Happ promoted/Merchan added

Threshers All-Star pitcher J.A. Happ has been promoted to Reading. Filling his spot on the Threshers roster will be shortstop Jesus Merchan. I hope to have more information on Merchan sometime soon.

Bonus Baseball at Bright House Networks Field

Thursday night brought bonus baseball to Bright House Networks Field. The Threshers and Tigers battled for 11 innings before the Threshers knocked in their eighth run of the night to take the 8-7 victory. The win is the Threshers second in a row against the Tigers.

The Threshers go for the sweep of the Tigers tomorrow night at 7:05pm and it is Bright House Networks Customer Appreciation Night. That is just the beginning as the first 1,000 Kids (13 and Under) will receive a Kids Baseball Glove, and the Zooperstars will be performing throughout the night. Following the game will be one of our fantastic Fireworks Extravaganzas!

Threshers get some attention from the folks at MLB.com

JJ Johnson's fantastic night yesterday was profiled in a story found on the Florida State League Web Site today. JJ finished the night with 5 RBIs and fell one double shy of the cycle.

Check out Josh Cooper's article for the whole story

It's Tropical Paradise Night

Don't miss Tropical Paradise Night at the ballpark. Join the Threshers staff in wearing your tropical attire to the ballpark. You won't want to miss the interns tonight.

First 500 guests through the gates tonight receive a special tropical gift. Don't miss our Cheeseburger Specials and of course there will be Happy Hour specials.


Amanda is getting ready for the Hula Hoop Contest

Gates open EARLY tonight at 4:30pm for Happy Hour at Frenchy's Tiki Pavillion.

Lieber to start tonight for Threshers at Tampa

Phillies pitcher Jon Lieber has just been added to the Threshers roster and is scheduled for a rehab start tonight in Tampa against the Yankees. The game is scheduled for a 7pm start at Legends Field.

Continuation of yesterday's game starts at 5pm

The Tampa Yankees and Clearwater Threshers are set to continue yesterday's suspended game at Legends Field at 5pm. The regularly scheduled Monday game will follow after the completion of the suspended game. Sunday's (6/25) game was suspended due to rain.

Mike Lieberthal in Clearwater

Phillies catcher Mike Lieberthal is in Clearwater for a rehab assignment. No word yet on his schedule or whether or not he'll be playing for the GCL Phillies or Clearwater Threshers.

Threshers LIVE on TV!

Sunday's (6/25) game between the Clearwater Threshers and Tampa Yankees at Tampa's Legends Field is being broadcast LIVE on Catch 47. Miss it live? Set your DVRs and VCRs as it's scheduled to be replayed on Catch 47 via tape delay on Wednesday, June 28th at 9pm.

The 2006 FSL All-Star Game is scheduled to be rebroadcast on Monday (6/26) at 1pm on Catch 47.

Catch 47 is only on Bright House Networks.

Lieber pitched for 3 innings for the GCL Phillies last night

Eddie Michels has a article about it in today's Philadelphia Daily News.

He gave up one run on four hits, struck out one and hit a batter on 39 pitches, 28 of which were strikes.

Michels' article is chock full of quotes from Lieber, but no word yet as to whether or not he is going to make that start for the Threshers next week. Everything is still tenative.

2006 FSL All-Star Game on Catch 47 Tonight

Miss the 2006 FSL All-Star Game in Lakeland on Saturday?

Watch the re-broadcast on Catch 47 at 9pm tonight. Catch 47 is only on Bright House Networks.

Jon Lieber is coming to Clearwater

but is he going to get a rehab start with the Threshers?

Todd Zolecki of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports in his article today (via the Times-Leader) that Phillies pitcher Jon Lieber is supposed to be flying to Clearwater tonight to make a rehab start tomorrow with the GCL Phillies. The same article says that he should start for the Threshers on June 27th, which would be over at Legends Field in Tampa.

I have heard that Lieber is going supposed to see action tomorrow night for the GCL Phillies. That game is scheduled for a 7:00pm start and will be taking place at Bright House Networks Field. There is no charge for Gulf Coast League games. No word yet on whether or not he will rehab with the Threshers at a later date.

Reminder - Wednesday's (6/21) Game Starts at Noon

Just wanted to give a quick reminder that the game tomorrow (Wednesday 6/21) is a NOON start.

Don't miss FREE PARKING and $1 HOT DOGS.

Can't make the early game? Drop by for Happy Hour at Frenchy's Tiki Pavilion. The fun starts at 4:30pm. Admission and parking will be FREE.

Ramos and Sellier promoted to Reading/Moss returning to Clearwater

Clearwater Threshers' infielder Peeter Ramos' All-Star Weekend got even better, as he was promoted after the game to the Reading (AA) Phillies. OF Brian Sellier will be joining Ramos on the trip up north.

