to the Road Warrior format, unless it either expands to 10 teams or drops a franchise. In the past, Atlantic City and Nashua were moved to the Can-Am League, while Newark almost folded this past winter.

Yet, the league has explored expansion into markets such as Nassau County, the Meadowlands, and Yonkers.

• The league is working on two schedules right now, one with the Newark Bears and one without them. If there are eight full teams then expect a 140 game season and if the Road Warriors are around a 126 game season will be in order.
• No decision has been made yet on what to do about the Bears, although it will be sooner rather than later, because the league needs to put the schedule out.
• When a decision is made, the Atlantic League Independent will have an official or two on the record. But right now, things can change from day to day, so it would be improper for them to comment.

So there you have it. We hope to have more as the week goes along, but right now that’s all there is to report.

In support of this project, the Bergen Cliff Hawks will dismiss their lawsuit relating to minor league baseball against Meadowlands Xanadu’s former owner, The Mills Corp.

ABOUT THE BERGEN CLIFF HAWKS
The Bergen Cliff Hawks are an expansion franchise of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. Contact: Steve Kalafer, P.O. Box 1007, Flemington, New Jersey 08822. Telephone: (908) 782-3673.

ABOUT THE ATLANTIC LEAGUE
The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball Clubs, Inc. began play in 1998. Celebrating its tenth anniversary, the League welcomed its 18,000,000th fan this year. The League provides professional baseball and affordable family entertainment in state-of-the-art ballparks in eight communities. The teams include The Long Island Ducks (NY), Newark Bears (NJ), The York Revolution (PA), The Lancaster Barnstormers (PA), The Bridgeport Bluefish (CT), The Camden Riversharks (NJ), the Somerset Patriots (NJ) and the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs (MD). Contact: Joe Klein, 401 N. Delaware Avenue, Camden, NJ 08822. Telephone: 856-541-9400

ABOUT MEADOWLANDS XANADU
Meadowlands Xanadu, under construction in the heart of the NY/NJ metropolitan region, will feature approximately 2.3 million square feet of unique entertainment, interactive attractions, sports and retail unlike any other in the world. The complex features five themed districts, Sports, Entertainment, Youth Culture, Food & Home and Fashion, providing a wide variety of experiences catering to different lifestyles and interests. The spectacular complex in the New Jersey Meadowlands will be home to an observation wheel, top-of-the-line retail stores, gourmet restaurants, America’s first indoor snow dome, a skydiving tower, multiple movie theaters, a concert and live theater venue and much more set in a high-energy, media-rich environment. Meadowlands Xanadu is a unique destination designed to attract 50 million visitors annually, at the nexus of a roadway system traversed by 88 million vehicles annually. It is adjacent to the new NFL home for the Jets and Giants and will be served by a new railroad station providing easy access to Penn Station and New Jersey. It will be a stage where brands, entertainment and technology join to create larger than life experiences. Meadowlands Xanadu is being developed by Meadowlands Development, whose investors include Colony Capital, The Dune Real Estate Funds and KanAm.

One place may be Richmond, VA. According to one official, the league is looking to place a team down in the Virginia capital to possibly replace the Triple-A Braves, who will relocate to Gwinnett County, GA in 2009.

“It all depends upon if they can build an Atlantic League stadium,” said the official.

That may be the sticking point as the Braves organization looking for the city to build a new team for its affiliate. Unfortunately a plan for a new facility fell through, which is why it’s relocating after 44 seasons.

And that opens the door for the independent league.

If a deal can be reached, the new team can play at The Diamond, built in 1934 and renovated in 1985 until a stadium can be built. Currently the existing building holds 12, 134 and is also the home to the Virginia Commonwealth University baseball team. Since it is too large for the Atlantic League, whose stadiums hold between 5,000-6,500 fans, a new facility is needed in the mold of the modern fan friendly facilities that decorate the league.

Besides the Atlantic League, there’s talk of the Double-A Eastern League also looking to relocate a team to Richmond.

If a new Atlantic League team comes to Virginia in 2009, the league will go back to the “Road Warrior” format, with 10 overall teams, nine with home stadiums and one playing exclusively on the road.