The GCL Phillies made this year's postseason and will be traveling to Pirate City in Bradenton to take on the GCL Pirates in a one-game first round.
The winner will face the winner of the GCL Twins and the GCL Nationals in a three-game finals.
CLEARWATER, Fla. –Threshers centerfielder Quintin Berry set a new Clearwater record for stolen bases by an individual in a season tonight, August 8. Berry’s steal in the second inning was his 41st of the season and broke the old mark of 40 that was set in 1997 by Reggie Taylor.
The evening also marks the third annual Pitch for Pink Night – an evening during which the Threshers join with Morton Plant Mease to raise awareness about and funds for the fight against breast cancer, and Berry setting the record on this night should not be surprising. Julio De La Cruz threw a no-hitter on Pitch for Pink Night in 2006.
A native of San Diego, Calif., Berry led the South Atlantic League in steals last season while with Lakewood, swiping 55 bags and finishing second overall among all minor league players in the category.
He was named to the SAL’s mid-season and postseason All-Star teams for his speed on the basepaths and his consistency at the plate. The left-handed batter hit .312 over 126 games, including a 14-game hitting streak.
That streak was the best of his short professional career until he surpassed it this season during a hot July for him in Clearwater. For the month, he hit .367 including hitting in 15 straight to end the month. The streak has continued into August as he now has the longest streak in the Florida State League this season at 24.
The 2007 winner of the Paul Owens Award – given each year to the player deemed the best in the Philadelphia Phillies minor league system – was selected by the Phillies in the fifth round of the June 2006 draft. He is in his third professional season.
Thresher centerfielder Quintin Berry was recognized by the Philadelphia Phillies as the club’s minor league player of the month of July, the team announced this week. In July the left-hander batted .367 while driving in 15 runs and scoring 14. His 40 hits and 13 stolen bases led the entire Philadelphia farm system.
The San Diego native began what has turned into a 24-game hitting streak by recording a hit in his last 16 games of the month. He raised his season batting average nearly 40 points over the span of the month from .233 to .270.
In addition to 15 multi-hit games, Berry also recorded three multi-steal games including two games in which he swiped three bags.
The 2007 winner of the Paul Owens Award – given each year to the player deemed the best in the Philadelphia Phillies minor league system – was selected by the Phillies in the fifth round of the June 2006 draft. He is in his third professional season.
Just a reminder that on Monday, August 11 the Threshers and Lakeland Flying Tigers will complete a suspended game from July 2. The game is in the bottom of the fourth inning with the Threshers leading 5-1.
The game will be completed as a nine-inning game.
A seven-inning second game will begin after a 20-minute intermission.
Game Two
~Quintin Berry advanced to second after reaching on a walk in the fifth, but he advanced on a wild pitch.
~The Threshers have trailed three times... coming back to tie the game at 1 and 2... but they're now trailing 5-2 after a two-run homer in the 5th.
~Quintin Berry has just extended his hitting streak to 21 games.
Game One
The Threshers dropped the first game of the doublheader with the Blue Jays tonight (makeup from a game originally scheduled for 6/21) with Darren Byrd picking up the loss. He went the distance (7 innings) giving up just one run (a home run) on eight hits. He walked two while striking out three. A quite solid performance.
The Threshers managed just four hits, one of which was by Quintin Berry, extending his hitting streak to 20 games and his games on-base streak to 35 games.
10:13 Update
Threshers get runners on, including Berry who drew a walk, in the 9th, but can't move them over. 5-4 final in favor of the Miracle... Berry now has three games to break the stolen base record at home.
9:31 Update
Threshers fell behind 5-2, but a pair of runs in the seventh brings Clearwater within one. Berry is 3-4 on the night and scored one of the two in the seventh. Still no stolen bases though...
8:36 Update
3-2 Miracle lead in the 5th... Berry got on in the 5th with another hit, but was stranded at 1st.
7:36 Update
Scoreless through 2... the Threshers have struck out four consecutive times.
Original Update
Quintin Berry extended his hitting streak to 18 games with a single in the first, tying Gus Milner for the longest in the league this season. His consecutive games on-base streak extends to an impressive 33. However, he was picked off.
Update from last night... they changed the error in the 11th from a throwing error on Portes to a missed catch error by Woodard.
