ATLANTIC LEAGUE CAN BE PROUD OF NEWEST MAJOR LEAGUER AND ITS GREAT ATTENDANCE

What fun it had to be for onetime Atlantic League (Camden, 2010) infielder Mike Costanzo to get his first major league hit this afternoon (Saturday), and to do it at Yankee Stadium during a 6-5 victory for his Cincinnati Reds because he predicted ahead of the series he was likely to hear a great deal of razzing through the similarity of his name and that of Seinfeld television character George Costanza.

Costanzo benefitted from interleague play because it allowed him to get his first major league start as the designated hitter. The 28-year-old, primarily a third baseman and first baseman, went 1-for-3 with his second sacrifice fly since joining the Reds. He is now 1-for-7 at the plate with the other appearances in pinch-hitting roles.

Of the expectation of being called 'Lord of the Idiots' as the sitcom star sometimes was known, Costanzo told FoxSportsOhio.com in advance of a five-game invasion of New York City (Cincinnati played two games against the Mets before moving to Yankee Stadium) "I hear it all the time and I know I'll hear it a lot in New York".

It certainly helps that he now has a major league batting average, even if it is only .143.

DAZZLING ATTENDANCE

The American Association has gotten off to a terrific start at the gate, but it will take a long run if it expects to keep pace with the Atlantic League.

El Paso, TX and Kansas City, KS have both had a 7,000 gate in the first two days of play with the Diablos drawing 7,823 Friday night for a two-day total of 12,042. The T-Bones had 7,026 fans show up for their opener, which also started interleague play with the Can-Am League. Amarillo, TX drew 6,518 for its opener Friday, and Laredo, TX, debuted in the league and opened a new ballpark with crowds of 5,923 and 5,116 in successive games. The league drew 62,992 the first two nights, according to figures compiled by Pointstreak, the American Association's official statistical house.

Meanwhile, the Atlantic League has already drawn 356,262 fans, an average of 4,345 for 82 openings with the new Sugar Land Skeeters leading the way with an average of 6,921 for 10 home games.

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ONETIME CAMDEN THIRD BASEMAN MIKE COSTANZO NEWEST MAJOR LEAGUER

Atlantic League fans have a brand new reason to check out the daily box scores of the Cincinnati Reds.

Third baseman Mike Costanzo, who played at Camden two years ago, was given his first call to the major leagues Saturday when veteran third base standout Scott Rolen went on the disabled list.

While Costanzo was a second round draft choice by Philadelphia (2005), he topped out at Class AAA with both the Phillies and Baltimore, and needed a fresh start in the Atlantic League before Cincinnati signed him. He hit .278 in 16 games with the 2010 RiverSharks with four homers and 10 RBI. Now 28, the onetime Coastal Carolina University slugger was at 6-24-.303 in 34 games for Louisville, KY when Reds added him to the parent club's roster.

It has been quite a week overall for former Independent players in the major leagues starting with Stu Pomeranz's call-up and two shutout appearances for Baltimore, then followed quickly by another impressive Daniel Nava start with Boston, lefty reliever Raul Valdes joining the Phillies and Costanzo.

The action lifts the current total of onetime Indy players in the major to 17, including three who are disabled. The Atlantic League also has Jerome Williams in the starting rotation with the Los Angeles Angels one season after he was in a similar role with Lancaster plus shortstop Stephen Drew (Camden), who has been on Arizona's disabled list but likely will soon be reinstated. Angels ace Jered Weaver worked out with Camden before signing his bonus contract.

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JAY GIBBONS HELPING OUT AT HUNTSVILLE, KEVIN HOWARD AT LAS VEGAS

Jay Gibbons has been doing a nice job of getting the Milwaukee Brewers to notice him since his recent re-signing and joining Double-A Huntsville, AL.

The former Long Island and Newark outfielder is hitting .308 (8-26) with a .379 on-base percentage for his first eight appearances. The lefty-swinging outfielder, now 35, has three doubles and has driven in two runs.

