The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Baseball Announces Third Annual Lead-Off Banquet
11/25/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Nov. 25, 2002
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB baseball program will hold its Third Annual Lead-Off Banquet Jan. 28, 2003, from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at The Club atop Red Mountain, head baseball coach Larry Giangrosso announced Monday. The keynote speaker at the event will be renowned Major League Baseball umpire Dave Phillips, who called four World Series, eight American League Championships and two All-Star games.
"The Lead-Off Banquet serves a two-fold purpose," said Giangrosso. "First, it gets us started for the year. We introduce the team and recognize people that are helping the program. The UAB Dugout Club has worked so hard on making this event a great success. The last two years the banquet has been outstanding.
"Secondly, the banquet is a fundraiser. We will have a silent auction and we have some corporate sponsorships. It has been a huge success for us the past two years, so we look for the same type of results this year.
"We are also very excited about having Dave Phillips at the banquet. The last two years we have had coaches speak. We had Ron Polk from Mississippi State speak in 2001 and he did an outstanding job. Last year we had Terry Francona, who was a major league manager for the Philadelphia Phillies, but he also had a lot of Birmingham ties with the Birmingham Barons when he was coaching here. We thought we would go a little different direction this year and so we got Dave, who has been an umpire for over 40 years. He has called some World Series games and some championship series games, so it will really give us a different perspective on how the game has changed and he will also have some great stories to tell. All in all, it should be a great night for UAB baseball."
The banquet will start with a reception and a silent auction from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. The dinner and program will begin at 7:05 p.m.
Members of the media are encouraged to attend.
For registration information please visit the UAB athletic department's official website at www.uabsports.com or call the UAB baseball office at (205) 934-5181.
