Mattair Headed for Return to Lakewood

Moose-keteers get your headgear ready, as your namesake is headed back to the home of the greatest fan group in Class A baseball history.

Ready to be activated from an oblique strain that has kept him out of action since April, Travis "Moose" Mattair is set to see action this weekend with the two-time defending South Atlantic League champions, the Lakewood BlueClaws.

Mattair, a 2nd round draft pick in 2007, developed quite a fan following in 2008 and 2009 when manned third base for Lakewood. The 6-foot-5-inch 220-pound Mattair held the BlueClaws all-time RBI record with 91 before Ryan Howard broke the mark during a rehab assignment with Lakewood last year. First baseman Jim Murphy has since surpassed both men, during his second campaign with the club this season.

Following the 2009 season, Mattair temporarily retired from baseball, in order to try his hand at Division 1 college basketball. After attempting a bit of an audition with Boise State in 2010, Moose returned to baseball this year and reported to spring training early, in January, in order to get back into the swing of things.

The 22-year-old Mattair had posted a .234 batting average with 3 homeruns and 16 RBI in 21 games with the Class A Advanced Clearwater Threshers, prior to experiencing the injury in a game against Lakeland on April 28th.

Speaking exclusively with PhoulBallz.com, Mattair expressed a desire to always play at the highest level possible at any particular time, but explained that the Phillies feel that the best place for Mattair, coming of his injury, is Lakewood right now and Mattair says he's accepting of that decision.

"I am headed there (Friday) morning and I hope to be in the lineup," Mattair said. "I want to play, that is the bottom line. If I have a uniform on, I am getting consistent everyday at bats and I have my sites set on the big leagues, I am fine.

"I love baseball no matter when or where I am playing it."

To purchase BlueClaws tickets, call 732-901-7000 and select option 2, or click this link.

___________________________________________

Photo- BlueClaws.com

You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE.

You can also connect with PhoulBallz on Facebook by clicking HERE.

Comments

Heroes- Fight of the Century

VS. It's a big day for your boy, Jay Ballz . No work, X-Men Origins: Wolverine premieres, our Phillies face the Metropolitans for the first time this season and tailgating for BOTH doesn't sound all that absurd to me. Anyway, I surveyed some qualified phans and got several opinions on how exactly a fight might go down if the mutant hero Wolverine faced off against Phillies hero Matt Stairs. Well known blogger, Chris, of I've Made a Huge Tiny Mistake , kept it real and said the following- "Wolverine has adamantium ( indestructible metal substance) claws, so that's a great advantage. Stairs' Wonder Bat is neutralized there. See, the problem becomes Wolverine's ability to recover (he has a regenerative power) faster. Stairs is merely human. Sure, he has a goatee, and goatees are great, but they're great for saving sauce, not for defeating mutants. I think Wolverine takes it in a fight to the death in about 15 minutes because Stairs simply doesn'...

Jealous Ones Envy

Joe Blanton continues to excel and prove his worth in the Phillies pitching rotation. In his latest outing on Sunday, Blanton threw 8 strong innings, striking out 6, while walking just 1 and surrendering 2 earned runs, improving his record to 7-4. This season in July, Joe is 3-0 over four starts with 22 K's, 5 walks and a 1.21 ERA. Over his last 6 starts, Joe's ERA is 1.94. As a member of the Phillies, Blanton has a 3.84 ERA after the all star break with a 5-0 record. The Phillies are 20-12 (.625 winning percentage) in games that Blanton has started, since being acquired last July. Combined this season against other National League playoff contenders St. Louis, Chicago and Los Angeles, Blanton has a combined 1.67 ERA in 4 starts with a 2-0 record. Blanton is on such a sizzling run that the Bowling Green Hot Rods, a Tampa Bay Rays farm team, will host a Joe Blanton bobble head give away tomorrow. Bowling Green will host Joe's mother, father and sister for the event, as Joe...

...Got My Learn On

The weekend is just about here, but it's not feeling great so far. My college hoops team lost, and my mail included a huge image of Mets star David Wright on the cover of The Sporting News. "All Wright"? Um, I don't really believe it is. Aside from the non-appealing cover, it's the MLB preview issue, so allow me to share some things I learned from this week's magazine. 1- Former Phillie, and regular Sporting News columnist, Todd Jones has gone insane. Jones predicts that Jamie Moyer will win the NL Cy Young Award, and that Manny Ramirez will run for governor of California after the Dodgers win the 2009 World Series. 2- Ichiro Suzuki rocks the party that rocks the body. Metropolitans reliever Francisco Rodriguez compares Jose Reyes to Ichiro, saying they do many of the same things. I must have missed Ichiro performing rehearsed celebratory hand jives after getting a hit or scoring a run in a losing effort. And I know I missed Ichiro getting caught cheating on...

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog