Griffin Added To Exclusive Marauders Club At LECOM Park

Konnor Griffin is the latest former member of the Bradenton Marauders to be officially added to an exclusive group at LECOM Park.

When the Marauders begin a six-game homestand next week with the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels, take a walk around the ballpark, and make sure to slow down when you reach the center field area. When you reach the tunnel, where there are plaques on the walls of all former Marauders who have made their MLB debut, look for Griffin’s plaque.

Griffin, who made his debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates on April 3 of this season, was a member of the 2025 Bradenton club. 50 games on the Marauders’ roster are all that was needed for the shortstop, before being promoted to Greensboro (N.C.), and later Double-A Altoona (Pa.)

Up next for a plaque is Pirates’ reliever Wilber Dotel, who on April 19 received the call-up from Triple-A Indianapolis to Pittsburgh. During the 2022 and 2023 Florida State League seasons, Dotel appeared in 20 games for the Marauders.

Reviewing the walls of Bradenton’s best is highly recommended. So many emotions and memories are there for the taking. This unique tribute to major leaguers, who first came through Bradenton in the Pirates’ minor league chain, has been around for as long as most can remember. It’s also proven to be popular with visiting baseball fans.

“It’s been around for a long time,” Craig Warzecha, Marauders’ general manager, said of the plaques displayed. “I inherited it. I started here in late 2015, before the 2016 season, and the plaques were here then.”

Warzecha offers credit to Nick Long, formerly coordinator of LECOM Park operations, and Rachelle Madrigal, named Bradenton's general manager in May 2015 and currently vice president for MLB at the Jackie Robinson Training Complex in Vero Beach, for their maintaining the honoring of Marauders who reached the height of their careers.

“I heard great, positive feedback from the fans over the years about it. They are seeing players who have come through (Bradenton), and when they made their MLB debut. This is something that we definitely point out to fans,” explains Warzecha.

Whereas other ballparks in the FSL may have some type of wall of fame or hall of fame acknowledgment of their past, few, if any, honor the Marauders’ best of the best as they are celebrated with photo plaques to be appreciated in perpetuity. This is quite a unique exhibit, appreciated at no additional cost to fans.

Along with the plaques, this season also added the logos of the championship Marauders teams of 2016 and 2021.

“I felt that this is a nice addition because we really didn’t have anywhere in the ballpark recognizing the two championships,” Warzecha tells.

So, what is the process of having a player plaque created and installed by the maintenance staff at LECOM Park?

Along with Warzecha, team broadcaster Matthew Hargrove, and Brian Spradlin, Marauders’ marketing and game presentation manager, comprise the primary unit that monitors player promotions. Griffin’s making his way to Pittsburgh last month was very much on the trio’s radar. Ballplayers making their debut with other organizations could be a challenge.

After the debut, the Marauders contact AMI Graphics in Orlando. Warzecha offers what appears to be a simple process for creating plaques.

“AMI Graphics is our sign company who does our majority, if not all, the signs at the ballpark. Basically, we have a library of all the photos, and we choose one that we like. We send it over to them (AMI Graphics). They have the layout template. We plug in the debut date, proofread it, and it gets shipped to us.”

Honoring those who wore a Marauders uniform before getting to share a dugout with one of the 30 MLB clubs, this association with Bradenton doesn’t go unnoticed. It’s important for the Pirates’ organization to demonstrate its appreciation to those who put in the work to achieve the ultimate honor of being called a major leaguer.