Inside the Park - Lakewood Blueclaws Beatles Night

Henri Lartigue (11), Luke Williams (12), Bailey Falter (9), Dave Martinelli (31)

Gustavo Armas (14), Ismael Cabrera (36), Luis Carrasco (32) Mauricio Llovera (26)

Tyler Hallead (17), Addison Russ (15), Casey Brown (5), Will Hibbs (54), Jake Kelzer (44)

Felix Paulino (24), Daniel Brito (21), Adonis Medina (16), Nick Fanti (20)

Bold= Majors

The Lakewood Blueclaws, affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, held their Extravaganza and Beatles Night on September 2. The gates opened at 3:30 with pre-game activities that included Hell on Wheels bicycle demo team, police and construction vehicles, free games and rides for kids, and 3 bands.

The headline band was BritishMania, a Beatles tribute band, which played from 5-7pm. To further celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of the Beatles Sgt Pepper album, the Blueclaws were expected to wear a commemorative Sgt Pepper Jersey.

Unfortunately the rains generated by Hurricane Harvey hit New Jersey earlier than expected and the game was rained out. Due to the rain batting practice was canceled and members of the Kannapolis Intimidators were walking through the crowd to get to the indoor batting cages. They were very accommodating to the fans.

Starting at 6, the team held a signing in the batting cages located behind the concession stands. The team were wearing the special Sgt Pepper jersey. I created the "jersey" cachet to commemorate the event on a Beatles first day cover. As a fan of the Beatles I appreciated the event.

Other teams to wear Sgt Pepper jerseys this year included the Toledo Mud Hens (there was one person wearing the jersey in the crowd), Memphis Redbirds and the Fresno Grizzlies.

Feliz Paulino (Blueclaws Twitter) wearing the Sgt Pepper jersey on Sunday, after Saturday nights rainout.

Lakewood Blueclaws

April 11, 2001 Lakewood, NJ

The Lakewood Blueclaws are a Class A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, playing in the South Atlantic League. The team moved from Fayetteville, North Carolina, where they played as the Fayetteville Generals followed by the Cape Fear Crocs, where they were an affiliate of the Montreal Expos.

The Blueclaws  set a South Atlantic League record for attendance on August 26, 2002 with 13,003 fans.

Ryan Howard became the first Blueclaw to reach the major leagues, playing for the Phillies against the Atlanta Braves on September 1, 2004. In 2005 Howard would earn the National League Rookie of the Year honors. 2006 he was named National League Most Valuable Player. Howard and Cole Hammels have their respective numbers retired by the Blueclaws

Lakewood, NJ date meets Zip pictorial postmark

August 7, 2001