Our friend Ben Wagner recently caught up with Dave Huppert (click here to listen), the manager of the 2006 SAL Champion BlueClaws. Ben is currently calling games with Buffalo (AAA-Mets), who this weekend played Dave Huppert’s Lehigh Valley club. Here’s a great look back at the 2006 Claws in advance of the 2009 Claws entering the post-season.

Some snippets below:

• The start (0-9): “It was tough…We won the first game in extra innings too. It was a long road back.”
• Two halves: “When you play a full season and fall down 0-9 it’s tough to come back. The two-half season is fair in the minor leagues. If you get off to a bad start, you’re in trouble because you’re going to lose players.”
• Huppert’s key to the season: “They left us alone. They could have moved that pitching and we would have been in deep trouble.”
• Which of the big three would the Phillies want to keep: “My judgment is Carrasco because of the stuff. He’s got a chance to be a top line pitcher, but he’s going to have to work on the make-up.”
• Where’s the ring? “It’s at home with my father. I know where it’s at.”
• Maloney in the clincher: “He had all of his pitches, locating, and they weren’t getting very good swings. There was no way he was coming out of that game.”

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 8th, 2009 at 10:13 am and is filed under ClawCasts, Lehigh Valley IronPigs, Past BlueClaws. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.