Our 70 in 70 countdown continues today with number 28. Significant because 28 means we open exactly four weeks from today. Anyway, today we look at the number 28.

For us, 28 is simply the years between Phillies World Series titles. The 1980 Phillies, behind Steve Carlton and Mike Schmidt, won the organization’s first championship, beating the Royals in six games.

But before that, the Phillies were known more along the lines of lovable losers like the Red Sox or Cubs, such as when they blew a 6.5 game lead with 12 to play in 1964.

“This was the pivotal event in my life,” Philadelphia humorist and critic Joe Queenan wrote of the ’64 debacle. “Nothing good that has ever happened to me since then can make up for the disappointment of that ruined season, and nothing bad that has happened since then can even vaguely compare with the emotional devastation wrought by that monstrous collapse.”

But 1980 ended the drought. They were close in 1993 (Joe Carter v Mitch Williams), but got back over the hump in 2008.

So it might have been a long 28 years for Phillies fans, but 2008 was great, and they do seem well positioned to get back to the playoffs in the next few years. They have three great young offensive players, a true ace, and a lock-down closer.

As for the longest World Series droughts…

• Cubs, 100 years
• Indians, 60 years
• Giants, 54 years

We are just 29 days away from Opening Day 2009 and the number 29 holds a large significance here in Lakewood.

The Big Man, former NL MVP and Rookie of the Year, Ryan Howard wore the #29 on his back here for the BlueClaws during the 2002 season. Since then he has worn both the numbers 12 and 6 for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Howard was a 5th round selection in the 2001 draft (140th overall) and spent his first season in the minor leagues with the Batavia Muckdogs, who are now affiliated with the St. Louis Cardinals (oddly enough, Howard’s hometown team). He came to Lakewood in 2002 and was named to the SAL mid-season All-Star team. That year, Howard hit .272 with 19 home runs and 87 RBI and is among the single season leaders for the BlueClaws in the following categories.

Home Runs: 19 – 2nd

Triples: 6 – 4th

RBI: 87 – 3rd

Total bases: 227 – 2nd   

Howard returned to Lakewood in 2007 for a two-game rehab stint where he added his 20th career BlueClaws home run and helped draw almost 18,000 fans in 2 days.

Just 30 days to go until the BlueClaws opener on April 9th, which, as usual on Opening Day, promises to be a great time at the ballpark for all. Why? Well, in addition to the season getting underway, we’ll bring out the World Series trophy for the first an only time this year.

It’s part of the Phillies World Series Trophy Tour, presented by Teva Pharmaceuticals and Comcast SportsNet.

All fans will have the opportunity to have their picture taken with the trophy on the concourse, for free.

The number 30 comes in because on the trophy, known officially as the Commissioner’s Trophy, there are 30 seperate flags, one for each organization competiting for the trophy each year. Other trophy notes:

• It’s 24 inches tall and weighs about 30 pounds.
• Is made each year by Tiffany & Co.
• The base is sterling silver, but the flags are gold plated.

Just 31 days to go until the BlueClaws oepner on April 9th. We continue our countdown to Opening Day with the number 31, the number of scout groups that slept over last year at FirstEnergy Park.

The BlueClaws will hold two Scout Sleepover Nights (click for a flyer) this year: Monday July 20th and Monday August 24th. Each package includes a pre-game parade, scout patch and camp-out pass. The camp-out occurs after the game, in the outfield, and a movie will be played on the video board.

Remember too, all children, 12 and under, will eat for free at every 2009 BlueClaws home game.

Any questions, call one of our trusty group sales representatives at 732-901-7000 and press option 3.

Just 32 days to go until Opening Day. FanFest is behind us and April 9th now shifts into focus. As for our countdown, we’re down to 32, and here’s a tidbit for you. The Phillie Phanatic turns 32 this year. Born at the end of the 1977 season, he will this year celebrate his 32nd year of tremendous fan entertainment.