Quintin Berry has just tied the Clearwater record for steals in a season... he has 40...
...A little late with this, but Andrew Carpenter was promoted to Reading earlier this week...
...Brian Schlitter was activated from the DL this week, as well...
...Quintin Berry remains two steals away from breaking the club record for stolen bases in a season...
...Berry's 39 steals are the most in the Phillies organization this season...
...JA Happ, who leads the International League with 127 strikeouts, has been sent to Philly...
...Clay Harris picked up his 4th home run with Reading, a ninth-inning, two-run blast in a win over New Hampshire...
...Greg Golson and Brad Harman had a pair of homers last week at Reading...
...Matt Spencer is hitting .436 since his trade to the Oakland organization, while Adrian Cardenas is hitting .286 with a homer...
The Threshers are pleased to announce a new product at Diamond Outfitters... a fantastic, cuddly Phinley doll!
Below (click to make it bigger) is Phinley with... Phinley!
Phinley (the smaller one) retails for just $15 and can be purchased when you next visit the shop!
Below you will find information about ticket packages that are available for businesses, ticket packages available for individuals, and a donor form for those who would like to make a donation to this fantastic night that supports such a great cause. Also included is a press release about the evening. Click on the images to enlarge them.
This year marks the third annual Pitch For Pink Night. All proceeds benefit the Susan Cheek Needler Breast Center at Morton Plant Hospital and 100% of the money raised will remain in the local community.
If you need more information, please contact awarner@threshersbaseball.com or call Amanda at 727-712-4405.
The Reading (AA) roster has quite a few players on it who have played with Clearwater this season... here's a brief update on how they've been doing:
Clay Harris started off slowly after his call to the R-Phils earlier this month but has certainly been coming on strong as of late. In 11 games with the team, the LSU product has eleven three home runs. That, combined with his .324 average, has him OPSing at 1.041. Not too bad...
Jake Blalock is hitting .283 with the Phillies, including a pair of 3-5 performances late in June.
We'll update the pitchers later on...
The Threshers stole... wait for it... nine bases tonight. Five of the nine came in one inning.
From the boxscore...
SB: Watson 2 (2, 2nd base off West/Purdom, 2nd base off West/Purdom), Berry 3 (34, 2nd base off West/Purdom, 3rd base off West/Purdom, 3rd base off West/Purdom), Hernandez, F 2 (4, 2nd base off West/Purdom, 3rd base off West/Purdom), Taylor (2, 2nd base off West/Purdom), Gosewisch (2, 2nd base off Miller, Ju/Purdom).
CS: Taylor (2, 3rd base by West/Purdom).
Meat Loaf may have said 2 out of 3 ain't bad... I'm saying 9 out of 10 ain't too shabby either.
What does Dorothy say in the Wizard of Oz, "my, how people come and go so quickly here"... or something like that.
7/20
Brett Myers rejoined Philadelphia
7/21
Harold Garcia sent to GCL Phillies.
Doug Morales sent to Williamsport.
Rob Watson signed as a minor league free agent.
Kevin Mahar signed as a minor league free agent.
Find out more about Watson and Mahar by clicking here.
Here are all of your roster moves to catch you up on...
Harold Garcia added from the GCL Phillies.
Brett Myers added from Reading.
Adrian Cardenas & Matt Spencer traded to Oakland.
Doug Morales added from Williamsport.
This is Garcia's fourth professional year, spending the last three with the Venezuela Summer League Phillies. In 19 games this season with the Gulf Coast Phillies, Garcia was hitting .258. The Maracibo, VZ native had 17 hits, four of which were triples.
Morales is in his sixth professional season. He spent 13 games with Clearwater in 2006 before being sent to Lakewood and Batavia. He spent all of last season with Lakewood. In nine games at Williamsport, Morales was hitting just .192 with just five hits; he already has three in two games with the Threshers.
Cardenas and Spencer joined the Stockton Ports on Saturday. In two games, Cardenas is 2-9 with a run scored while Spencer, who has been moved to 1B defensively, is 4-8 with a pair of runs.
RHP Brett Myers was added from Reading (AA) today. We'll have a complete roster update as soon as possible. Things have been a little crazy since the trade yesterday.
The A's are excited about what they're getting...
