Who hasn’t daydreamed about leaving the everyday behind and putting on a uniform and cleats to take the field as a professional baseball player?
Miguel Hidalgo got to live that dream.
As a New Jersey State Trooper while stationed in Hope Barracks, he often thought back to his baseball days at Felician University and wondered, “What if?” He had a chance to find out “What if.”
The Sussex County Miners signed Hidalgo to a one-day contract to play on Aug. 3, with his entire salary going to help purchase a semi-powered wheelchair for 11-year-old Cash Klem, of Stillwater, New Jersey, who suffers from cerebellar ataxia.
Hidalgo started at third base as the Miners faced off against the New Jersey Jackals. Defensively he owned the third inning, making a diving tag at third, and nailing a runner on a 5-3 put-out.
Joe Phalon, 8/2023.
Afterward, he was mobbed by spectators looking to get him to sign their programs, hats and baseballs. It was the first time anyone asked him for his autograph, he said.
“Yeah, that was the first time,” Hidalgo said. “It’s an extremely humbling experience.”
He hedged a little when asked if he’d hang up his badge if he could play baseball full time. “I’ve thought about it,” he said. But he added that his finds his career as a detective with the New Jersey State Police to be just as rewarding and a way to serve the public.
Even if he doesn’t have fans cheering him on during his police work where the only time, he’s asked for his signature, is on a police report.
How about as a second career? Many police officers line up an alternative line of work after they retire from the job.
“I still have to put in 16 years” until retirement, Hidalgo said. Restarting a baseball career could be a little challenging. But, hey, if Robert Redford could do it in “The Natural,” why not?
A standout player at Felician University in Rutherford, Hidalgo came to the team as a transfer student from Dutchess Community College in 2011, where he was a Green and Gold infielder for two years.
At Felician he was one of three Golden Falcons to hit for the cycle in a game against Chestnut Hill of Philadelphia. For the non-baseball fans out there, hitting for the cycle means hitting a single, double, triple and home run all in the same game. A rare feat.
Like most superlatives in baseball—and most sports, for that matter—players often don’t let themselves think about racking up records during the game.
“It was one of those moments when you don’t realize you did something, but it was definitely an awesome feeling afterward.”
Hidalgo came out of the game in the fifth inning, but Miners Chris Widger had him take the field before being replaced to allow the crowd on hand to give him a standing ovation.
Anthem. Photo by Joe Phalon, 8/2023.
By then Hidalgo had compiled a career 0 for 2 batting record, but more important, he more than met his goal for Cash Klem, who enjoyed the game as a Miners’ VIP.
Joe brings decades of journalism experience to the Ridge View Echo, covering everything from local school boards to the U.S. Supreme Court. A former National Law Journal editor and Columbia Law School press officer, he now enjoys telling community stories in Blairstown, where he lives with his wife, Rose, and their two dachshunds.
- Joe Phalon, Contributing Writerhttps://ridgeviewecho.com/author/joe-phalon-contributing-writer/
- Joe Phalon, Contributing Writerhttps://ridgeviewecho.com/author/joe-phalon-contributing-writer/
- Joe Phalon, Contributing Writerhttps://ridgeviewecho.com/author/joe-phalon-contributing-writer/
- Joe Phalon, Contributing Writerhttps://ridgeviewecho.com/author/joe-phalon-contributing-writer/
