April 7th was the Meet the Players Banquet for the Potomac Nationals, 2008 Carolina League Champions. This was a booster club member only event but well worth the membership dues ($10 for individuals or $15 for families).

The dinner itself was very nice, with a chicken pasta salad, green beans, wings, and a large slab of beef along with assorted desserts. After dinner, the president, Lamar Boone, gave introductions of all of the players and coaching staff, including new manager Trent Jewett, who said a few words of welcome to both the players and booster club members.

There was a 50-50 raffle and half of the money went to a member and the other half went to a player; in this case 5 year Potomac Nationals veteran, Clint Everts, was the big winner. Then $25 givaways were raffled to the players, where the children at the event pulled the tickets (my brother won Brian Peacock $25). The Mills Cup that the team won was also displayed at the event.

It may seem odd that people are giving money to baseball players but these A ball players only make around $1,000 a month and it can be hard to make it by. This is why the booster club has host familes and hosts Saturday Night dinners and breakfasts before road trips. The minors are certainly not as luxurious as the majors, with pre- and post-game spreads and chartered plane rides. It is fast food and long bus rides. Someone once told me that only about 3% of players in A-ball ever make it to the majors, so with such slim chances it is really a tough way to live.

For anyone who lives in the Woodbridge area, the Booster Club needs more host families. It is really a great oppotunity to form a bond with one of the Nationals future players.

Here is the link to the Booster Club Website.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 11th, 2009 at 8:52 pm and is filed under Events, Prospects. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.