Below, the recap of the minor league games from Wednesday in Clearwater and Tampa.

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BlueClaws team photographer Dave Schofield is down in Florida for spring training and is doing some blogging for us at BlueClaws Blog. Click here to read his first entry and here for his second. Below, find the latest installment.

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There is a distinct air in a minor league complex as spring training winds down. Players start to get an indication of where they will be when camp breaks at the beginning of April. By this time players have been in games against other opponents than themselves for about a week and a half. For the Phillies, the regular competition consists of the Yankees, who train in Tampa only 20 minutes away,tThe BlueJays who train in Dunedin which is only 15 minutes away and the Pirates who train in Bradenton which is about an hour away.

BlueClaws manager Mickey Morandini (pictured with Phillies owner David Montgomery), who Phillies fans will remember from his days as second baseman for the 1993 National League Champion Phils, and his staff, Pitching Coach Les Lancaster who pitched in the big leagues for seven years for the Chicago Cubs and later the Tigers and Cards and long time hitting coach Greg Legg have been putting the 2012 Lakewood BlueClaws thorough their workouts and watching them carefully in these preseason games.

BlueClaws fans have been very fortunate through the years to have top class managers and coaches. This year will prove no exception, as Morandini, Lancaster and Legg, rejoined this year by Athletic Trainer Mickey Koszak will put a competitive team on the field in Lakewood.

Some of the players to watch will be outfielders Aaron Altherr, Kyrell Hudson (pictured) and Brian Pointer. While we will not know until the first of April who will join the BlueClaws these are some of the player who have been playing games with the BlueClaws group. Altherr and Hudson are fleet outfielders who are high quality defensive players who are also a threat when they run the bases. Altherr has shown some power this spring as well. Brian Pointer had 6 home runs last year in the Gulf Coast league.

Infielders to watch include Tyler Greene and Mitch Walding. Greene out of Boca Raton, FL was an 11^th round pick of the Phils in 2011 and made only  6 errors last year in the GCL. Walding a 5^th round pick last year, signed late and did not play in 2011. Pitchers Lino Martinez, Colton Murray and James Birmingham look set for service in Lakewood. Birmingham, a New Jersey native pitched for Williamsport in the NY Penn league last year, as well as the GCL team, the lefty was 3-1 combined for 2011.

A lot of these names could certainly change by the time the BlueClaws break camp in Clearwater. We will surely keep BlueClaws fans on top of the news.

LOOKING FOR THOSE FLORIDAYS
The Phillies could not have had a better spring for getting their work in. Not one day was rained out, nor was any time lost to rain during the day. Temperatures were in the 70s and 80s every day. While I know the weather in Lakewood was good as well, I like everyone else am hoping that trend continues for opening day and the whole 2012 season.

WHAT’S THE SCORE IN BIG LEAGUE CAMP?
Lots of former BlueClaws are making a splash in big league camp. The most notable of these is Freddy Galvis, who continues to shine both in the field at 2B and at the plate. With Chase Utley still not at 100% The Phillies worked Freddy at second and he has not disappointed. Domonic Brown gets time in right field and lots of at bats Dom has 20 ABs in 7 games and is hitting at .300 so far for the spring. Galvis is hitting .273 and has made no errors and turned 8 double plays in 11 games. Former BlueClaw Ryan Howard continues his recovery and rehab from off season surgery.

WHAT IS OLD AND WHAT IS NEW?
As I shoot college games I am impressed by the number of scouts in the stands. While shooting the Fairfield University vs University of Maine game at Chain O Lakes Park in Winter Haven, there were probably 30 pro scouts there to see Jeffrey Gibbs, the Maine righthander. At 6’6” and possessing a fastball that is the envy of many (One scout told me that he liked his stamina and pitch quality and, “you just cannot teach 95 mph.”

The most interesting thing I saw was the difference between the older scouts and the younger scouts. The older scouts had radar guns and stopwatches, the younger scouts had the radar guns, but instead of a stopwatch, most of them were using video cameras.  Technology again!

