Billionaire John Catsimatidis is taking a swing at leading a minor-league baseball team as they gear up for opening weekend.
The mogul behind Gristedes supermarkets and conservative radio network WABC was gearing up for the Staten Island FerryHawks’ opening weekend after adding Atlantic League managing partner to his resume.
“It’s just a wonderful day,” Catsimatidis, who spent years supporting the Yankees-affiliated team, told The Post on Friday.
“When the Yankees called me up about four years ago and they wanted to be partners – I said absolutely yes I love baseball. My grandfather took me to my first Yankee game when I was about six or eight years old,” he said.
Catsimatidis – a power player in New York business and conservative politics – was a key investor in the team when it launched in 2022, replacing the Staten Island Yankees, which shut down operations in 2020.
The FerryHawks home base is Staten Island University Hospital Community Park, located off of the Staten Island Ferry stop.
The stadium was built in 1990 under Mayor Rudy Giuliani and went through a renovation after its ownership change in 2022.
Catsimatidis said he hopes to eventually name it the WABC stadium after his radio station, and plans to expand the site’s offerings to include concerts, festivals and a soccer team.
“We want to make it a full entertainment facility,” he said.
He even floated the idea of a minor league spinoff of the MLB’s Yankees and Mets Subway Series.
“You have the Mets minor league team the Coney Island Cyclones and you have the FerryHawks, which is a Yankee associated team,” he said.
“We should have a a series of a competition between the Cyclones and the FerryHawks.”
The new owner added that if it rains for Saturday’s game, they will implement a double header for Sunday.
“You get two for the price of one on Sunday!”
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