They sure are recruiting them young these days.
The Baseball Center of NYC, catering to deep-pocketed parents who dish out $110 an hour for private hitting, pitching and fielding lessons for their kids, is crying foul over turncoat coaches it claims stole its preteen all stars to form a rival team.
The Upper West Side baseball clinic filed suit in Manhattan against the two coaches and a clinic run by the son of Hall of Fame San Francisco Giants first baseman Orlando Cepeda, claiming that Ali Cepeda’s California-based program recruited coaches Jason Ferber and Robert Benjamin out from under it
The duo allegedly used their positions “to cultivate valuable personal relationships with customers,” then broke a noncompete agreement when they “surreptitiously” lured young athletes away from the Manhattan school to join Cepeda’s travel team. The two even placed fliers on parents’ vehicles while the men were still coaching for the Baseball Center of NYC, according to the lawsuit.
They snatched away at least nine clients by charging parents half the competitor’s rate.
Michael Lombardi, executive director of the Baseball Center and a former Phillies catcher, said travel team players pony up $1,895 for equipment, tournament fees, private lessons and cage rentals.
“It’s very competitive,” he said about the youth league. “We play a number of different teams from ages 8-13 … nationwide.”
Ferber called the allegations false. Benjamin did not return a call. Ali Cepeda did not immediately return a call for comment.