Press conference link is available at the top of this page from mlb.com.
Stay tuned for more reaction...
If you were wondering like I was why Adrian Cardenas and Matt Spencer were not in the lineup for the first game of the DH at Brevard County tonight, one need only look to mlb.com for the answer. The Phillies have acquired P Joe Blanton from Oakland for INF Adrian Cardenas and OF Matt Spencer of the Threshers and former Thresher P Josh Outman.
Jason Donald and Lou Marson will represent America at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games next month in Beijing, China.
Here are a couple of quotes from the team's manager, Davey Jonhson about the two...
On selecting Jason Donald for the Olympic team:
"He's a great-looking shortstop. Great hands, good arm and his offensive arms are outstanding. I like his makeup. He was way up on our list to begin with and once I got the chance to get to know him a little bit, I liked him even better."
On selecting Lou Marson for the Olympic team:
"He really impressed me during (the Futures Game). He caught the first three innings. We don't give the signs to the catcher. He told (pitcher) Brett Anderson to throw over to first and he picked (a runner off). His numbers are outstanding for a catcher, great offensive catcher, and I got reports that said everything about him is good."
The entire roster can be found here.
The 2008 Futures Game is being played right now at Yankee Stadium. Lou Marson and Jason Donald both started for the US team, though Marson has been lifted already. The game is being played on espn2.
The Reading Eagle has a good article on Clay Harris. Thanks to Kevin for the link which you can access by clicking here.
The Threshers are looking to end their five-game skid today here at Bright House Field. It's Wet-n-Wacky Day, so come dressed accordingly!
TONIGHT'S GAME VS THE PALM BEACH CARDINALS HAS BEEN POSTPONED AND WILL BE MADE UP AS PART OF A DOUBLEHEADER THAT WILL BEGIN AT 5:00 PM TOMORROW, JULY 8.
Sorry about the time between the last update and now. As you know if you were at the game, Thursday night was a crazy (but amazingly awesome) night. Many thanks to the 9,090 of you who came out to Bright House Field. Congratulations, you were part of a record crowd!
Speaking of Thursday, P Edgar Garcia was promoted to Reading during the day. He joined Tyson Brummett, Sam Walls, and Brett Harker. He made his AA debut on Sunday, picking up a loss. He gave up five hits in his six innings of work while allowing two runs. He struck out four.
Garcia will be joined by INF Clay Harris. Harris, who hit his eighth homer of the season over the weekend at Dunedin, has been on fire recently. raising his batting average from a season low of .263 on June 17 to .351 through Saturday night.
Thresher INF Clay Harris, already named last week's FSL Player of the Week, was announced as the Phillies Minor League Player of the Week for the same period. Here is the official announcment from the Phillies...
**Player: 1B Clay Harris, Clearwater. Batted .545 for 7 games (12-22) with 4 HR, 12 RBI. He had his first multi-home run game on Saturday, hitting 3 and driving in 6 in 11-3 romp at the St. Lucie Mets. In his 4th at-bat, he was hit by a pitch, setting off a bench-clearing incident. In his 5th at-bat, he was again hit without any other incidents. Last 10 games: .581, 4 HR, 16 RBI. For the season: .350 in 39 games, 7 HR, 31 RBI. The 25-year-old right-handed hitter was a 9th-round selection in 2005 out of LSU.
From the Phillies...
"Shortstop Anthony Hewitt, the Phillies’ first-round selection last month, has agreed to terms and will report to Clearwater, Fla., later this week, Director of Scouting Marti Wolever announced today.
Hewitt, 19, received a bonus of $1,380,000 plus eight semesters under a college scholarship program.
The Phillies have signed 27 of the 53 players they selected, including the first five."
The Florida State League announced Threshers infielder Clay Harris as its Player of the Week for the period June 23-29, 2008.
During the period, the Slidel, La. native produced 12 hits in 22 at-bats for a .545 average. Four of Harris’ hits were home runs, including three in consecutive at-bats on June 29 against St. Lucie. Harris drove in 12 RBI during the week.
A Louisiana State University product, Harris was taken in the 9th round of the 2005 draft by the Philadelphia Phillies. For the season he his hitting .350 with a team-leading seven home runs, and his 31 RBI place him fourth on the team.
Antonio Bastardo was also named to the World team, but due to injury he will not actually play.
