Major League Baseball Comes to Rockland

By Matt Caputo

The Ramapo-based New York Boulders professional baseball team did not play their typical Frontier League season this year, due to COVID-19 restrictions, but that made it possible for Major League Baseball to film two commercials at Palisades Credit Union Park, both airing during the big league playoffs.

“MLB was referred to us as an option if an MLB field did not work out. After a site visit, they were very impressed,” said Michael B. Specht, Supervisor for the Town of Ramapo. “They took some pictures, and then actually decided to use us for two separate commercials to play during the MLB playoffs.”

Originally opened in September of 2010 (initially as Provident Bank Park), Palisades Credit Union Park has a capacity of 6,580. Besides the Boulders, whose tenth seasons was postponed until 2021 due to COVID-19 canceling the Frontier League calendar, the stadium is home to the college teams of Dominica, Nyack and St.Thomas Aquinas. In fact, several STAC baseball players and other locals were used as “faceless” extras in the two MLB commercials. “We are very proud to be chosen, we have a beautiful stadium and are thrilled to have it displayed so prominently,” Specht told The Rockland County Times.

There have been a number of commercials shot at Palisades Credit Union Park, but the MLB video produced was used as an intro to game three of the National League Championship Series. In addition to the NLCS into video, the ballpark was the setting of a Lysol commercial that also ran during this year’s baseball postseason. In 2016, New York Yankees legend Mariano Rivera starred in a commercial for The Hartford insurance company that was also filmed at Rockland County’s professional ballpark.

“Boulders corporate partners who have signage in the ballpark benefited greatly from the national visibility this feature provided; as well as from the other commercials that have been filmed here,” said Seth Cantor, the Boulders’ Vice President for Business Development. “We’re always looking for ways to engage our corporate partners, especially during the offseason. When I sent the feature to our 75+ corporate partners the response was overwhelmingly positive.”

Despite a halt in regular programming this year, the Boulders and local officials see the ballpark as a valuable asset to the county.

“The baseball stadium enhances our community in many ways,” Specht said. “It’s a beautiful, state of the art venue that is a great setting for baseball and many other community events. Each year many of our civic, social, not for profit and educational institutions are able to avail themselves of the stadium.”