KEVIN HOWARD NOW IN TRIPLE-A

Last season's Lancaster shortstop, Kevin Howard, is one step closer to the major leagues now that Toronto has promoted him to Triple-A Las Vegas. The Blue Jays list him (MiLB.com) as a first baseman and he was at third base for his last appearance so perhaps the versatility will help. Howard has gone 2-for-13 with a run batted in for his four games with his new team after hitting .279 (12-43) with a homer and eight RBI for Class AA New Hampshire.

CAN STANGE START LIKE MARTIN?

Bridgeport lost righty Dan Stange after only four innings of work to the San Diego organization Monday. The Bluefish lost outfielder Dustin Martin to Triple-A Buffalo (New York Mets) before the season started, and he helped out with a home run in the first game he started (second appearance). Martin is now at .208 (5-24) with two doubles and five batted in in seven games.

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OPENING DAY PARTNERS HAS QUITE A WEEK EVEN BEFORE OPENING AT SUGAR LAND

Today's Independent Baseball Insider column will treat subscribers to the emerging long range planning of the Atlantic League, which ushers in the Independent season tonight.

Opening Day Partners (ODP), which already has Atlantic League teams in Lancaster, York and Southern Maryland, is officially opening its news showpiece in Sugar Land, TX tonight (Thursday), but that is only one point in showing how this organization is being steered far into the future by Peter Kirk and his large group of experienced staffers.

Kirk talked extensively about Atlantic League expansion thoughts that extend well into the future in our subscriber publication, the Independent Baseball Insider column, which also comes out today. Kirk and the league are thinking very big.

ODP also announced the hiring of 50-year plus baseball executive Tal Smith for a key role, as will be discussed in the Insider, as well as Lisa Riggs as the new president of the Lancaster Barnstormers. I do not know Ms. Riggs, who lives in East Hempfield Township with her husband and two children, but she has been running something called James Street Improvement District, which is Lancaster's community and economic development organization. That normally signifies the person in that role (President) is among a community's most important movers and shakers. Her involvement with the Barnstormers goes back nearly a decade when JSID played a key role in the development of Clipper Magazine Stadium.

UPSHAW LIKES BRIDGEPORT'S PITCHING

It is always difficult getting a good reading on the teams in the Atlantic League because of the short spring training, but I can tell you veteran Bridgeport Manager Willie Upshaw is high on the pitching staff he and General Manager Bob Goughan have assembled for the Bluefish.

"I love our pitching staff", Upshaw exuded during a media conference Wednesday. "I believe our bullpen will be really really good".

The Bluefish do not expect to have as much power as in the past, but "we've got some speed", the manager continued. He also said "not a lot of balls will drop out there" in an outfield anchored by veteran major leaguer Joey Gathright.

BRAVES DROP OZZIE CHAVEZ

While major league teams have spirited away at least four Atlantic League players before the first pitch of the regular season (two each from Bridgeport and Long Island) infielder Ozzie Chavez is the latest player from last season to lose his affiliated job. Atlanta released Chavez, who had 114 at-bats at Lancaster last year. He hit only .175 for the Barnstormers.

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WHERE DO YOU PLAN TO BE ON OPENING NIGHT?

Some odds and ends on the day after this week's Independent Baseball Insider... Nelson Figueroa is getting another opportunity after barely taking the mound and eventually getting released out of the Toronto Blue Jays' major league camp this spring. He signed with the New York Yankees and is going to work for the time being at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, PA. The right-hander, who once threw two games for the Atlantic League's Long Island Ducks and turns 38 next month, has made his way into 145 major league games through the years (20-35 record) while pitching for six teams (Philadelphia twice). ORIOLES LET JOSH JOHNSON GO, DUCKS STEP IN Catcher Josh Johnson, with the league's traveling Road Warriors last season, was released after a brief time in the Baltimore organization, but it did not take much time for him to find a new job. With two catchers signed away by major league organizations, Long Island stepped forward and inked him. WHERE TO GO ON OPENING NIGHT It is time, thankfully, to greet another season starting Thursday (April 26). The major attention likely will be on Sugar Land, TX since the new Skeeters will inaugurate their fancy stadium against two-time defending champion York, but fans also should be thinking about these matchups: Long Island at Somerset, Camden at Bridgeport and Lancaster at Southern Maryland. All four games are scheduled for 7:05 p.m. local time, with Sugar Land in the central time zone.

