St. Cloud, MN – The St. Cloud Rox are excited to announce that Major League Baseball World Series Champion and former Minnesota Twins infielder Steve Lombardozzi will be in attendance as the 2019 home opener guest on June 1 at the Rock Pile.

Lombardozzi, who was a part of the 1987 Twins team that took home a World Series trophy, will throw out a ceremonial first pitch at the home opener presented by Coborn’s at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday, June 1 at Joe Faber Field as the Rox take on the Bismarck Larks to open up the 2019 home schedule.

In addition to throwing out the first pitch before the game, Lombardozzi will be signing autographs and will be taking pictures with fans throughout the home opener, which will feature a post-game fireworks extravaganza.

Lombardozzi, who played six seasons in the MLB, was drafted by the Twins in the ninth round of the 1981 MLB Amateur Draft and broke into the league when he made his debut with Minnesota on July 12, 1985 against the Detroit Tigers. He went on to play four seasons with the Twins spanning from 1985 to 1988, appearing in a total of 423 games.

In his time in the Twin Cities, Lombardozzi tallied a batting average of .233 in a total of 1,394 plate appearances over four years. He finished with 148 runs scored, 286 hits, 58 doubles, 11 triples, 19 home runs, 104 RBI and 13 stolen bases in a Twins uniform. Lombardozzi put his best season together in 1987 and ended that season by helping Minnesota defeat the St. Louis Cardinals to win the 1987 World Series, a series where he provided multiple key hits and finished with a .412 batting average and one home run in six appearances.

After his time in Minnesota, Lombardozzi went on to play two more years with the Houston Astros before retiring following the 1990 season at the age of 30. Over the course of his career, he played in just under 500 games and holds a career batting average of .233 with nearly 300 hits, 61 doubles, 20 home runs and 107 RBI.

Lombardozzi’s son, Steve Lombardozzi Jr., has followed in his dad’s footsteps in playing professional baseball, currently playing for the Long Island Ducks in the Atlantic League. Lombardozzi Jr. has spent multiple seasons at the MLB level like his dad, having played for the Washington Nationals, Baltimore Orioles, Pittsburgh Pirates and Miami Marlins.

The Rox will open their eighth season of Northwoods League baseball in 2019. Cy Young award winner Bret Saberhagen and former Twins Tom Brunansky, Terry Steinbach, Jacque Jones, Gene Larkin, Greg Gagne and Juan “Señor Smoke” Berenguer have previously thrown out the first pitch during Rox home openers.

The Rox home opener is Saturday, June 1 at 7:05 p.m., featuring post-game fireworks presented by Coborn’s. To view and download the full 2019 Rox schedule, click here. Tickets for the 2019 home opener and all single game tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. on May 1 and can be purchased online at www.stcloudrox.com, at the Rox ticket office located at the Municipal Athletic Complex or by calling 320-240-9798.

The St. Cloud Rox are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 25-year old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, over 200 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (MIA).  All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.stcloudrox.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Rox as your favorite team.