Other players previously announced as taking part in the game are catcher Lou Marson, infielder Jason Donald, and outfielder Greg Golson who will play for the U.S. team and right-handed pitcher Carlos Carrasco who will play on the World team.
All are former Threshers.
Clay Harris homered in his first three at-bats Saturday night, and the St. Lucie Mets apparently didn't like it. After driving in five runs on three long balls, Harris was plunked by Casey Hoorelbeke in the seventh inning. Threshers starter Edgar Garcia responded by hitting the first batter he faced in the bottom half of the inning, earning him an ejection to go along with his eighth win of the season. Hoorelbeke seemingly didn't care that the bases were loaded when Harris batted in the eighth inning, hitting him with another pitch to allow Harris to pick up his sixth RBI of the evening. Hoorelbeke was ejected. The bean balls didn't stop there, however, as St. Lucie's German Marte was tossed in the 9th for hitting Tuffy Gosewisch.
Certainly an eventful night on the other coast as the Threshers improved to 3-6 for the second half.
The Phillies organization will be well-represented at the 2008 Futures Game, placing four players on the roster. All are former Threshers.
Catcher Lou Marson, infielder Jason Donald, and outfielder Greg Golson will play for the U.S. team, while right-handed pitcher Carlos Carrasco will play on the World team.
The 2008 Futures Game will be played as part of the All-Star festivities at Yankee Stadium in New York next month.
It's that time of the year, huh?
Tonight's game at St. Lucie was postponed due to rain. The two teams will attempt to play a doubleheader tomorrow with the first game starting at 5:00 PM.
And who says it's too early to scoreboard watch? Dunedin lost tonight 8-4 to Jupiter, so the Threshers didn't fall back any further tonight. In fact, all of the West Divisions that were able to play tonight lost (Sarasota 6-1 to Vero, Fort Myers 3-1 to Brevard). Hopefully the good guys can put together a nice stretch here pretty soon and quickly get back into the thick of things.
From Larry Shenk:
**Pitcher: RHP Justin De Fratus, Williamsport. 0-0 for 1st start in short-season ball, 6 innings, 4 hits, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts, tagged for an unearned run in the 5th inning. Threw 61 fast balls, 17 sliders and 17 changes. The 20-year-old was an 11th-round selection a year ago out of Ventura (CA) College. Broke in pro ball last summer at Gulf Coast League, 2-3, for 8 starts.
**Player: SS Jason Donald, Reading. In 8 games, batted .400 with 12 hits (2 doubles, 2 homers), 6 RBI and 8 runs scored. Hitting .378 in June, 4 homers, 13 RBI. For the season, .304-8-36. The 23-year-old was selected in the 3rd round in 2006 out of the University of Arizona.
A whole slew of moves to tell you about today. Firstly, Kris Benson concluded his rehab stint with the Threshers and was moved to Lehigh Valley (AAA).
Brett Harker, with his sparkling 1.43 ERA, was promoted to Reading (AA).
Alex Concepcion was promoted from Williamsport to Clearwater.
Carlos Monasterios was activated from the DL.
Finally, Orlando Guevara was added from Reading.
3:00 Update - Threshers 2, Vero Beach 5 (FINAL)
Story on the main site by clicking here.
Original Post
Special noon o'clock (yes, that's right, noon o'clock) start here at Bright House Field today.
It's a toasty 92 under partly cloudy skies with a wind from right to left at 5 MPH.
Lineups:
Vero Beach
Jennings
Baldelli
Suarez
Fields
Royster
Groce
Callender
De La Rosa
Lopez
Tiffany
Threshers
Berry
Leon
Cardenas
Milner
Taylor
Harris
Spencer
Gosewisch
Hernandez
Savery
It's Phinley's birthday tonight, so I'll be around the park documenting that with still photos. There might be some updates tonight when I get free moments.
9:30 Update - Vero Beach 3, Threshers 7 (FINAL)
Full story now on the main site.
Original Post - 1:10 PM EDT
Greetings Thresher fans! Hopefully this new work week is getting off to a great start for all of you.