From WikiPedia:

• The character is named for the fanatical fans of the team after an incident during the third game of the 1977 National League Championship Series played at Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium, in which fans drove Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Burt Hooton into losing his composure after he complained to umpire Bob Engel over balls and strikes (he was removed from the game, but the Dodgers went on to win the game, and ultimately, the series). Another reason he was created, according to current owner and former team vice president Bill Giles was to bring more families to The Vet, as some of the more inebriated fans were involved in various fights when the team was doing well or poorly. The Phanatic replaced a pair of siblings dressed in 18th century garb named “Philadelphia Phil and Philadelphia Phillis”, who were in the team logo from 1976 through 1978, and were part of the team’s “Home Run Spectacular” at The Vet from 1971 through 1979.

  In his book Pouring Six Beers At A Time, Giles wrote of the worst decision of his life when it came to the creation of the Phanatic. The design would cost $5,200 (US) for both the costume and the copyright ownership, or $3,900 just for the costume with Harrison/Erickson retaining the copyright. Giles chose to just buy the costume. Five years later, when Giles and his group of investors bought the team from Ruly Carpenter, the franchise paid $250,000 to Harrison/Erickson for the copyright.

From a direct BlueClaws perspective, the Phanatic will be at FirstEnergy Park on June 29th and August 24th this year.

And for the Video of the Week:

We put together a list awhile back, and we’re bringing it here for 70 in 70. It’s a great list, 33 reasons to bring a group outing here at FirstEnergy Park for a BlueClaws game. Some of my favorites…

• 10. Thank customers for using your business

• 14. Use as a setting for social club outings

• 20. Use to raise money for equipment and other costs

• 33. To have a great time

A list of all of the 2009 group theme nights is posted through our promotions page. For more group outing details, head over to the groups section on our website. Give us a ring at 732-901-7000 and press option 3 for more information.

Nice and simple today…Looking for something to do with 33 of your best friends or colleagues? It might be as simple as rewarding your employees for a great work month, or putting up incentives for said empoloyees. Maybe you want to have a family reunion. Maybe you want to bring out some college buddies, host a birthday party. Whatever it is, we have you covered with a BlueClaws picnic outing.

Each Picnic includes:

• A Picnic seat to game
• All-You-Can-Eat 1 1/2 hour buffet
• Group recognition on scoreboard
• Special incentives for the Group Leader

Belly “Buster” Package Includes: BBQ chicken breast, sausage and peppers, BlueClaws dogs, grilled sirloin burgers with condiments, potato salad, pasta salad, baked beans, potato chips, watermelon, cookies, soft drinks and bottled water.

That’s a great meal right there…All the details can be found here. Give us a ring at 732-901-7000 and press option 3. We’ll see you out here soon.

We have reached the halfway point, amazingly, of 70 in 70. Just 35 days, or five weeks, to go until Opening Day on April 9th. Today we tie in number 35 to a BlueClaws half-season ticket plan. Five weeks worth of games at the park where the kids eat free. Here’s what you get:

• Value Priced Tickets (15% off)
• Flexible Exchange Policy: switch out of any game you can’t make, so you never waste a ticket
• Coupon Book: one special offer for each game
• On-field Batting Practice: self-explanatory and unbeatable
• BlueClaws Day at Monmouth Park: see previous comment
• Referral Reward Program: Refer a friend to us and if that friend books a ’09 ticket plan, you receive 25% of that sale in BlueBucks

So there you go. A BlueClaws half-season ticket plan. 35 games. Give one of my good friends a call at 732-901-7000 and press option 3. Note the use of halves in the above picture.

Back shortly…

Just 36 days to go until the BlueClaws opener. Five weeks from tomorrow on April 9th at FirstEnergy Park. Let’s back up a year and look at the player who had one of the best halves in BlueClaws history, Michael Taylor.

We slotted Taylor in at number 36 because he hit a whopping .361 with the BlueClaws in the first-half last yaer, before being promoted to Clearwater at the All-Star break. His full stats were impressive across the board as he added in 10 homers, 50 RBIs, and 10 steals in just 67 games.

