JERSEY SHORE – Spring is in the air and opening night for the Jersey Shore BlueClaws has the team in full action at the ShoreTown Ballpark in Lakewood for another exciting season.
The BlueClaws are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. They face off against the Aberdeen IronBirds in a home game on April 5.
A few days earlier, BlueClaws General Manager Bob McLane and Vice President of Communications Greg Giombarrese hosted a pre-season kickoff event to showcase what was in store for fans and visitors this spring and summer.
Tours were conducted for visitors throughout the day and BlueClaws Director of Partnership Services Zack Nicol, Sr. was busy providing one to a family who got an overview of the field from one of the 16 luxury suites.
“This is a nice first look at the ballpark. I think there was 5,800 and something seats here. There are also picnic areas and our party decks. We got new ownership in 2018 so we have a whole lot of new stuff here,” he said.
Nicol added, “we have a nine-hole mini-golf course at right field. I can’t name any other team that has that so that is pretty cool. Center field has trailers that open up to be boardwalk games – hoop shots, balloon darts, and ring toss. We have some inflatable attractions as well. That is our kid’s area.”
He noted the adult area includes “our sand bar where we have our thirsty Thursdays and summer concert series. This is a really cool ball park. When you come to a game, make sure you check out all the places. There is so much going on here that people aren’t sitting in their seats as much.”
Nicol said that “we started revamping these luxury suites and we are looking to revamp all of them in the next handful of years. They hold typically between 20 to 25 people. You have the outdoor and indoor seating so this is great if it is raining or cool. There is a TV in here, you can do your own catering, you have your own suite server. Depending on the time of year you’re looking at between $600 to $800 range to rent it out for a game.”
Several youngsters take a glimpse of the ShoreTown Ball Park. (Photo by Bob Vosseller)
Another recent addition is a shore themed bar and food area inside the stadium near the entry areas for the luxury suites.
Giombarrese shared a fun fact, “we’ve had 807 players play for the BlueClaws. Our oldest player was a 30-year-old and our youngest was 19. We have had 123 players who have made it to the pros; we just had one do it two days ago.”
He told Jersey Shore Online.com that among the special events that the park offers, “we have this program (Veterans Night Out) where we collect names of fallen military heroes and then for our Military Appreciation Night game in July, these heroes’ names are placed on the back of jerseys worn by BlueClaws players. Then after the game, the jerseys are presented to the families of the fallen heroes in a very moving ceremony.”
McLane said “we have a similar program that honors first responders as well. Our Kid’s Night Out program is similar in nature to our Vets Night Out program, but serves underserved youth throughout Monmouth and Ocean counties. We want to make sure that people that don’t normally have the ability to come to the ball park and enjoy all the fun things that others do to come out and give them a taste of what we have going on.”
“They coincide with our Medusa games through the co-initiative of minor league baseball and there are three of them on the calendar this year,” McLane added.
Photo courtesy Jersey Shore BlueClaws
He stressed that the environment he wants to promote is “family friendly and fun atmosphere. We specialize in the three-to-four-hour vacation so that families can come to the ball park right in their back yard, forget about life for a little bit and give everybody the opportunity to come to ShoreTown and not worry about the outside world.”
When asked if the team has a slogan, McLane noted that the original slogan was “great family entertainment just got closer to home.” He said that “Greg (Giombarrese) and I have been talking about this, not that we have one for this season but we are really leaning into the idea that ‘ShoreTown is your town.’”
He added this came “with the idea that we went through the rebrand (from the Lakewood BlueClaws to the Jersey Shore BlueClaws) and the purpose was to really re-enforce the fact that we are that regional brand.”
“We are our own little beach town here in Lakewood and letting people know that it doesn’t matter where you are from, this is the place you can call home and it’s yours,” McLane added.
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