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Amazingly enough, just two weeks to go until the BlueClaws opener. Number 14 on our 70 in 70 countdown looks at everybody’s favorite promo night: Fireworks Fridays, once again presented by our good friends at Toyota World of Lakewood. In 2009, we’ll have 14 special fireworks shows, which have been described as the “biggest, brightest, most colorful shows at the shore.”
Fifteen days to go until April 9th, that’s the BlueClaws opener at 6:35 against Delmarva (the World Series trophy will be there by the way). There are also 15 tickets in a partial ticket plan that the BlueClaws offer. Let’s take a look.
15 great games, value pricing, other goodies. There you have it, a partial plan. You can order one here, or just call 732-901-7000, option 2.
Finally, check out our promotional schedule here.
Tracking Travis…Today, just 16 days away from Opening Day, 70 in 70 takes a look at 2008 BlueClaws catcher Travis D’Arnaud, who after being drafted in 2007, was ranked 16th by Baseball America in their Phillies prospect rankings. This year, D’Arnaud has moved up to seventh on the list.
He’s from Lakewood (Lakewood, California) and hit .309 with four home runs with Williamsport last year, playing for 2009 BlueClaws manager Dusty Wathan. After Joel Naughton broke his toe in August, D’Arnaud was promoted to Lakewood, where he hit .297 over 16 games.
From the 2009 Prospect Handbook: He’s athletic with premium catch-and-throw tools, such as soft hands, quick feet, and plenty of arm strength…Some club officials now believe his offense will be as good or better than his defense. He has a line drive swing with a willingness to use the opposite field.
D’Arnaud is an interesting case for several reasons…
1) Where will he go this year? He might be ready for Clearwater, but if he goes there, he would likely split time with Joel Naughton. That said, the Phillies have several young catchers, such as Sebastian Valle, who could also be in Lakewood. For what it’s worth, D’Arnaud has been playing spring games with the Hi-A team.
2) Long-term. Lou Marson is the catcher of the future. Will D’Arnaud hit with enough power to be able to move from behind the plate? That remains to be seen, though power is not considered one of his top tools. He’s still a few years away from the big leagues, and so much can happen so quickly, but he’ll be interesting to keep an eye on.
Other Baseball America movers, from 2008-2009: Michael Taylor (not ranked to 6), Drew Naylor (29 to 13), Jason Donald (from 15 to 4), Dominic Brown (6 to 1)
[Photos: www.crosscutterboosters.org & www.crosscutters.com]
The Cameron Crazies, the Dawg Pound, the Monster Seats, the BluePen Party Zone. That’s it, pretty much. Today’s 70 in 70 entry looks at the BluePen Party Zone, back for its third season, with a timely amount of 17 seats in the front row.
Relevant BluePen Party Zone facts:
So there you go. The BluePen Party Zone. Click here for more information on the BluePen Party Zone. A $30 value, tickets are available for just $19.95. Call our friends in the tickets department at 732-901-7000, option 3, for more information.
Just 18 days to go until the BlueClaws opener. Just 14 days to go until the Phillies opener. So we’re winding down 70 in 70, but still a few more to go. And this one focuses on a #18 on the New York Mets, Darryl Strawberry.
Strawberry will be at FirstEnergy Park for an autograph signing on August 1st, which is also Autism Awareness Night. The tie-in was done purposefully, as Strawberry and his wife Tracy founded a charitable organization, The Darryl Strawberry Foundation, specifically to bring awareness to autism and other developmental disorders on a global level.
An eight-time All-Star, Strawberry was a member of four World Series winners, the 1986 Mets and three with the Yankees, 1996, 1998 and 1999. He also won the 1983 NL Rookie of the Year Award with the Mets. In fact, he hit at least 26 home runs in each of his first nine seasons in baseball.
Strawberry will be in Lakewood on August 1st. Hopefully you will too.
Just 19 days to go until the BlueClaws opener. Let’s go back and take a look at #19 on the 2003 BlueClaws, Mr. Cole Hamels, who had about as good of a run with Lakewood as you could possibly have.
Here are Hamels’ career statistics, and here is a 2003 game log. Note that opponents only hit .136 off the lefty and he had 10+ strikeouts in five of his 13 starts with the BlueClaws.
Further, he was just 19 at the time, one of the youngest players in the South Atlantic League.
Hamels signed a contract extenion, 3 years, $20.5 million, in the offseason to avoid arbitration.
“To see the whole process, it can cause a big distraction,” Hamels said, citing the attention paid to Ryan Howard’s arbitration hearing last February. “The business side of baseball, it’s so confusing and it can be very stressful. That’s not what I want. I know what I can do on the baseball field, and that’s all I want to do.”
Favorite Cole Hamels moment from his time in Lakewood?
We are now inside of three weeks to go until Opening Day on April 9th, just 20 days out from the start of the season. Our number today has to do with one of the most popular and exciting nights of the year, Firefighter Night at FirstEnergy Park, to be held this year on Saturday, June 27th.
Last year, there were 20 fire trucks that came out and were lined up all across the parking lot, and there will be a large number of fire companies that come out again this year.
The basic Firefighter Night package: $12 gets you a ticket to the game, a voucher for a beer or soda, and a special Firefighter Night mug. See you then.
