Just wanted to let all of our readers and commentors know that this will be my last post as 'Kevin in the Ticket Office'.
As most of you know, this blog has been my baby. I created it, I designed it, and I've written and edited it.
New folks in the Ticket Office and hopefully throughout the Threshers offices will take over the blog, and hopefully provide a fresh point of view and some great content. I hope so, because I'll be reading it as well!
Have you ever wondered how the statistics and play-by-play were compiled at a Clearwater Threshers game?
I got to experience it first-hand again last night as the stats stringer for MiLB. In the Florida State League, the stats stringer communicates by phone with an operator up north who enters the information into the MiLB software. This is the information that you see on the Internet when you visit our Official Site or the Minor League Baseball web site.
The stats stringer arrives in the press box around 15-20 minutes before the game and sits between the scoreboard operator and the official scorer. The first order of business is to call and give information about the starting lineups and current weather conditions. The stats stringer is supposed to keep score and detailed notes to give as much information as possible to the operator. It is important to note that while the stats stringer does keep score, the official scorer makes all the scoring decisions. Calls are made at every half-inning to provide frequent updates. Attention to detail, especially the current batter and pitcher are very important.
It was definitely a nice change of pace for me, as it usually takes me about 10-20 games to catch nine innings of baseball.
Stars from April 7
Reading (AA) beat Bowie 6-3 in 10 innings.
Carlos Carrasco gave up just one run on three hits and struck out seven in five innings.
Patrick Overholt (1-0) pitched 2.1 scoreless innings in relief.
Brad Harman, Lou Marson, and Greg Golson all had two hits in the game.
Other Notes
Andrew Carpenter starts for Reading tonight.
Jason Donald reportedly left Monday's game with an injury.
Former Threshers pitcher Michael Zagurski will miss the 2008 season after undergoing 'Tommy John' surgery yesterday.
Mike had a 1.10 ERA and five saves in twelve appearances for the Threshers in 2007. He also saw action in Reading, Ottawa, and Philadelphia.
Stars from Opening Day (4/3)
Big Night for Reading (AA) as they beat the Altoona Curve 8-3.
Andrew Carpenter (1-0) gave up two runs in five innings.
Jeremy Slayden had three hits, including a triple, and knocked in one RBI.
Jason Donald had two hits, including one double, and knocked in two RBIs.
Lou Marson had two hits and knocked in one RBI.
The first 2008 Clearwater Threshers roster is now on the Official Site.
Some familiar names include Tuffy Gosewisch, PJ Antoniato, Welinson Baez, John Urick, Jake Blalock, Dan Brauer, Andrew Cruse, Brett Harker, and Nate Johnson.
New faces include top prospects Adrian Cardenas and Joe Savery.
Visit the Official Site and hover over the 'Team Info' Section to get to the roster. Be sure to check back there for updates.
The Phillies have set their roster for Opening Day.
Cole Hamels and Kyle Kendrick, both former Threshers pitchers, are currently on the active roster.
Scott Mathieson and Michael Zagurski, also formerly part of the Threshers pitching staff, are starting the season on the Phillies disabled list.
Former Threshers Lou Marson and Greg Golson have been invited to take part in the exhibition series against the Toronto Blue Jays at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. The two exhibition games are today and tomorrow.
Former Threshers Jason Donald and Patrick Overholt have been invited by the Phillies to take part in the exhibition game against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs at brand-new Coca-Cola Park on Sunday.
Former Threshers pitcher Andrew Carpenter got a chance to come over from the Minor League Camp and threw four shutout innings yesterday against the New York Yankees.
Randy Miller has this story on PhillyBurbs.com.
Ken Mandel has this story on MLB.com.
Stephen Miller has this story in the Allentown Morning Call.
Former Thresher Jason Donald traveled with the Phillies yesterday to Dunedin, and smacked two home runs to help the Phillies to a 15-7 win over the Blue Jays.
Stephen Miller had this story in Allentown Morning Call.
Updated at 1:34pm: David Murphy also had a story in the Philadelphia Daily News.
The second round of the CNBC Logo Contest is today. Visit Sports Biz with Darren Rovell.
Help the Threshers win best Minor League Baseball Logo.
Darren Rovell of CNBC has seeded us # 8 and put us up against the # 9 seeded Worcester Tornadoes in the first round. After blowing out the Tornadoes, the Threshers now take on the # 1 seed Modesto Nuts.
Visit Bright House Field on Tuesday, April 1 at 6:30pm as the 2008 Clearwater Threshers take the field for the first time.
The exhibition game will pit the Threshers vs. Extended Spring Phillies.
Admission is free.
Just wanted to give a quick update for our Threshers Season Ticket Holders.
* We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our the season ticket books
* The Parking Passes have been printed
* The VIP Cards have been printed
We are also able to include the Mike Alstott Charity Softball Game and 2008 BIG EAST Baseball Championships in your Season Ticket Package. Barring technical difficulty, you should have your same seat location as you have during Threshers season, and you should receive everything at the same time.
Visit Sports Biz with Darren Rovell on Monday, March 17 and vote for the Threshers as we attempt to win best Minor League Baseball Logo.
Darren Rovell of CNBC has seeded us # 8 and put us up against the # 9 seeded Worcester Tornadoes in the first round.
64 teams are part of the tournament that started five days ago.
Threshers season ticket holder Jeff Crupper recently interviewed former Thresher Jason Donald.
The back and forth was posted on Phuture Phillies.
The Phillies announced 14 transactions this morning.
Former Threshers Joe Bisenius, Scott Mathieson, J.A. Happ, and Brad Harman were optioned to minor league camp.
Former Threshers Zack Segovia, Tuffy Gosewisch, Lou Marson, and Jason Donald were re-assigned to minor league camp.
I was a guest on the Philly Sports Talk Now webcast on Wednesday.
Philly Sports Talk Now is a weekly Internet show by Rich Baxter and Jim 'Sports Dogg' Mulry, two Philadelphia sports fans.
We talked a bit about Bright House Field, Spring Training, and the Clearwater Threshers.
You can hear their show and the interview here.
Subscribe to our 
(below) to help you keep track of events at Bright House Field.
