Lakewood BlueClaws

The Lakewood BlueClaws are a Minor League Baseball team based in Lakewood, New Jersey. They are affiliated with the Philadelphia Phillies are a member of the Class A South Atlantic League. Their home field is FirstEnergy Park.

Lakewood BlueClaws
Founded in 2001
Lakewood, New Jersey
Team logoCap insignia
Minor league affiliations
ClassSingle-A
LeagueSouth Atlantic League
DivisionNorthern Division
Major league affiliations
TeamPhiladelphia Phillies (2001–present)
Previous teams
Minor league titles
League titles (3)
  • 2006
  • 2009
  • 2010
Division titles (5)
  • 2006
  • 2009
  • 2010
  • 2016
  • 2018
Team data
Nickname
  • Lakewood BlueClaws (2001–present)
ColorsNavy blue, red, white, blue
                   
BallparkFirstEnergy Park (2001–present)
Owner(s)/
Operator(s)
Shore Town Baseball[1]
ManagerChris Adamson
General ManagerJoe Ricciutti

History

The BlueClaws moved to Lakewood from Fayetteville, North Carolina, where they had been known as the Fayetteville Generals and later as the Cape Fear Crocs. Their first season in Lakewood was 2001. The Phillies' previous South Atlantic League affiliate was based in Kannapolis, North Carolina, and known as the Piedmont Boll Weevils from 1995 to 2000 (the team is now known as the Kannapolis Intimidators). Prior to that, the team was based in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Fan support

Since their arrival in New Jersey, the BlueClaws have been a success at the gate. In each of their first five seasons, they averaged over 6,500 fans per game. On August 26, 2002, in a game against the Hickory Crawdads which the BlueClaws won 3–0, attendance was a South Atlantic League record 13,003. The BlueClaws have led the South Atlantic League in either average or total attendance every year, and became the fastest team in South Atlantic League history to reach the 2 and 3 million fan attendance mark. On August 24, 2009, Phillies pitcher Brett Myers threw a scoreless inning in a rehab assignment on the same day a seven-year-old from Toms River, New Jersey became the 4 millionth fan in team history. This box office success comes in the absence of great success on the field. In their first five seasons, the BlueClaws failed to qualify for the playoffs. Their overall record topped the .500 mark for the first time in 2004. All told, in their first eight seasons, the BlueClaws topped 10,000 fans at a game three times, most recently in 2010 when they retired Ryan Howard's #29.

Other developments

On September 1, 2004, Ryan Howard became the first former BlueClaw to play in the major leagues, playing first base for the Phillies in a 7–2 loss to the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Park. He played for the BlueClaws in the 2002 season. In 2005, he was named the National League Rookie of the Year, and in 2006 he was named the National League Most Valuable Player. In May 2007, while on the 15-day disabled list, Ryan Howard played two rehab games with the BlueClaws after suffering a hamstring injury. Each game drew over 8,000 fans and helped push the BlueClaws to a new team attendance record for the month of May.

The 2008 World Champion Philadelphia Phillies featured several former BlueClaws on their roster. Former NL MVP Ryan Howard was with the BlueClaws in 2002. World Series MVP Cole Hamels was with Lakewood in 2003, and starting catcher Carlos Ruiz was a member of the original Lakewood BlueClaws roster, in 2001.

The team offers a post-game fireworks show after every Friday home game, and at the ballpark, and seniors eat free every Thursday night. Thursday nights are "Thirsty Thursdays", with dollar Coors Light and soda, 50 cent wings and live music all night.

During the 2009 season, the BlueClaws announced that the team would adopt a new logo, color scheme, and uniforms for the 2010 season.

Records

Season records
SeasonAffiliationManagerFirst Half RecordSecond Half Record
2001PhilliesGreg Legg28–42, 7th place North32–37, 5th place North
2002PhilliesJeff Manto33–36, 6th place North36–34, 5th place North
2003PhilliesBuddy Biancalana22–47, 8th place North35–34, 3rd place North
2004PhilliesP. J. Forbes31–36, 7th place North39–30, 3rd place North
2005PhilliesP. J. Forbes25–45, 6th place North31–38, 7th place North
2006PhilliesDave Huppert37–32, 4th place North47–23, 1st place North
2007PhilliesSteve Roadcap33–32, 3rd place North36–33, 2nd place North
2008PhilliesSteve Roadcap38–32, 3rd place North42–28, 2nd place North
2009PhilliesDusty Wathan42–26, 1st place North36–32, 4th place North
2010PhilliesMark Parent42–28, 1st place North42–27, 1st place North
2011PhilliesChris Truby33–35, 7th place North35–34, 5th place North
2012PhilliesMickey Morandini26–43, 6th place North36–33, 4th place North
2013PhilliesMickey Morandini26–41, 7th place North 30–39, 6th place North
2014 Phillies Greg Legg 27–42, 6th place North 26–42, 7th place North
2015 Phillies Shawn Williams 33–35, 6th place North 40–30, 2nd place North
2016 Phillies Shawn Williams 29–40, 6th place North 45-25, 1st place North
2017 Phillies Marty Malloy 40-30, 2nd place North 33-36, 5th place North
2018 Phillies Marty Malloy 41-28, 1st place North 46-23, 1st place North
2019 Phillies Mike Micucci 29-41,6th place North

