Skip to main content

BlueClaws to Retire Howard's Jersey Number

The best minor league baseball team around, the Lakewood BlueClaws, announced today that they will hold their first jersey retirement ceremony for a former player on Thursday, September 2nd of this year. The jersey will belong to Ryan Howard, who wore number 29 with Lakewood in 2002.

Howard was the very first Lakewood alum to play in a Major League game. In '02 with Lakewood, Howard hit .280 with 19 home runs and 87 RBI. An appreciative Howard spoke about the distinction. "It is a tremendous honor for me to have my number retired by the BlueClaws," Howard stated. "I'm excited to return to Lakewood this summer to participate in the ceremony."

In a press release, Lakewood general manager Geoff Brown said, "Ryan has gone from a great BlueClaws player to one of the best players in all of baseball. We're proud to honor him like this and excited to bring him back as part of our 10th season celebration."

Two other numbers have been retired by the BlueClaws in the past. Number 50 was retired by all SAL teams to honor John H. Moss, who was South Atlantic League President for 50 years. And Jackie Robinson's number 42 is also retired by every team in Major and Minor League Baseball.

BlueClaws ticket information can be found by clicking this link.

-------------------------------

It's PhoulBallz Phillies Wednesday on The Shore Sports Report. Check me out live, talking Phillies at 5:05pm. Live stream can be found by clicking HERE.

Follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter HERE!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Lidge Shaky, T-Mac Honored in Trenton

TRENTON, NJ- Brad Lidge made his second rehab appearance for the Double A Reading Phillies on Thursday night and it didn't go as well as the veteran reliever or the team had hoped. Lidge struggled with his command and turned in a rather poor outing for the club that entered the night in a playoff race, 1 game behind division rival Trenton for the Wild Card spot in the Eastern Division. On the disabled list since spring training with a strained right rotator cuff, Lidge experienced an elbow strain when he was working back from that issue in late May. In his outing against the Yankees affiliate in Trenton, Lidge displayed difficulty with his control as he threw three wild pitches, hit two batters, walked another and gave up a single, all while letting up two earned runs on 28 pitches in 2/3 of an inning. After the disappointing performance, Lidge was composed and focused on some positive aspects, having reached 89 and 90 MPH on scouts' radar guns, according to some reports. ...

Jason Knapp Q&A

PhoulBallz .com was fortunate enough to meet with Phillies prospect Jason Knapp just one day after he caught the attention of the baseball world with his 7 shut out innings, 14 strike out performance against the Indians' Lake County team. - I asked Jason, the Lakewood BlueClaw , for some thoughts about his big game... I had pretty good command of three pitches (fastball, curve, change up). I was on the same page with my catcher, D'Arnaud , and I ended up, ya know, I felt pretty good. - In a great performance like that, how much credit goes to Travis D'Arnaud , the catcher? More than you might expect, definitely. I didn't shake him off once. He told me what to throw and I do what I'm told. And if it works out, a lot of the credit goes to the catcher. - Does the lack of run support (Lakewood has scored 3 total runs in his 3 starts), in your few starts, increase your stress level, or enhance your focus? No, I just try to go out and do my job every outing. Ya know, we...

Eric B Needs to be Cut (and My Name is Rakim)

While the Phillies are on a hot streak this month, one player on the team is not. Eric Bruntlett is 1-for-12 in July. Since the start of May, Bruntlett's apex in batting average has been .167 on June 14th. Bruntlett's ineptitude can be tolerated no longer. Get rid of this guy NOW! Eric B. is the 2009 Endy Chavez. Remember Endy...the guy who in 2005 managed just 2 hits in his final 42 games played as a Phillie? That is about the sort of output the Phillies are getting from Bruntlett, and it's time to fix this void. Julio Lugo was designated for assignment last week by the Red Sox and is expected to become a free agent. The Metropolitans are rumored to be interested. Why wouldn't the Phillies be interested in a guy who could surely outhit Bruntlett? Lugo was hitting .284 through 37 games played this season with Boston. Suspended Lehigh Valley IronPig Pablo Ozuna is eligible to return next Wednesday. Ozuna is batting .294 through 51 games at triple A. Miguel Cairo is also...