Homer Bush is no stranger to New York. Having played two stints in Yankees pinstripes, he knows the Bronx and Manhattan well, but he’ll have to do some brushing up on his new home borough of Staten Island.
Bush has already started to do some reading up on the borough now that he was named manager of the Atlantic League’s Staten Island FerryHawks last week, allowing for a sort of full circle moment. Bush spent seven years playing major league baseball, which included being a member of the 1998 World Champion Yankees and returning to the Big Apple in 2004.
Now Bush, 50, is back in New York once again chasing a new baseball dream.
“It really is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Bush said during a phone interview with amNewYork. “Everybody’s goal is to be in affiliated ball and to just be one step away, I feel like a player that’s still continuing his journey. Just feel like if I work hard and help get players to the next level, win some games, grow the game of baseball in Staten Island then that dream might come true.”
He added later: “You always felt like you were home whenever you came back to New York, so this right here just gives me a longer stay at home.”
Bush spent last season managing the Mahoning Valley Scrappers in the MLB Draft League and has spent a number of years since he retired in 2005 around the game of baseball. He’s hoping his time in Staten Island will be an impactful one and the goals of ownership off the field were ones that drew him to the job.
The FerryHawks will be entering their second season as an organization and beyond just winning and losing, Bush was told that they had wanted to have a heavy presence in the community and help grow the game of baseball on Staten Island.
“For me being 50, it’s now time for me to start thinking about my legacy,” Bush said. “Not only with my family, but the game of baseball. I’ve been studying data and science and baseball, so I have some things I’d like to introduce to coaches and young players that I think will really help their game on the field. And of course, I have some ideas off the field that I want to share.
“Can you imagine if I get there and I’m in Staten Island for a handful of years and players and families can say ‘hey Homer helped me and the FerryHawks helped me with my path’ to say D-1 baseball, minor league baseball or even to the majors. That would be pretty cool.”
As for his managerial style on the field, Bush called it a “mixed bag” of what he brings to the position. He plans to use the experiences he’s had during his playing career along with passing along the lessons of some the things he wished he had done differently and taking from the managers he has played for.
While Bush is excited for the new opportunity, the FerryHawks seemed equally as enthusiastic about the hire in a press release.
“We plan to bring a championship to the great borough of Staten Island and their passionate baseball fans,” Staten Island Entertainment and FerryHawks Chairman John Catsimatidis said. “Homer is a big part of our larger vision to establish the FerryHawks and Staten Island University Hospital Community Park, with its world-class views, as New York’s newest
entertainment destination.”
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