The Caputos purchased their first S.I. Yankees tickets prior to the franchise’s first game.
That was back in 1999, when the Getzler family had just brought the team to the Island. Home back then was the hastily completed field on the College of Staten Island campus in Willowbrook. “The first game was on Father’s Day,” Caputo recalled last night. “I met the Getzlers that day, and told them they couldn’t have done anything more for the fathers of Staten Island than bringing baseball here.” Enlarge
Hilton Flores
Marissa Pontecorvo singing the National Anthem to the Staten Island Yankees opening day crowd at Richmond County Bank Ballpark. (Staten Island Advance/Hilton Flores)
Caputo couldn’t know at that time that the
Staten Island Yanks drop home opener gallery (9 photos)
constructed in such a rush that city
campus ballpark at CSI had been inspectors refused to approve the bleachers for occupancy.
On the night before opening-day the front office called every employee back to work, where they remained tightening connections until daybreak while borrowed equipment lit-up the bleachers. Team president Jane Rogers still has the screwdriver she personally used crawling around underneath the stands. “I just remember that I got up from my seat for the first time at my first game, and as I was walking to the concession stand a foul ball basically bounced into my hand,” Caputo said. Since that date, Caputo has attended every Staten Island Yankees home opener and hundreds of other games. As has happened to others since the minor league game came to Staten Island 14 seasons ago, what began as a curiosity has grown into a family tradition. The Caputos at first had three season tickets, for Chris, Carol and their then six-year-old son, Peter. “I just thought of it as gesture to support the community in a small way,” Chris said.
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