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Shorebirds Game Notes: Vs. Greenboro Grasshoppers

April 7, 2011 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Delmarva Shorebirds News Release


Greensboro Grasshoppers (0-0) @ Delmarva Shorebirds (0-0)

April 7, 2011 | Arthur W. Perdue Stadium | 7:05 p.m.

Series: Game 1 of 4

Radio Broadcast: 960 The Sports Animal | www.960thesportsanimal.com

OPENING NIGHT 2011 - Magnet Schedule Giveaway presented by Fulton Bank, former Orioles catcher Chris Hoiles appearance and Thirsty Thursday.

PREVIEW: The Shorebirds open the 2011 season at Perdue Stadium with a four-game series against the Florida Marlins affiliate, Greensboro. The Shorebirds are looking to record after back-to-back sub .500 seasons. The Shorebirds went 59-81 last year under first year manager Ryan Minor. The Shorebirds will play their first eight games of the 2011 season at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium.

16TH SEASON OF BASEBALL: 2011 marks the 16th season of the Delmarva Shorebirds franchise and the 15th as a Baltimore Orioles affiliate. The Shorebirds were a Montreal Expos affiliate during the inaugural 1996 season before becoming an Orioles farm team in 1997. The Shorebirds have captured two league titles, in 1997 and 2000. The Shorebirds have compiled a franchise record of 1053-1030 since day one. In addition, club has posted winning seasons in seven of the 15 years.

PLAYOFF DROUGHT: The Shorebirds have missed the SAL playoffs in each of the last five seasons. The 2005 squad, led by Jason Fransz, is the last Shorebirds team to make the SAL playoffs. They lost to the Hagerstown Suns (2 games to 1) in the Division Championship Series.

PROSPECT LADEN: The 2011 Shorebirds roster features four players on Baseball America's list of the top 30 prospects in the Orioles farm system; Manny Machado (1), Mychal Givens (7), Jonathan Schoop (10) and Trent Mummey (16).

LOTS OF RETURNERS: The Shorebirds roster currently features 14 players that played in at least one game last season. Five returning position players totaled at least 100 at-bats last season; Ty Kelly (487), Brian Conley (337), Justin Dalles (168), Michael Ohlman (109) and Mike Flacco (102). David Walters and Luis Noel are the two returning pitchers that spent significant time on the staff last season.

NEW POSITION FOR GIVENS: Orioles second round pick in 2009, Mychal Givens, will play second base this season. Givens was a superstar pitcher and shortstop coming out of Plant High School in Tampa, Florida. He played shortstop in five games last season for the Shorebirds. Givens played second base six times late in the year with the Aberdeen Ironbirds, across from Manny Machado. L.J. Hoes (2009 Shorebirds player) began to make the transition to second base while he was with the Shorebirds.

SECOND HALF MVP IS BACK: Third baseman Ty Kelly was voted the Shorebirds Second Half MVP by the Shorebirds Fan Club. Kelly led the Shorebirds last season in games played (129), at-bats (487), hits (126), RBIs (58), total bases (180) and sacrifice hits (11). Kelly also finished second on the team in doubles (30) and walks (68).

TOUGH TO GO DEEP AT PERDUE: Arthur W. Perdue Stadium is one of the tougher parks in the league to hit the long ball. There were only 70 homers hit last season at Perdue Stadium. Greensboro's NewBridge Bank Park led the league with 143 home runs last season. Rome's State Mutual Stadium saw the fewest home runs hit last season (40). The chart below shows the amount of home runs hit at each ballpark around the SAL last season. Only one Shorebirds player has registered double digit homers over the last two seasons; Tyler Kolodny (10, 2010).

Team Ballpark HR's

Rome State Mutual Stadium 40

Savannah Grayson Stadium 51

Augusta Lake Olmstead 56

Lakewood First Energy Ballpark 57

Charleston Joseph P. Riley Park 59

Delmarva Perdue Stadium 70

Kannapolis Fieldcrest Cannon 78

Hagerstown Memorial Stadium 80

Greenville Fluor Field 93

Hickory L.P. Frans Stadium 97

Lexington Whitaker Bank 104

Asheville McCormick Field 104

West Virgina Appalachian Power 116

Greensboro NewBridge Bank Park 143

18 CAREER HOMERS: Kieron Pope returns for a third stint with the Delmarva Shorebirds. He has belted 18 of his 28 career minor league home runs while with the Shorebirds. Pope blasted a career best 12 homers in 2008 for the Birds. Jason Fransz owns the career Shorebirds record with 28 home runs between the 2004 season (6) and the 2005 season (22).

DOWN YEAR AT HOME LAST YEAR: The Shorebirds had their fair share of troubles at Perdue Stadium last year. They went 30-41 at home. Prior to that, the Shorebirds had posted a winning record at home in six straight seasons. The Shorebirds are normally much better at home than on the road. In fact, over the last six years, the Shorebirds have 41 more win at home than on the road.

Year Home Record Road Record

2010 30-41 28-41

2009 38-29 28-41

2008 41-29 37-32

2007 36-31 32-37

2006 36-33 28-40

2005 42-28 30-39

2004 36-30 33-39


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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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