3rd Annual Lakewood @BlueClaws Outing (Thanks Herlis Rodriguez!)

2015 Chachi Almost #8

2015 Chachi Almost #9

2015 Chachi Special Edition #6

We made the hour-long trek to Lakewood last night for our third ever Lakewood BlueClaws game.  The BlueClaws play in the South Atlantic League, and they're the Low A affiliate of the Phillies.  Similar to the last two trips, we had an absolute blast and we're already talking about our next trip.

Our sons Doug and Ben both wanted team sets so that they could track down autographs of some of the BlueClaws players prior to the game.  Our biggest challenge was telling who was who on the BlueClaws roster since the team was wearing throw-back Piedmont Boll Weevils jerseys without names on the backs and several of the players were wearing different numbers than the uniform numbers on the 2015 team set or even in the game program.

2015 Choice Lakewood BlueClaws #18

2015 Choice Lakewood BlueClaws #11

2015 Choice Lakewood BlueClaws #35

2015 Choice Lakewood BlueClaws #31

Current year draft pick Kyle Martin (now wearing #27) politely handed back the Jason Zgardowski card the boys handed him to sign, since Zgardowski had worn #27 earlier in the season.  Ranfi Casimiro (who autographed a card for Doug last year) was wearing #55 last night, so we had him sign the team set header card not realizing that he normally wears #52 and he did in fact have a card in the team set.

The boys also got autographs from pitching coach Aaron Fultz (again) and local product Matt Hockenberry, as well as from Alexis Rivero.  And they were both handed baseballs by coach Nelson Prada in between innings.

2015 Choice Lakewood BlueClaws #3

2015 Choice Lakewood BlueClaws #19

2015 Choice Lakewood BlueClaws #30

But the highlight of the night was interacting with outfield prospect Herlis Rodriguez.  At the end of the top of every inning, Ben waited faithfully for Rodriguez to jog in from right field so that he could give his new favorite BlueClaws player a high five.  Rodriguez obliged each and every time and even reached in to give Ben a high five as the later innings drained Ben's energy and he slumped down into his seat.  Rodriguez is listed as #33 on the team's roster and his card in the team set has him wearing #33, but he was wearing #20 last night.  Ben has started to refer to Rodriguez as "my #20" and his new favorite player.

We were especially thrilled when Rodriguez had a walk-off, RBI infield hit in the bottom of the 10th to give the BlueClaws a 4-3 win.  (The complete game story can be found here.)  The boys have already started asking if we can go back again this summer, and I would say that's a definite possibility.  Thanks again to the BlueClaws and Herlis Rodriguez for a fun, memorable night!

Memory Lane
2013 BlueClaws Game
2014 BlueClaws Game

2nd Annual Lakewood BlueClaws Outing

2014 Brandt Lakewood
BlueClaws #5

Cardinals 6, Phillies 5 (12 Innings)
Game 129 - Saturday Night, August 23rd in Philadelphia
Record - 57-72, 5th Place, 17 1/2 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  The Phils fell in extra innings to the Cardinals, 6-5, after Marlon Byrd's big two-run single in the eighth tied up the game.

What It Means:  It means these losses are getting increasingly frustrating, and at least two Phillies (starting pitcher David Buchanan and left fielder Domonic Brown) were critical of manager Ryne Sandberg following the ballgame after both players deemed they were removed from the game prematurely.

What Happened:  Brown botched a couple of balls badly in the sixth, ultimately leading to three runs.  Buchanan was chased after five having thrown 90 pitches and allowed two runs on eight hits.  Daniel Descalso scored the Cardinals winning run in the 12th after Ken Giles began the inning by walking him.  Descalso came in to score on a Matt Carpenter sacrifice fly.

2014 Brandt Lakewood BlueClaws #3, #29, #31 and #4

Featured Cards/Field Report:  We missed the bulk of this game as we were taking in our second ever BlueClaws game in Lakewood, New Jersey.  The BlueClaws are the Phillies Low A team playing in the South Atlantic League.  We were once again able to get first row tickets right behind the BlueClaws bullpen, and my oldest son Doug spent the bulk of the hour leading up to the game tracking down autographs.

He got autographs from BlueClaws home run leader (and Phillies top prospect) Dylan Cozens along with catcher Willians Astudillo.  He also got autographs from former big leaguers Gregg Legg and Les Lancaster, both of whom were ejected in this game for arguing balls and strikes.

Our youngest son Ben was the recipient of a baseball when BlueClaws starting pitcher Ranfi Casimiro finished his pre-game warm-up, walked over to Ben and handed him his ball.  I wanted to include Casimiro's card in this post because his generosity was such an awesome gesture.  There were a ton of kids seeking autographs (and demanding baseballs) in our section and Casimiro made it a point to walk over to the youngest, quietest kid and hand him a ball.  Ben went to bed clutching both the baseball and his new BlueClaws giant foam finger.

It was a great night of baseball along with a fun night for our family, and we'll be back for another game (or two) in 2015.

Memory Lane
2013 BlueClaws Game