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TALKING FREE AGENTS AND FEELING FOR DANE DE LA ROSA

Even without any of the players released during spring training, we come up with a list of 13 onetime Atlantic Leaguers who were in a major league organization at the end of last season who have not signed with anyone for 2012. The group includes two (identified by a #) who got some major league time last season.

We would welcome any corrections to this list be sent to RWirz@aol.com.

The free agents, some of whom may have decided to call it a career:

PITCHERS (9): Nick Bierbrodt, #Mark DiFelice, Lenny DiNardo, Justin Hampson, B.J. LaMura, Chris Mobley, Sam Narron, Brian Stokes, Andy Van Hekken.
CATCHER (1): #Robinson Cancel.
INFIELDERS (3): 3B Pedro Feliz, 1B-3B Mike Lamb, Anderson Machado.
OUTFIELDERS (0)

DANE DE LA ROSA BACK IN MAJORS FOR A DAY

Well-traveled Independent veteran Dane DeLaRosa came out of spring training with a pretty good feeling even though he did not open the season with the parent Tampa Bay Rays for whom he got into his first seven major league games in two separate call-ups last season.

The Rays summoned the 6-foot-7 right-hander to the majors late Friday after their bullpen took a beating from the Boston Red Sox. Joe Maddon put the 29-year-old into the Saturday game, but he surrendered five runs in an inning of relief, and promptly was sent back to Triple-A Durham, NC. One can hope there will be another opportunity for this baseball-dedicated hurler who got his chance with the Rays after a brilliant run for Southern Maryland in 2009. DeLaRosa, 29, allowed only three earned runs in spread over 18 relief appearances with the Blue Crabs. He had a 1.11 earned run average, split his two decisions, picked up three saves and struck out 32 hitters in 24.1 innings of work.

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WHO HAS BEEN RELEASED AND WHERE ARE THEY NOW? WE HAVE SOME OF THE DETAILS

While the start of another Atlantic League season (April 26) always brings excitement for both players and fans, getting to that point can be very difficult for a great many players. They have tried to make major league rosters (only two did this season and both are on the disabled list), stick with an affiliated minor league team or find a renewed opportunity in the AL.

Among those who had to give up major league or affiliated jobs during the offseason and turn to the Atlantic League are outfielder Joey Gathright at Bridgeport, infielder Raul Padron with Camden, catcher Travis Scott with York, and pitchers Paul Phillips with Somerset and Les Walrond with Lancaster.

Then there was another group that started spring training with a major league organization only to get a pink slip and need to find a new opportunity if they want to continue their career. The list that follows includes the major league organization the players were with this spring and those with an asterisk (*) played in some major league exhibitions:

Pitchers Nate Bump (Philadelphia), *Alberto Castillo (Los Angeles Angels), *Nelson Figueroa (Toronto), Emerson Frostad (Houston), Brad Furnish (Chicago White Sox) and John VanBenschoten (San Diego), catchers Salomon Manriquez (Los Angeles Dodgers) and *Mike Rivera (Milwaukee), infielders Yunesky Sanchez (Pittsburgh) and *Terry Tiffee (Miami) and outfielders *Cory Aldridge (Baltimore), *Jay Gibbons (Milwaukee), Sean Henry (Atlanta) and Drew Macias (Los Angeles Angels).

It is almost a certainty some of this group will end up back in the Atlantic League.

BOULTON RECEIVES TOP VILLANOVA ALUMNI AWARD

What a nice day Thursday will be for Atlantic League Founder Frank Boulton.

He will receive the 2012 St. Thomas of Villanova Alumni Medal, the highest annual award handed out by the Villanova University Alumni Association. Boulton is to be honored at an awards dinner Thursday night.

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