The History
The Jersey Shore BlueClaws are the High-A affiliate for the Philadelphia Phillies. They are named after blue crabs found in the area. The team was formerly known as the Lakewood BlueClaws from their inception in 2001 until 2020, when they rebranded themselves. During their time they have won 3 league titles and 5 division titles. Jersey Shore is consistently among the highest attended games in the minor leagues, due in part to the spectacular ballpark, which we’ll detail below.
The Ballpark
The team plays at ShoreTown Ballpark located in Lakewood, NJ about 70 miles northeast of Philadelphia. The park has a mini-boardwalk theme going on in their outfield, which is rather impressive. There is a nine-hole miniature golf course along with many boardwalk games of chance such as Ring Toss, Balloon Darts, Hoops and others. There is also the Blue Wave Bar to hang out during the game. Another great feature the team offers are Fire Pit tickets. There are about 10 pits in the leftfield section and, on a cool night with 65 degree weather, would have been nice to use. The package includes five tickets to the game along with vouchers to use at the Boardwalk. One thing I found interesting was the field is underground. Most ballparks that I’ve visited have stairs to walk up to get into the park but here the entrance is ground-level. There is one entrance to the park that splits into two lines as you enter. Everyone here was friendly from Scott, the ticket host, to Gary, the seat usher, to Jess, the store cashier.
The Notable Alumni
Jersey Shore was home to many great players over the years some of whom found success with the Phillies and others who developed into fine players with other teams. Some of the bigger names include:
Michael Bourn, 2 Time National League All Star and 3 Time National League Stolen Base Leader
Carlos Carrasco, 2019 American League Comeback Player of the Year
Kyle Drabek, 1st Round Pick (2006) and was traded for Roy Halladay (2009)
Cole Hamels, 2008 World Series MVP
Ryan Howard, 2006 National League MVP
Carlos Ruiz, 2012 National League All Star, Record Holder of Most No-Hitters Caught (4)
Shane Victorino, 2 Time World Series Champion (2008 and 2013)
The Driving and Parking
The ballpark is located 90 minutes northeast of Philadelphia. A simple drive north on I-95 then east on I-295 gets you right to the park. Parking is plentiful and very inexpensive at $5.
The Concessions
Like other ballparks nowadays, Shoretown Park is cashless but they do have a reverse ATM behind Section 108 where you can convert cash to a card to use during your visit. There are concessions stands located behind first base and third base, which serve the traditional ballpark favorites – hot dogs, nachos, chicken sandwiches, fries, pretzels and more. The Home Plate concourse has a cheesesteak cart for those who want to try the Philadelphia favorite. Section 114 is home to a Sausage cart serving both hot and sweet sausage sandwiches. There are also other carts throughout the concourse serving ice cream, popcorn and water ice, another Philadelphia staple.
The team has a partnership with a local company, Heavy Reel Brewing, which produces a beer called Reel Claw, which can be found at their Taphouse behind section 109. The hostess there, Donna, was very nice and gave me the information on the Reel Claw IPA, which was pretty good. Thursdays are called Thirsty Thursdays where they provide $2 Coors and Coors Lights. The park also has two Beers of the World stands located on both sides of the concourse with many other options to choose from.
The Promotions
Tonight was Fireworks Friday which is a weekly happening at this park. The team also has Kids Eat Free Sundays in addition to Thirsty Thursdays as part of their weekly promotions. They also have many theme nights throughout the season including Star Wars Night, First Responders Night, Pride Night and even live concerts.
The Prospects
7 of our Midseason Top 50 Phillies Prospects are on Jersey Shore:
Mick Abel, LHP (#3): DNP
Justin Crawford, OF (#8): 2-5, R, 3B
Wen Hui Pan, RHP (#12): IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 2 BB
Rafael Marcano, LHP (#23): DNP
Gabriel Rincones, OF (#24): 1-4, 2 R, RBI
Kendall Simmons, SS (#29): 1-2, RBI, 2 BB
Christian McGowan, RHP (#46): DNP
8 of our Midseason Top 50 Orioles Prospects are on Aberdeen:
Samuel Basallo, C (#6): DNP
Seth Johnson, RHP (#13): DNP
Frederick Bencosme, SS (#19): 2-6. 2 R. 2 RBI
Creed Willems, C (#23): 2-4, 2 RBI, BB
Carter Young, SS (#28): 1-4, RBI, BB
Elio Prado, OF (#36): DNP
Zach Peek, RHP (#35): DNP
Reed Trimble, OF (#46): DNP
The Game
The game itself was pretty exciting. The Blueclaws jumped out to a 3-0 lead due to poor fundamental play by Aberdeen (missed cut-0ff throws, lack of communication in outfield) before the Ironbirds scored 2 in the 6th. It all fell apart for Jersey Shore in the 9th as the usually reliable Wen Hui Pan got chipped away by walks and hits allowing the Ironbirds to tie the game up in the 9th. Extra innings went by quick as Aberdeen scored two runs. The Blueclaws threatened in the bottom of the 10th but came away scoreless to end the game bringing on the fireworks.
The Rating
Overall this is one impressive ballpark. It was one of the cleanest parks I’ve ever been to and the entire crew was friendly and nice. The boardwalk theme was a great idea being so close to the Jersey Shore and it was liked by many people seeing how busy the area was throughout the game.
Tony Bps Spina is a lifelong baseball fan hailing from the City of Brotherly Love - Philadelphia! Tony has loved baseball since 1980 and has followed the Phillies through good and bad times. Tony is married with 3 kids and works for a financial institution but has enough free time to play in 20 fantasy baseball leagues with 75% of them being Dynasty Leagues. He lives a few blocks away from Citizens Bank Park and attends many Phillies games per year in addition to their minor league teams in Lehigh Valley and Reading. He can be reached on Twitter at @TonyBps1.
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Tony Bpshttps://www.prospects1500.com/author/phillies002/
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Tony Bpshttps://www.prospects1500.com/author/phillies002/
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Tony Bpshttps://www.prospects1500.com/author/phillies002/
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Tony Bpshttps://www.prospects1500.com/author/phillies002/
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