Here’s something new. BlueClaws ticket package holders will now receive access to a pre-sale to get Phillies individual game tickets before they go on sale to the general public.

Tickets for prime games like the Mets, Giants and Red Sox (among many others) which sell out quickly every year are now available to BlueClaws fans before the general public.

This offer applies to those that have already ordered or do order their BlueClaws ticket package before February 14th.

Here is the full release. Here is info on season tickets. Here is info on mini plans.

Release snip below the fold.

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The BlueClaws recently received a proclamation from the Ocean County Board of Freeholders in regards to the team’s recent success. You can click the image to see an enlarged version. The text of the proclamation reads as follows (their emphasis):

Whereas, once again, this year proved to be an extraordinary and exciting one for the Lakewood BlueClaws; and

Whereas, on September 18, 2010, the BlueClaws captured their third South Atlantic League Title, making them back to back South Atlantic League Champions and tying the franchise record of 84 wins against 55 losses; and

Whereas, the Lakewood BlueClaws clinched the championship, beating the Greenville Drive 4-2 in Game Four. The BleuClaws took three of four in the best of five series, becoming the first team in South Atlantic League history to win the first half, second half, and league titel; and

Whereas, in addition to their title win, the Lakewood BlueClaws produly boast the Number 1 rank in attendance for the South Atlantic League and all of New Jersey for the tenth straight year; and

Whereas, the BlueClaws once again partnered with OceanFirst Foundation and donated $30,000 to local-military-based charities. Each home run hit resulted in a $1,000 donation; and

Whereas, as Ocean County has followed its hometown team, the Lakewood BlueClaws, from pitches to runs to plays, we say congratulations on an historic season and an outstanding job.

Now, therefore, I, James F. Lacey, Director, of the Board of Chosen Freeholders of the County of Ocean, State of New Jersey, on behalf of this Board, hereby honor and congratulate the:

Lakewood BlueClaws
2010 South Atlantic League Champions

and thank them for an outstanding season; and further extend warm wishes and congratulations to the coaches and families of the players.

Presented by:

John P. Kelly
John C. Bartlett, Jr.
Joseph H. Vicari
Gerry P. Little

Freeholder Director
James F. Lacey

We thank the Freeholders for this proclamation, which was presented to General Manager Geoff Brown and Director of Community Relations Jim DeAngelis.

Forgot to post this the other day, but better late than never…we’ve released the 2011 BlueClaws schedule (click here to view as a pdf file).

Some things to keep in mind:

• Opening Day, on April 7th, we will raise the 2010 South Atlantic League Championship banner. This will be the third banner going up!
• April 25-29: a five game series against Charleston, the Yankees affiliate.
• April 30-May 3: a four game series against Savannah, the Mets affiliate.
• Memorial Day: 12:05 pm
• July 20-22: a three-game series with Greenville, a rematch of the last two South Atlantic League Championship Series
• That Greenville series could also feature former St. Rose pitcher Anthony Ranaudo’s return to the Jersey Shore. He played three years at LSU and was the 39th pick in the 2010 draft. He signed for $2.5 million on the deadline. This year, Kannapolis brought Monmouth U RHP Ryan Buch to Lakewood and perhaps we’ll see Ranaudo this year.

Ticket packages will go on sale on Monday.

First, we’d like to thank the fans for another amazing season here at the Jersey Shore, one that saw the season start with an eight-run first inning in Asheville, saw the home opener start with a championship banner raising, and of course end with yet another championship banner raising.

We have put together this survey (you may have seen this linked on BlueClaws.com or our e-newsletter). If you wouldn’t mind filling it out, you’ll have a chance to win BlueClaws prizes like ticket packages, gift cards, autographed merchandise, and more.

Click here to fill out the survey, thanks.

Two good articles today from Tony Graham on the BlueClaws getting ready for tonight’s opener, but from two different perspectives.

First, this article looks at the opener from the front office perspective, reflecting back on the first nine years in team history.

“The first day we put season tickets on sale at 9 or 10 on a Saturday morning, the first guy got there at noon on Friday,” BlueClaws General Manager Geoff Brown said.

“By the time we opened up, the line had to be two, three hundred, four hundred people deep.

“The line was all day long. That office at Airport Road was off the beaten path. I don’t think 10 years ago anyone had a GPS in their car. They were all pulling out maps to find out where this office was.

And this article talks about BlueClaws hitting coach Greg Legg, now in his fourth season with the BlueClaws, first as the original manager and his third straight as hitting coach.