Just three weeks to go until the BlueClaws season opener on April 9th, and our number 21 entry for 70 in 70 looks at the 21st ranked prospect in the Phillies system, and a fan favorite here at FirstEnergy Park: MOOOOOOOSE.
Travis Mattair was a 2nd round pick of the Phils in 2007 out of a Washington (state) high school. He came to Lakewood last year after spending 2007 in the GCL. With the ‘Claws, he hit .254 with four home runs and 52 RBIs.
Baseball America noted in their write-up of Mattair that he could repeat Lakewood, or at least start here, to get some more expereince. That wouldn’t be a huge red flag. Mattair just turned 20 in December.
However, Mattair played yesterday, in the spring training opener, with the Hi-A club, going 1-3 wtih a stolen base. Long way to go. (We’ll have a spring training report later on).
Just 22 days to go until Opening Day, and this number is quite relevant in BlueClaws history. Back in 2001, Juan Richardson hit 22 home runs, the single season BlueClaws record that still stands as the team heads into their ninth season in just a few weeks.
Richardson made it up to AA with the Phils and has also played with the Cardinals, Twins, and Royals organizations. He spent most of 2008 in AA with Kansas City, where he hit 16 home runs, bringing his career total to 138.
[photo: Patrick Teale, phillies.scout.com]
Just 23 days to go until Opening Day, St. Patrick’s Day, and we wanted to let you know about our beer tasting nights here at the ballpark this year. We’ve done them in the past, they’re a lot of fun.
Each ticket is good for a 90 minute all-you-can-eat outing in the outfield picnic area and a 90-minute beer tasting of a wide variety of beers from all over the world. Well worth it for anyone who considers themself a connoisseur, or anyone who just enjoys beer.
This year’s dates: June 25th, July 16th, and August 20th, all Thursdays.
For more information, call the BlueClaws Ticket Sales Department at 732-901-7000, option 3.
The BlueClaws are inside of four weeks to go. The Phillies are inside of three weeks. The parent club opens 20 days from now against Atlanta, April 5th, when they raise the banner at Citizens Bank Park.
Today’s 70 in 70 entry looks at Hacksaw Jim Duggan, he of the trusty 2×4, the professional wrestler who will be at FirstEnergy Park on June 20th to sign autographs and entertain us all, thanks to Countyline Hardware.
Hacksaw follows the following wrestlers who have previously appeared at FirstEnergy Park: King Kong Bundy, Mick Foley, Jerry “The King” Lawler, Sergeant Slaughter, George “The Animal Steele”
Some Hacksaw notes (more here)…
Won the first ever Royal Rumble (1989)And finally, the theme song…
Just 25 days to go now until the Lakewood’s April 9th opener against Delmarva. Today’s 70 in 70 entry looks back at the former BlueClaws with Major League experience, those who have reached the highest level of professional baseball. We’re going to sort these by the year they made their debut in the big leagues. The year that follows each player is the year(s) that the player was with the BlueClaws.
2004: Ryan Howard (02), Gavin Floyd (02)
2005: Ezequiel Astacio (02), Robinson Tejeda (01, 03), Eude Brito (01, 02)
2006: Taylor Buchholz (01), Carlos Ruiz (01), Cole Hamels (03), Chris Roberson (03), Scott Mathieson (04), Michael Bourn (04)
2007: Joe Bisenius (05), Zach Segovia (03), Yoel Hernandez (01), Mike Zagurski (06), Kyle Kendrick (04-06), JA Happ (05)
2008: Brad Harman (05), Bobby Korecky (05), RJ Swindle (07), Randy Ruiz (04), Josh Outman (06), Greg Golson (05, 06), Alfredo Simon-Cabrera (03), Lou Marson (06)
Just 26 days to go until the BlueClaws April 9th opener against Delmarva. We’re getting there, slowly but surely. As we mentioned last week, individual game tickets are now available, so let’s jump into a few promotions that we think you’ll like.
5/26: Ryan Howard caps, courtesy of the Home DepotThe plan is next week to sit down with BlueClaws Director of Promotions Hal Hansen for a nice overview of both the process and the schedule.
Just 27 days to go until the BlueClaws opener. Let’s look at those that have been BlueClaws All-Stars in the past, the 27 of them, in the team’s first eight years of operation.
2001: Hickory, NC…P Trevor Bullock, P George Rodriguez
2002: Lakewood, NJ…C Ben Margalski, IF Danny Gonzalez, IF Ryan Howard, Coach Jeff Manto
2003: Lexington, KY…C GG Sato, IF Jeremy Isenhower
2004: Charleston, SC…OF Jake Blalock
2005: Augusta, GA…C Jason Jaramillo, OF Ryan Frith, DH Samuel Orr
2006: Eastlake, OH…P Matt Maloney, P Carlos Carrasco
2007: Rome, GA…P Kyle Drabek, P Garet Hill, P Ben Pfinsgraff, C Tuffy Gosewisch, IF Jason Donald, IF Adrian Cardenas, OF Quintin Berry, Coach Steve Roadcap, Coach Ed Hodge
2008: Greensboro, NC…OF Michael Taylor, P Drew Naylor, C Joel Naughton, DH Mike Durant