Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Ernesto

We are watching the path of Ernesto. We saw the Tropical Storm Watch go up for our area at the 11am advisory, but at this time we are still planning on playing our home games today (8/29) and tomorrow (8/30). We will update if Ernesto's path changes.

Friday, August 25, 2006

Looks like our ballpark is being used as a model in Charlotte County

Caught this story in the Sun-Herald today. They are looking to bring in the Devil Rays Spring Training and Minor League operations to Charlotte County in a few years.

Many of the Charlotte County plans reflect some of the same perks found at two of Florida's newest spring training fields -- Clearwater's Bright House Networks Field, where the Phillies train, and Jupiter's Roger Dean Stadium, the home to both the St. Louis Cardinals and the Florida Marlins...

...The plans exhibited by HOK would increase the current seating capacity of 5,000 to more than 7,500 with a renovation of the lower bowl, new areas of seating along both foul lines, three party decks and a party pavilion; and two seating grass berms, one in left center and one in right center.
Read the whole Sun-Herald story here.

Thursday, August 24, 2006

Were you here for Bark at the Park this past Saturday?

Bob Macpherson from the Clearwater Citizen (Tampa Bay Newspapers) was here and snapped some photos and wrote a story about it:

Little tykes of varied breeds mixed easily with Great Danes and every other conceivable size, shape and breed imaginable. Fancy groomed purebreds mixed happily with mutts. There was no fighting or bickering, only the curiosity and fun of meeting new friends. Human beings certainly could learn from such a display of friendship and good manners.

Buckets of fresh water were strategically distributed throughout the stadium. A “honey patrol” made sure that any canine indiscretion was quickly picked up and the area sanitized.

A few vendors handed out treats and other items. T-shirts were on sale. There was even a self-service dog wash booth that attracted crowds, eager to wash their pet for free.


Check out his whole story here and feel free to leave your comments about your experience at this great event that benefits the Humane Society.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Julio De La Cruz named Phillies Minor League Pitcher of the Week (again)

Julio De La Cruz was just named Phillies Minor League Pitcher of the Week for August 14-20. Not a shock, since Julio did toss a no-hitter in his one appearance during the week.

This is the second time he's won the award this year.

Expect to see There is a release on the Official Site sometime in the near future now.

It appears I may have missed that Mike Costanzo won Phillies Minor League Player of the Week for August 7-13. He reached base in all six games while batting .391 with three HRs on the week.

UPDATED 8/24 AT 11:15AM - De La Cruz has also been named Florida State League Pitcher of the Week!

Monday, August 21, 2006

The Arizona Fall League....

There will be some familiar names on the Peoria Saguaros roster in the Arizona Fall League as seven Phillies minor-leaguers have been named to the team. The six team league plays 32 games in October and November.

Kyle Kendrick is the only current Thresher named to the team, but former Threshers' Joe Bisenius, J.A. Happ, and Zach Segovia will be joining him.

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Former Thresher Segovia named to US National Team

Former Threshers' pitcher Zach Segovia has been named to the 24-man roster of the US National Team that is now trying to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games in China.

The 24 players that will represent the United States at the 2006 COPABE Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Havana, Cuba, Aug. 25-Sept. 5, were officially announced today by USA Baseball. The roster is made up from professional, non-25-man roster players of the 30 Major League Baseball organizations.

See the whole roster and read the press release here.

Segovia and Michael Bourn are the only two players currently in the Phillies organization on the roster.

The Reading Eagle has a story about Segovia and the success of the Phillies minor league teams that can be seen here.
Segovia began this season back at Single-A Clearwater, where he went 5-1 with a 2.19 ERA in seven starts.

He earned a promotion to Reading in mid May, won his Double-A debut with seven shutout innings and proceeded to deliver a string of quality starts. In 17 appearance for Reading he went 11-5 with a 3.11 ERA, just 90 hits allowed in 107 innings and a 3-to-1 strikeouts-to-walks ratio. From June 29 on he went 8-1 in nine starts.

He also put himself in the thick of the race for the Paul Owens Award as the top pitcher in the Phillies organization. He'll vie for that honor with Scott Mathieson (10-2, 3.22 at Reading and Scranton), Lakewood's Matt Maloney (14-8, 2.09), Josh Outman (12-6, 3.07), and Carlos Carrasco (9-6, 2.25), J.A. Happ (9-9, 2.68 at Reading and Clearwater) and Brian Mazone (12-4, 2.13 at Reading and Scranton).

The story also includes a lot of quotes from Segovia, so be sure to check it out.

Andy Baldwin traded to Mariners

The Phillies traded with the Seattle Mariners late Saturday night for pitcher Jamie Moyer. Threshers' pitcher Andy Baldwin along with Lakewood pitcher Andrew Barb are leaving the Phillies organization for the Mariners, but no word yet as to where they will be assigned.

