Dutchess Stadium to be renamed as Hudson Valley Renegades forge new business partnership

FISHKILL − It might become a little like writing the date each January, attempting to avoid instinctively jotting the previous year. But remembering the, "Oh, yeah, it's not that anymore ..." could be more difficult here, though, as this one has been ingrained for almost 30 years.

“I’m sure we’ll slip up here and there,” Hudson Valley Renegades general manager Tyson Jeffers said Tuesday, after it was announced that Dutchess Stadium will be renamed. “I’m gonna stand in front of the mirror at home and repeat it to myself and commit it to memory.”

Heritage Financial Park.

The Renegades brokered a partnership with Heritage Financial Credit Union, negotiating a contract that included the naming rights to the stadium that has been a Fishkill fixture. Construction already is underway to update the signage in and around the ballpark, and the company’s logo will be added to the team’s uniforms before their season begins April 7.

The stadium had borne the name of its home county since its erection in 1994, but the Renegades for a year sought a sponsor and the Hudson Valley-based credit union agreed to a 10-year deal with the New York Yankees’ minor-league affiliate.

“Living in the area, we know about the team and most of us have been to Renegades games,” said Heritage Financial President and CEO Michael Ciriello, whose company last year opened its Financial Development Center at the Family Partnership Center in Poughkeepsie. “Dutchess Stadium is somewhere we wanted to make headway, and we believe the partnership will allow us to reach more people in the communities we serve.”

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Dutchess County still owns the stadium and will continue its involvement, including the expected completion of a $25 million construction and renovation project there. Heritage Financial provides the baseball organization an infusion of funding and promised to put the stadium to use throughout the year with community-related events. Monetary details of the contract were not disclosed, but Jeffers said the deal is for seven figures.

Among the initiatives Ciriello has planned is a program to help fund local youth baseball teams and renovate their fields. There also will be contributions to educational programs, recognition of local stalwarts, and money donated to a local charity with each home run hit, he said.

“We don’t underplay the removal of the ‘Dutchess Stadium’ name, but we’re happy it’s a community-based organization that’s getting involved,” Dutchess County Executive Bill O’Neil said.  “I think ‘Heritage Financial Park’ has a nice ring to it; it sounds like the name of a big-league stadium. There are also a lot of names out there that aren’t quite as acceptable.”

Smoothie King Center and KFC Yum! Center are among a few often found on lists of the worst-named sports arenas.

The name switch is part of the transformation the Renegades have undergone in recent years. The organization, which long had been an affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, was taken over by the Yankees in 2020 as Major League Baseball overhauled its farm system. With that change came a promotion of the Renegades from a short-season operation to a High-A club, which expanded their schedule from 75 games to 140.

There was an ownership change last summer as the team was sold by The Goldklang Group to Diamond Baseball Holdings.

Dutchess County legislators also agreed in January to allocate $25 million for upgrades to the stadium, including seating improvements and the installation of a new batting tunnel. The banner addition is the building of a clubhouse that features a restaurant, indoor batting cages and pitching mounds.

After each game, Renegades vice president Rick Zolzer said, the players will have chef-prepared meals that meet the approval of a nutritionist. That structure, located behind left field, is under construction and is expected to be completed by next spring.

“We’ve had a lot of changes since COVID,” Jeffers said. “It can be tiring, but it really is something that’ll have a great impact for the fans and community.”

It likely will take some time for locals to adjust to the stadium name, and it’s possible some will always refer to the building as “The Dutch” out of habit. But in time, Jeffers said, he can foresee many fans shortening the name to “HFP” or “Heritage” and having that roll off the tongue.

In scouting potential investment partners, Heritage Financial “was a five-tool” organization, Jeffers said, playfully likening it to spotting a talented athlete. The Renegades reached out to Ciriello last fall and the parties had several meetings during which ideas were pitched and potential parameters were discussed.

“We wanted to know, ‘What would it look like? What would it entail?’” Ciriello said. “Each time we came away from a meeting, it felt more like a good fit for what we have in mind.”

A handshake agreement was made just before Christmas and the legal documents signed in January, putting the wheels in motion. The next step will be scrubbing the stadium of its old name.

A “Heritage Financial Park” sign visible from Route 9D soon will be put up. The front gate and season ticket entrance will have the new name added in the coming weeks. Changing the marquee above the outfield video board will require some engineering work, Jeffers said, but the plan is for "Dutchess Stadium" to be a pleasant memory by May.

“We’re hoping with all these changes this takes off and we can bring a lot more people in here and host more events,” said O’Neil, a lifelong Yankees fan who collected Mickey Mantle cards as a kid. “I go to 10 or more games a year and, when my grandkids visit from California, I bring them here.”

Stephen Haynes: shaynes@poughkeepsiejournal.com; 845-437-4826; Twitter: @StephenHaynes4

This article originally appeared on Poughkeepsie Journal: Renegades say Dutchess Stadium to be renamed Heritage Financial Park