Here are the minor league spring training game results from Tuesday afternoon.

(All games vs Tigers affiliates)

Lehigh Valley (won 5-1)

• David Bush threw four shutout innings before giving way to Mike Cisco (two innings, one run) and Garett Claypool (two shutout). Hector Neris, who, like Claypool, was a 2011 BlueClaw, threw a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
• Mike Spidale, Matt Rizzotti, Derrick Mitchell, and Albert Cartwright all had two hits for the IronPigs while Cartwright added two RBIs.

Reading (lost 4-2)

• 2010 BlueClaw Jonathan Pettibone got the start and allowed four runs on five hits over four innings of work, two in the third and two more in the fourth.
• Tyler Knigge followed and gave up just one hit over two shutout innings.
• Offensively, the R-Phils had just five hits, one of which was a home run by Leandro Castro.
• Edgar Duran and Jeff Lanning each had doubles.

Clearwater (lost 4-3)

• Joe Blanton (that Joe Blanton) made a start here today and allowed three runs, only one earned, on five hits across six innings.
• Phillippe Aumont and Michael Schwimer, both of whom had been in big league camp, got some work here, throwing an inning of relief each (Aumont allowed one run).
• Trey Ford led the offense, going 3-3 with a double. Brian Pointer had a triple, RBI, and a walk.
• Positionally: Kelly Dugan played first (for I believe the first time this spring), Stephen Malcolm second, Tyler Greene short, Trey Ford third. The outfield (left to right): Aaron Altherr, Diego Gonzalez, and Brian Pointer.

Lakewood (lost 8-5)

• Tough outing for Austin Wright, who gave up six runs in 2.2 innings. He gave up 10 runs in 33.2 innings with Lakewood last year.
• Kenneth Giles (2.2 innings, one run) and Austin Brough (two shutout) were the next two pitchers.
• On offense, Luis Amaro and Nolan Clark each had doubles while Roman Quinn, Peter Lavin, Larry Greene, and Chris Duffy added hits.
• Positionally: Chris Duffy played first, Jairo Cardozo second, Roman Quinn short, Mitchell Walding short, Peter Lavin left, Jaindido Tromp center, and Luis Amaro right.

We’ll be back later today or tomorrow morning with more.

2008 BlueClaw Freddy Galvis has reportedly emerged as the leader to be the Phillies Opening Day second baseman with the injury to Chase Utley.

Yesterday, we speculated that Lendy Castillo, a Cubs Rule-5 pick and 2011 BlueClaw, could be the 40th BlueClaw to go From the Shore to the Show, but now it looks Galvis has the upper-hand in the race for #40.

Galvis is profiled here by Paul Hagen, now of MLB.com. Galvis says of his age (he’s 22):

“I played with older guys. I was always the younger guy. So if I wanted to play, I had to play good. I was always practicing around the house, but I think I got better because I played so much in the street.”

When he was with Lakewood in 2008, he was just 18 and the youngest player in team history until Domingo Santana opened up 2010 with the BlueClaws as a 17 year old.

Last year was his best year. He hit a career-high .278 split between Reading (104 games) and Lehigh Valley (33 games) and was penciled in as the IronPigs shortstop after Jimmy Rollins re-signed in the winter. But Utley’s situation has given Galvis a new opportunity at a new position, second base.

He played one game of third base with Clearwater in 2009 but has never played second, though considering he is thought to be the best defensive shortstop in the minors, everyone expects him to be able to handle the transition without much of a problem.

“The good thing about Freddy is that he’s such a heads-up player. He thinks in the game,” said Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg, who managed Galvis after he was promoted to the IronPigs on Aug. 2.

“He has very good instincts, and I think that’s what allows him to be ready for all the plays that do happen at second base. And he’s a very creative player. Very good at improvising and making a play. Those are good traits to have playing the middle infield. I think he’ll have no problem at second base.”

He’s ranked 6th in the system by Baseball America, his highest ranking, and they note that the Phillies were wowed by Galvis when they saw him as a 14-year old in 2004. They signed him when he turned 16.