Speaking of great starts, I was just checking up on Reading (AA affiliate of the Phillies) and saw that Tyson Brummett had a great start for them last Thursday, his first with the club since being called up earlier this month. He threw 8.2 innings, giving up just six hits and three runs while striking out five. Sam Walls, another former Thresher, picked up the save in the game, throwing the last out of the contest. Walls has picked up three saves in four opportuties.
Just a little word of protocol from here on out. While I will always strive to keep this blog as up-to-date as possible, sometimes other duties around the park will limit my ability to do that (i.e. pulling tarp). However, in the event of a postponement, it should be posted almost immediately after that decision is made. The official site will have that information, as well.
8:03 Update
Clearwater 0 Vero Beach 2 (Final)
4:30 PM Update
The tarp is currently on the field, and we are in a rain delay.
Original Post
It's a bright and sunny, beautiful day at Bright House Field... or is it? We just got done taking the tarp off for the second time today (the staff came in at 10:00 AM this morning to take it off from yesterday, only to have to put it back on about 50 minutes later when a somewhat unexpected downpour hit the area. Hopefully we're done for the day, and we start at 4:00 PM.
The Vero Beach Devil Rays are in town, but they are without David Price and JT Hall who were promoted to Montgomery (AA) last night.
No changes for the Threshers today.
If anything changes with the weather, we'll let you know.
6:05 PM Update
TONIGHT'S GAME HAS BEEN POSTPONED TO A LATER DATE.
4:40 PM Update
We're getting tons of phone calls into the ticket office here... as of right now, we are still scheduled for first pitch to happen at 6:30 PM. Check here and threshersbaseball.com for the latest updates.
3:15 PM Update
We just put the tarp out on the field which to me is actually a good sign. The field could have been played on at this point, so we're just taking the precaution in the event of additional rain.
There is more rain out in the Gulf, so again, we'll just have to see.
Orginal Post
It's a wet one here at Bright House Field today, but we're still anticipating the game being played at 6:30 PM.
In roster news, Jay Miller was sent to Lakewood today and Herman Demmink was placed on the DL.
Tuesday, June 24 is Phinley's birthday, and it's sure to be a night full of fun at Bright House Field! Phinley has invited a lot of his closest friends to come celebrate with him, and many of them have already called to tell the friendly shark that they're coming!
The RSVP List
Thunderbug (Lightning)
D-Jay (Jays)
RalliGator and Mr, Red (Reds)
Blue (Yankees)
Sluggernaught (Rays)
SideKick (Tiger Schulmmans Karate)
Buddy the Recycling Dolphin (City of Clearwater)
Inflatable Raymond (Rays)
Roi The Koi (Nice Green and Beautiful)
P.S. If anyone has any idea what "Sluggernaught" is, please let me know!
Big night here at Bright House Field as the second half of the season gets underway. Tons of roster moves were made today, as seen in the post below this one.
Probably won't have updates as frequent and in-depth of the other night as I have to excersise my photography skills some during the game, and Catch 47 is here broadcasting the game tonight, as well.
Kris Benson, Ben Pfinsgraff, Drew Naylor, Herman Demmink, and Michael Taylor were all added to the Clearwater roster today.
RHP Pfinsgraff, RHP Naylor, INF Demmink, and OF Taylor were promoted to the Threshers today from Lakewood (A).
Pfinsgraf, a reliever, had a 3.41 ERA and picked up two saves in five opportunities for the BlueClaws and picked up 37 strikeouts in 37 innings. A Clemson product, Demmink was batting .231 at Lakewood.
Taylor’s impressive .361 batting average and 90 hits were leading the South Atlantic League, and he ranked fifth in RBI with 50. For the season he had drawn 31 walks to also lead the SAL in on-base percentage at .441. Taylor, a fifth-round pick of the Phillies in 2007, was recently named the SAL Player of the Month for May by the Topps Company and Minor League Baseball.
Naylor, a native of Australia, leads the SAL in strikeouts with 97 and also has two complete games while compiling a 5-3 record and a 2.99 ERA. He joined Taylor at the SAL All-Star Game and was named the Most Outstanding Pitcher.
Tyson Brummett, just recently promoted to Reading (AA), was named the Phillies Minor League Pitcher of the Week for the week ending June 15. The UCLA product, drafted in the 7th round of the June 2007 draft, won his only start of the week. He struck out seven batters in eight innings while allowing just one run. He won his last two starts with the Threshers before being promoted to Reading earlier this week.
