PhoulBallz.com

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 Blu...

New Chicago White Sox shortstop Omar Vizquel has contacted Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio and requested permission to wear his retired jersey number, 11. Vizquel, like Aparicio, is a native of Venezuela. Aparicio, also a shortstop, was the American League Rookie of the Year in 1956, a 10-time all star, a 9-time Gold Glove Award winner and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1984. Vizquel, an 11-time Gold Glove Award winner, has worn number 13 with other teams during his career, but in Chicago, that number belongs to manager Ozzie Guillen. The inquiry was made when Vizquel reached out to Aparicio, requesting his approval of an effort to honor the long retired legend. In a statement, Vizquel said, "For me, it's like a huge celebration, trying to keep his name alive and trying to spread the word of Venezuelan shortstops." Unfortunately, Vizquel couldn't be bothered to think of another more proper way to pay homage to those that came before him and Aparicio couldn't fi...