Jersey Shore BlueClaws
Lakewood BlueClaws | |||||
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Minor league affiliations | |||||
Class | Single-A (1987-Present) | ||||
League | South Atlantic League | ||||
Division | Northern Division | ||||
Major league affiliations | |||||
Team | Philadelphia Phillies (2001-Present) | ||||
Previous teams | Montreal Expos (1997-2000)
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Minor league titles | |||||
League titles | 3 (2006, 2009, 2010) | ||||
Division titles | 4 (1999/2nd half, 2006, 2009, 2010) | ||||
Team data | |||||
Name | Lakewood BlueClaws (2001-Present)
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Ballpark | FirstEnergy Park (2001-Present) | ||||
Previous parks | J. P. Riddle Stadium (1987-2000) | ||||
Owner(s)/ Operator(s) | American Baseball Company, LLC | ||||
General manager | Geoff Brown | ||||
Manager | Chris Truby |
The Lakewood BlueClaws are a minor league baseball team that currently plays in the South Atlantic League, a Class Single-A baseball league. The team plays their home games at FirstEnergy Park located in Lakewood Township, New Jersey.The Lakewood BlueClaws are the Class A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies.
The BlueClaws were established in 1987 in Fayetteville, North Carolina as the Fayetteville Generals and in the team's second season in Fayetteville which was in 1988, the franchise starred in the romantic comedy sports film Bull Durham. The team was renamed Cape Fear Crocs in 1997. The team has been playing in it's current location in Lakewood Township since 2001.
While based in Fayetteville, the team was owned by Greg Padgett.[1] He owned the team as Fayetteville Baseball Club, Inc. [2] The team is currently owned by American Baseball Company, LLC. which is headed by New Jersey born Joe Plumeri who is the Chairman & CEO of Willis Group Holdings and by Joseph Finley.[3] Plumeri is one of the co-owners of the Trenton Thunder while Finley is also one of the co-owners of the Trenton Thunder as well. Finley is also a co-owner of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.[4][5][6]
The BlueClaws offer post-game fireworks show after every Friday home game, and at the ballpark, and seniors eat free every Tuesday night. Thursday nights are "Thirsty Thursdays," with discounted beverages and live music all night. The team even promotes Bruce Springsteen Night at the stadium and use an alternate promotional name which is "Lakewood BruceClaws" for that promotion only.
History
Playing in Fayetteville (1987-2000)
The Lakewood BlueClaws were founded in 1987 as the Fayetteville Generals. The team played as the Generals from 1987–1996 and were affiliated with the Detroit Tigers for those ten seasons as the Generals. While known as the Generals, the franchise starred in the romantic comedy baseball film Bull Durham which starred Kevin Costner, Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon and the Durham Bulls baseball club in 1988 which was the team's second season. The league featured in the film was the Carolina League instead of the South Atlantic League.
The team was later renamed the Cape Fear Crocs for the 1997 season and switched affiliations with the Montreal Expos. The team played as the Crocs from 1997 to 2000 and were with the Expos for those three seasons as the Crocs. The team mascot in Fayetteville was, fittingly, the Cape Fear Croc.[7]
While known as both the Generals and the Crocs, the team played their home games at J. P. Riddle Stadium located in Fayetteville, North Carolina from 1987-2000. Despite the team being a perennial playoff team while known as the Cape Fear Crocs, the team was purchased by a group a called American Baseball Company, LLC. which is headed by both Joseph Finley and by New Jersey born, Chairman & CEO of Willis Group Holdings Joe Plumeri who both relocated the team anyway to Lakewood Township, New Jersey to become the Lakewood BlueClaws.[8] The reason for the relocation was due to poor attendance figures which proved to be too much for the team to bear. After the relocation, the team switch affiliations from the Expos to the Phillies.
The Philadelphia Phillies' previous Single-A South Atlantic League affiliate was the Kannapolis, North Carolina based Piedmont Boll Weevils from 1995 to 2000. Today, the Boll Weevils are now known as the Kannapolis Intimidators and are currently affiliated with the Chicago White Sox.
Playing in Lakewood (2001-Present)
Since the team's arrival in New Jersey from Fayetteville, the BlueClaws have been a success at the gate. In each of their first five seasons, they have averaged over 6,500 fans per game. On August 26, 2002, in a game against the Hickory Crawdads which the BlueClaws won 3-0, attendance was a South Atlantic League record 13,003. The BlueClaws have led the South Atlantic League in either average or total attendance every year, and became the fastest team in South Atlantic League history to reach the 2 and 3 million fan attendance mark.
