Pride sign Pride; Henderson signs with Newark

Published on April 24, 2003 under Canadian American League (Can-Am)
American Defenders of New Hampshire News Release


The Nashua Pride announced last weekend that the team has agreed to terms with veteran OF Curtis Pride. The 34-year-old Pride returns to the city he called home for part of the 1999 season, when he played for Nashua under then-Manager Mike Easler.

Pride, who was born deaf, was selected by the New York Mets in the 10th round of the June 1986 draft. His big league debut came in 1993 with the Montreal Expos as a pinch hitter. He has seven seasons of playing time at the Major League level, spending time with the Detroit Tigers, Atlanta Braves and Boston Red Sox.

Pride had two stints with the Sox, in 1997 and 2000, and on September 19, 1997, he homered in his first at-bat as a member of the Sox, becoming only the seventh player in Sox history to accomplish that feat. Overall, he has 349 big league games under his belt, batting .259 in 706 at-bats.

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Pride 2003 Open House Workout set for April 30th Free to the public; Team available to media

Wednesday, April 30th, the night before its 2003 home opener on May 1st, the team will host a free-to-the-public Open House team workout/media session from 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM at Historic Holman Stadium.

Butch Hobson, Rick Wise, Paxton Crawford, Curtis Pride and the rest of the 2003 Nashua Pride will get in one last day of preparation for the 2003 season, and then be available for autographs for fans and interviews for the media.

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Pride & TV13 Nashua's Sixth Annual National Anthem Singing Contest

Friday, April 25th at 6:00 PM

The Contest, sponsored by the pride and TV13 Nashua, will be held at Rivier College's Sylvia Hall Theater.

To sign up, call tv13 Nashua at 883-7435.

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AROUND THE LEAGUE

RICKEY HENDERSON TICKETED FOR NEWARK

MLB's all-time stolen base king now a Bear

NEWARK, N.J. -- Rickey Henderson, Major League Baseball's all-time leader in stolen bases, runs scored, walks and leadoff home runs has agreed to terms with the Newark Bears, Newark Vice President/General Manager Chris Bryan announced today. Henderson will join the defending Atlantic League champs once they return from Spring Training in Homestead, Fla. Newark begins defense of its 2002 championship on May 1 as Bridgeport comes to town for a four-game series.

Henderson, who owns the Major League's career stolen base record with 1403, is scheduled to visit Nashua for the first time on Sunday, June 1st at 2:05 PM when Newark comes to town for the first of a three-game series from June 1st to June 3rd. Henderson, 44, has played professional baseball since 1976. His time in the majors has seen him play with Oakland, the New York Yankees, Toronto, San Diego, Anaheim, the New York Mets, Seattle and Boston. He last played in the Major Leagues for the Red Sox during the 2002 season. The greatest leadoff hitter ever, Henderson has 3,040 career hits, and in addition to holding the stolen base record, he is baseball's all-time leader in walks, runs scored, and most homeruns leading off a game. His 130 SB in 1982 set a Major League single-season record, and the ten-time All-Star also won a Gold Glove in 1981, the AL MVP in 1990, and the 1989 ALCS MVP Award on his way to a World Series title with the Athletics that year.

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The Bridgeport Bluefish announced that a pair former members of the Bluefish have been dominating the Southern League (AA) during the first month of the 2003 season. This includes outfielder Gabby Martinez who was named Southern League's Hitter of the Week on April 11 and pitcher Sean Fesh, a native of Bethel, Conn, who leads the Eastern League with a 6-0 record.

Martinez, 29, was named Hitter of the Week for the Orlando Rays after opening the season with 15 hits (.469 batting average) during his first seven games of the season. Currently, he is batting .349 with five RBI in 15 games. Martinez is third in the Southern League in both batting and hits (25). He played for the Bluefish during part of the 2002 season when he batted .308 with 3 HR and 22 RBI in 37 games for Bridgeport. He was signed to a minor league deal by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays during this past off-season after winning the Puerto Rican Winter League batting title by posting a .375 average.

Fesh, 30, has begun the 2003 season by reeling off 15 straight scoreless innings while working in nine appearances out of the bullpen for the Carolina Mudcats. He leads the Southern League in wins (6) and is tied for the league-lead in ERA (0.00). Even more impressively Fesh has allowed only six hits while striking out 14 batters (4 BB). The left-hander who hails from Bethel, Conn., last played for the Bluefish during the 2001 season when he went 5-2 with a 3.51 ERA in 51 relief appearances.

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Bridgewater, NJ – The Somerset Patriots of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball have announced that outfielder Greg Blosser will return to the team for the 2003 season.

Blosser last played for the Somerset Patriots in 2001 where he had a .270 average with 84 hits, 15 doubles, 21 home runs, and 78 RBI in 97 games. He did not play during the 2002 season because he was recently married and wanted to spend time with his new wife and family.

Blosser will always be remembered by Patriots fans for his game-winning home run in Game Four of the 2001Atlantic League Championship Series to force a fifth and deciding game against the Newark Bears.

Blosser also spent the 2000 season with the Somerset Patriots and finished the season with a .303 batting average with 82 hits in 271 at bats and 54 RBI for Somerset in 85 games.

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Canadian American League Stories from April 24, 2003


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