Terry McGriff Returns as Bluefish Bench Coach
March 2, 2004 - Atlantic League (AtL)
Bridgeport Bluefish News Release
Great news! Terry McGriff is coming back as our bench coach. Terry has been with the Bluefish since our inception in 1998, both as our All-Star catcher and as a coach. He played parts of six seasons in the big leagues, for the Cincinnati Reds, Houston Astros, Florida Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals. Griff was originally drafted by the Reds in the 8th round of the 1981 draft. He is 40 years old. His solid defensive skills and his clutch hitting ability made him a great asset as a player with our organization. His intimate knowledge of the game also makes him a great coach, and we're delighted to have back for another season. He comes from quite a baseball family, and is related to both Charlie Johnson and Fred McGriff, major league all-stars in their own right. When folks talk about what is so special about the Bridgeport Bluefish, you will invariably hear Griff's name brought up. He's a classy, quiet leader who helps "set the tone" that has led to the Bluefish having the best Atlantic League record over the past six seasons.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! The Atlantic City Surf has baseball team has announced that it will initiate a "unique" event at its ball[park, the Sandcastle, on Father's Day (Sunday, June 20). Their "Inaugural Father's Day Fantasy Camp" will provide fathers with a chance to play baseball on the field at the Sandcastle Stadium with Surf players and coaches. Great idea, right? You bet, but it's not unique as we have been doing it for years. In fact, our event is so popular that we have two such camps, one on Father's Day, and one five weeks later on Sunday, July 25. The June 20 gig is already sold out, but we have a number of spots left for the July 25 date. Here's the deal: this special camp session just for Dads will include a continental breakfast, two hours of hitting and fielding instruction, and then all of the dads will play a real game on the Harbor Yard diamond! Dad will be a Bluefish for a day and receive his very own baseball card along with a Bluefish shirt and cap. Four Field Box tickets to the Bluefish game immediately following this event are included. (Additional tickets are available at $12 each). The price is a cool $250 which at first glance may seem pricey, but we sell out these extraordinarily popular fantasy camps every year, and we go the extra mile to make sure the entire affair is first class! Call us at 345-4800, ext. 123 to sign up now.
Wanna know how many days, hours and seconds before our Bluefish Opening Day on May 18 at 7:30 PM? Just go to our newly-updated web site (still at www.bridgeportbluefish.com) and you'll a digital countdown clock giving you the exact numbers. Check it out!
More than a few of you wrote to rib this editor about this sentence from last week's memo: "Wondering what happened to this Memo last week? For the first time in four weeks, we took a full week off as this editor took an automobile journey with my family to Disneyworld." To set the record straight, I meant "four years", not "four weeks". Geesh!
Happy, Happy Birthday to Albie Booth, our oldest fan. Albie turned 104 on Monday. Charlie Dreyer, our part-time ticket salesman, reports that he went to Albie's birthday party this past weekend, and that Albie is doing quite well. She is a resident of Interchurch Residences (3030 Park), and attends several Bluefish games each year, always sitting in 3030 Park's suite. Our Ticket Manager, Joe Skarupa, decided that we should do something special for our Albie, so he took her flowers and a Bluefish baseball hat on her birthday, as a special tribute from the Bluefish to our oldest fan. He said: "When I gave her the hat she asked me if it was okay to wear it at the dinner table. I don't think she planned on taking it off. She also said that she can't wait for the new season to start". It was four seasons ago, when Albie turned 100, that we had a special on-field recognition for Ms. Booth. Hard to believe that was almost four years ago. Heck, Albie may be the oldest fan in America who regularly attends professional baseball games. She's our special treasure, and we're darned proud of her.
Our newsletter is about to "take it up a notch". We have decided to coordinate it with our Bridgeport Bluefish website (www.bridgeportbluefish.com). In future issues, you may notice some slight change in format since we will no longer send it out from this editor's AOL email address. Return address if you want to comment on something contained in the newsletter will be mherbert@bridgeportbluefish.com. The content of the newsletter will be unaffected by this distribution change, but we will begin referring to it as "Mickey's Mail" instead of "BridgeSports' Memo."
