This, as you can see with this picture, will be the 10th season in BlueClaws history, and we’re going to do some special things to celebrate. One of those things is a weekly countdown Top Tens in BlueClaws History leading up to April and the 2010 baseball season.

Categories include the following:

• Giveaways
• Pictures
• Food Items
• Entertainers
• MLB Moments for Former ‘Claws
• Events/Concerts
• Moments
• Playoff Moments
• Field Cut Photos
• Awards
• Celebrities in Attendance
• Home Runs

We’re going to solicit your help here, on our Facebook/Twitter pages, and through our weekly newsletter to help pick them out, and then we’ll unveil the top tens one at a time, one each week, beginning in January.

Any early suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments section, but stay tuned, we’re going to start shortly!

We broke down the numbers at the end of the season…Almost eight miles of hot dogs given away by the BlueClaws as part of the Kids Eat Free, at every game, promotion done in 2009. This one-of-a-kind promotion was recognized recently by Ballpark Digest as its 2009 Promotion of the Year!

“A great promotion should do more than just draw attention to the team; it should excite fans and give them something of value,” said Kevin Reichard, publisher of ballparkdigest.com, the Internet’s leading resource on the culture and business of baseball. “In the midst of a terrible economy Trenton and Lakewood enhanced the lives of thousands of kids with a bold promotion that went way beyond what anyone else in baseball was doing.”

Kids Eat Free in Lakewood gave out the equivilents of the following:

• In hot dogs, 7.95 miles, or 24 laps around the FirstEnergy Park concourse, four trips across Midtown Manhattan, 14.5 trips up and down the Willis Tower
• If he ate at the same rate, it would take Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Champ Joey Chestnut 7 days, 8 hours, 26 minutes to reach teh 71,000+ hot dogs
• In potato chips, the equivilent of 28,044 bobblehead dolls or 8.5 Volkswagon Beetles
• In liquid (soda), enough to water the average lawn for 65 hours

Full release below the fold…

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Certainly the 2009 baseball season was a a special one for BlueClaws fans, seeing the home team win a second SAL title, and a month later seeing some former BlueClaws on the Phillies World Series roster. So for Thanksgiving, we decided to list a few highlights for us, moments that we were thankful we got to see during the 2009 baseball season at the Jersey Shore.

• Anthony Gose spending about $600 of his own money bidding on BlueClaws red jerseys during our live auction for the American Cancer Society
• The spirited bidding war over Jim Murphy’s pink jersey on Mother’s Day, with the winner being the Susan G. Komen Foundation
• Brendan Akashian hitting his first (and only) affiliated baseball home run with his father in attendance on Father’s Day at FirstEnergy Park
• Jason Knapp in a complete zone, striking out 14 Lake County Captains over seven shutout innings to tie Robinson Tejeda’s franchise record, though the BlueClaws would lose the April 21st game 2-0
• Seeing hitting coach Greg Legg win his first minor league championship in 27(!) years in the organization
• A special day in BlueClaws history: August 24th, 2009…not only does Brett Myers do a rehab appearance during a BlueClaws double-header against Lake County, but between games, Matthew Currie (age 7) of Toms River becomes the 4-millionth fan in BlueClaws history
• 27 straight scoreless innings by reliever BJ Rosenberg before a deserved promotion to Reading
• Pedro Martinez
• The Cha-Cha Claws (see below)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

No surprise, Ryan Howard, a BlueClaw in 2002, finished 3rd in the 2009 National League MVP balloting behind unanimous winner Albert Pujols of St Louis and Florida shortstop Hanley Ramirez.

Howard hit .279 with 37 doubles, four triples, 45 home runs and a Major League-leading 141 RBIs this season. He also had a career-high eight stolen bases. He ranked first in baseball with 43 go-ahead RBIs, second with 86 in extra-base hits and game-winning RBIs (22), third in homers and total bases (352) and fifth in slugging percentage (.571). (from MLB.com)

If Howard hits another 40 home runs next year he will become the 2nd player (Babe Ruth) to have 40 home runs in five consecutive seasons.

Howard was just 16 points behind Ramirez for second place and appeared on 31 of 32 ballots.