Tyson Brummett was promoted to Reading (AA) today. Brummett started the season at Lakewood (A), going 3-0 there with a 1.95 ERA in six starts. He made his Clearwater debut in early May and went 2-3, posting a 3.59 ERA in eight starts. The right-handed UCLA product had come on strong of late, winning his last two starts including giving up just two hits in his next to last start against St. Lucie.
Tuesday Update
Instead of leaving the massiveness that are the game night updates up, each day after a home game we're just going to put up links to the previous night's play-by-play from milb.com and the game recap on the main site.
mIlb.com play-by-play
ThreshersBaseball.com Recap
Orginal Post
A couple of roster moves to tell you about on this, the first day after the FSL All-Star Break. Andrew Carpenter has been activated from the DL, and Carlos Leon has been added to the roster.
A look at the radar shows some rain out in the Gulf, so we'll be keeping an eye on that.
Just received word out of Philadelphia this morning that Juan Samuel is going to be the 2008 inductee into the Phillies Wall of Fame. From the team's press release:
"Samuel was the Phillies’ regular second baseman from 1984 through 1988. As a rookie in 1984, he set modern club records for most at-bats in a season (701), most triples (19) and most stolen bases (72). He became the first player in major league history to reach double digits in doubles, triples, home runs and stolen bases in each of his first four seasons.
The 47-year-old Samuel, current third base coach for Baltimore, will be inducted prior to the Friday night, August 8 game against the Pittsburgh Pirates."
Darren Daulton, Lenny Dykstra, John Kruk and Greg Gross were the other former Phillies who were finalists to be this year's inductee.
Pictures from the 2008 All-Star Game...
(click for larger image - all pictures by Taylor Flatt)
Good afternoon from a sunny Viera, Florida! Hope all is well back in Clearwater or from wherever you may be reading.
Threshers coaches and players before the All-Star Gala
The gala last night at the hotel was a great time. For dinner the players were all assigned seats scattered throughout the room, and us interns who made the trip had the pleasure of having the company of Ft. Myers right-handed pitcher Jeff Manship and some of his family.
Following dinner, Frank Viola (pitched for the Twins, Mets, Red Sox, Reds and Blue Jays) delivered a nice address to the crowd. After that the party shifted outside to the pool late into the evening. Everyone enjoyed themselves.
This morning a handful of the staff that made its way over for the festivities headed out to Cocoa Beach for a few hours. I personally found it odd that we were going to the beach until someone reminded me it's something we don't really ever get the chance to do in the summer with our busy schedule at Bright House Field.
While we were relaxing on the beach, the players were participating in an autograph session, and I believe they're all over at Space Coast Stadium now having team pictures and the like taken.
We'll be heading over to the stadium ourselves in a couple hours. Check back here because hopefully we'll have a lot more pictures and the like from tonight's festivities.
Welcome to Viera, Florida! The Threshers players and quite a few of the front office staff departed from Bright House Field this morning at just after 11:00 AM and arrived here in Viera this afternoon at around 2:30 PM here at the Holiday Inn.
Just to give you a little bit of a behind the scenes look, when we arrived in our rooms, we were greeted by a bag with the passes that we'll need for all the various events this weekend along with our ticket for tomorrow night's game.
There is an event here at the hotel in about an hour, a social hour of sorts for everyone. It should be a fun time. If there is anything of much substance to add tonight, we'll update later on.
After a couple months off, we're pleased to bring back the Inside the Clearwater Threshers blog!
We're just going to jump right back into things with exciting updates from this weekend's Florida State League All-Star Game in Brevard County, so look forward to that! The Threshers will be represented by Edgar Garcia, Matt German, Brett Harker, and Gus Milner along with the coaching staff who will lead the West Division's team.
On most home game nights, we'll be updating the blog live throughout the game with instant updates. It's the next best thing to radio, so check frequently starting Monday night as the Threshers host the Tampa Yankees at 7:00 PM EST. If there is ever a game during which we have to cover other responsibilties in the park, we'll try and post ahead of time to let everyone know there won't be updates that night.
Tell all of your friends that we're back! We know we have some mighty big shoes to fill (thanks, Kevin!), but we're going to try our best.