On September 1, 2004, Ryan Howard became the first former BlueClaw to play in the major leagues, playing first base for the Phillies in a 7-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Park. He played for the BlueClaws in the 2002 season. In 2005, he was named the National League Rookie of the Year, and in 2006 he was named the National League Most Valuable Player. In May 2007, while on 15-day disabled list, Ryan Howard played two rehab games with the BlueClaws after suffering a hamstring injury. Each game drew over 8,000 fans and helped push the BlueClaws to a new team attendance record for the month of May.
The 2008 World Champion Philadelphia Phillies featured several former BlueClaws on their roster. Former NL MVP Ryan Howard was with the BlueClaws in 2002. World Series MVP Cole Hamels was with Lakewood in 2003, and starting catcher Carlos Ruiz was a member of the original Lakewood BlueClaws roster, in 2001. One key member of the 2008 Phillies was Joe Blanton, acquired through a trade with the Oakland Athletics. In exchange the Phillies sent over three minor leaguers, including two former BlueClaws in Adrian Cardenas (2007) and Josh Outman (2006).
Recently, the BlueClaws announced via their blog (blog.blueclaws.com) that Darryl Strawberry would be appearing at FirstEnergy Park to sign autographs on August 1.
On August 24, 2009, Phillies pitcher Brett Myers threw a scoreless inning in a rehab assignment on the same day a seven year old from Toms River, New Jersey became the 4 millionth fan in team history. This box office success comes in the absence of great success on the field. In their first five seasons, the BlueClaws failed to qualify for the playoffs. Their overall record topped the .500 mark for the first time in 2004.
All told, in their first eight seasons, the BlueClaws have topped 10,000 fans at a game twice, including 10,027 on August 29, 2008. They have gone over 9,000 fans 13 different times, and have exceeded the 8,000 mark 81 times.
Each season a group of fans choose one person on the BlueClaws to cheer for, and in 2008, these fans chose third baseman Travis "Moose" Mattair. These fans, who called themselves "Mooseketeers" in reference to Mattair's childhood nickname, cheered loudly for both Mattair and the team in general. They are known for displaying homemade signs and jerseys, and their novelty moose hats were a regular fixture at FirstEnergy Park throughout the 2008 season.
On February 17, 2009, the Lakewood BlueClaws announced that instead of doing just Monday Kids Eat Free presented by ShopRite, they will be doing Kids Eat Free every game of the 2009 season. All children under the age of 12 will be presented with a voucher for a free hot dog, bag of chips, and fountain drink as they enter the gates. During the 2009 season, the Blueclaws announced that the team would adopt a new logo, color scheme, and uniforms. These changes were made for the 2010 season.
It was announced that the Phillies had extended their affiliation agreement through 2014.
Alumni
Fayetteville Generals
- Gabe Kapler, outfielder
- Travis Fryman, infielder
Cape Fear Crocs
- Matt Blank
- Milton Bradley
- Nate Field
- Bryan Hebson
- Jorge Julio
- Yovanny Lara
- Cliff Lee
- Henry Mateo
- Guillermo Mota
- Talmadge Nunnari
- Christian Parker
- Valentino Pascucci
- Brandon Phillips
- Simon Pond
- Wilkin Ruan
- Brian Schneider
- Jim Serrano
- J.D. Smart
- Scott Strickland
- Andy Tracy
- Wilson Valdéz
- Tim Young
Lakewood BlueClaws
- Ezequiel Astacio
- Rod Barajas
- Michael Bourn
- Eude Brito
- Taylor Buchholz
- Carlos Carrasco
- Kyle Drabek
- Gavin Floyd
- Greg Golson
- Cole Hamels
- J. A. Happ
- Ryan Howard
- Kyle Kendrick
- Scott Mathieson
- Lou Marson
- Chris Roberson
- Carlos Ruiz
- Jonathon Singleton
- Robinson Tejeda
- Shane Victorino
- Randy Wolf
- Tim Worrell
- Mike Zagurski
Season By Season Records
Season By Season Records in Fayetteville
Year | Record | Finish | Manager | Playoffs |
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1987 | 65–74 | 9th | Johnny Lipon | |
1988 | 62–73 | 10th | Leon Roberts | |
1989 | 70–69 | 6th | Gene Roof | |