There are a couple of guys who could break through early in the year to be the 40th Shore to the Show player, but Galvis probably heads the list.

Below, find the minor league spring training game report from the games played on Monday. Remember, the games run through March 31st before camp breaks. BlueClaws players will travel to Greenville, SC on April 4th with the season starting on April 5th, and the home opener is April 12th.

Monday Games (all against Pirates affiliates)

Lehigh Valley (won 7-1)

• Nate Bump started and allowed one run on three hits over four innings of work.
• Chris Kissock and Justin Friend each threw two scoreless in relief.
• Catcher Steven Lerud had a home run and four RBIs, while Brent Cleven had two hits.
• 2B Miguel Abreu had two stolen bases.
• Tim Kennelly, who played third base, was 1-2 with a double, walk, run, and RBI.

Reading (won 7-1)

• 2010 BlueClaw Julio Rodriguez threw 3.1 innings of scoreless ball on four hits with a walk and three strikeouts.
• Sebastian Valle was 3-4 with a home run and four RBIs, his second HR of the spring. Tyson Gilles was 2-3 with three runs scored.
• Positionally: Darin Ruf played first, Carlos Alsonso second, Edgar Duran short and Cody Asche played third base.

Clearwater (won 10-1)

• Adam Morgan started and threw four perfect innings with three strikeouts. He needed just 51 pitches to get through his four innings.
• Chase Johnson followed with a scoreless inning. Mario Hollands threw two shutout, and Lisalberto Bonilla threw one.
• 10 different players had hits in this game, including two by RF Diego Gonzalez, 2B Alejandro Villalobos, and 1B Brock Stasi.
• Zach Collier was 1-3 with a home run and a walk and D’Arby Myers had 3 RBIs and a triple. Kelly Dugan, who can play 1B and the outfield, played LF and went 1-3 with a double and RBI.

Lakewood (lost 5-2)

• Ervis Manzanillo started and allowed just one unearned run in 2.2 innings but walked two and allowed three hits.
• Ryan Sasaki and Colton Murray each threw two scoreless innings.
• Gauntlett Eldemire had his second multi-hit game of the weekend, going 2-4 with a pair of doubles.
• Chris Duffy and Chace Numata added two hits apiece as well.
• Positionally: Duffy played first, Jairo Cardozo second, Roman Quinn short and Mitchell Walding third.

We’ll keep these going the rest of the spring.

We owe you a couple of game reports from the minor league camp, so here they are, by day, starting with Friday. We have Friday through Sunday in this post.

Note – all of the reports are under the “Spring Training” category, which you can access here or along the right side (or bottom of the post).

Friday Games (all against Blue Jays affiliates)

Lehigh Valley (won 6-2)

• Austin Hyatt gave up one run over three innings before BJ Rosenberg followed with two scoreless.
• Troy Hanzawa had a pair of hits while Brandon Tripp had two hits and a home run. Matt Rizzotti added a home run as well for the IronPigs.
• Albert Cartwright also had two hits among 13 in the win.

Reading (lost 5-1)

• Tyler Cloyd started and gave up two runs over three innings.
• 2011 BlueClaw Juan Sosa pitched here throwing 1.2 scoreless innings but walked three hitters.
• Reading had just give hits in the game, led by two doubles by Peter Lavin.
• Cody Asche, possible BlueClaw, went 1-3 and was the third baseman for Reading. He played second base last year with Williamsport.

Clearwater (won 5-2)

• Jesse Biddle’s 2012 debut was a success, throwing three innings and allowing no hits and one unearned run. Lisalberto Bonilla followed with two scoreless innings of relief.
• Trey Ford had two hits including a triple.
• Aaron Altherr went 1-3 with a home run.
• The shortstop was Tyler Greene, an 11th round pick last year, was the shortstop and went 1-2 with a walk.
• They got four hits from catchers, two apiece from Chace Numata and ringer Carlos Ruiz.

