Archive for the ‘ClawCasts’ Category

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ClawCast: Dealing With the Snow

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

So what happens when we get foot after foot of snow on a baseball field just a few months before the season starts? And what exactly does a groundskeeper need to do to get things ready for the season?

We asked BlueClaws head groundskeeper Ryan Radcliffe.

Dan Douglas, the groundskeeper in Reading, said “God put it there, God will take it away.” That’s about right.

Listen to our podcast with Ryan here.

Posted in ClawCasts | No Comments »

Job Fair Preview Podcast

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

If you wanted to learn some job fair tips in advance of Saturday (9 am), click here.

Posted in BlueClaws Events, ClawCasts | No Comments »

From Nowo: Part Two

Monday, January 25th, 2010

If you missed part one of our ClawCast with Phillies farm director Steve Noworyta, click here. Part two, you can click here. This time, we take a further look at the scouting process, a look at some former BlueClaws from 2009 and some future BlueClaws in 2010. Some snippets:

  • Scouting the sport to prepare for trades…You have your amateur scouts doing high school and college and the pro scouts who are out there specifically for the pro teams and your big league club so when you’re ready to make trades you have reports on these guys.
  • Do you look at amateur scouting reports before a pro trade? Some guys, like (Tyson) Gilles from Seattle, we liked him as an amateur. Marti Wolever really liked him and wished we could have drafted him. But the last year is the most important. Players change over the years.
  • On Jacob Diekman…As big as he is, coming from the side, he’s done a tremendous job.
  • On Austin Hyatt…Just continue to put up the numbers that he’s had everywhere he’s gone.
  • On Neil Sellers (who played for Reading)…He’s constantly putting up the numbers. One of the reasons we got him in the Rule 5 two years ago was he keeps producing. He might be that bat of the bench that you look for. He makes contact, played well in Mexico. He has to keep proving himself, but knowing him, that won’t be a problem.
  • On Sebastian Valle…I think he’s probably better off going to Lakewood to make sure what we saw at the end of the year we see midway through the year. He had a good winter in Mexico, especially with some good power numbers…We say Lakewood now but sometimes those type of players change your mind in spring training.
  • 2010 BlueClaws…Chris Truby did a nice job with the young kids becasue we took a lot of them to Lakewood. They still finished strong. They have some good young talent that Marti (Wolever) has done a nice job bringing together. It’s going to be a competitive club. We have a lot of pitching and good pitching always beats good hitting.

Posted in 2009 BlueClaws, Around the Farm, Austin Hyatt, ClawCasts, Past BlueClaws, Sebastian Valle | 1 Comment »

From Nowo: Part One

Saturday, January 23rd, 2010

Some comments from Steve Noworyta in part one of our ClawCast with the Phillies farm director. You can listen in full by clicking here:

  • On the 2009 BlueClaws: We knew we had a young and talented club, but you’re not sure how they would develop. It was a special club from the start and Dusty was very impressed with them. 
  • On Anthony Gose: Anybody at 18 to act like he did is very special. To be as mature as he was at that age, you think of a young kid out of high school just going into college, but he handled 140 games…It’s nice to hear he wants to be selective at the plate. That’s another sign of maturity and getting him on base, stealing the bases that he can, it’s just adds another weapon to his arsenal.
  • On Trevor May: Seeing him out of spring training, and seeing his last start in extended, I called Chuck LaMar and told him I thought he was ready for Lakewood. All that needs to come with him is maturity and size. He’s got size now but imagine him adding some strength?
  • On Harold Garcia: Any time with a Latin player it takes a little more time to develop…He was somebody that we were worried about during the winter meetings that someone would have selected him at the big league level.
  • Moving BJ Rosenberg from Lo-A to Double-A: Well, he had the pitchability. When you have the command of the pitches down in the zone, hitting each side of the plate, when you see that in a player you have to start moving them, especially as an older player. We all were confident he could pitch at that level and he did. Now he becomes something for Ruben Amaro to consider down the road at the big league level.
  • On Dusty Wathan: We saw Dusty, when we had him in our system, you always said that he would make a good manager. He’s done that to this point, the way he handled the club, discipline, organization, the players are not afraid to approach him. He’s got all the attributes to be a manager at the big league level.
  • New BlueClaws manager Mark Parent: We had him with the Phillies (97-98) and Benny Looper knew him from the past and had really high recommendations. We felt he’d be a good fit and we’re happy to have someone with his experience.
  • Developing players to the point where you can trade for big league talent rather than sign it in free agency: We’re lucky to have the type of players that we’ve had. We want to build from within, but we tell our guys that you’re not just playing for the Phillies but for the 29 other clubs that have a chance to see you play.

There’s more in there than these above quotes, and we’ll have part two coming up soon.

Posted in 2009 BlueClaws, Anthony Gose, ClawCasts, Dusty Wathan, Harold Garcia, Mark Parent, Trevor May | No Comments »

Upcoming Clawcast: Steve Noworyta

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

We’ll be talking soon with Phillies Director of Minor Leagues Steve Noworyta about the system, the Halladay trade, some 2009 BlueClaws, some potential 2010 BlueClaws, and more.

Any questions you want us to ask Steve? Any players you’d like some info on? Email ggiombarrese@blueclaws.com (with first name and home town) or just leave the questions in the comments section.

Posted in Around the Farm, ClawCasts | 2 Comments »

NEW: The Story of Clawd

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

As you know, we have a new logo (shown on right) as we enter 2010, our tenth season. The man (crab)  on the old logo, Pinchy, has retired (actually he fulfilled the life long dream of many; he retired to Florida). So we have this new face.

Who is that? Where did he come from? What’s his background?

We sit down with some youngsters and tell the entire story to them, and we recorded it so you can listen too. Enjoy!

Click here to listen to The Story of Clawd.

Posted in ClawCasts, Lakewood BlueClaws | No Comments »

Winter Meetings Podcast Preview

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

wintermeetings2009bNext week, the baseball world converges on Indianapolis, Indiana for the annual Winter Meetings baseball convention. In addition to the hot stove cranking up on the Major League side of things it’s basically a series of annual seminars on the Minor League side of things.

Teams share ideas regarding promotions, tickets, and more, plus it’s home to the annual Trade Show, featuring various equipment and merchandise vendors. It’s quite the show.

We sat down for a podcast preview with BlueClaws Assistant GM Rich Mozingo (on his way to his 17th Winter Meetings), talking about, among other things:

  • The best part about the Meetings
  • Seeing those he’s come into contact with from around the game
  • The size and scope of the event
  • What they hope to learn each year
  • How this year’s meetings will be different from last year’s in Las Vegas

Click here to listen. Enjoy.

Posted in ClawCasts, Winter Meetings | No Comments »

Seven Days, Two Concerts

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

fieldtoaldeanEver wonder how FirstEnergy Park gets transformed into and out of one concert and then into and out of another, all in a seven day period?

We wanted to take you inside the ropes, behind the scenes (and any other metaphor you might deem appropriate), and we did that with this podcast (click here to listen).

So we sat down with the three people who make it all happen: head groundskeeper Ryan Radcliffe and special events managers Steve Farago and Lisa Carone.

  • What’s the hardest part about setting up and taking everything down?
  • Just how much floor gets used?
  • What has to be done to the field?
  • The weather?

It’s all in here. Enjoy.

Posted in BlueClaws Concerts, BlueClaws Events, ClawCasts | No Comments »

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