March 11th, 2010
Was it just another game?
Drabek’s father, 1990 NL Cy Young winner Doug Drabek, reminded him of those points in a phone call Tuesday night.
“He told me it’s just another team,” said Kyle, who went 12-3 with a 3.19 ERA in 25 starts at Class A Clearwater and Double A Reading last season. “He goes, ‘Don’t get too excited, just go out there and pitch. Don ‘t try to overdo anything.’ So that’s what I went out and tried to do.”
But was it just another team?
“Definitely not,” Drabek said, laughing.
Kyle Drabek, traded by the Phillies to Toronto in the Roy Halladay deal, allowed a hit and a walk in two scoreless innings. Read the rest of the story here, courtesy of the Philadelphia Daily News.
Posted in Kyle Drabek, Past BlueClaws, Spring Training | No Comments »
March 10th, 2010
As we announced today that the BlueClaws will be retiring Ryan Howard’s Number 29 on September 2nd, we thought it would be a good time to look back at his rehab appearance in May of 2007 (note he wore 29 here in 2002, which is being retired, and he wore his Phillies 6 during his rehab assignment (pictured).
On the field, it was pretty cool, as you may remember.
- Our slick friends in the production room played “Welcome Back Kotter” when he came to bat for the first time.
- He had an early double on May 23rd, and later homered into the berm in left-center field.
Some quotes from that day (May 23rd).
- Howard: “This park plays big. I remember that from when I was here.”
- Howard: “It’s fun, seeing the looks on some of the guys’ faces. Being out there clowning around with them. It might make their day or their year. It’s a lot of fun.”
- Howard: “It felt good to be back here for me. It’s a little weird, it all started here.”
- BlueClaws SS Jason Donald: “I was running on the pitch (HR) and got a good look. It was a great feeling being at home plate to greet him. That’s something you see on SportsCenter and here I was a part of it. It was surreal.”
- BlueClaws manager Steve Roadcap: “When he got back in the dugout, I just asked him if he wanted me to get him the ball. He just smiled and laughed.”
More on this game here.
Off the field, the BlueClaws officially get the word that he’ll be in Lakewood a few days before, and the preparations begin, including:
- Finding room for over 40 members of the media (normally we fit about 12), which included concourse tables.
- Finding a backdrop for the press conference afterwards
- Some more details on this side in this article from MiLB.com (for which I was interviewed while sitting in the DMV about 10 months ago).
All told, over 16,000 came out to see the two games and the BlueClaws set a May attendance record largely because of his rehab appearance. Lakewood split the two games, a 7-4 win followed by an 8-6 loss.
You can bet we’ll have a lot more as we lead into the ceremony on September 2nd.
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March 10th, 2010
Here is the breaking news we promised…on September 2nd, the BlueClaws will be retiring Ryan Howard’s number 29 here in Lakewood. Some notes about the event…
- Ryan will be here. The Phillies play in LA on September 1st, are off on the 2nd, and home on the 3rd.
- The first 2,000 fans will receive a Ryan Howard commemorative mini-BlueClaws jersey.
- His number 29 will be the third retired by the BlueClaws (50 for longtime South Atlantic League President John Henry Moss and 42 for Jackie Robinson), but first for any former BlueClaw.
- Howard was the first (by two days over Gavin Floyd) former BlueClaw to appear in a major league game (on September 1, 2004).
- Here is an MiLB.com article on Howard’s 2007 rehab appearance with the BlueClaws.
“Ryan has gone from being a great BlueClaw to being one of the best players in all of baseball,” said BlueClaws General Manager Geoff Brown. “We’re proud to honor him like this and are excited to bring him back to Lakewood.”
Here is the full release.
Posted in BlueClaws Promo Nights, Past BlueClaws, Ryan Howard | No Comments »
March 10th, 2010
If you missed it yesterday…
The BlueClaws and the Asbury Park Press will host Dollar Weekend again in 2010, featuring $1 tickets for the weekend of April 17th and April 18th.
Read the full story here.
Posted in Enjoying a Game, Lakewood BlueClaws | No Comments »
March 10th, 2010
I can confirm that there is no truth to the rumor as posted on our Facebook page (here) that the major BlueClaws announcement we’ll have later today is the following:
Posted in Misc | No Comments »
March 10th, 2010
If you asked the Phillies last June about their 2012 starting rotation, they might well have said that right at the top would be Cole Hamels and Kyle Drabek, two former BlueClaws. But of course, things change. First, the team brought in Cliff Lee at the trade deadline last year, and then, Lee was shipped to Seattle to make room for Roy Halladay. To bring in Halladay, Drabek was sent to Toronto.
Now, the two will pitch today in Dunedin as part of a big league Spring Training game, as the two continue to get ready for the 2010 season.
Hamels will be #2 behind Halladay with Philadelphia, and Drabek is likely headed to Triple-A Syracuse to open his 2010 season.
Dave Murphy of the Daily News asked Tuffy Gosewisch, another former BlueClaw, to talk about Halladay and Drabek. He has caught Halladay in the bullpen this spring and caught Drabek last year at Double-A Reading.
“It’s pretty disgusting,” he said. “You’ve got Roy, who has proven what he can do, probably the best pitcher in the game right now, and you’ve got Kyle, who’s got enough talent to probably do the same thing.”
Then you have Hamels, who is working on a new cutter. So far so good. From Todd Zolecki on MLB.com.
“I’ve watched guys like Andy Pettitte, Cliff Lee, [Jon] Lester have so much success with that pitch, that I think it’s something if I’m able to add that in with the type of changeup that I have, it can only make me that much better,” Hamels said.
Hamels will start for the Phillies and Drabek throws second for the Blue Jays.
Posted in Cole Hamels, General Baseball, Kyle Drabek, Past BlueClaws, Phillies, Spring Training | No Comments »
March 9th, 2010
From an article in yesterday’s Daily News by David Murphy on 2008 BlueClaws OF Domonic Brown.
The kid didn’t make much of a first impression. Long and lean with plenty of obvious potential, Domonic Brown had hit just .214 as an 18-year-old with the Phillies’ Gulf Coast League affiliate in 2006. The next season, he moved on to short-season Class A Williamsport, where he shared a clubhouse with 2007 first-round draft pick Joe Savery. One day, Savery was talking to then-pitching coach Bill Bliss about various Phillies prospects when Bliss pointed in the direction of Brown.
Savery recalled the story yesterday as he sat in the home clubhouse at Bright House Field, where moments earlier he had listened via radio as Brown tied the Phillies’ Grapefruit League game with a two-run double in the bottom of the eighth inning.
“He ended up being right,” Savery said with a chuckle.
Read the rest of the article here. Well worth it on a guy that could be a future star.
Posted in Domonic Brown, Past BlueClaws, Phillies, Spring Training | No Comments »
March 9th, 2010
Obviously, we have a bit of a new look here on BlueClaws Blog. As you may have seen, we have a new-look BlueClaws.com (click here). So we are in a graphic transition here at BlueClaws Blog.
But stay with us, and pretty soon we’ll have a new look up for you.
We’ll keep rolling along with the blog and the content, so assume nothing has changed.
Enjoy.
Posted in Lakewood BlueClaws | No Comments »