2007 Altoona Curve Media & Information Guide
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20072007 ALTOONA CURVE MEDIA & INFORMATION GUIDE TABLE OF CONTENTS JOHN H. JOHNSON PRESIDENT’S TROPHY...... 3 CURVE BASEBALL LP.................................... 4 CURVE DIRECTORY........................................ 5 EXECUTIVE BIOS....................................... 6-7 2007 ALTOONA CURVE............................. 9-73 Coaching Staff Profiles......................... 10-11 Player Bios.......................................... 13-73 2006 SEASON IN REVIEW..................... 75-81 Day-by-Day Results............................... 76-77 2006 Record Breakdown............................ 78 Individual Statistics..................................... 79 Transactions........................................ 80-81 CURVE HISTORY & RECORDS................. 83-102 Franchise History.................................. 84-85 Year-by-Year Results/Post-Season Results..... 86 Year-by-Year Team Leaders........................ 87 The 2007 Altoona Curve Media & Information Guide is a Year-by-Year Record Breakdown................. 88 publication of the Curve Baseball LP Media Relations From Altoona to “The Show”..................... 89 Department. All information current as of March 23, 2007. All-Time Roster..................................... 90-92 This publication was researched and written by Jason Retired Number: Adam Hyzdu..................... 93 Dambach, Billy Harner and Jon Laaser of the Curve All-Time Records.................................. 94-99 Baseball LP Media Relations Department. Layout, design and editing by Jason Dambach. Back cover Single-Season Top 5 Category Leaders........ 100 design by Nathan Wygonik of Gazette Printers. Career Top 5 Category Leaders................. 101 Photos used in this publication provided in part by Opening Day Lineups/All-Stars/MVPs.......... 102 Pittsburgh Pirates’ Team Photographer Dave Arrigo, Kim THE EASTERN LEAGUE...................... 103-113 Lloyd and J.D. Cavrich. Eastern League Information...................... 104 Statistical information provided in part by Major League 2007 E.L. Umpires/Mileage Chart............... 105 Baseball Advanced Media (MLBAM), 75 Ninth Avenue, 2006 Eastern League Review.............. 106-107 5th Floor, New York, NY 10011. 2007 Curve Opponents..................... 108-113 Printed by Gazette Printers, 775 Indian Springs Road, PIRATES ORGANIZATION.................... 115-129 Indiana, PA 15701, (724) 349-3434. Pirates Directory...................................... 116 2007 Pirates 40-man Roster....................... 117 Special thanks to Jim Trdinich and Dan Hart of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Media Relations Department, Bryan 2006 Organizational Leaders/Summary........ 118 Minniti and Diane DePasquale of the Pirates’ Baseball Recent Top 10 Draft Selections.................. 119 Operations staff, Jon Schaeffer of the Lynchburg Hillcats, Pirates Affiliates................................ 120-129 Cory Giger of the Altoona Mirror and John Perrotto of the Beaver County Times and Baseball America. GENERAL INFORMATION..................... 131-139 Curve Attendance............................. 132-133 Further information on the 2007 Altoona Curve is Blair County Ballpark................................. 134 available through the Curve Media Relations Department by calling (814) 943-5400 x194 or by visiting Curve Ticket Information.......................... 135 www.altoonacurve.com. 2007 Curve Radio Network........................ 136 Directions/Pre-Game Schedule/Etc............. 137 © 2007 Curve Baseball LP Medical Glossary................................ 138-139 WWW.ALTOONACURVE.COM 1 UPMC AD ***Ad located in “2007 MEDIA GUIDE ADS” folder 2 2007 ALTOONA CURVE MEDIA & INFORMATION GUIDE JOHN H. JOHNSON TROPHY AN AWARD-WINNING 2006 SEASON! Curve Earns John H. Johnson President’s Trophy as Top Minor League Franchise Just nine years after unexpectedly landing an Eastern League expansion franchise and bringing Double-A baseball to Central and Western Pennsylvania, the Altoona Curve were honored as Minor League Baseball’s top franchise by winning the prestigious John H. Johnson President’s Trophy following the 2006 season. The John H. Johnson President’s Trophy is the top honor awarded by Minor League Baseball to one of its 176 member clubs in 15 leagues across the United States and Canada. The categories taken into consideration when selecting the Curve as last year’s winner included contributions to the baseball industry, contributions to the local community, long-term franchise stability, the financial success of the operation and promotion of Minor League Baseball. Curve President & Managing Partner Chuck Greenberg, General Manager Todd Parnell and other members of the franchise’s front office staff were