BlueClaws Blog says: No surprise at all. Pujols was magnificent (.327-47-124). It’s his 3rd MVP.

Same great holiday shopping without the headaches. The annual Blue Friday Sale at the ClawsCove returns this week, 10 am - 5 pm on Friday. Details as follows:

• $45 game-used jackets and $80 game-worn jerseys (about 35% off)
• $10 bobble-head dolls
• 50% off all old logo merchandise (which, when it goes, it’s gone)
• 10% off everything else

You can shop online here but these prices are only for those that shop in person on Friday.

That’s it, another season in the books down in the Arizona Fall League, and a relatively productive one for the former BlueClaws that took part.

Here’s how they did (parentheses refers to year with Lakewood)…First the hitters…

• OF Domonic Brown (2008): .229, 2 HRs, 18 RBIs, 9 doubles…finished 0-20, dropping his final average from .276…headed to Lehigh Valley to open 2010, perhaps his final season in the minors
• C Tuffy Gosewisch (2007): .318 (14-44), 0 HRs, 5 RBIs…Ready to catch every day with Lehigh Valley next year
• SS Troy Hanzawa (2009): 2-25, 0 HRs, 3 RBIs…tough when you’re only active one day a week as Troy was.
• OF Steve Susdorf (2009): 11-55, 2 HRs, 6 RBIs…lefty will be in either Reading or Lehigh Valley when baseball opens next year

And the pitchers…

• Michael Cisco (2008): 1-2, 3.38, 18.2 IP, 14 H, 8 BB, 13 K…A nice fall for the 2008 draftee…allowed four of his seven earned runs in second outing, and gave up just three earned runs over his last 14.2 innings pitched
• Edgar Garcia (2007): 2-2, 5.29, 17 IP, 23 H, 4 BB, 10 K…Continues to throw strikes and wasn’t a bad ending to a strange year for Garcia that started with visa problems in the Dominican Republic
• Scott Mathieston (2004): 0-0, 2.84, 12.2 IP, 10 H, 8 BB, 15 K…Began with 7.2 scoreless innings…off of second Tommy John Surgery…is on the 40-man roster and he’ll have an outside shot to make big league club out of camp
• Michael Schwimer (skipped Lakewood): 0-0, 4.26, 12.2 IP, 12 H, 8 BB, 8 K…Like Mathieson, too many walks, but like Susdorf and Cisco, just his second year in pro baseball, which ended with Double-A Reading. Part of a promising bullpen prospect group for the Phillies

Here’s a prospect ranking list we just found from during the season (MLB.com). It has three Phillies (and former BlueClaws) ranked among the top 30 prospects in all of baseball.

• 20. Michael Taylor (2008)
• 24. Domonic Brown (2008)
• 26. Kyle Drabek (2007)

This list was released two days after the Cliff Lee trade, and 2009 BlueClaws pitcher Jason Knapp comes in ranked 39th.

Think of this update as more of a glimpse into what the list heading into the 2010 season might look like when the usual polling is completed. The rankings here reflect more of a assessment than a representation of what the baseball industry thinks.

Continuing our “In Focus” series on group theme nights for the 2010 season, Martial Arts Night.

When: Sunday, June 6th (Kids Eat Free) and Thursday, August 12th (Thirsty Thursday)

What: On Martial Arts Night, we bring out different Martial Arts Academies from across Ocean and Monmouth Counties. There is discounted seating for all groups plus:

• Groups of 50 or more are given a table on the concourse to promote their academy
• Groups of 100 or more are given a table plus the chance to perform on the field before the game (like this)

Call Ross, 732-901-7000 ext 110 with any questions or to reserve an outing.

Previously: Faith Night, Adult Softball League Night, Scout Night, Education Days

Happy Birthday to Ryan Howard, who turns 30 today. Howard, a BlueClaws 1B in 2002, has been one of the most dominating offensive players in baseball over the last five years, from his Rookie of the Year in 2005, MVP in 2006, and only 140 home runs over the last three years (and 220 in his career).

