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Ballpark Notes: It’s awards time in the minors

Lots of awards news these days.
Lots of awards news these days. First, New Hampshire Fisher Cats President and General Manager Rick Brenner has been chosen as the 2008 Eastern League Executive of the Year. This is the second time during his 15-year career that Rick has won this award, as he was also named the 2003 Eastern League Executive of the Year while he was working for the Trenton Thunder. In their first season under Rick’s guidance the Fisher Cats saw a 23-percent increase in their total attendance, and they continued to build on that mark again in 2008, as the club broke their single season attendance record for the fifth consecutive year, with 373,227 fans passing through the turnstiles at Merchantsauto.com Stadium this season. That attendance total does not include the crowd of 8,762 fans that were in attendance for the Northeast Delta Dental Eastern League All-Star Game on Wednesday, July 16th, which was the largest crowd in the history of Merchantsauto.com Stadium. The Fisher Cats also snared the Eastern League’s nominees for Rawlings Woman Executive of the Year, Danielle Matteau, and the Larry MacPhail Promotional Trophy. Nominated for John H. Johnson President’s Trophy: New Britain Rock Cats….In the Midwest League, Paul Barbeau has received the prestigious Executive of the Year award, recognizing the Loons’ president and general manager for leadership in the areas of general park operations, ticket sales, concessions and overall baseball operations. The announcement was made Friday by the Midwest League. "I am extremely honored to be selected by the Midwest League as the Executive of the Year," Barbeau said. "Of course none of what we have accomplished with the Loons since our inception in 2007 would be possible without the continued support of Bill Stavropoulos and the Michigan Baseball Foundation, our hard-working staff, our outstanding sponsors, and most importantly our fans." Also in the Midwest League, Quad Cities River Bandits Assistant General Manager Stefanie Brown and Cedar Rapids Kernels Director of Tickets and Group Sales Andrea Murphy are the co-winners of the Rawlings Woman Executive of the Year. In other River Bandits news, Cory Howerton was promoted to Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer….