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The Long Island Ducks are an American professional baseball team based in Central Islip, New York. They are a member of the Liberty Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. Since the 2000 season, the Ducks have played their home games at Bethpage Ballpark - formerly known as EAB Park, Citibank Park, and Suffolk County Sports Park. The "Ducks" name refers to Long Island's duck-farming heritage, which is further represented by the Big Duck ferrocement. The Big Duck is in Suffolk County, in which Central Islip is also located.〔(Determining the Facts Reading 1: Representational Architecture ), Roadside Attractions, National Park Service.〕 The Ducks set the independent league baseball single-season attendance record at the time by welcoming 443,142 fans during the 2001 season. This surpassed the previous record of 436,361 fans which the team had also set in 2000. The Ducks reached the 5 million fan mark in attendance in July 2011 and will welcome their Atlantic League record 6 millionth fan in 2014. Bud Harrelson, a 1971 Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner, is a part-owner of the Ducks. He was the first manager of the team following a stint as the New York Mets manager. ==History== Residents of Long Island anticipated the arrival of professional baseball for many years, until the Ducks' inaugural 2000 season. The New York Mets and the New York Yankees own the territorial rights to keep an affiliated team, Major or Minor League, from moving within a certain distance of their respective ballparks. Baseball fans on Long Island enthusiastically support the Ducks, and the team has led the Atlantic League in attendance in 12 of their 14 seasons. In 2007, team owner Frank Boulton expressed his contentment with the Ducks to Baseball America saying, "The Long Island Ducks are the best thing I've ever done in baseball."〔(Baseball America's 2007 Independent organization of the year )〕 Along with their success at the gate, the Ducks celebrated their first Atlantic League championship in 2004 when they defeated the Camden Riversharks in a three-game sweep to capture the Atlantic League Championship Series. Outfielder Justin Davies was named Championship Series Most Valuable Player. That summer, shortstop Kevin Baez was named the MVP of the Atlantic League All-Star Game, which was also held at Camden's Campbell's Field. On Monday, November 10, 2009, the Ducks announced that former Major Leaguer and Hall-of-Famer Gary Carter would be the new manager for the 2009 season. That year, he led the Ducks to a 74-66 record along with the Second Half Liberty Division championship. It would be the sixth consecutive season that the Ducks reached the postseason. After Carter's passing in 2012, the Ducks honored his memory by dedicating the season to their former skipper and wearing a commemorative #8 patch on their uniforms all season long. Former MLB All-stars Dontrelle Willis and Ramon Castro signed with the Ducks in 2013. Among the other former Major Leaguers on Long Island's roster in 2013 were Ben Broussard, Leo Rosales, Josh Barfield, Bill Hall, Bryant Nelson, Ian Snell and Lew Ford. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Long Island Ducks」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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