Wantagh Ducks fan wins big

It was the easiest $10,000 Andrew Kratzer ever made. All he had to do was sit and watch a baseball game.

Kratzer was the big winner at the May 25 Long Island Ducks game, a 15-5 win over the Bridgeport Bluefish. When infielder and former Major Leaguer Tyler Colvin hit a grand slam in the bottom of the fifth inning, it guaranteed that one fan would go home with a substantial cash prize.

As part of the Ducks’ promotion Winning Inning Wednesday, if a certain occurrence happens in a specific inning, a lucky fan goes home a winner. Kratzer, 22, signed up for the promotion before the game started, and when Colvin’s home run sailed over the fence with the bases loaded, a name was drawn. Kratzer, the 2012 MacArthur High School graduate, was summoned.

“I thought I was in trouble at first. I didn’t know what I had done,” he said. “Then they told me I won $10,000 and I freaked out. It was an amazing feeling.”

Kratzer said he goes to about 40 Ducks game a year. The Independent League team plays at Bethpage Ballpark in Central Islip. He said this was the first time he signed up for this promotion. “First time’s the charm for me, I guess,” he said.

It wasn’t his first win at a sporting event. Two years ago, during an Islanders game at Nassau Coliseum, he won a three-day trip to Tampa from Jet Blue. Kratzer’s prize included air fare, a hotel stay and tickets to an Islanders game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. He took the trip with his dad, and they stayed an extra day to visit family.

Kratzer, who works for the Nassau County Parks Department, said he doesn’t have grand plans for the money yet, but will donate $500 to the John Theissen Children’s Foundation, the Wantagh-based organization that helps sick and needy children. Kratzer has volunteered with Theissen for 10 years.

“He’s been really good to children,” Kratzer said of Theissen, another MacArthur High School alum. “I love what he does for kids.”

Kratzer said he will also put some money in the bank and take his family out for a nice dinner to a restaurant of their choosing.

He has been a Ducks fan since 2006, and also roots for the New York Mets. “Baseball is a good sport and it’s awesome,” he said, noting that last week’s big win made it even better.