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January 29 , 2010
Honkers Announce New Manager for 2010
(Rochester, MN)—The Rochester Honkers Baseball Club announced today that Ryan Ruiz, Assistant Coach at Central Arizona College (Coolidge, AZ) as their new Field Manager for the 2010 season. Ruiz replaces Thom Dreier who stepped down after accepting a full time position as the Midwest Video Coordinator with the Toronto Blue Jays. Ruiz becomes the Honkers’ 9th field manager since 1994.
“I am extremely honored to bea part of a winning franchise in Rochester,” said Ruiz “I am eager to get back on the field and guide this franchise to another Northwoods League Championship. The front office, fans and city have all been first class!”
Ruiz is no stranger to the Northwoods League or the Rochester Honkers. He served as the Associate Head Coach of the Mankato MoonDogs last summer, in charge of their offense and coaching 3rd base. He guided the MoonDogs to the first half championship in the North Division.
“Rochester has always put a great product on the field. I went through that from the other side while I was in Mankato but glad to be on this side now.” said Ruiz. “I expect nothing less than excellence this year and to continue a winning tradition while teaching these kids how to play the game the way it used to be played. We will play this game hard on every pitch of every out and every inning while still having fun and experiencing baseball in a professional environment.”
Ruiz spent eight years of playing professionally in the Northern and American Association of the Independent leagues. He spent 4 years with the St. Paul Saints, and 4 with the Sioux City Explorers. The left handed hitting centerfielder completed his playing career in 2006, with a career .288 average. His best year was in 2004 where he hit .310 with 22 doubles and 35 stolen bases and was named to the North All-Star Team. Ruiz finished his collegiate career at Texas Tech in 1999 where he led the team in hitting (.363) and stole 35 bases in 37 attempts. He was honored by the Big XII as a second-team all-conference pick as a junior and senior and was nominated for the Easton’s defensive Player of the Year award in 1999.
Ruiz, now in his third year at Central Arizona, is in charge of handling the hitters, outfielders and the team’s strength and conditioning coach. He also assists in the recruiting process. The Lake Forest, CA native is married and holds an AA degree from Saddleback College and a BA from Texas Tech in Sports Psychology.
The Rochester Honkers 17th season begins on June 2nd when they travel to Mankato for a 7:05pm first pitch. Their home opener is June 3rd against the same MoonDogs at Mayo Field starting at 7:05pm. Season Tickets, Bonus Books, Suites and Patios are now on sale. Call the Honkers office at 507-289-1170 for more information.
January 28 , 2010
Wisconsin Rapids Rafters are the newest member of the Northwoods League
(Wisconsin Rapids, WI)— The “Rafters” are coming to town! Tonight, in front of a standing room only crowd at Hotel Mead in Wisconsin Rapids, the newest member of the Northwoods League unveiled their name and identity. The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters will call Witter Field home starting this summer. From Friday, January, 15th thru Wednesday, January 20th the team held an online vote to determine the name of the franchise. The top three selections are as follows:
- Rafters - 29%
- River Rats - 23%
- Boggers - 22%
- Total of 1,650 votes!
The identity of the team incorporates all three of the top vote getters. Rafting was a prominent activity on the Wisconsin River, primarily as part of the logging industry in the delivery of logs to the various mills along the river. The creature riding the raft is a “River Rat.” The team will create a mascot based on the River Rat and will host a “Name the Mascot” contest. “River Rats” was the nickname of the people who operated rafts on the Wisconsin River en-route to the mills. Finally, the team’s primary color will be Cranberry Red, a tribute to the strong cranberry industry in the area.
The winner of the “Name the Hometown Team” contest is Brian Schmidt of Wisconsin Rapids. He will receive a pair of season tickets for the 2010 season. Twelve people submitted Rafters as their idea for the name of the team during the first phase of the contest and they will each receive a 9-game pack for the 2010 season. Various other prizes were awarded for fans creativity with the name they submitted.
January 4 , 2010
Rochester Honkers Announce 2010 Schedule
(Rochester, MN)—The Rochester Honkers Baseball Club announced today their complete game schedule for the 2010 Northwoods League season. The 2009 NWL Champions open their 17th season on June 2nd when they travel to Mankato, MN to take on the MoonDogs @ 7:05pm. Their home opener will then take place on Thursday, June 3rd, when the Mankato MoonDogs come to Mayo Field for a 7:05pm first pitch.
The 2010 season will begin a new era in the Northwoods League when teams will only play within their division. The Honkers, a member of the North Division, will now play a 70 game schedule in 76 days, beginning on June 2nd and ending on August 16th. They will play each North Division opponent 10 times, 5 home and 5 away. The NWL Playoff Series will take place from August 17th through August 22nd. The winner of each division’s two halves will meet in a best-of-three divisional playoff series (Aug. 17, 18, 19) with the winners advancing to the NWL Championship Series (Aug. 20, 21, 22), also a best-of-three. The 16th Annual NWL All-Star Game will be held on Tuesday, July 20th at Carson Park in Eau Claire, WI. This will be the first All-Star game hosted by the Eau Claire Express.
Start times for 2010 will be the standard 7:05pm start times for Monday through Saturdays and an earlier start time for Sundays, 1:05pm. The Honkers will also play 3 midweek day games (June 22, July 13, August 2) all starting at 1:05pm.
The Honkers would like to welcome the two newest members to the NWL, the Willmar (MN) Stingers of the North Division and the Wisconsin Rapids (WI) affiliate to the South Division. This brings the NWL to 16 total teams broken down to 8 teams in each division. The Rochester Honkers are one of two remaining teams (Wisconsin Woodchucks) from the Northwoods League’s inaugural season of 1994. The Honkers have won a league high 5 NWL Championships: (1994, 1997, 1999, 2006, 2009).
For the Rochester Honkers complete schedule, game times and ticket information, go to www.rochesterhonkers.com. The entire NWL schedule is available at www.northwoodsleague.com.
NWL Divisional Alignment
Years in parenthesis denote the franchise's first season in the NWL.
NORTH DIVISION |
SOUTH DIVISION |
|---|---|
Alexandria Beetles (2001) |
Battle Creek Bombers (2007) |
Brainerd Lakes Area Lunkers(2005) |
^Eau Claire Express (2005) |
Duluth Huskies (2003) |
Green Bay Bullfrogs (2007) |
^ Mankato MoonDogs (1999) |
^*La Crosse Loggers (2003) |
^*#Rochester Honkers (1994) |
Madison Mallards (2001) |
St. Cloud River Bats (1997) |
Waterloo Bucks (1995) |
Thunder Bay Border Cats |
Wisconsin (Wausau) Woodchucks (1994) |
Willmar Stingers (2010) |
Wisconsin Rapids (TBD) (2010) |
^ 2009 Postseason Team - *2009 Divisional Champion - #2009 Northwoods League Champion
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