Good article in the Item about the Navigators

-I'm really excited that a BC player is on the Navs... sweet!

Rosenfield takes in baseball Beanpot tourney at Fraser Field

By Steve Krause / The Daily Item
LYNN -- After a fall and a winter of planning for the inaugural season of the North Shore Navigators, owner Phil Rosenfield finally got to see a baseball game at Fraser Field Wednesday.

And it was right up his alley.

The City of Lynn, for the third straight year, hosted the first round of the annual Beanpot Baseball Tournament (the finals will be held next Wednesday at Fenway Park). And since the Navigators will feature an exclusive array of college talent, the games Wednesday dovetailed nicely with Rosenfield's game plan.

"This is great for us," he said, "because these are the type of players we'll be having in here this summer."

Actually, this was the first time Rosenfield has seen a game here since the field -- and neighboring Manning Field -- were done over.

"It's impressive," Rosenfield said. "Of course, I remember the old Manning Bowl, and to look out and see what it looks like now ... it really looks nice."

Rosenfield also said that he puts the refurbished Fraser Field up with the best baseball fields in the state.

"Of course," he said, "there's Fenway, and then Worcester, and Campanelli (in Brockton), LeLacheur (Lowell) and this. It's going to be fun playing here. As an owner, knowing that we're going to provide all this entertainment for families, I think it's pretty neat."

Rosenfield hopes to do quite a bit more than field a baseball team. He hopes to make the field available for high school tournament games from the first round all the way up to the state semifinals. His team will play exhibition games against both Team USA and the Dominican Republic national team. There will be four fireworks displays in June and July, all on Saturday nights.

Between games of the Beanpot (Boston College downed Northeastern, 13-6, in the opener), Rosenfield also unveiled the plaque that will sit on the big rock just inside the Western Avenue entrance at Fraser. He also took the opportunity to introduce one of the players who will wear a Navigators uniform this summer: BC's Chris Kowalski, a pitcher and a first baseman.

North Shore Navigators president Phillip Rosenfield chats with pitcher Chris Kowalski on LynnCam during the unveiling of a new plaque Wednesday. (ITEM PHOTO / REBA M.SALDANHA)

"I asked him if he ever was called 'Killer' (after the pro wrestler who was famous in the '60s) and he said, 'All the time,'" Rosenfield said. "Even his coach, after the game, said to him, 'Hey, Killer, you have five minutes with these guys.'"

Rosenfield said that efforts to house the players are going well ("thanks to ads we've placed in The Item"), and that "We're about halfway there. We just had a family offer to take in two more today."