Post-Season Records

The BlueClaws won the 2006 South Atlantic League Championship on September 15, first defeating the Lexington Legends in the Northern division final, two games to none, then defeating the Augusta GreenJackets in a dramatic 5–0 victory, winning the championship series three games to one.

In 2009, the BlueClaws won the South Atlantic League Championship by first defeating the Kannapolis Intimidators 9–0 and winning the series by two games to none in the Northern Division final. In the championship round, the Blue Claws defeated the Greenville Drive 5–1 in game four and then taking the series three games to one.

In 2010, the BlueClaws won both halves of the season. They became the first team to do so and win the championship, defeating Hickory 2 games to 1 in the Northern Division Final and the Greenville Drive 3 games to 1 in a rematch series.

In 2016, the BlueClaws opened the first half of the season in 6th place of the Northern Division but rallied in the second half to take the second half crown. The BlueClaws then defeated the Hagerstown Suns 2 games to 0 but fell in the SAL final series 3 games to 1 versus the Rome Braves.

Notable alumni

Retired Numbers

Cole Hamels' #19 and Ryan Howard's #29 have been retired by the BlueClaws.

Ownership

The team originally belonged to New-Jersey-born Joe Plumeri and Joe Finley brothers also owners of the Trenton Thunder.[2][3][4] The team was sold to the Shore Town Baseball group in July 2017. The new owners includes Minor League Baseball veteran and former Mandalay Baseball Properties CEO Art Matin, as well as local investors Bob Tamashunas and Bill Luby.[5][6]

Roster
Lakewood BlueClaws roster
Players Coaches/Other

Pitchers

  • 55 Albertus Barber
  • 54 Ben Brown
  • -- Jonas De La Cruz
  • 15 Rafi Gonell
  • 34 Kevin Gowdy
  • 11 Josh Hendrickson
  • 44 Taylor Lehman
  • 11 Tyler McKay
  • 30 Jhordany Mezquita
  • 54 Erik Miller
  • 57 Francisco Morales
  • 10 Dominic Pipkin
  • 36 Mark Potter
  • 12 Victor Santos
  • 23 Andrew Schultz
  • 14 Manuel Silva
  • 26 Tom Sutera
  • 25 Gilmael Troya

Catchers

  • 18 Juan Aparicio
  • 31 Abrahan Gutierrez

Infielders

  •  3 Luis Garcia
  •  4 Jonathan Guzman
  • 21 Seth Lancaster
  •  7 Cole Stobbe
  •  9 Hunter Stovall
  • 28 McCarthy Tatum

Outfielders

  • 27 Carlos De La Cruz
  • 33 Malvin Matos
  • 17 Ben Pelletier
  •  5 Yerwin Trejo

Manager

  • -- Chris Adamson

Coaches

  • 32 Matt Hockenberry (pitching)
  • 24 Christian Marrero (hitting)


7-day injured list
* On Philadelphia Phillies 40-man roster
# Rehab assignment
∞ Reserve list
‡ Restricted list
§ Suspended list
† Temporary inactive list
Roster updated February 16, 2020
 Transactions
→ More rosters: MiLB • South Atlantic League
 → Philadelphia Phillies minor league players

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References
  1. Reichard, Kevin (July 27, 2017). "Shore Town Baseball Acquires Lakewood BlueClaws Operating Interest". Ballpark Digest. August Publications. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  2. "Board of Directors". willis.com. Retrieved July 15, 2010.
  3. Dave Fairbank (March 21, 2009). "Plumeri warmly reflects on decade". Daily Press. Retrieved July 15, 2010.
  4. Gregory J. Volpe (July 24, 2000). "In Lakewood, They're Coming Before its Built". The Press of Atlantic City. Retrieved July 16, 2010.
  5. "BlueClaws: New owners Shore Town Baseball has local ties and big ideas". Asbury Park Press.
  6. "About the BlueClaws - Lakewood BlueClaws About Us". Lakewood BlueClaws.
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