Lakewood (lost 3-2)

• Ethan Stewart started and gave up three runs, two earned, over three innings, striking out four.
• Ryan Sasaki and Casey Barnes each threw two scoreless innings of relief.
• Offensively, Michael Marshall had two hits as the first baseman. Jairo Cardozo and Geancarlo Mendez each had doubles.

The rest of the weekend can be found below the fold.

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Yesterday was the second day of minor league spring training games in Clearwater and Bradenton for Phillies farmhands. Let’s take a look.

(All games against Pirates affiliates.)

Lehigh Valley: lost 2-0

• Nate Bump threw three shutout innings with four strikeouts for the IronPigs.
• Three 2011 BlueClaws pitched here: Garett Claypool and Hector Neris threw a scoreless inning and Jay Johnson gave up one run over two innings.
• Not much happened offensively for the Pigs, who had five hits, but LF Brent Cleven had two of them.

Reading: won 10-3

• A lot more happened offensively for Reading, who got three hits and a home run for Leandro Castro, plus two hits and a home run from Jiwan James.
• Drew Hillman had two hits as did D’Arby Myers who added three RBIs. 2011 BlueClaw Jim Murphy was 1-3 with a triple (he has seven triples in four years in the minors).
• Julio Rodriguez gave up a run in three innings with two strikeouts. Good to see Matt Way, a 2009-10 BlueClaw who was hurt last year, back in a box score. He gave up a run in two innings.
• Tyler Knigge, with Lakewood last year, threw a scoreless 8th.

Clearwater: lost 5-4

• Austin Wright, who was drafted last year and joined the BlueClaws in August, threw two shutout innings with three walks and three strikeouts.
• Ryan Duke, Lakewood’s closer at the end of the season, threw two shutout innings as well.
• Aaron Altherr had two hits, both doubles, and three RBIs while Roman Quinn, Peter Lavin, and Kyrell Hudson added hits for the Threshers squad.

Lakewood: lost 5-2

• Diego Gonzalez and Stephen Malcolm had two hits each for Lakewood – Malcolm added a triple and an RBI.
• Colin Kleven threw two shutout innings after Ervis Manzanillo gave up two runs in two innings.

Williamsport: won 14-5 vs Oakton CC

• Steven Inch gave up two runs, one earned, in two innings of work.
• Offensively, Geancarlo Mendez had four hits while Gustavo Gonzalez had three hits and five RBIs.
• Two hits each for: Gauntlett Eldemire, Chris Duffy, Brock Stassi, and Luis Unda.

First, sorry this is late. But better late than never, as they say (of course, the person who says better late than never is always the one who is the reason that the item in question is late, in this case me, but on we go).

Remember: This early in camp, before the cuts from big league camp, everyone is essentially one line higher than they will probably be in a week or 10 days after a number of players are sent down.

(Also – according to the schedule, I believe there are no games until Friday and there will be intra-squad games the next two days)

(All games against Toronto affiliates)

Lehigh Valley: win 4-0

• Thomas Cochran threw 3 shutout innings and was followed by John Mariotti, Ryan Feirabend, Frank Gailey, and Justin Friend.
• Robert Stumpo was the DH and had two hits while Stump, Albert Cartwright, and Rich Thompson drove in runs.
• Matt Rizzotti, Troy Hanzawa, Steve Susdorf, Jeff Lanning, Tim Kennelly, Mike Spidale (double, run), and Jeremy Barnes all played here.

Reading: tied 1-1

• David Buchanan gave up a run in three innings (four Ks, no BBs) while Brody Colvin threw three shutout innings on just one hit allowed.
• D’Arby Myers scored two of the three runs and was 1-4. The only RBI went to Bill Rice.
• Cody Asche, who will likely be a BlueClaw this year, was 1-2 with a walk and played third base while Carlos Alonso played second base.

Clearwater: lost 4-3

• Adam Morgan, with Williamsport last year, started and gave up one hit and two walks over two scoreless innings. Leonel Bastidas threw three shutout innings behind him.
• Zach Collier homered while Brock Stassi and Peter Lavin added RBIs.
• Roman Quinn, a 2011 2nd round pick, led off and played short, going 0-4 with a run scored.
• Brian Pointer, a 2010 draftee, hit fifth and played right while Maikel Franco, a top ten prospect per Baseball America, hit 4th and played third.

