When it comes to sports, New York is a baseball city. A paced game like baseball offers relief to a metropolitan area that can grind and aggress us at times. We have thirty-five championships in baseball alone. To put that in terms of bragging rights, that’s one more ring than Boston, the next championed city, has in the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB combined. Some of the game’s best players made their names among the bright lights and concrete. But funny enough, per capita, not many native New Yorkers make it to the big leagues compared to players from the rest of the country.
What’s the culprit? Is it a lack of facilities, a shortage of youth programs, or an excess of hoop dreams? “It’s just the time that you put in,” says Adam Ottavino, Major League pitcher for the Colorado Rockies and Park Slope native. At the age of four, Adam moved to the neighborhood from Greenwich Village and describes the Slope of his childhood as a little more “quiet” than what it’s transformed in to. “The F train is still there. The park is still the same. All the pizza joints I used to go to after games are all still there, like Smiling and Roma’s. It’s definitely still Park Slope.”
So pizza survives gentrification, but what about this myth that New Yorkers don’t usually make it into the big leagues? “There’s quite a few of us,” Adam defends. “Pedro Beato, Dellin Betances on the Yankees, Chris Manno—” Adam rattles off a few more names before talking about the camaraderie inherent in a shared birthplace. “I definitely see those guys around. Sometimes we train together in Garden City, and Dellin and I have thrown around in the Park Slope Armory during the off-season a few times.” He touches on how much the city has to offer by way of distractions, and how that might discourage some youths from taking their game to the next level. Sacrificing the weekend for a bus ride to an away game instead of exploring or causing mischief is not every city kid’s idea of a good time, but it has clearly paid off for Adam.
He was drafted thirtieth overall by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2006 with great expectations after putting up some crushing numbers at Northeastern University. His first start came in 2010 when he was called up from AAA Memphis Redbirds, but living out the lifelong dream was bittersweet. “I was so excited to be called up, but it was difficult because I wasn’t 100% healthy, but I wanted to step up and pitch well anyway.” Like a true gamer Adam battled through it, and after his 2012 trade to the Rockies he is set to play a bigger role out of the bullpen. “I’m definitely looking forward to more innings.”
Between spring training, AAA, and the regular season, Adam has played pretty much everywhere, and when asked how the rest of the USA stacks up to Park Slope, he jokingly blurts “They’re terrible.” “Don’t get me wrong,” he continues, “there are a lot of nice parts, but I feel like Park Slope is one of the best neighborhoods in the country. Traveling around definitely made me realize that.” He mentions Pork Slope and Fonda as some eateries he frequents when he’s back on the block, but his fondest memories were made in Prospect Park. “I’ve played on every field in the city, pretty much, but the park is special. I would play catch for hours with my Dad down there.”
The grind of the city certainly helped Adam make it to the major league mound. People hustle nonstop just to live in this city, and with only few days off in the world of professional baseball, this lesson in patience is invaluable. “I remember double, triple headers in the park after school. We were out there because we loved the game. I still love it, obviously, but it’s just different.”
Adam clearly has pride on his side. He recalls the old Sinatra lyric about “making it here” and his matter-of-fact tone makes his level of determination and hustle sound natural for a kid with a dream, but clearly that’s not the case. When I press him to name a mentor that he could credit with his success, he mentions his Dad and a few coaches, but makes it clear that it comes from within. “Coaches can be good or bad, and the facilities in other parts of the country are insane compared to here, but mainly it’s just the time that people put in with me and other kids back then. That’s what was most important to me. The time adults spent with us as kids.” You can’t play catch with yourself and you can’t make it to the Rockies without starting up a slope.
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