Rockfish Revisited: Ingle, Sweet Share Memories of Maryland Fall League

Since Arthur W. Perdue Stadium opened in 1996, the Delmarva Shorebirds have been its only permanent tenant. If things had gone a little differently in 1998, however, there could have been another baseball team calling Salisbury home through the end of October.

The Maryland Fall League came into being at a time when Major League Baseball aimed to establish another postseason prospect circuit like they had in Arizona. The powers that be chose four sites to house teams: Bowie, Frederick, Wilmington, Del., and Salisbury. The name of Perdue Stadium’s new fall boarders? The Delmarva Rockfish.

“I tell you what, we had some really good players,” said Randy Ingle, the longtime minor league sage and manager of the Rockfish in 1998. “I would say there were at least 8-10 players on that club that played in the big leagues at some point in time. So it was a good league, a lot of good young talent and prospects, and it was a fun time.”

Ingle, flanked by four-time NL batting champion Bill Madlock as a coach, indeed had a few gems in their collection of prospects from seven different major league organizations. David Eckstein played 10 years in the majors, winning World Series with the Angels in 2002 and taking Series MVP honors for the Cardinals in their 2006 title run. Aubrey Huff won a Silver Slugger Award with the Orioles in 2008 and helped the Giants win world championships in 2010 and 2012. Jake Westbrook pitched 13 seasons in the bigs, and former Shorebird manager Ryan Minor’s brother Damon eventually played four years for the Giants.

The Rockfish’s true standout in 1998, though, was future All-Star Milton Bradley, who led the league in hitting at .330. While Bradley’s skill served as a forerunner to his 12-year major league career, so did his reputation for a less-than-cool head. Late in the season he got into an altercation with umpire Matt Schaeffer, resulting in a suspension that cut his fall short.

The Delmarva Rockfish finished their only season with a 21-20 record, while the Frederick Regiment claimed the Maryland Fall League’s only championship. One of the young Regiment front office staffers who got to celebrate a championship in his first season in pro ball? Current Shorebirds assistant GM Jimmy Sweet.

“I just remember the baseball, it was great baseball,” said Sweet. “You were getting the best-of-the-best of High-A baseball, plus each team was allowed five Double-A players. The baseball was outstanding; it was definitely a fun time as a fan.”

Even in the midst of that maiden voyage, there were signs that the MFL wouldn’t get a sequel. Financial issues from low attendance, coupled with chilly weather in late October, forced the league to fold.

“The first three weeks of the season it was perfect weather,” said Sweet. “But when you invest the money into these players that major league teams do, you don’t want to have anything happen due to the weather.”

Thus, the Rockfish, the Regiment, and the rest came to an unceremonious end. The Shorebirds retained various bits of team apparel for over a decade; in 2012 the team played one game as the Rockfish and auctioned off the jerseys. The rest of that lone season over two decades has since been mothballed to memories, consigned to the knowledge bank at the Eastern Shore Baseball Hall of Fame.

Meanwhile, as the Shorebirds prepare for their 25th season, Arthur W. Perdue Stadium maintains its reputation as one of the top venues in the South Atlantic League and a worthy capital of baseball on the Eastern Shore.

“I’ve always liked that ballpark,” said Ingle, who finally returned to Perdue Stadium in 2017 as manager of the Rome Braves; last season he became the development supervisor for the Asheville Tourists and made it back to Salisbury in late April. “[Being there] brought back a lot of good memories from 1998, and from 2001 [as Danville Braves manager]. It’s a nice ballpark, and I really enjoyed my time there.”