presented with the President’s Trophy on Thursday, December 7th at Minor League Baseball’s annual awards banquet as part of the Baseball Winter Meetings in Orlando, FL. The trophy will be on display inside the Curve offices at Blair County Ballpark throughout the 2007 baseball season. The announcement of the Curve winning the 2006 John H. Johnson President’s Trophy means that the franchise has won the three most significant awards that an affiliated minor league baseball club can receive—the President’s Trophy, the Larry MacPhail Promotional Trophy and Baseball America’s Bob Freitas Award—within just two years. Earlier in the off-season, Baseball America awarded the Curve a Freitas Award as the top Double-A franchise for the 2006 season. In the Fall of 2004, Altoona was honored by Minor League Baseball with its first major award, when the franchise received the Larry MacPhail Trophy for top promotional effort, both on and off the field, among all minor league clubs. Altoona is only the 11th franchise to receive all three awards, and is believed to be the first team to do so in less than three years. By comparison, the Eastern League’s Reading Phillies received all three honors in a four-year span from 1999-03, while the league’s other trifecta winner, the Trenton Thunder, accomplished the feat in seven years (1998-05). Established in 1999, the Curve have quickly become a success story, not only at the ballpark turnstiles, but in the community and throughout the baseball industry. In addition to drawing nearly 3 million fans to Blair County Ballpark in just eight seasons, the Curve have established themselves in Central and Western Pennsylvania as “Everybody’s Hometown Team”, a slogan which symbolizes the club’s commitment to reaching out to residents from as far as two hours away from Altoona, not only in an effort to bring them to the ballpark, but to promote the Curve and Minor League Baseball as a fun, affordable family entertainment option and to make a difference in each individual community. In 2006, the Curve franchise played host to the successful Eastern League All-Star Game, which drew a record crowd of 9,308 to 7,200-seat Blair County Ballpark. Just two weeks earlier, each member of the Altoona front office staff helped usher in the inaugural season of the Curve’s sister franchise, the New York-Penn League’s State College Spikes. The club also renewed its long-time affiliation with the Pittsburgh Pirates through at least the 2010 season, continuing one of the strongest partnerships between a minor league club and major league affiliate in all of baseball. The Curve also continued to build upon their reputation as one of the top franchises in Minor League Baseball at bringing fans fresh and innovative nightly and season-long promotions and quality in-game entertainment. The club’s “Retro Celebrity Series” was the highlight of the 2006 promotional calendar and featured appearances from 11 well-known stars from some of the best shows in television history, such as Erik Estrada, Sherman Hemsley, Jerry Mathers, Jamie Farr, Dawn Wells and Jimmie Walker. The Curve’s brand-new 1,000 square foot video board, privately financed by the club’s ownership group prior to the season, gave the franchise one of the largest video boards in Minor League Baseball and further enhanced the already amazing fan experience at Blair County Ballpark. WWW.ALTOONACURVE.COM 3 CURVE BASEBALL LP The Altoona Curve’s ownership group, Curve Baseball LP, was formed by Chuck Greenberg and a group of investors who agreed to purchase the Double-A Eastern League club from Robert F. Lozinak and Tate DeWeese on October 17, 2001. The final sale of the club was approved in March 2002 and Greenberg became President and Managing Partner. Curve Baseball LP’s limited partners include prominent local businessmen Steve Sheetz and Donald Devorris as well as well-known Pittsburgh sports icons, Jerome Bettis and Mario Lemieux. Bettis and Lemieux have each embraced their involvement with the Curve, having each made trips to Blair County Ballpark and having their likenesses used by the club on popular giveaway items, such as bobblehead dolls. Ironically, both Bettis and Lemieux announced their retirements from the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pittsburgh Penguins, respectively, within a one-week span in February 2006. Since taking over ownership of the Curve in 2002, the group has invested heavily in capital improvements to Blair County Ballpark, which already was considered one of the finest minor league baseball facilities in the country. In 2003, Curve Baseball LP spent over $1 million on the addition of a new third-base Picnic Pavilion, left-field Party Deck and an outfield bleacher section to increase the seating capacity of the ballpark from 6,176 to 7,210. For the 2006 season, the group spent another $1