Good News From The Princeton Rays

Princeton Rays General Manager Jim Holland on ticket prices and sales:

Princeton's 18th-year General Manager Jim Holland led off the luncheon by reaffirming that there would be no increase in any ticket prices for the P-Rays in 2009. He also shared some very encouraging information with the crowd about the status of the operation's advertising and marketing sales.

"As of this time, we are running at 100 percent on our renewals of our advertisers for 2009. That says to me that people believe in what we are doing here and that we continue to be a very affordable advertising vehicle for them to put their message before our fans. These kind of persisting figures only add even more stability to our franchise," revealed Holland.

More from Princeton, a way to get free tickets for everyone in your church:

It is with this thought in mind that in 2009 the Princeton Rays will be introducing their "Church Choir of the Game" series. As an added bonus, the church choir involved each night will not only be singing to the game crowds but for their church. What this means is that all members of that particular church's congregation will receive FREE admission to the game at which their choir performs.

"Our fans have always enjoyed the choir anthems and this answers the question as to how to have them performed more often during the course of a season. The choir sings the anthem before the game and then the church can have a nice group outing together," commented P-Rays' General Manager Jim Holland, who added it would be great if there could be a live anthem performance at every game and never a need to play an anthem tape or CD.

From the International League profiles of league managers, Durham manager Charlie Montoyo:

44-year-old Charlie Montoyo returns to the Bulls after two very successful seasons in Durham. Montoyo’s Bulls have won back-to-back South Division flags, going 154-133 overall, but the Bulls have also come up short in the last two Governors’ Cup finals (against Richmond in 2007 and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in 2008). This will be Montoyo’s 13th season as a manager, all coming within the Tampa Bay farm system.

From 2003-06 Montoyo managed Tampa Bay’s Double-A affiliate – Orlando in 2003 and Montgomery from 2004-06. The Biscuits’ most successful season under Montoyo’s guidance came in 2006, as Montgomery rolled to a 77-62 record before defeating Jacksonville and Huntsville to win the Southern League Championship. His first managerial experience was in 1997 with Princeton of the Appalachian League (Rookie), where his club posted a 39-30 record. The second year he guided Hudson Valley to a division title (50-26) in the short season New York-Penn League. From 1999 to 2000 he skippered the Charleston Riverdogs of the South Atlantic League (Class-A), guiding the team to its first winning season as a Tampa Bay affiliate in his second year (73-66). The following season was spent at Class-A Bakersfield of the California League, where his 64-76 club was the organization’s only to make the playoffs. In 2002 Montoyo’s Bakersfield team missed returning to the postseason by just 1.0 game.

The native of Manati, Puerto Rico had a 10-year professional career as a player. The former middle infielder played with the Brewers, Expos, and Phillies organizations, tasting the Major Leagues just once. In September of 1993 he spent 27 days with Montreal, highlighted by his gamewinning double in his first Major League at-bat on September 7 against Colorado. So far in his 12-year managerial career, Montoyo has a record of 780-767 (.504).