We are usually scrupulously non-political in this newsletter, but we couldn't resist this one. Our very own Sacred Heart Polling Institute right here in Fairfield just conducted a national poll in which they found that of those surveyed, 43.9% would prefer to go to a baseball game with President George Bush; while only 24.8% preferred Senator John Kerry. Of course, in the same survey, less half the respondents knew the state Kerry represented in the U.S. Senate. And, remember, George W. used to run the Texas Rangers. Our own General Manager, Charlie Dowd, has for years wanted to ask the President why he traded away Sammy Sosa. Signed as a free agent in 1985 by the Rangers, Sosa came up the big club in 1989, but only played 25 games for the Rangers before they traded him with Wilson Alvarez and Scott Fletcher to the Chicago White Sox for Harold Baines and Fred Manrique. Three years later he was from the White Sox (with Ken Patterson) to the Chicago Cubs for George Bell. With the Rangers, Sosa was making $68,000. Last year, he made over $16 million. Of his 539 home runs, 505 have been hit with the Cubs, 32 with the White Sox, and 1 with the Texas Rangers. Way to go, Mr. President!
Bluefish ticket sales for the 2004 season opening at home on May 18 now approaching 100,000 tickets sold...
The interns are coming, the interns are coming! Three, in fact, are already here! Welcome to Nina Willette who is graduating this May from Sacred Heart University with a BS in Business (concentration in Marketing), and a minor in Graphic Design. Nina is a Dean's List student who has interned in the past at The Voice and at Bridgeport Hospital. She will be one of our Public Relations/Promotions Interns. She is from Massachusetts and lives in Bridgeport.
Welcome to Stephen Acciardo who graduates from Sacred Heart in May, 2005. He is is a Sports Management major and has made the Dean's List in the past. Stephen worked at Musco Food Corporation last summer, and has been a Career Mentor at Bassick High School here in Bridgeport. He will intern in our Ticketing and Group Sales Departments. A Rhode Island native, Stephen jumped right into the fray this week, and he appeared as Captain L.I. Sounder when he accompanied Kim Pizighelli and Mickey Herbert when Mickey participated in the Read Aloud program at one of our adopted schools, Columbus Elementary School. When one of the kids at the school asked if he would perform the "worm" dance that the Captain does so well on the top of our visitors' dugout, Mickey and Kim had to step in and tell the kids that the Captain was saving those performances for the regular season! Lucky Stephen!
Welcome to Robert O'Hara who is an MBA student at Sacred Heart University where he is concentrating in Strategic Planning. Robert graduated in 1996 from the University of Miami with a BS in Communications. He has had several marketing/promotions job since college, most recently at WFtheColiseum.com in New York City where he was a promotions consultant. We'll use Robert as a Marketing intern, a new position for us this year. Don't mess with him. He is a coach at United States Amateur Boxing. He currently resides in Trumbull.
Bridgeport made national news Monday night. We were mentioned on World Wrestling Entertainment RAW near the main event of the broadcast. JR and The King were promoting next week's RAW at the Arena at Harbor Yard, when JR said "Bridgeport, CT, home of the Bridgeport Bluefish". Jerry Lawler then went on to say that "he loves going to Bridgeport." Guess you need to be a real wrestling aficionado...
Our Bridgeport Booster Club has scheduled its Annual Meeting for Sunday, March 21 at Noon at the Bridgeport Holiday Inn. At the meeting, the officers and board members of the Booster Club will be elected, and the Club's activities for the 2004 season will be developed. Brunch will be available beforehand at 10:30 AM. All 2003 Booster Club members are invited to attend this Annual Meeting. Bravo for our Booster Club! What these loyal fans do for our baseball team, and mean to our ownership group, front office and players is incredible! They are an integral part of what makes the Bridgeport Bluefish such a precious community resource! If you want to know more about the Club, contact Tim Cashman via e-mail (Tacashman@aol.com) or phone (203-876-8059).
• Discuss this story on the Atlantic League message board...
Atlantic League Stories from March 2, 2004
- Five Ducks players sign organizational deals - Long Island Ducks
- Terry McGriff Returns as Bluefish Bench Coach - Bridgeport Bluefish
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.