I haven't heard as of yet who will be sent down from the Phillies so that Moyer can join the major league roster and I also haven't heard if we'll be getting anyone to take Baldwin's place on our roster. I'd imagine we'll get another pitcher in the next couple of days.

Updated at 1pm on Monday, August 21: Former Thresher Scott Mathieson has been optioned to Scranton (AAA) to make room for Moyer.

Saturday, August 19, 2006

Reaction from other outlets about the no-hitter

From the Philadelphia Daily News

It was the second no-hitter in the Phillies' organization this week. Lakewood's Carlos Carrasco and Andrew Barb combined on a no-hitter on Sunday against Lexington in the Class A South Atlantic League.


From MiLB.com
"I was so happy and I said, 'Thank you, God, thank you," De La Cruz said of his reaction after Janish lined out to end the game. "This was the best moment. I was just so happy, I have never felt like this before."

With a five-run lead and the crowd behind him, De La Cruz went out in the ninth and completed his historic performance.

"The fans were yelling and screaming when I came out (in the ninth), and after each strike they were standing and screaming," he said. "And after the last out, it was the loudest crowd I've ever heard."


If you see anything else, please post a comment with the link. If I see more, I'll update this post.

Pitch for Pink on Tampa Bay's 10 News

Tampa Bay's 10 News (ABC) (CBS) was out here at the ballpark last night covering the Pitch for Pink event. They have a text-based story and the video of their story archived on their web site. You can find their short text-based story here and/or watch the video story here.

Picture Gallery coming soon to ThreshersBaseball.com

The Official Site will be starting a Picture Gallery sometime in the next few days. It'll be a great new feature for the site. Don't have a whole lot of details about it yet, but we're excited to be offering something new and different for everyone. Keep checking back here and on the Official Site for more!

De La Cruz Tosses No-Hitter

Julio De La Cruz tossed a no-hitter in Friday's 5-0 win over the Sarasota Reds in front of a crowd of 5,906 at Bright House Networks Field. Please check the Official Site later for more information.

Friday, August 11, 2006

One week until Pitch for Pink


Just one week left until Pitch for Pink. Avoid the line on Friday and get your tickets early! Stick around after the game and bid on a pink Threshers jersey like the one pictured above.

We thank you for your support of this fantastic cause!

It's Country Night & Motorcycle Night


Cletus is ready for tonight's festivities. Be sure find him and say hello!

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Zac Stott to join Threshers

It turns out that the Ryan Franklin trade with the Reds is going to have an effect on the Threshers roster. Right-handed reliever Zac Stott is the "player to be named later" who completes the trade. Stott was pitching for the Sarasota Reds and is going to be assigned to the Clearwater Threshers shortly.

He is 23 years old, and stands 6'5" and weighs 200 lbs.

Stott had a 1-2 record with a 2.53 ERA and one save in 17 appearances with Sarasota. He allowed 23 hits and struck out 22 batters in his 32 innings of work. He started the 2006 season with the Dayton Dragons.

Former Thresher J.A. Happ named Phillies Minor League Pitcher of the Month

Former Threshers' pitcher J.A. Happ was just recently named Phillies Minor League Pitcher of the Month for July.

Happ started 13 games for the Threshers between April and June of this year. His ERA was a solid 2.81 and he struck out 77 batters in his 80 innings of work for Clearwater.

While at Reading (AA) in July, Happ started 5 games, going 5-0 with a 1.93 ERA. He struck out 37 batters in his 32.2 innings of work.

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Threshers OF Branden Florence named Phillies Minor League Player of the Week

Threshers outfielder Branden Florence has just been named Phillies Minor League Player of the Week for July 31 - August 6. Florence picked up at least one hit in each of the seven games that week. In four of the games, Florence had more than one hit. He batted .485 on the week with two home runs and nine RBI.

He was signed by the Phillies as a minor league free agent in January '06.

There may be is a longer release up on the Official Site sometime soon now.

It also appears that I may have missed a week. Derek Griffith was named Phillies Minor League Pitcher of the Week last week (July 24-30). Griffith was 2-0 on the week only giving up 3 runs off 11 hits in 13 innings.

Saturday, August 05, 2006

It's real early to start talking about...

the 2007 Clearwater Threshers roster, but the Delaware County Times has a story in today's edition that says that Mike Costanzo will likely start with the Threshers again next year.

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Former Threshers OF Chris Roberson back with the Phils

The Phillies just recalled former Threshers OF Chris Roberson from Scranton (AAA). Roberson last played with the Phillies on July 9th. Roberson only has 1 hit in his 18 plate appearances this year in the majors.