Had Taylor picked up 51 more at-bats, he would have qualified to be the BlueClaws all-time leader in both batting average and slugging percentage. But instead he was promoted to Clearwater where he hit .329 in the second half of the season.

We talked with Taylor during the offseason, broken up into part one, part two, and part three. He’s very well spoken, and he feels he’s ready for Double-A.

“I just want to continue to improve. Double-A, once you get there you have a chance, an injury or trade away,” he said. ”I want to go out and continue to have fun. Just want to go there, focus on winning, and let the rest take care of itself. Hopefully the numbers are there, and either by trade or in our own organization, someone will say this guy’s ready. It’s kid of your first big league audition.”

A fifth-round pick of the Phillies in 2007, Baseball America ranked him the sixth best prospect in the organization after he wasn’t even in the top 30 the year before.

70 in 70 rolls on and we’re down to #37, March 7th, FanFest. Take a look at the story on the front page, we’ll catch you up on everything you need to know right here on BlueClaws Blog. For those that don’t know, FanFest is the first day that individual game tickets go on sale, and this year, each individual game ticket purchased will be $1 off the regular price. The rest of the day includes the following:

• Win a spot in an on-field promotion in a 2009 BlueClaws home game…Includes dizzy bat race, crab toss, and more!
• Win Phillies luxury suite tickets for you and three friends…Applies to Phillies On-Deck Series vs Tampa Bay in early April.
• You Make the Call: play broadcaster and call a Ryan Howard home run or the last out of the Phillies World Series victory. We’ll email the call back to you.
• Enjoy the US vs Canada in the World Baseball Classic on our 19 x 23 foot video board and on the televisions all around the ballpark.
• Take some swings in the BlueClaws batting cages.
• Face off against your friends and others in a Rock Band competition.

One more important note. The BlueClaws will be collecting non-perishable food items and any used and unwanted cell phones. Donations benefit the Ocean County Hunger Relief and Cell Phones for Soldiers. So please help out if you can.

See you then!

We’ll bring some upcoming BlueClaws talk into today’s installment of 70 in 70. As we hit number 38, we go to last year’s Williamsport Crosscutters team which won 38 games a year ago under first-year manager Dusty Wathan. They finished one game over .500 and 8.5 games out of a playoff spot.

We spoke to Wathan upon the announcement of his promotion to Lakewood in December, and he’s a very impressive guy. You can read the entire Q&A with Wathan by clicking here. Just one point though from the Q&A, the most talked-about part of Wathan is his age; he’s 35. But that’s something that Wathan felt was a major advantage for him.

“Just walking off the field and managing, I think you earn a lot of respect from the guys,” he said. ”Not to take anything away from guys that haven’t played in a long time, but the longer you play only helps you build credability before you even speak. I’ve had guys who didn’t play a lot and were great managers, but kids want to know what it’s like between the lines. I think I know that pretty well. The game hasn’t changed much in a year, so they realize that. With older coaches, sometimes guys say it’s a different era. With many years playing in the minors I relate to what they’re going through, as opposed to guys who spent a lot of time in the major leagues.”

Here are the stats for the Williamsport club a year ago, and here are some quick hitters on a few players who that could join the BlueClaws in 2009.

Cody Overbeck: 9th round pick out of Ole Miss hit 12 HRs last year, an excellent total in a pitcher-friendly NY-Penn League. 3B could be reunited with fellow left-sider in 2009.

Troy Hanzawa: SS was plucked in 16th round by Phillies out of San Diego State. By all accounts he is very mature and Phillies love his game. With a good spring he could conceivably skip Lakewood.

Steve Susdorf: OF was 19th round pick from Fresno State. He was on the College World Series winning club in college and began his pro career with a grand slam.

Brandon Haislet: OF was a 23rd round pick out of Hawaii. Hope he can deal with a little weather. 12 steals in 14 attempts last year.