1990 | 82–61 | 2nd (t) | Gene Roof | Lost in 1st round |
1991 | 58–79 | 13th | Gerry Groninger | |
1992 | 74–67 | 5th | Gerry Groninger | |
1993 | 75–66 | 5th | Mark Wagner | Lost in 1st round |
1994 | 62–75 | 10th | Dwight Lowry | |
1995 | 86–55 | 1st | Dwight Lowry | |
1996 | 76–63 | 5th | Dwight Lowry | Lost in 1st round |
1997 | 66-74 | 9th | Phil Stephenson | Lost in South Atlantic League Quarterfinals to the Charleston Alley Cats, 2-0 |
1998 | 80-61 | 4th | Luis Dorante | Lost in South Atlantic League Quarterfinals to the Greensboro Bats, 2-0 |
1999 | 75-65 | 5th | Frank Kremblas | Won South Atlantic League Quarterfinals over the Hagerstown Suns, 2-0 Won South Atlantic League Semifinals over the Capital City Bombers, 2-1 Lost in South Atlantic League Finals to the Augusta Greenjackets, 2-1 |
2000 | 64-74 | 10th | Bill Masse |
Season By Season Records in Lakewood
Regular Season
Season | Affiliation | Manager | First Half Record | Second Half Record |
2001 | Phillies | Greg Legg | 28-42, 7th place North | 32-37, 5th place North |
2002 | Phillies | Jeff Manto | 33-36, 6th place North | 36-34, 5th place North |
2003 | Phillies | Buddy Biancalana | 22-47, 8th place North | 35-34, 3rd place North |
2004 | Phillies | P.J. Forbes | 31-36, 7th place North | 39-30, 3rd place North |
2005 | Phillies | P.J. Forbes | 25-45, 6th place North | 31-38, 7th place North |
2006 | Phillies | Dave Huppert | 37-32, 4th place North | 47-23, 1st place North |
2007 | Phillies | Steve Roadcap | 33-32, 3rd place North | 36-33, 2nd place North |
2008 | Phillies | Steve Roadcap | 38-32, 3rd place North | 42-28, 2nd place North |
2009 | Phillies | Dusty Wathan | 42-26, 1st place North | 36-32, 4th place North |
2010 | Phillies | Mark Parent | 42-28, 1st place North | 42-27, 1st place North |
2011 | Phillies | Chris Truby | 00-00, place North | 00-00, place North |
2012 | Phillies | Micky Morandini | 26-43, 6th place North | 00-00, TBD |
Post-Season
The BlueClaws won the 2006 South Atlantic League Championship on September 15, first defeating the Lexington Legends in the Northern division final, two games to none, then defeating the Augusta GreenJackets in a dramatic 5-0 victory, winning the championship series three games to one.
In 2009, the BlueClaws won the South Atlantic League Championship by first defeating the Kannapolis Intimidators 9-0 and winning the series by two games to none in the Northern Division final . In the championship round, the Blue Claws defeated the Greenville Drive 5-1 in game four and then taking the series three games to one.
In 2010, the BlueClaws won both halves of the season. They became the first team to do so and win the championship, defeating Hickory 2 games to 1 in the Northern Division Final and the Greenville Drive 3 games to 1 in a rematch series.
Roster
Players | Coaches/Other | |||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
Designated hitters
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Manager
Coaches
60-day injured list
7-day injured list |
See also
References
- ^ http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/145356/
- ^ http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4007:khms56.3.1
- ^ http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4007:khms56.5.1
- ^ "Board of Directors". willis.com. Retrieved July 15, 2010.
- ^ Dave Fairbank (March 21, 2009). "Plumeri warmly reflects on decade". Daily Press. Retrieved July 15, 2010.
- ^ Gregory J. Volpe (July 24, 2000). "In Lakewood, They're Coming Before its Built". The Press of Atlantic City. Retrieved July 16, 2010.
- ^ http://www.co.cumberland.nc.us/public_info/news_releases/2000/March/Easter%20Fun%20for%20Free__032900.html
- ^ http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/145356/
External links
- Lakewood BlueClaws
- Philadelphia Phillies minor league affiliates
- South Atlantic League
- Professional baseball teams in New Jersey
- Lakewood Township, New Jersey
- Sports clubs established in 1987
- Sports in Fayetteville, North Carolina
- Professional baseball teams in North Carolina
- Montreal Expos minor league affiliates
- Detroit Tigers minor league affiliates