LAKEWOOD – Spring is here and so is the return of minor league baseball and there is no better place for that in Ocean County than the Jersey Shore BlueClaws which recently unveiled some aesthetic enhancements that mesh with their Jersey Shore flavor.
Joe Ricciutti, the president and general manager of the Jersey Shore BlueClaws, and the organization’s director of communications, Greg Giombarrese, recently hosted a media welcome to the new Blue Wave Bar and Grill, their revamped suites and some other eye-catching attractions designed to make watching a baseball game or simply visiting the stadium for a conference, an even better experience.
Ricciutti and Giombarrese said it was a matter of freshening things up and providing something new for attendees.
“Along with the miniature golf course we opened a few years ago, we also opened the boardwalk game area in center field which has balloon darts, hoop toss, and goblet toss. We also opened the sandbar which is down the left field line. Those came in 2018 and this year we renovated the bar upstairs. That area used to look fairly similar in the last 15 or 20 years and we wanted to put a Jersey Shore stamp on it like we have elsewhere in the stadium,” Giombarrese said.
He added, “we renamed it as the Blue Wave Bar and redid the whole thing.” That motif is similar to the walls near the bar. Large renditions of area town beach badges adorn a wall near a water fountain and a number of murals featuring scenic beach scenes can also be found on the top floor near the eatery.
“It looks great. We have pictures from some local photographers that submitted their photos. We have a special menu. The new look and décor really put the Jersey Shore stamp on it. The best part about it is that it will be open to any fan at the game. That area had been limited to just those with tickets to go to a luxury suite and that will no longer be the case,” Giombarrese added.
“This came out great,” Ricciutti said. “Everything is new. It is about as night and day as it could be. We felt like it was dated and we freshened it up. We did two suites…and we took the idea to the bar (in providing a shore atmosphere with photos and scenic murals). These have beach scenes from the Jersey shore and we have one that is the Manasquan suite which has all scenes from Manasquan.
“Over the course of the next few seasons, we’ll have each of the suites renovated and they’ll have a beach town. We’ll start at Sandy Hook and we’ll go straight down the coast. We’re very excited about this. It was a great project,” Ricciutti added.
Opening day is April 8th, single game tickets have been selling nicely and a variety of special event days are on the schedule for the 2022 season. Giombarrese said this marks the second year for the Jersey Shore BlueClaws, having previously been the Lakewood BlueClaws.
The BlueClaws weathered the pandemic period “as best we could. Last year we had four different COVID sets of rules but by the end of the year our biggest games were at the end of the season and it was almost normal and this year it will be completely normal. It has been three years since it has been completely normal,” the communications director added.
“We are proud to be an affiliate of the Phillies and last year we moved up one level from low A to high A which basically means that our players are one spot closer to the big leagues. We do fireworks on Fridays in the summer and thirsty Thursdays and we’ll be doing two Marvel nights. Major League baseball formed a partnership with Marvel Comics. One will be in May, one will be in July, and we’ll have special jerseys and character appearances,” Giombarrese added.
Riccutti added, “we wanted people that were coming in to feel like they were visiting a beach cabana with aquatic colors and a beachy kind of feel.” He didn’t want to share a price tag for the renovations but noted that since the team was purchased in 2017, several millions of dollars was put toward various renovations. “All of this has been done to enhance the fan experience.”