Thanks for stopping by, and we'll talk to you soon!
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.
Just wanted to give those of you who are Clearwater Threshers Season Ticket Holders a heads-up to let you know that you'll be receiving a letter in the mail from us in the next few days. It went out in the mail this afternoon.
We still have plenty of great seat locations left, and extra letters, so if you're not a season ticket holder yet, it's not too late to jump on board!
Former Threshers Carlos Carrasco and Greg Golson are doing well so far and are getting noticed.
David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News has a story. Ken Mandel also has a story for MLB.com.
Re-posted with updated schedule. Game Time on March 11 moved to 12:30pm.
The 2008 Phillies Minor League Spring Training Schedule has been released. Each organization allocates it's minor league players between AAA, AA, and A squads. It is important to note, that being placed on a particular squad does not mean that the player would start the 2008 season at that level.
Phillies Minor League Spring Training Games start on Tuesday, March 11 and continue through Saturday, March 29. The Minor League Phillies break camp on Monday, March 31 and that is when we should find out who made the Opening Day 2008 Clearwater Threshers roster.
Home games during Phillies Minor League Spring Training are played at the Carpenter Complex which is located just north of Bright House Networks Field. All home games are scheduled to start at 1pm, except Saturday, March 22 which is scheduled for a 10am start. Games are played against squads from the Blue Jays (Englebert Complex), Rays (Naimoli Complex), and Yankees (Yankees Complex) and rotate around throughout each team's respective complex.
Home games for the A Phillies are scheduled for:
Tuesday, March 11 (12:30pm start)
Thursday, March 13
Friday, March 14
Sunday, March 16
Tuesday, March 18
Thursday, March 20
Saturday, March 22 (10am)
Tuesday, March 25
Thursday, March 27
Friday, March 28
It appears that Joe Savery will get the honor of throwing the first pitch of the Phillies 2008 Spring Training season when he takes the mound against Florida State University on Tuesday, February 26 at 7:05pm.
Savery played for the Williamsport Crosscutters in the NY-Penn League after being drafted in the first round out of Rice.
Where do you think Savery will start the 2008 season?
Former Threshers pitcher Elizardo Ramirez is in Texas Rangers camp as a non-roster invitee.
Ramirez was a part of Phillies Spring Training in 2004.
He pitched last season in the Reds organization and spent the majority of the season with the Louisville Bats (Triple A). He also appeared in four games for the major league club.
Former Threshers pitcher Alfredo Simon is set for Los Angeles Dodgers camp as a non-roster invitee. His arrival however has been delayed due to visa problems.
Simon was a part of Phillies Spring Training 2004 and 2007.
He pitched last season for the Oklahoma Redhawks (Triple A - Texas Rangers).
Threshers Assistant GM Jason Adams was quoted in a story today in the Philadelphia Daily News about the buzz at Phillies Spring Training.
"We were a little nervous [in that] the schedule was not as strong opponent-wise as it has been the last few years," he said, noting the Red Sox, for one, don't come to town. "But we've not seen the issues we thought we would."
Typically, Adams said, there are eight to 10 sellouts per spring. "But we've still not had a game where we turned anybody away," he said, refering to the berm seating beyond the outfield fence. "We've had enough room to sell standing room where everyone has been able to get in the ballpark."
"It makes it kind of like a socializing area where people can watch four minor-league games going on in the complex and then turn around and watch the big club as well," he said. "It's a pretty cool spot if you're a baseball junkie."
The 2008 Phillies Phan Fest comes to Bright House Networks Field on Friday, February 22 starting at 5:30pm and running through 8:00pm.
Admission is FREE.
The event will include Autographs (more info below), Photo Booth, Silent Auction, Raffle, Yard Sale, Fireworks, Mascot Apperances, and Kids Activities.
Eight Phillies players including former Thresher Kyle Kendrick will be a part of the Autograph Session. Players will be split between two stations. Autographs will cost $15 per station which includes four autographs. The stations will be open between 7:00 and 8:00pm.
Money raised at Phan Fest will be donated by Phillies Charities to Clearwater for Youth, Clearwater Little League, and Hospice of the Florida Suncoast.
For more information please visit the Official Site.
Former Threshers pitcher Kyle Kendrick was the target of an elaborate prank by Phillies pitcher Brett Myers.
