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Brundage Added to Winter Banquet Lineup

November 29, 2012
Newly named IronPigs manager Dave Brundage will join previously announced Guests of Honor Erik Kratz and Kevin Frandsen at the 2013 Phillies Winter Banquet presented by The Air Products Foundation, Coca-Cola and the Lehigh Valley Health Network to be held on January 24, 2013 at the brand-new Sands Events Center in Bethlehem. Additional guests, including Phillies personnel, will be announced in the near future.

Seat or table reservations are now on sale and available for purchase at IronPigsBaseball.com by calling (610) 841-PIGS (7447). Interested parties are reminded that seating is limited and the Phillies Winter Banquet has sold out in years past.

Last year's event raised over $35,000 for IronPigs Charities, a non-profit organization striving to provide educational and recreational opportunities for children in the Greater Lehigh Valley area.

The main program for Phillies Winter Banquet features players and personnel from the Philadelphia Phillies and includes a dinner and open bar, a sports memorabilia silent auction, raffles and an entertainment portion with the special Phillies guests. Tickets are $80 per person or $725 for a table of ten. Championship tables, allowing patrons entrance to a private pre-event reception are also available. The event will begin at 6 p.m. with a cocktail hour and commencement of the auctions and raffles.

Brundage, 48, was officially named manager of the IronPigs on Nov. 1, becoming just the third manager in the history of the franchise. He has posted an all-time managerial record of 1,085-1,026 (.514) in 2111 career games, including a 433-422 (.506) mark over six International League seasons.

Brundage - the only manager in the four-year history of the Gwinnett Braves -- is entering his 16th season as a minor league manager. Last season, he guided Atlanta's top affiliate to a 62-82 record, marking just the fifth time in 15 seasons his team finished below .500. Prior to that, the Portland, Ore., native had three successive winning seasons (231-198, .538) to start G-Braves history - including a playoff berth as the Wild Card in the G-Braves inaugural 2009 season.

Prior to Gwinnett's inception, seven of the 11 teams that Brundage managed advanced to post-season play and three of those squads won league championships. In fact, in his first year in the Atlanta system, he led the Richmond Braves to a 2007 I.L. Championship in defeating the Durham Bulls in five games (3-2).

During his playing days, Brundage was originally drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the fourth round of 1986 out of Oregon State University. After two seasons in the Phillies organization - including 14 games in Double-A Reading in 1987 -- he was traded to Seattle with RHP Mike Jackson and OF Glenn Wilson for OF Phil Bradley and LHP Tim Fortugno on Dec. 9, 1987. Over 10 minor league seasons (1986-1994, 1998), the 1B/OF batted .275-16-261 in 784 games while finishing 1-5, 3.83 ERA 41 G, 1 GS as a pitcher.

Brundage spent a bulk of his playing career in Triple-A, where he spent six seasons for the now-defunct Calgary Cannons (1989-1994). He remains the Cannons all-time leader in games played (354) and walks drawn (208), third in runs scored (196) and sixth in hits (302).

Brundage is one of the most decorated amateur athletes in Oregon state history. He graduated from McKay H.S. in Salem, where he earned All-State honors in football, basketball and baseball. Brundage also spent 11 years as a Golden Gloves boxer, during which time he defeated three future Olympic Gold Medalists. While at Oregon State, Brundage earned All-American honors as an outfielder in 1986 while serving as punter and backup quarterback for the Beavers football team.

The state-of-the-art Sands Bethlehem Events Center, a spacious 50,000 square foot venue, opened earlier this year on the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem campus and has already hosted a wide array of premier musical acts, comedians and sporting events. The events center is directly located adjacent to the Sands Hotel. Winter Banquet attendees may enter at any of the Sands Boulevard entrances off 3rd Street and follow the signs directing you to the rear of the hotel.

The Phillies Winter Banquet beneficiary, IronPigs Charities, is a recognized 501(c) (3) non-profit organization on the state and federal level. One of the annual highlights of the Winter Tour event is the distribution of grants to local non-profit organizations. In fact, over $200,000 has been distributed at this event since debuting in 2008. Since its inception in 2007, IronPigs Charities has made more than $475,000 in monetary contributions.

To renew or order season tickets, mini plans or group tickets for the 2013 IronPigs season presented by Capital BlueCross, call (610) 841-PIGS (7447) or visit Coca-Cola Park's ticket office during normal business hours.

The Lehigh Valley IronPigs are dedicated to providing family-friendly entertainment and are the only Minor League team to offer bubbles to fans entering the AT&T Plaza and balloons for all children exiting Coca-Cola Park.