Mike Sarbaugh to be crowned 2017 King of Baseballtown
Mike Sarbaugh, current third-base coach for the 2016 American League Champion Cleveland Indians, will be crowned the 2017 King of Baseballtown at the ALL NEW Phillies Caravan on Tuesday, January 17th at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Special guests from the Phillies organization are expected to be announced at a later date.
The all new Phillies Caravan, "Not Your Father's Chicken Dinner Banquet…This is a Baseball Celebration!" is an exciting new format sure to excite hard-core baseball fans, Phillies fans, families and community-minded citizens of Baseballtown. The 2017 Baseballtown Caravan and Phillies Winter Tour, presented by the Baseballtown Charities, will help benefit the brand new Baseballtown Dream League project of building a field for children with developmental and physical challenges that could otherwise not play the game of baseball.
The program will not only include the crowning of Mike Sarbaugh as the 2017 King of Baseballtown, but will also include: a family-friendly cocktail party from 5:30 until 7:00 pm, with an opportunity to meet new Reading Fightin Phils manager Greg Legg and other Baseballtown figures. Great food will be served that will include a Slider Bar, a French Fry Bar, and more!
Individual tickets are $25. Tickets are $20 when you purchase ten or more tickets. Doors open at 5:30 pm and the program gets underway at 7:00 pm. The event will include 2017 Philadelphia Phillies players, coaches and front office staff members that will speak to the crowd and answer questions about the 2017 Philadelphia Phillies.
The event will also feature an auction featuring sports collectibles and other items, raffles, highlight videos, and more. There will be an update on the Baseballtown Charities Dream League Project as well.
Sarbaugh signed with the Milwaukee Brewers as a non-drafted free agent infielder out of Lamar University in 1989. He played six seasons of professional baseball, the last five as a member of the Indians organization. He posted a career batting average of .265 and logged four innings as a pitcher in the minor leagues where he did not allow a run.
The Shillington, PA native and Donegal High School graduate of 1985 managed the Akron Aeros back in 2008 and 2009. He guided the Aeros to a second-place finish in 2008 and defeated the Bowie Baysox (3-1) in the first round of the playoffs before losing to the Trenton Thunder (3-1) in the Eastern League Championship Series. He earned Eastern League Manager of the Year in 2009 and led the Aeros to a first-place finish. Akron swept Reading (3-0) in the first round of the playoffs then defeated Connecticut (3-1) in the Eastern League Championship Series. He also managed the Southern Division Team in the Eastern League All-Star game in both 2008 and 2009.
He also managed the Triple-A Columbus Clippers over three seasons from 2010-2012. He led the Clippers to the International League and Triple-A championships in back-to-back seasons of 2010 and 2011. He was named the International League Manager of the Year in 2011, Baseball America Manger of the Year in 2010 and was a coach for the 2010 XM All-Star Futures Game.
During his nine seasons (since 2004) leading Cleveland Minor League affiliates, Sarbaugh's teams compiled winning records in each campaign, captured five league titles and qualified for the postseason seven times on his way to a career Minor League managerial mark of 697-511 (.577). He was named Carolina League Manager of the Year in 2007 after leading Kinston to both the first and second half Carolina League Southern Division titles, one year removed from the 2006 Carolina League title with Kinston. He guided Mahoning Valley to the New York-Penn League Championship in 2004.
Sarbaugh has been a member of the Indians organization since 1990 as a minor league player, coach, manager and is beginning his fifth season on the major league staff as their third base coach. He has a degree in kinesiology from Lamar University and made an appearance in Major League II portraying a shortstop.
Those who wish to attend can call 610-370-BALL to purchase tickets or go online at fightinphils.tix.milbstore.com.
Season tickets for the 2017 season are available online at Fightins.com, by phone at 610-370-BALL, and in-person at FirstEnergy Stadium. Follow the Fightin Phils on Twitter at @ReadingFightins and like them on Facebook via www.facebook.com/fightins.