Justin De Fratus: 2007 draft pick went 6-5 last year with Williamsport and struck out 8 per 9 innings, a very good ratio. Here are some comments from a September Q&A with PhuturePhillies.com.

Baseball America, in a pre-draft scouting writeup, mentioned that you showed good velocity early in starts but tended to lose a bit of your velocity after the first few innings. Can you pinpoint a reason for this, and is it something you’ve spent extra time working on thus far?

JD: I can tell you exactly what it was. Poor conditioning and workouts. I came from a program that didn’t have a permanent pitching coach so it was hard to get into a real routine. My velocity now, stays with me throughout the game and I’m very happy about that. Just having a conditioning plan for each and every day has really improved my endurance.

Minor League coaches report Wednesday, with pitchers and catchers reporting on Friday.

Hard to beleive we’re less than 40 days away from the BlueClaws April 9th opener against Delmarva.

Today’s number 39 is pretty neat, we think. Two years ago, in 2007, the BlueClaws had one of the most prolific drag bunters in all of Minor League Baseball in Quintin Berry. In fact, Berry could go home to first in 3.9 seconds, an excellent time. The ability to bunt for a hit is something that Berry has worked hard at in his time in the minors, and drastically helps his game offensively. Not only does it give him an extra avenue to reach base, but it draws defenders in a step, to guard against the bunt, and limits their range on his hard hit ground balls and line drives.

Here’s a great article on the subject, focusing on big league OF Juan Pierre, who has been clocked in 3.6 seconds to first.

So how do you drag bunt? Parents and coaches, take note:

Just 40 days to go until Opening Day, and fortunately in baseball, we have a great designation. It’s called the 40-man roster.

From Wikipedia: The 40-man roster comprises all of the players on the 25-man roster, plus anyone who is on the 15-day disabled list, and contracted players on “optional assignment” in the minor leagues.

The important difference between the 25-man roster and 40-man roster is obviously that the 25-man roster members are the active players on gameday. The others are either in the minors or on the disabled list.

But what then is the importance of the 40-man roster? It comes later in the calendar year. Players, after being drafted, have three or four years of exemption (depending on if they were drafted out of college or high school / signed as a free agent). After that period, if they are not on the 40-man roster, they are eligible to be selected in the Rule-5 Draft at the Winter Meetings. It was through this process the Phillies acquired Shane Victorino.

The BlueClaws have several former players (13) on the 40-man roster of the Phillies, including recent additions Joel Naughton, Sergio Escalona and Drew Naylor. Ex-BlueClaws on other rosters include Gavin Floyd (White Sox), Matt Maloney (Reds) and Josh Outman (A’s).

Inside of six weeks to go until the BlueClaws opener on April 9th. Today’s 70 in 70 item looks back at what was just a fun, great day (they’re all like that but this more so) back in May of 2007. Number 41 refers to the number of media members on hand on Wednesday May 23rd, 2007 at FirstEnergy Park to see Ryan Howard rehab with the BlueClaws.

Howard went on the disabled list about two weeks prior, and we saw that he would be eligible to come off on Friday the 25th. So we went to the schedules, and saw that in the days leading up to his anticipated return, both AA-Reading and AAA-Ottawa would be on the road. We put two and two together, and later received confirmation that Howard would be coming to Lakewood.

As you’re aware, 41 media members is a lot of media members. We had to set up tables for some on the concourse. But it all worked out on that end and Howard hit a home run to boot.

The Hagerstown pitcher, Yunior Novoa, struck out Howard in the 5th inning, and he spun around and pumped his fist, showing up, and maddening, Howard. When Howard came up in the seventh, he responded with his bat.

“He just jumped in “He just jumped right in and was part of the team just like us,” said shortstop Jason Donald.

All told, the BlueClaws had over 17,000 fans on the two days and that pushed them towards the 3-million mark reached in July of 2007.

Could the push for 4-million fans begin with a rehab assignment? Chase Utley may or may not be ready for Opening Day…