Recently, my roommate Sean’s younger sister Megan was honored for her academic achievement at a Lakewood Blueclaws game, and with his parents being the wonderful people they are, got me a ticket to tag along, well aware of my love of baseball and the Phillies (with whom the Blueclaws are the A affiliate). Imagine my excitement when I realized it was a doubleheader against none other the Mets minor league affiliate the Savannah Sand Gnats. Even if it’s their minor league players, I always appreciate an opportunity to see my beloved Phillies get a win against the Mets, the team Sean and his family support. Sadly that wasn’t the outcome, with the Blueclaws losing both games by a combined score of 14-3.

But it isn’t an entirely unexpected result; the Blueclaws are dead last in the South Atlantic League Northern standings with a measly 6 wins, while the Sand Gnats are leading the Southern Atlantic League Southern with 14 wins. One bright spot for the Blueclaws is catcher Willians Astudillo, who is currently has the highest batting average in all of the South Atlantic League a stellar .400. While it’s more than likely just be an early season anomaly, it can’t hurt to lift the spirits of the struggling team. Considering he isn’t even on the Phillies top 20 prospect list, it’s pretty safe to assume something that won’t continue, but I’m glad I got to enjoy the hot streak in the moment.

JP Crawford Doing His Thing

One of the many reasons I was excited to go to a minor league game was the fact that’s number of top Phillies (and Mets) prospects would be playing, including the Phillies 2013 first round draft pick JP Crawford. Hailed as the second coming of Jimmy Rollins, one of the all time great Phillies, having Crawford reach anywhere near that production would be a huge to the franchise. Expected to reach the majors in 2017, he is currently ranked as the #3 prospect in the Phillies organization. He had a decent night, going 3 for 5 between the two games with 1 run scored. I was recently reading an article that says Crawford is well on his way to becoming the Phillies shortstop of the future, and at only 19 years old, he has plenty of time to make an impact.

Connor and I

As far as stadiums go, FirstEnergy Park (not to be confused with FirstEngery Stadium, home of the AA Fightin Phils), the Blueclaws home-field, was more than impressive. One thing the Blueclaws try to play into is the fact they are the team of the Jersey Shore, so they placed iconic lifeguard stands in the outfield of the stadium (pictured above). I even got a picture with their mascot (pictured below). Sadly, the regularly scheduled Friday night fireworks had to be canceled due to the weather that was moving in around 10, but they more than made up for it giving us a pair of free tickets to any game later this season; classy move on their part.

Couldn’t Pass Up an Opportunity with a New Era Sign

This particular cap is their at standard home-field cap and was used for the first game of the doubleheader. I got this awhile back on account that the Blueclaws are one of only two minor league teams in New Jersey, with the other being AA Trenton Thunder, who are affiliated with the New York Yankees. I also picked up another cap from their appropriate named team store, the “Claws Cove” which features a similar logo except the crab is batting rather than throwing, which will certainly be written about in due time.

Once again, a big thanks to Sean and his family for letting me tag along on an awesome day, and specifically to his little sister Megan for her academic achievement award, since we wouldn’t have gone to the game without her. I will be back at the FirstEnergy Park on August 4th for Darin Ruf’s Bobblehead night, and I simply cannot wait.

From Left to Right: Connor, Sean and Me

Me, Sean and Two Mets Fans who Wanted to Photobomb

Me and the Blueclaws’ Mascot, Buster