St. John's University Athletics
Sixth Annual Baseball Bullpen Winter Banquet To Feature Terry Francona
12/20/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Dec. 20, 2011
QUEENS, N.Y. - The sixth annual St. John's Baseball Bullpen Winter Banquet will be held on Monday, January 30 and will feature two-time World Series champion manager Terry Francona. All proceeds from the event, held once again at the New York Athletic Club in Manhattan, directly benefit the Red Storm baseball program.
"Our Bullpen Winter Banquet serves as the kickoff for our season and we are very excited to have Terry Francona as our guest speaker," said head coach Ed Blankmeyer. "Not only is Terry an engaging speaker, but he is a great baseball mind that has experienced a tremendous amount of success as a manger in the big leagues and as a player, both professionally and collegiately."
Hosted by Hall of Fame coach Jack Kaiser, who will be honored for providing St. John's and its baseball program with more than 50 years of continued support, and featuring NBC 4's Bruce Beck as emcee, the event begins with a 6 p.m. cocktail reception prior to a 7 p.m. dinner. Both live and silent auctions will also be held, providing the opportunity to bid on a variety of priceless items.
Tickets for the event are priced at $250 per person and tables of 10 are available for $2,500. Please RSVP by Tuesday, Jan. 24 to Elizabeth Austin at austine@stjohns.edu or 718-990-2548.
A member of the College Baseball Hall of Fame, Francona won the 1980 Golden Spikes Award as the nation's top amateur player and earned both first team All-America honors and College World Series Most Outstanding Player accolades after leading Arizona to the CWS title that same season. Drafted in the first round (22nd overall) by the Montreal Expos, Francona batted .274 in a 10-year major league career that also included stints with the Cubs, Reds, Indians and Brewers. Francona went 1029-915 (.529) in 12 seasons as a big league manager with the Boston Red Sox (2004-11) and Philadelphia Phillies (1997-2000) and won two World Series titles with the Red Sox. Francona now works as an analyst for ESPN, joining Dan Shulman and Orel Hershiser in the booth for the network's "Sunday Night Baseball" broadcasts.
Ranked No. 11 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Preseason Poll, St. John's opens the 2012 season on Feb. 17 against Michigan State as part of the fourth annual Big Ten-BIG EAST Challenge.