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| TWO IRONPIGS SELECTED TO TEAM USA |
| IronPigs 3B Terry Tiffee and LHP Cedrick Bowers have both been selected to play in the upcoming World Baseball Cup, USA Baseball announced on Thursday. Team USA is the defending World Cup champion, having defeated Cuba, 6-3, in the 2007 final in Taiwan. It was the first World Cup title for the U.S. since 1974. The 2009 World Cup will take place in Europe from September 9-27. |
| Terry Tiffee started all nine games for Team USA in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China and helped lead the unit to a Bronze Medal by finishing with a .324 batting average. Last season, the 30-year-old led all of Triple-A baseball with a .378 batting average for Las Vegas (Dodgers). Tiffee began the 2009 season on the D.L. with a back injury (did not join the IronPigs until June 22) and is currently hitting .283 with 5 home runs and 34 RBI. Tiffee, who reached the majors with Minnesota in 2004, 2005 and 2006, was hitting .422 at Las Vegas last year when he received a promotion to the Dodgers in late May. |
| Cedrick Bowers made his Major League debut for the Rockies last season, 12 years after being drafted in the fourth round of the 1996 draft by the Tampa Bay Rays. The hard-thrower has been one of the IronPigs most consistent throwers this season, appearing in a team-leading 47 games while posting an impressive 1.96 ERA. In the Minor League ranks, Bowers has averaged better than a strikeout per inning in his career and has struck out sixty-six batters in just 59 and 2/3 innings pitched in 2009. |
| Twenty countries will begin IBAF World Cup competition in five groups of four teams, with the top two from each group advancing to the second round (the top-four third-place teams also advance). Once there, they will be joined by Italy and the Netherlands - the two hosts of Round 2 - to form a 16-team quarterfinal. The top-eight teams from the quarterfinals advance to the third round, which will be held exclusively in Italy, where they will be split into two pools and advance to the finals based on best pool-play record. The U.S. will kick off World Cup play on Sept. 10 in Regensburg, Germany in Pool E and will be joined by China, Germany and Venezuela. In addition to Regensburg, the World Cup will also feature first round pool play in Barcelona; Prague; Sundbyburg, Sweden; and Zagreb, Croatia. |
| The World Cup Team will first gather in Cary, N.C. at the USA Baseball National Training Complex where it will train from Sept. 2-6. It will work out on Sept. 2 and square-off against the Canadian World Cup Team Sept. 3-6. Last week USA Baseball announced the coaching staff for the 2009 World Cup, with Eddie Rodriguez being named manager of the club. Joining Rodriguez are pitching coach Kirk Champion, hitting coach Ernie Young, 3rd base/bench coach Jamie Quirk, bullpen coach Rolando "Roly" de Armas, and auxiliary coach Jim Bowie. Rodriguez (2000 Olympic), Champion (2001 World Cup and 2006 Olympic Qualifier), Young (2000 Olympic and 2003 Olympic Qualifier - both as players), and de Armas (2006 Olympic Qualifier, 2007 World Cup and 2008 Olympic) are all veterans of past USA Baseball teams. |
| Players eligible for selection were those not currently on 25-man Major League Baseball (MLB) rosters. |
| To view the entire Team USA roster or for more information, please visit web.usabaseball.com. |
| The IronPigs return to Coca-Cola Park for their final homestand of the year on Monday, August 31. Single-game tickets and group tickets for all remaining IronPigs home games are on sale now and can be purchased at the Coca-Cola Park Ticket Office, online at www.ironpigsbaseball.com or by calling (610) 841-PIGS. |
| 2010 All-Star ticket packages, consisting of tickets to “Pigapalooza” All-Star Fan Fest (Saturday, July 10 at Coca-Cola Park), the Triple-A Home Run Derby (Monday, July 12) and the Triple-A All-Star Game (Wednesday, July 14), are now on sale to existing and new full-season ticket holders, 36-game holders and 18-game partial plan holders that renew or purchase season tickets and the All-Star Game package by October 9, 2009. |
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