Damon, Beltran, Greinke and Hosmer to be Honored in Blue Rocks 25th Season Bobblehead Set
Wilmington, DE -- The Wilmington Blue Rocks are planning a season of celebration for their fans in honor of 2017 being the franchise's 25th in existence. All winter long the Blue Rocks will be unveiling what they have in store for their silver anniversary season. Step one in that process came on Friday when the organization announced the four former players who will comprise the limited edition bobblehead set the Blue Crew will be distributing to fans in 2017. Wilmington alums Johnny Damon, Carlos Beltran, Zack Greinke and Eric Hosmer will all have their likeness distributed to fans before select games during the upcoming campaign.
The players were chosen via fan vote from a pool of nine nominees. Damon was the top vote-getter of a group that also included Mike Sweeney, Jacoby Ellsbury, Danny Duffy, Salvador Perez and Anibal Sanchez. One lucky fan who participated in the online election will be picked at random to receive the entire set before anyone else.
The four bobbleheads' platforms will interlock and piece together to form one unit. Specific dates for the bobbleheads will be released in February with the remainder of the team's promotional schedule.
Damon starred for the Blue Rocks in 1994, batting .316 while slugging 25 doubles and driving in 75 runs in 119 games. He went on to spend 18 years in the majors and became the first Wilmington alum to win a world championship with Boston in 2004. Beltran hit 16 home runs and drove in 98 runs during 172 combined games in 1997 and 1998 with the Rocks. He returned to Wilmington during a rehab stint in 2000. The Puerto Rico native has spent the last 18 seasons in the majors, splitting last season between the Yankees and Rangers. Greinke appeared in one game for the Rocks in 2002, before dominating on the Riverfront in 2003. He went 11-1 with a scant 1.14 ERA in 14 starts with Wilmington. The 2009 American League Cy Young winner spent last season pitching for the Diamondbacks. Hosmer debuted at Frawley Stadium as a teenager in 2009. He went on to win a Carolina League batting crown in 2010 and helped the Royals capture a world championship in 2015.
Season seats, mini plans and group packages for the upcoming campaign are on sale now. The team has also unveiled its annual holiday package which are available either online or at Quarry Team Store. For more information, please see the team's website at BlueRocks.com.