Kendrick was told that he was traded to Japan.
Assistant GM Ruben Amaro Jr., Equipment Manager Frank Coppenbarger, Manager Charlie Manuel, Kendrick's agent Joe Urbon, and the media all were clued in to help pull off the stunt.
Updated at 2:30pm: This story is traveling fast around media circles, and apparently is even going to make the Today Show at 7:30am tomorrow. Kendrick and Myers will be talking via satellite to Matt Lauer and Meredith Viera.
Check out some of the coverage below:
Former Threshers Scott Mathieson and Mike Zagurski are looking to return to the Phillies after undergoing surgeries in August 2007.
Scott Lauber has a story in today's News Journal based out of Wilmington, Delaware that reports that Mathieson is scheduled to see Dr. Lewis Yocum in Los Angeles on Monday. A good report, and he could be cleared to pitch.
Additionally, Lauber reports that Zagurski will be held out of agility drills and likely won't be ready to pitch when Spring Training games start.
Former Thresher Cole Hamels is among several Phillies who arrived in Clearwater early to get started with their workouts.
David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News has a story about him in today's paper.
Group Sales Assistant Manager Bobby Mitchell attended a ceremony at Largo Middle School honoring 11-year-old Johnathon Ferland. The boy suffered a freak injury during an accident, but fortunately was wearing his bike helmet.
During the ceremony, the boy was presented with numerous items including Phillies Spring Training tickets and a Mike Schmidt autographed item.
ABC Action News was also there and has this story.
Updated on 2/5/08 at 10:52am: The St. Petersburg Times has also posted a story.
Former Threshers managers Mike Schmidt (2004) and Dave Huppert (2007) are among the 22 instructors slated for major league Spring Training.
Schmidt is scheduled to be a guest instructor for two weeks and will assist Steve Smith (Phillies third-base and infield coach) with the third basemen.
Huppert is now the manager of Lehigh Valley (Triple-A). This will be his first time in major league camp with the Phillies.
The Allentown Morning Call is getting ready for the start of Lehigh Valley Ironpigs baseball with a look at who might be on their roster as they open up Coca-Cola Park.
In the story, they get a quote (below) from Steve Noworyta that indicates where former Threshers Josh Outman, Carlos Carrasco, Andrew Carpenter, Joe Bisenius, and J.A. Happ will likely start the 2008 season.
"The Outmans, the Carrascos, the Carpenters, those types of player are still going to be in Double-A. This club is more the [Jason] Jaramillos and the [Joe] Biseniuses and the J.A.] Happs, those types of guys sprinkled in with the free agents that we've signed."
The Phillies annual Phantasy Camp is starting Thursday, January 24 and wrapping up with games at Bright House Networks Field on Sunday, January 27.
Admission is free.
Former Clearwater players involved in the Camp this year include Mickey Morandini and Ricky Bottalico.
The 2008 Phillies Minor League Spring Training Schedule has been released. Each organization allocates it's minor league players between AAA, AA, and A squads. It is important to note, that being placed on a particular squad does not mean that the player would start the 2008 season at that level.
Phillies Minor League Spring Training Games start on Tuesday, March 11 and continue through Saturday, March 29. The Minor League Phillies break camp on Monday, March 31 and that is when we should find out who made the Opening Day 2008 Clearwater Threshers roster.
Home games during Phillies Minor League Spring Training are played at the Carpenter Complex which is located just north of Bright House Networks Field. All home games are scheduled to start at 1pm, except Saturday, March 22 which is scheduled for a 10am start. Games are played against squads from the Blue Jays (Englebert Complex), Rays (Naimoli Complex), and Yankees (Yankees Complex) and rotate around throughout each team's respective complex.
Home games for the A Phillies are scheduled for:
Tuesday, March 11
Thursday, March 13
Friday, March 14
Sunday, March 16
Tuesday, March 18
Thursday, March 20
Saturday, March 22 (10am)
Tuesday, March 25
Thursday, March 27
Friday, March 28
Former Thresher Chris Roberson has been traded from the Phillies to the Baltimore Orioles. The Phillies will receive cash in return.
Roberson hit .307 for the Clearwater Threshers during the 2004 season.
He split each of the last two seasons between Triple-A and and Philadelphia.
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