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EL1 Trenton Thunder

Montero, Franklin Selected to Futures Game

June 25, 2009 - Eastern League (EL1)
Trenton Thunder News Release


(Trenton, NJ)- MLB.com announced today that the Trenton Thunder, Double-A Affiliate of the New York Yankees, will be represented by C Jesus Montero and Manager Tony Franklin in the 2009 Futures Game to be played on July 12 at 2 p.m. ET, in St. Louis.

The selection to the Futures Game is the second for both Franklin and Montero as they were chosen for the 2007 and 2008 Futures Games, respectively. Montero went 1-for-2 for the World Team in last year's game and Franklin made the trip to San Francisco in 2007 along with then Thunder RHP Joba Chamberlain. The Thunder skipper will be one of six coaches for the U.S. team along with manager Ozzie Smith. The World Team won last year's game 3-0 at Yankee Stadium.

Montero has batted .276 in 16 games (through 6/24) for Trenton since his call-up from Tampa (High-A) on June 3. In 48 games for Tampa, the Guacara, Venezuela native batted .356 with eight home runs and 37 RBI. The No.2 prospect in the Yankees organization and "Best Power Hitter" according to Baseball America was signed as an undrafted free agent on October 17, 2006.

The catcher will become the 12th Thunder player to appear in the Futures Game, joining INF Ramiro Pena (2008), RHP Joba Chamberlain (2007) and RHP Phil Hughes (2006) who appeared in the games the last three seasons. Below is a list of former Thunder representatives in the Futures Games:

Sun Woo Kim (RHP) 1999

Tomakzau Ohka (RHP) 1999

Luis Garcia (INF) 2001

Jorge De La Rosa (LHP) 2002

Seung Song (RHP) 2002

Chien-Ming Wang (RHP) 2003

Dioner Navarro (C) 2003

Robinson Cano (INF) 2004

Phil Hughes (RHP) 2006

Joba Chamberlain (RHP) 2007

Ramiro Pena (INF) 2008

The 11th annual Futures Game can be seen live on MLB.TV, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD and followed live on MLB.com's Gameday.

All Trenton Thunder tickets, including the 2009 Eastern League All-Star Game to be played in Trenton on July 15, are on sale now at www.trentonthunder.com and by calling 609-394-3300.

The Thunder have announced that all kids will eat for free at Waterfront Park all season long. All children with a ticket, ages 12 and under, will receive a voucher upon entering the ballpark good for a free hot dog, bag of potato chips, and a 12 oz. fountain soda at all 71 Thunder home games this season.

The Thunder are the only team in Minor League Baseball history at the Double A Level or below to draw over 400,000 fans for 14 consecutive seasons and have drawn over 6 million in attendance in its 15-year history.

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