Princeton Rays News & Notes As of November 9, 2009
*Looking for new P-Rays' souvenir gear with the onset of cooler temperatures? An ample supply of newly designed P-Rays' sweat shirts, hoodies, and tee shirts arrived in the souvenir stand at Hunnicutt Field recently. Be sure to be among the first to get these great new items! If you would like to place your order now, or just need more information, please contact the Princeton Rays front office either by e-mail at [email protected] or by telephone at (304) 487-2000. The Princeton Rays accept major credit cards. The artwork design for these "winter wear" items appears on the opening page of the P-Rays' website at www.princetonrays.net and be advised a big P-Rays' Christmas sale is on the way beginning the Saturday after Thanksgivng!
*The 2009 season saw former 1999 P-Ray outfielder Carl Crawford become only the sixth major league player in the last 20 years to have at least 60 stolen bases and 60 runs batted in during the same season. As for the others? Well, Carl joins this elite group (and the year they accomplished it): Rickey Henderson (1990), Marquis Grissom (1992), Kenny Lofton (1996), Jose Reyes (2006), and Jacoby Ellsbury (2009).
*Three former Princeton Rays are playing this fall in the prestigious Arizona Fall League. Two, catcher Nevin Ashley (2006) and shortstop Shawn O'Malley (2006), will be playing for the Phoenix Desert Dogs. One of their teammates on the Desert Dogs will be the much heralded pitcher Stephen Strasburg of the Washington Nationals organization, who was the number one overall pick in the 2009 major league baseball amateur draft. Through games of November 7, Ashley was fourth in the AFL hitting standings with a .381 average while O'Malley was also stinging the ball at a .333 clip. The other is infielder-turned-pitcher Travis Schlichting (2003), who will be on the mound staff of the Peoria Javelinas for the AFL season. Schlicting, a third baseman for the 2003 P-Rays, now plays in the Los Angeles Dodgers' organization and is still considered to be on the rise as a pitching prospect.
*A new fans' poll question was recently added to the opening page of the P-Rays' team website at www.princetonrays.net. Be sure to make your voice heard by participating and please visit our site often for more information on the P-Rays and the periodic addition of new poll questions that need your input.
*Once again, as in many of the most recent seasons, the Princeton Rays had a connection to major league postseason play for the 2009 campaign. Jason Hammel (2002) was the starting pitcher for the Colorado Rockies in game three of their National League Division Series versus the defending world champion Philadelphia Phillies. The only other former P-Ray having a chance to appear in postseason action was outfielder Rocco Baldelli (2000) of the Boston Red Sox, who was in line to be part of their roster for their series versus the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim before being shelved with a strained hip flexor injury.
*Although Paul Hoover (1997) was not added to the Phillies' postseason roster, he did send the defending world champions into the playoffs in a positive fashion by delivering the game-winning walk off RBI hit in the Phils regular season finale triumph over the Florida Marlins on Sunday, October 4.
*Players with Princeton ties were well represented during the Tampa Bay Rays' 2009 Fall Instructional League program. Instructional League, which is an annual occurence, took place in 2009 from September 12-October 9. The program is mostly geared toward players who might need to work on a particular facet of their game, as some makeup time for players that may have missed time during their respective seasons due to injury, or for players that TB feels could skip a level on the minor league ladder with the addition of some extra work. Games are played versus instructional teams from other major league organizations during this time period. There were 45 Rays' farmhands taking part and over half (23) has spent some time in Princeton. These players were pitchers Chris Andujar (2006-07), Nick Barnese (2007), Alexander Colome (2008), Joe Cruz (2007-08), Frank De Los Santos (2007), Hunter Hill (2009), Alex Koronis (2009), Kyle Lobstein (2008), Jason McEachern (2008-09), Matt Moore (2007-08), Wilking Rodriguez (2009), Zac Rosscup (2009), Trevor Shull (2008-09), and Scott Shuman (2009). Catchers taking part were Mayo Acosta (2007-08), Mark Thomas (2007), and Alejandro Torres (2009). Included in the infield corps were Tim Beckham (2008), Julio Cedeno (2009), and Elias Otero (2008). Rounding out the former Princeton players taking part were outfielders Brian Bryles (2008-09), Ty Morrison (2008-09), and Cody Rogers (2009).
*On October 16, the Tampa Bay Rays released 14 players from the organization. Eight of these players had Princeton ties and included Jordy Amargos (2008), Kevin Boggan (2007), Bladimir Florentino (2006), J.T. Hall (2004), Ryan Morse (2005-06), Ramon Novas (2008-09), Justin Reynolds (2007-08), and Juan Santana (2008).