Earlier this year, he became the fastest player (in games played) to hit 200 career home runs (658th game, 48 faster than Ralph Kiner).

Projecting some numbers out a little bit…if Howard averages per year what he has done on average the last five…

• He would hit his 400th home run in 2013
• He would hit his 500th home run in 2015 (at age 35)
• He would hit his 600th home run in 2017 (at age 37)
• He would hit his 700th home run in 2019 (at age 39)

So there you have it. Happy Birthday to Ryan, a great BlueClaw and a great Phillie. Many more.

Phillies prospect Michael Taylor was named to the Double-A All-Star team on Wednesday, it was announced by Topps.

Taylor, who was with the BlueClaws for the first half of 2008, hit .333 with 15 home runs for Reading before a July 15th promotion to Lehigh Valley, where he finished the season.

Also on the team was Reading 3B Neil Sellers, who did not play in Lakewood.

Big day for three Phillies prospects, and two former BlueClaws as Quintin Berry (2007), Jesus Sanchez (08-09) and Yohan Flande were added to the Phillies 40-man roster. The move protects all three from being chosen in next month’s Rule Five Draft, held at the Winter Meetings, plus these guys will almost certainly get to go to big league spring training for at least a little bit.

For Berry, it’s a nice birthday present (he turns 25 on Saturday). He spent the year with Reading, hitting .266 and stealing 48 bases, second in the Eastern League. He hit .312 with Lakewood in 2007 and led the SAL and FSL in steals the last two seasons.

Sanchez’s magical journey continues with his transaction. Remember, this time last year he had just finished up Instructional League, where he was converting from catcher to pitcher. As a pitcher this year with Lakewood, all he did was go 10-6, 3.44, or 9-2, 2.57 from June 1st on. Here is a July 24th ClawCast with Sanchez.

Finally, Flande is another great story. He was in the Gulf Coast League last year, but skipped Williamsport and Lakewood, made the Futures Game, and ended up with Reading. All told, the lefty went 10-5, 3.40 between Clearwater and Reading in 2009.

We took a shot (badly) here yesterday.

They’re winding it down now in the Arizona Fall League, with just a couple of games left. Scottsdale, with the Phillies prospects, is 13-16 and has just two more games to go. Phoenix, at 18-12, has clinched the division and will play in the championship game against Peoria. Onto the recap…

November 11th…Mike Cisco started and gave up five runs (two earned) over three innings in a 12-3 loss to Phoenix. Scott Mathieson, who did not allow a run in his first 10 innings, has allowed four in his last three after allowing another here…Domonic Brown went 2-4 with 2 RBIs and a triple.

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Had a chance to speak earlier with 2007 BlueClaws catcher Tuffy Gosewisch, a 2005 draft pick out of Arizona State University who is winding down his third straight fall in the Arizona Fall League. Gosewisch began 2009 with Reading but ended up with Lehigh Valley despite breaking his hand at the All-Star break. Straight from Tuffy…

On the Arizona Fall League…This is my 3rd year here, so I felt good coming in that I’d be able to compete and play with this guys. Having done it before does give you a little confidence, and it’s great to see how you stack up against some of the best prospects in the game.

Playing with top prospect and fellow cacher Buster Posey (Giants)…It’s great. He’s a bit younger than me. We talk a lot of baseball, but it’s very laid back. We’re not really “competing” against each other. We’re just learning and having fun.

An Arizona State guy playing in the Arizona Fall League…It’s great to play here. I grew up here. I played high school here. I played in college here. And now three years in the Fall League. I get to live at home which is nice too (he stays with his parents during the AFL season, only 15 minutes from the ballpark in Scottsdale).

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It’s that time of the year…free agency begins on Friday (first time players can be signed by other teams…they’ve been allowed to talk since the end of the World Series) and the Rule Five Draft (Shane Victorino anyone?) is less than a month aw

ay at the Winter Meetings in Indy.

Basically, any high school player drafted in 2005 or college player drafted in 2006 would have to be put in on their organization’s 40-man roster to protect them from being drafted. Of course, if they are selected, they must be on the new team’s 25-man roster for the entire season or be offered back. More on this below. Here’s our take:

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