Lakewood: lost 5-3

• Lino Martinez, Williamsport’s Opening Day starter last year, gave up a run in two innings. Jonathan Musser followed with two scoreless innings.
• Gauntlett Eldemire homered (leadoff hitter, RF) for Lakewood.
• Carlos Tocci, a 16 year old outfielder, went 2-3.
• Kyrell Hudson added a home run as well.

Williamsport: won 11-7 vs Three Rivers CC

• Delvy Francisco homered and Angelo Mora went 2-4 with 4 RBIs.
• Two hits for Diego Gonzalez, Michael Marshall, Delvy Francisco

This from Eric Pettis, a BlueClaws pitcher in 2010 who keeps an excellent blog about his life in the minors. In this post, he details one day at Spring Training, beginning with the alarm going off at 5:50.

Long story short, every morning I mount my scooter and head to the field. The ride is great. The cool morning air does wonders to wake me up in the morning. And despite my somewhat archaic mode of transportation, I manage to get to the field in less than seven minutes. Much better than the nearly 20 minutes it was taking me when I walked last year.

The first thing that you MUST do when you walk into the clubhouse is check the board!!! The three large cork boards that line the entrance are vital to your life in Spring Training. Most things that you need to know are not communicated via speech, they are displayed on the board.

Read the whole thing, it’s worth a few minutes.

As the descriptive headline clearly indicates, minor league spring training games start today. Today, the Lehigh Valley and Reading clubs will play at the Carpenter Complex in Clearwater, while the Clearwater and Lakewood clubs will make the 6.1 mile drive to Dunedin to play the Blue Jays squad.

We plan on having coverage of these games right here.

As Larry Shenk notes in Phillies Insider, there will be two games each day at the Carpenter Complex, either the AAA/AA combo or the A/A+ combo.

It appears this is the only game until Friday. This is the schedule that Lehigh Valley has for their games. For the most part, if Lehigh Valley is at Dunedin, then Lakewood will be at home to face the Blue Jays Low-A club. Obviously most of the games will be played against teams from the Blue Jays, Yankees, Tigers, and Pirates.

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Jiwan James, a 2010 BlueClaw, is excited to get the games going.

Jiwan James ‏ @Jiwan23

Showing up to the field, under the lights!!! #GoodStuff! pic.twitter.com/MoHJSPOD

(Insert name of famous photographer here) he is not, but obviously these guys have been itching to face some real opponents, not future teammates, and that is certainly a good thing.

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Good article here on 2010 BlueClaws manager (managed Jiwan James when he was here) Mark Parent, now the bench coach with the White Sox.

That bond — a friendship developed over the years at a number of charity golf tournaments — put Parent at the top of Ventura’s list of needs when the White Sox came calling last winter after Ozzie Guillen resigned.

“Robin called and asked me if I thought he should take the White Sox job. I said ‘Yeah.’” Then he says ‘I’m not taking it unless you come with me.’ I thought he was having fun with me. He said he was dead serious.”

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We’ll have a new podcast later today and some cool stuff related to the upcoming 5-millionth fan milestone.

BlueClaws team photographer Dave Schofield is down in Florida for spring training and is doing some blogging for us at BlueClaws Blog. Click here to read his first entry and below, find his second.

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Sometimes during spring training, surprises come along that simply delight me and the job I am so fortunate to be doing. On March 5, a Monday, I was up very early to photograph the Phillies minor leaguers headshots for three Philies minor league teams; Reading Phillies, Clearwater threshers and our own Lakewood BlueClaws. Early starts are nothing new to me. Most teams want their headshots done early before the players begin their morning workouts at about 9am.

My schedule on this particular day called for me to photograph the Yankees against the Phillies in Brighthouse Networks Field, the home of the Phillies during spring training and the home of the Clearwater Threshers during the season.

