Double Play: Stories of the New York Islanders on the Baseball Diamond

Baseball season begins in New York on Thursday, as the New York Yankees and New York Mets play their first games of the season.
That's big news for a lot of the New York Islanders, who are pretty big boys of summer themselves. As an organization, the Islanders have a healthy baseball tradition, fielding a competitive softball team during the team's dynasty years.

A lot of Islanders - past and present - were talented ball players and there's an alternate universe where some of them could have had bats in their hands instead of hockey sticks.
Is this heaven? No, it's Islanders baseball stories.

DENIS POTVIN AND THE VISIT FROM THE MONTREAL EXPOS:

Did you know the Montreal Expos visited Denis Potvin during his last season in junior hockey?
The Expos checked in to see if the hockey phenom, who was also a third baseman, would consider choosing baseball as a path. After all, Potvin had been playing high level baseball and was competing in provincial championships.
"The Montreal Expos had a couple of scouts come into my house," Potvin said. "They wanted to know from dad, who had a relationship with one of the scouts, whether there was any chance if the Expos drafted me whether I would ever play."
This was as Potvin was getting ready for his last year of junior hockey. He'd later be drafted by the Islanders first overall in 1973 and go on to retire as one of the greatest defensemen to ever play. While four Stanley Cups, 300 goals and 1,000 points wasn't guaranteed at that time, he was still a highly-touted prospect, so hockey was the priority.
"My dad just said to the scout], 'can I offer you a beer?,'" Potvin said. "'But the answer is no. He's not gonna play.'"
[Watch: Youtube Video

CLARK GILLIES AND BOB BOURNE PLAYED MINOR LEAGUE BALL IN VIRGINIA:

The most famous Islanders baseball connections belong to Clark Gillies and Bob Bourne, who both played for a Houston Astros Appalachian League team - the Covington Astros - in Covington, VA.
Gillies played three summers in Virginia from 1970-72, while Bourne played one summer in 1972.
Gillies was a power hitting 16-year-old, who was discovered by major league scouts scouring the Canadian prairies looking for undiscovered farm boys. Bryan Trottier, who grew up playing against Gillies in Saskatchewan, told the Islanders radio crew he still remembers a Gillies home run that he joked might still be circling the earth. Gillies actually missed the tournament the scouts were present at, but they arranged a separate workout to scout Gillies.
Needless to say they were impressed and offered Gillies a $5,000 signing bonus, plus $500 a month, which was enough money for the 16-year-old who'd barely left Moose Jaw to move to Virginia.
"A couple days later I was on a plane and ended up in Covington, Virginia all by myself scared to death," Gillies told the Talkin' Isles podcast. "That's when my baseball career started. I spent three summers down there, got a little better, a little better each year, but after the third year they said you have to make a decision."
Gillies was a catcher down in Covington and said he may have focused too much on the defensive part of the game as opposed to his hitting, but it made him appreciate the strategy in the game. Gillies played 86 games over three minor league seasons with a .241 batting average, two homers and 31 RBI.
"I went down to that instructional league with the Astros and I came back a much better ballplayer," Gillies said. "If I got anything out of it. I knew the game I understand the game."

CAL CLUTTERBUCK WON A PROVINCIAL TITLE:

Welland, ON, a small town about 20 minutes from Niagara Falls, is known for producing hockey players like Cal Clutterbuck, but with a father who played some semi-pro baseball, Clutterbuck grew up playing both sports "tit for tat."
A young Clutterbuck had some success on the diamond as well, as he and the Welland Legion Lancers won the 2000 Ontario Baseball Association single-A-peewee title. Clutterbuck was named MVP of the tournament and still has the bat at his parent's home to this day.
"We won the Ontario championships, which was kind of a big deal as a smaller center beat a lot of bigger cities and probably better teams," Clutterbuck said.
It took about 20 years, but Clutterbuck and the Lancers were inducted into the Welland Sports Hall of Fame last year.
"We're on the wall there, me and my 12-year-old buddies," Clutterbuck said.
Clutterbuck considered baseball as an option right up until he went into the Ontario Hockey League. Canada being Canada, the scouting process for kids happens earlier with hockey, which helped Clutterbuck cement the decision, though he had the chance to play on some showcase teams.
He tried to continue playing baseball the first summer after he started his OHL career, but a shoulder injury hampered his ability to throw and hockey was the priority.
Clutterbuck was a shortstop, a pitcher and occasionally a catcher. If things had worked out differently, perhaps the NHL's most prolific hitter could have set a different hits record.
Clutterbuck grew up a big Toronto Blue Jays fan and remembers his dad pulling him out of bed to watch Joe Carter's walk-off homer to win the 1993 World Series. He still enjoys playing softball and has played a few Boomer Esiason charity games with Matt Martin. If the Islanders ever wanted to revive the old softball team, which used to play games vs firehouses, police departments and occasionally other NHL teams, Clutterbuck would be game.
"We'd probably have a collection of nine or 10 guys we could throw together and be pretty competitive," Clutterbuck said.

KYLE PALMIERI'S RELATION TO THE METS:

Baseball was part of the family for Kyle Palmieri growing up, as his godfather, Bud Harrelson, played shortstop and second base for the New York Mets for 13 seasons, including their first World Series win in 1969. Harrelson was also a Mets coach in 1986, is in the Mets Hall of Fame and is a part owner of the Long Island Ducks.
"With my godfather being a pretty prominent figure in baseball in this area, baseball was one of the first sports I played," Palmieri said. "I played baseball all the way up until I went out to Michigan for the national team."
Palmieri played baseball up until his sophomore year of high school in New Jersey, mainly short stop, though he switched to catcher the last two years he played.
"It wasn't the fastest pace sport when you compare it to hockey for me," Palmieri said. "So catching and pitching gets you involved in every play, so that was kind of what lured me into that position, but I just had a lot of fun with it."
Palmieri wasn't particularly close to the Little League World Series, but said he did play against Danny Almonte, who clocked 79 mph at the 2001 Little League World Series, though it was later revealed that Almonte was two years older than the age cutoff.
"He could pitch, that's for sure," Palmieri said.
With Harrelson as his godfather, it's no contest when it comes to Palmieri's favorite baseball team.
"I'm a Mets fan," Palmieri said, adding with a laugh, "I don't think I'm allowed to be a Yankee fan."