MISSOULA, MONT - The Missoula Osprey in conjunction with the Pioneer League announced today that the Osprey were selected as the 2009 John H. Johnson Presidential Trophy nominee from the Pioneer League. The nomination came at the conclusion of the Pioneer League's Annual Fall Meeting held at the Holiday Inn in Helena over the weekend.The Presidential Trophy is awarded annually by Minor League Baseball to the franchise that best exemplifies the standards of the complete baseball franchise. To many baseball operators, the John H. Johnson Presidential Trophy is considered to be the equivalent of the Heisman Trophy of Minor League Baseball.
Criteria for the award includes, but is not limited to the Osprey's contribution to the baseball industry, the Osprey's contribution to the community, long-term franchise stability and promotion of the baseball industry as a whole.
The Osprey will compete against 14 other league winners for the national award, which will be announced during the 2009 Baseball Winter Meetings in Indianapolis this December.
The 2009 season was a wild run that saw the Missoula Osprey finish one win away from their third Pioneer League title since the franchise moved to Missoula in 1999. More people watched the Osprey play this season than in any other year. In 41 home games, 91,062 fans came to watch the Osprey play for an average of 2,221 per game. 85,034 fans saw the Osprey play during the regular season, the second highest total in team history (86,881 - 2007).
The regular season attendance record that was set in 2007 followed a Pioneer League Championship and was the club's first season playing in a completed Ogren Park Allegiance Field. That year, Baseball America named the Osprey the top operation in all of Short-Season Minor League Baseball presenting the club with the Bob Freitas Award.
The Osprey make it a point to use the popularity of professional baseball to benefit the Missoula community whenever possible. Whether it is a reading program, player appearance, staff More Cont'd involvement in non-profits, ticket donations, or anything community related, the Osprey help make Missoula a better place to live.
The Osprey's "Hit the Books," a six-week incentive based goal setting reading program that is recognized as one of the best in all of professional baseball. Over 5,000 students representing nearly 200 classrooms from 30 elementary schools read over 50,000 books during the 2009 program. The Osprey awarded over $100,000 in prizes including tickets to designated games, school supplies (pencils, rulers, pencil pouches, erasers) and "Hit the Books" exclusive autograph sessions with Osprey players. The ownership of the Osprey are committed to literacy and have promoted a similar program for the past 18 years.
A common theme throughout Minor League Baseball is fun and innovative promotions and the Missoula Osprey introduced a new promotion exclusive to their season ticket holders in 2009, "Free Popcorn and Soda". With the economy being what it was, the Osprey wanted to give back to their most loyal customers and thank them for purchasing their season tickets. For every season seat that was purchased in 2009, the Osprey season ticket holder received a book of 38 vouchers good for one free popcorn and one free regular soda at each of the 38 regular season home games.
The Osprey recognize the impact that non-profit groups have in Missoula by donating 20 reserved tickets to each of their 38 home games to such an organization. The Osprey also donate 20 tickets to every home game to a youth sports team that is recognized on the field with the Missoula Osprey starting lineup.
Non-profit groups also have the opportunity to raise funds through Osprey baseball. Ticket fundraisers are popular for non-profit groups, youth sports organizations, boy scouts, and school fieldtrips, while the ever-popular nightly 50/50 drawings allowed 20 different non-profit groups to raise money in 2009. The Osprey treat these groups like businesses, which allow the non-profits to be successful. It is not uncommon to see a set of Osprey tickets and/or a memorabilia item up for auction at a local fundraiser. The Osprey focus their donations to the Western Montana region to impact those within their local communities.
With eight full-time staff members, the Osprey boast one of the larger full-time front office staffs in relation to their market size and short-season status.
Osprey President Mike Ellis has served on the Board of Trustees and is currently on the National Marketing Committee for Minor League Baseball.
Matt Ellis has won the Executive of the Year Award in the Pioneer League three times (Lethbridge 1994, Missoula 2002 and 2007) and once in the California League (Lancaster 1996).
Being named Executive of the Year, runs in the Ellis family. In 1999, Osprey Vice President, Judy Ellis, was named the Pioneer League's Female Executive of the Year. She went on and was selected on a national scale as the national Rawlings Female Executive of the Year for all of Major and Minor League Baseball. Most recently, Matt's wife Shelly was named the Pioneer League's Female Executive of the Year in 2005.
Jared Amoss and Jeff Griffin were named Co-General Managers following the 2008 season. Amoss has been with the Osprey since their inaugural season in 1999 and Griffin joined the staff More Cont'd in 2005. Amoss and Griffin share the Osprey's vision of long-term involvement in the community.
The Osprey's commitment to a significant full-time staff for the betterment of its product and the community also holds true for improving fan experience and the local economy. The club employed over 130 hourly day-of-game staff members in 2009.
The relationship between the Osprey and the Arizona Diamondbacks, the only affiliate that the franchise has known, continues to be strong. The Osprey have 27 alumni with Major League Baseball experience.
The Osprey were nominated for the Larry MacPhail Promotional Trophy in 2006.
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