As I walked onto the field during batting practice, I noticed across the field, Al Santisiere, the editor and publisher of Yankees magazine. I am responsible for many of the Yankees minor league photos that appear in Yankees Magazine and Al and I have become good friends. He approached me and told me that he was about to do an interview in the Phillies dugout and that I might want to get some photos of it. He was sure correct about that!

Al was about to conduct an interview with two Hall of Famers: Reggie Jackson and Michael Jack Schmidt. One of the really wonderful things about spring training is the sheer number of former players who are around during camp. I suspect that most teams want former players around so that the young players can learn from them the importance of dedication and work to sustaining a major league career.

It is fun to watch some of the younger players reactions to the like of Schmidt and Jackson as they show up at the ballpark.

I noticed that the temperature at FirstEnergy Park has been in the 60s, that sounds really nice. It has been sunny and in the 80s here in Florida, perfect weather for both playing and photographing baseball. Friday is the last day of headshots for me as I will be doing the New Hampshire Fishercats of the Blue Jays.

The Yankees played the Phillies in each of their first three spring games, that is quite unusual for spring training, but since many of the teams have left Florida for Arizona, some measures had to be taken to insure that teams would have games every day. On the 14th of March, all of the minor league teams will begin their games.

When the minor league games start I will post some photos from both the Phillies and Yankees camps. This is a perfect situation for the baseball fan. There are two games being played at one time at the minor league camps. For the Phillies on one day both A teams will play and the AA and AAA teams will travel, usually to either Tampa to play the Yankees or Dunedin to play the BlueJays.

Matt Gelb, in today’s Inquirer, has a small feature on 2010 BlueClaws 1B Jonathan Singleton. Singleton was traded to Houston at the deadline in 2011, along with BlueClaws teammates Jarred Cosart and Josh Zeid, in the deal that brought Hunter Pence to Philadelphia (2010-11 BlueClaw Domingo Santana was added as the player-to-be-named-later three weeks after the trade was made official).

“It takes time to get used to it and adjust,” Singleton said. “But so far, I’m loving it.”

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“It shows that other teams are interested in me,” Singleton said. “They’ll give me an opportunity to show my skills. I’m definitely looking forward to it.”

When MLB.com released their top 100 prospects a few weeks ago, Singleton checked in at 44. Only 2009 BlueClaw Travis d’Arnaud (25) ranked higher among the seven former BlueClaws on the list.

The two things that we remember most about Singleton’s time with Lakewood:

• His debut. Called up on May 13, 2010 on a day when the Phillies made some serious shuffling of their minor league first basemen (Matt Rizzotti went from Clearwater to Reading, Darin Ruf went from Lakewood to Clearwater, and Singleton came up to Lakewood), he hit a massive home run in second at bat with Lakewood in Greenville, one of 14 he’d hit in the regular season.
• The playoff clincher. He hit two home runs on June 20, 2010 in a win-and-in game for Lakewood against Kannapolis.

Remember the day he was traded? Jiwan James does:

“It was pretty crazy. It was the 7th inning in Jupiter. We had just made the 3rd out and were getting ready to go on the field. Dusty told Singleton to stay in the dugout. That’s when I knew the trade went through. I was sick. I walked all the way to centerfield and didn’t even warm up. After the game I stayed behind with them on the late bus (to the hotel) and got up with them at 5 in the morning. We said our goodbyes and we’ll see them later. I didn’t talk to anyone for two days,” he chuckled, before adding “that’s part of the deal.”

One other thing that Matt Gelb notes in the article – While with the Phillies he was blocked by Ryan Howard, that is clearly not the case in Houston. Singleton will probably open this year at Double-A. The Astros 1B is Carlos Lee, who is 35 and in the last year of his deal. Most noteworthy, is they will have an additional spot for a hitter, since they are moving to the American League in 2013.

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Dave Schofield, BlueClaws team photographer, will have another blog entry soon, likely today. Then we’ll have our last Road to Lakewood entry coming up tomorrow (Friday). Minor league spring training games start Monday.