Speaking of All-Stars; Tim Moss will be returning to the Threshers' roster today, hopefully in time for the game tonight in Sarasota. Moss was the lone Threshers representative at the 2005 FSL All-Star Game which was played at Bright House Networks Field.

Costanzo profiled in Cherry Hill Courier-Post

Threshers All-Star third baseman Mike Costanzo was profiled in a Phillies minor league update story in the June 19th edition of the Cherry Hill Courier-Post

They have a few quotes from Phillies Assistant GM Mike Arbuckle:

"I think his progress has been right on track. It's not easy to go to the wood bat. He's also seeing better pitching, but we've seen plenty of growth and we're excited about how he's been playing."

"I think he's moving along exactly how we expected him to. The biggest thing is always how hard he's willing to work at the game and right now he's been more than what we could've asked for."

Catch the whole story here

Good times in Lakeland....

I only had the opportunity to catch the pre-game party and the game itself, so I can't speak for the whole weekend, but it seems like the 45th Annual FSL All-Star Weekend went pretty well.



It was beautiful, breezy evening in Lakeland's Joker Marchant Stadium. You might be able to see all five of the Clearwater Threshers' in this picture as both teams line up for the anthems.



Mike Costanzo started at third base and played the whole game. He went 1 for 4 at the plate and made some great plays with his glove.



Phinley was on hand along with the rest of the FSL mascots to entertain the thousands of fans at the game on Saturday.



Miss the fun? Catch 47 will be airing the ballgame on Wednesday, June 21 at 9pm.

Paychecks are in....

If any Threshers Game Day Employees happen to be reading today, I'd just like to let you know that paychecks have just arrived.

Ticket Office and Store Closed Friday (6/16)

As previously noted, the 2006 Florida State League All-Star Game is taking place this weekend over in Lakeland. The Ticket Office and Diamond Outfitters Store will be closed in order to celebrate FSL All-Star Weekend.

Need tickets Friday? They will still be available for purchase online. You may also purchase merchandise online as well. The Main Ticket Office, Phone Center, and Diamond Outfitters Store will be back open again on Monday at 10am.

Mathieson to make Major League Debut

The Philadelphia Inquirer speculated earlier, but now it's been made official.

Former Threshers' pitcher Scott Mathieson is being promoted from Reading (AA) to Philadelphia to start on Saturday. The roster move should occur tomorrow sometime prior to the game on Saturday.

The Threshers Official Site should have a release up shortly has a release up now.

Updated 6/15/06 at 10:30am: More news outlets have stories about Scott today. Here is the note from the Philadelphia Inquirer (via the Times-Leader). MLB.com has a longer story here. The Scranton Times-Tribune had this to say. The Allentown Morning Call also had something about Scott. We'll wrap up this linkfest with the Delaware News-Journal.

Randy Wolf ok after being hit on knuckles

We received a scare last night when Phillies pitcher Randy Wolf was knocked out of the game early after being hit on the hand by a batted ball. It happened in the third inning of the first game of the doubleheader between the Threshers and the Miracle.

According to a Philadelphia Inquirer story, he was taken to Morton Plant Hospital (Clearwater) and received X-rays which came back ok.
Updated 4:21pm According to Phillies officials, his next rehab start was scheduled for 6/18. That has now been pushed back to a date to be determined later.

This same story also speculates that former Thresher Scott Mathieson might be brought up to Philadelphia from Reading (AA) to start on Saturday. The Phillies rotation has been hit hard by injuries over the last month or so and is waiting for Jon Lieber and Randy Wolf to get healthy again.

More Threshers All-Stars make the news

The Lakeland Ledger has an article in today's paper promoting Saturday's FSL All-Star Game.

Clearwater Thresher Infielder Peeter Ramos is one of 5 FSL All-Stars from Venezuela.

The story talks a bit more about some of the festivities surrounding the game:

All-Star weekend festivities get under way Friday night with a party on Lake Mirror for the players. The gala will be hosted by Hall of Famer Al Kaline with food provided by Texas Cattle Company.

The Big Brothers/Big Sisters Autograph Crawl will take place in downtown Lakeland from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. Fans will receive a wristband and map indicating the locations where players will be signing autographs and having pictures taken.

Gates will open at Joker Marchant Stadium on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. with the Home Run Derby scheduled to start at 6.

Catch the whole story by clicking here

Andy Baldwin named Phillies Minor League Pitcher of the Week

Threshers right-handed pitcher Andy Baldwin was just named Phillies Minor League Pitcher of the Week for June 5-11.