Legg said each season presents a different set of challenges. “We try to keep them (hitters) on a good plan,” he said.

“Most of the time we have the young hitters on a two-strike approach. The breaking ball is one of the things you have to address a lot.

“You don’t see too many 3-2 sliders in high school.”

As you know we’ll be raising the 2009 South Atlantic League Championship banner on Friday, April 16th, at Opening Day. But we’ve added a little wrinkle. We’ve put this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity on eBay (bid here).

All proceeds will go directly to BlueClaws Charities.

“This is going to be a tremendous opportunity for someone,” said BlueClaws Assistant General Manager Brandon Marano, who raised the 2006 championship banner on Opening Day 2007. “From personal experience, it’s a little nerve-wracking and exciting, but it’s truly one of my favorite memories from my nine years here.”

Remember, Charlie Manuel raised the Phillies banner last year. You can raise the BlueClaws banner in a few weeks.

We put up today on eBay an exclusive party deck outing for Sunday, April 18th. You can bid here. The outing includes the following:

• 30 tickets
• 90-minute buffet
• Welcome message
• Covered Seating
• $1,100 value (bidding opens at $350)

Also, if you search BlueClaws (click here), you’ll see a series of great items put up there by someone else. These include:

• Team Card set from last year
• A Bob Milacki (2009 BlueClaws pitching coach) Triple-A All-Star card from 1988
• Carlos Ruiz, Cole Hamels, Gavin Floys, and Robinson Tejeda bobblehead dolls

And this:

One of the great eBay items of all time: A 2010 BlueClaws pocket schedule holder.

Hint: if you call me, there is a decent chance I will send this to you for free.

I love eBay.

If you missed it yesterday…

The BlueClaws and the Asbury Park Press will host Dollar Weekend again in 2010, featuring $1 tickets for the weekend of April 17th and April 18th.

Read the full story here.

Obviously, we have a bit of a new look here on BlueClaws Blog. As you may have seen, we have a new-look BlueClaws.com (click here). So we are in a graphic transition here at BlueClaws Blog.

But stay with us, and pretty soon we’ll have a new look up for you.

We’ll keep rolling along with the blog and the content, so assume nothing has changed.

Enjoy.

Today is a special day in BlueClaws history. It’s the 10th anniversary of the unveiling of the name BlueClaws to the general public.

It happened in the Lakewood Town Square 10 years ago today, the unveiling of the name. The first BlueClaws logo (changed after the 2009 season) was unveiled in August.

A total of 49 BlueClaws entries were received. The name was first sent in by nine year old Matt Koscielski of West Belmar and Jan Gualtier of Ocean County.

If you’re wondering, ground was broken on the ballpark April 13th, 2000.

Just over a week left on a couple of  special offers. These are good through February 28th, so time is running out to act…

• Book a Bushel package for the 2010 season and receive a free party deck ticket (a $34.95 value). Here is an order form for the package, which comes with free Monmouth basketball and Surflight Theatre tickets, plus your choice of Phillies tickets and AMC movie passes. Bushel options include: Yankees, Fireworks, Pick-Your-Own, Entertainers, etc…
• This one is for our Little League teams…Book a Future BlueClaws or ClawStars outing before March 1st and get two free hours in the batting cage (a $160 value). What better place to get ready for the season than right here at FirstEnergy Park?

So there you go. Just wanted to pass along a bit of a heads up.

BlueClaws Rock (click here). Enjoy.

Big night for us (Tuesday night). Our free Kids Club (click here) went over 1,000 members after just 20 days.

Number 1,000: Alexa of Shrewsbury, age seven. Michael, presumably a brother, was number 999.

The gist of the Kids Club is as follows: Membership is free and there are six special Sundays throughout the season. Those days include Kids Club only perks (like picnics, an autograph signing, first pitch on the field, kids club happy hour [free rides in Clawd's Kids Zone], etc). And every member gets a free ticket to every Sunday home game.

You can follow Buster on Twitter here.

In the accompanying picture to this post, you see two lucky Little Leaguers with Ryan Howard, during his rehab in Lakewood in May of 2007. These Little Leaguers took advantage of the Future BlueClaws program, and others have taken advantage of the ClawStars program, through which teams can play catch on the field before the game. Along those lines,

Any Little League team that books a Future BlueClaws or ClawStars outing through the end of February will receive two free hours in the batting cage.

For more information on these outings, please click here, or call 732-901-7000, option three.