St. John's University Athletics
Details Finalized For Ninth Annual Baseball Bullpen Winter Banquet
12/11/2014 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
QUEENS, N.Y. - A pair of Major Leaguers will be on-hand at the ninth annual St. John's Baseball Bullpen Winter Banquet at The Edison Ballroom on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2015. New York Mets pitcher and NL Rookie of the Year Jacob deGrom will be the guest speaker, while former St. John's standout and World Series champion Joe Panik of the San Francisco Giants will be a special guest. All proceeds from the event directly benefit the Red Storm baseball program.
The event will also recognize head coach Ed Blankmeyer, who is in his 20th season at the helm of the St. John's program. The winningest coach in program-history, Blankmeyer has compiled a 647-405-3 (.615) record, won three BIG EAST Tournament crowns, captured four BIG EAST regular season titles, and led the squad to eight NCAA Tournament appearances. The skipper has earned BIG EAST Coach of the Year honors a conference-record five times and has been named the ABCA Northeast Region Coach of the Year four times.
The first Mets Rookie of the Year since Dwight Gooden in 1984, deGrom went 9-6 with a 2.69 ERA in 22 starts. A two-time NL Rookie of the Month, the righty racked up 144 strikeouts in 140.1 innings of work and limited opponents to just a .228 batting average. deGrom joins Gooden as well as Darryl Strawberry (1983), Jon Matlack (1972) and Tom Seaver (1967) as the five Mets players to earn Rookie of the Year honors all-time.
Drafted out of Stetson in the ninth round (272nd overall) of the 2010 MLB Draft, deGrom made his Major League debut on May 15 and tied a modern-day MLB record on Sept. 15 by striking out each of the first eight batters faced in a start against the Marlins.
The second former St. John's player to win a World Series crown (Frank Viola), Panik hit safely in 12-of-17 postseason games en route to a Fall Classic triumph against the Kansas City Royals. Panik finished with 17 hits in the postseason, tied for fifth all-time among MLB rookies in a single postseason. The second baseman became the first Giants rookie to collect three extra-base hits in a single World Series and also set a Giants rookie-record with five extra-base hits in one postseason.
Drafted 29th overall in the first round of the 2011 MLB Draft, Panik batted .305 (82-for-269) with 10 doubles, three triples, one home run and 18 RBI in 73 regular season games with the Giants. The second baseman ranked first among NL rookies in both batting average and on-base percentage (.343).
The event begins with a 6 p.m. cocktail hour prior to a 7 p.m. dinner and program. Both live and silent auctions will be held, providing the opportunity to bid on a variety of priceless items.
Tickets for the event are priced at $325 per person. G.O.L.D. (Graduates of the Last Decade) guests can purchase tickets at a reduced rate of $275 per person. To register and pay online, visit the event registration site. For more information or to RSVP, contact Paul Sclafani at sclafanp@stjohns.edu or 718-990-5539. Contact Sclafani for information regarding available sponsorship opportunities.