Baldwin threw his second complete game of his career on June 9th against the Sarasota Reds and has had a spectacular June so far, going 2-0 with a 1.69 ERA.

Baldwin, who attended Oregon State University, was a Phillies 5th round draft pick in the 2004 draft.

Baldwin was Phillies Minor League Pitcher of the Week twice in 2005 while with the Lakewood BlueClaws.

Baldwin, age 23, was born in Duluth, Minnesota but currently resides in Corvalis, Oregon.

Updated 6/14/06 at 10:30am: The release is up on the Official Site

Most of the storm has passed....

Still some storm bands out there that we expect to hit in a few hours, but it seems like it should get on through the area with plenty of time to play our doubleheader tonight. Some of the groups are shuffling around and moving to different days, and some are still planning on coming out. I should learn more in the staff meeting which is scheduled for 15 minutes from now.

Updated 1:55pm: Still have plans for 4 groups tonight as well as the SpongeBob SquarePants appearance with the Lil' Anglers Club. The wind is still very gusty, but that's it at this point. Gates are still scheduled for 4:00pm and the first game is still scheduled for 5:05pm.

Still planning on playing tonight ....Not anymore - 6/12 rained out

Despite the overnight and early morning rain, we are still planning on playing the ballgame as scheduled tonight. Hopefully it'll clear up in the next few years hours and we can have an entertaining and dry night at the ballpark.

I don't expect a whole lot of people to walk up this morning and afternoon to the ticket windows, but I do expect a boatload of calls asking about the status of the game.

Updated at 11:40am We are now under a hurricane warning. The rain is still coming. We haven't had anyone walk up to the windows as of yet and only a few phone calls.

Updated at 6:26pm Sorry for the delay in updating. We lost power at the ballpark at 12:42pm, phones went down around 1:00pm, and the game ended up getting postponed a couple hours later. I came home to update the web site, but forgot about the blog. We're looking at a doubleheader tomorrow. Two 7-inning games starting at 5:05pm. Gates at 4:00pm. Since the time the game was called, the rain picked up, slowed down, and then stopped altogether. It looks like it's about to start up again though. I think the power might be back up by now at the ballpark, but I haven't heard from anyone.

Tropical Storm on it's way

We've got a Tropical Storm Alberto.

First named storm of the 2006 Season.

Right now we are just watching it to see if it'll effect any of our next 3 ballgames. We're home today (1:05pm), tomorrow, and Tuesday (both at 7:05pm).

No decisions have been made as of yet.

Updated 1:30pm First bands of the storm are going through. We are in the 2nd inning and in a rain delay.

Updated 2:05pm The game has re-started after a 36 minute rain delay.

Updated 4:30pm The official time of the rain delay was 39 minutes. The game was completed. Tomorrow's game is still scheduled for a 7:05pm start

Bikes and Baseball

Tampa Tribune writer Alan Snel is a regular visitor at Clearwater Threshers games at Bright House Networks Field.

Catch some commentary and some great pics of his time at the ballpark yesterday at his Bike Stories blog

Half Day Today

It's Friday in the Threshers offices and since their is no ballgame tonight, most of us will be able to get out around Noon. This is a great time to run errands, play golf, or do whatever it is you need to do during normal business hours that you don't usually get to do.

The Ticket Office will still be open until 4pm if you need to come down and purchase tickets for any remaining Threshers game this summer. Don't forget that the Threshers return home for a 3 game series against the Miracle this Sunday (1:05pm).

Randy Wolf rehab start tonight!

Just got word that Randy Wolf is doing a rehab start with the Clearwater Threshers tonight. There is already a story on the front page of the Official Site. Not sure what his pitch count is, so get here early!

The Cartoon Network's Get Animated Tour is already going on outside the West Gate area and should run until 8pm.

Threshers All-Star Bisenius makes the news

It's not every day that a Clearwater Thresher gets mentioned in the news. Especially up in Sioux City, Iowa.

Joe has been working with talented high-schooler Joey Rozmiarek and the Sioux City Journal had the following from Joey about Joe:

"When I was younger I watched Joe pitch some games for Heelan and I've followed his career in college and now in professional baseball.''

"Joe talked about some of the basic and fundamental mechanics you have to pay attention to, like staying balanced."You put all the little things together and it adds up to big things.''

Read the whole story here

Sorry about the lack of posts...

Got caught up in the BIG EAST tournament and the Threshers homestands.

The crowds on Friday nights have been a little disappointing this year, but Saturdays have been huge with Fireworks after each one. We did expect a few more people this past Saturday. What were you doing this weekend?

Interested in a part-time job for the rest of the summer? Our food and beverage department is looking for folks to work in the concession stand. Apply at the Administrative Offices between the hours of 9am and 5pm Monday-Friday.