A couple of good ones this morning – one on 2007 BlueClaws catcher Tuffy Gosewisch and another on some of the former BlueClaws that have been traded in the last few seasons.

First, this Philadelphia Daily News article on Gosewisch by David Murphy:

Turns out, everybody is rooting for Tuffy Gosewisch. Colin Curtis, a non-roster invitee in Yankees camp? Team Tuffy. Roy Halladay, a two-time Cy Young winner? Team Tuffy. And if you believe that a catcher’s value cannot be measured by batting lines and stolen base percentages, then you will end up on Team Tuffy, too.

“Honestly, I would take him any day of the week,” Halladay said. “I really would.”

You might know the name. Born James Benjamin Gosewisch, his parents decided on a more appropriate moniker during a toddler-hood in which he rained destruction upon everything he touched. For the past 5 years, he has been more Lenten resolution than catching prospect, appearing on the Phillies’ roster in February and lingering until sometime in March.

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But there is a reason Gosewisch was behind the plate yesterday for Halladay’s Grapefruit League debut.

The other is this from Bob Brookover in the Inquirer (by the way – thanks for the plug, Travis):

“When we made that trade, there was a comment made that this one is going to be the one that is the most painful,” assistant general manager Benny Looper said Sunday. “He’s at a premium spot, because catching is hard to find and we liked him.”

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“That was my second [championship],” d’Arnaud said. “I also won one at Lakewood [the Phillies' South Atlantic League affiliate]. It was kind of weird because both of them, Anthony Gose and I were on the same team. Maybe we’re both winners, who knows?”

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Gose described d’Arnaud as the “best catcher in the minor leagues,” and Looper and the Phillies probably wouldn’t argue with him.

I recommend you read both of the articles.

BlueClaws team photographer Dave Schofield is heading to Clearwater for Spring Training and he is chronicling his journey for BlueClaws Blog. Below is entry #1, from Cary, North Carolina. Enjoy.

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There is perhaps, no time so hopeful as spring and spring training. Teams and players rise from the frosty ashes of winter like a phoenix to begin anew. This is why I look forward so much to my yearly pilgrimage to Clearwater, Florida and Phillies spring training.

This year’s trip began in Cary, North Carolina. I was shooting photos for 5 different colleges: Canisius College from Buffalo, NY (which also happens to be my alma mater), St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Youngstown State from Ohio, Marshall University from West Virginia and local school and BlueClaws partner Monmouth University.

Monmouth played against St. Joes and Youngstown State. In the St. Joes game on Friday February 17, Monmouth sent highly regarded righty from CBA, Pat Light to the mound.

Light was masterful in front of a gaggle of big league scouts sitting behind the plate. As you can see, all came armed with the mandatory radar guns. Light did not disappoint as he came away with the win.

After a few days visiting with my daughter and her husband in Georgia, I lit out on Saturday Feb. 25 for Clearwater and made the 8 hour drive without incident.

I will be doing the Phillies headshots on March 5. During this shoot I will be working with Miles Kennedy the Phillies team photographer and while he shoots every player in minor league camp wearing Phillies shirts and caps, I will shoot all the players in either Reading, Clearwater or Lakewood caps. The entire process, which we start with a 6am set up, is finished by 9:30am when the players must take the field. Miles and I have been doing this for 8 years and have it down to a science.

Until then, I have several fun assignments. Tomorrow I am heading out to Winter Haven to Chain O Lakes Stadium to photograph St. Bonaventure against Mt. St. Mary’s of Maryland. The next day I am photographing Rose Hulman Institute of Technology at Winter Haven. On Feb. 28, I will begin the Yankees minor league headshots. I do what Miles does and shoot all of the Yankees minor leaguers and also headshots for Trenton, Charleston and Scranton. That process goes for two days concluding on March 4. The photos are done at Raymond James Stadium while the players are getting their physicals. Not only the players are photographed but also the Athletic Trainers, coaches and manager.

In my next blog post I will talk about the college games I shot and then the headshots. The weather is promised to be wonderful for the next week.