Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard, the first member of the Lakewood BlueClaws ever to play in the Major Leagues, will return to Lakewood on Sept. 2 to have his uniform number 29 retired by the team.

Howard, who was a BlueClaws first baseman in 2002, hit .280 with 19 home runs and 87 RBIs. In 2007 he returned to Lakewood on a rehab assignment and hit another home run and drove in four runs to tie the franchise RBI record.

“It is a tremendous honor for me to have my number retired by the BlueClaws,” said Howard. “I am excited to return to Lakewood this summer to participate in the ceremony.”

Howard’s 29 will be the third number retired by the BlueClaws, but first of a former player. John H. Moss, who was the South Atlantic League president for 50 years, has number 50 retired by all SAL clubs.

Jackie Robinson’s number 42 is retired by every team in major and minor league baseball.

“Ryan has gone from a great BlueClaws player to one of the best players in all of baseball,” said BlueClaws General Manager Geoff Brown. “We are proud to honor him like this and excited to bring him back as part of our 10th season celebration.”

Since becoming the first former Blue- Claws player to play in a Major League game (Sept. 1, 2004), Howard has been the National League Rookie of the Year (2005), National League MVP (2006), and been a key member of two Phillies World Series teams, including their 2008 championship club.

“This is the highest honor we can give a former player,” said Brown. “And Ryan Howard certainly earned it.”

Howard has hit 40 home runs in four straight seasons, and can tie Babe Ruth for the all-time record with a 40 home run season this year.

In May 2009 he became the fastest player ever to hit 200 career home runs (his 658th game), surpassing Ralph Kiner’s record.

The first 2,000 fans to enter the stadium on Sept. 2 will receive a special Ryan Howard mini-BlueClaws commemorative jersey.

Because of the late confirmation of Howard’s appearance, individual game tickets for this game only went on sale April 10.

“We feel we certainly owe our ticket package holders and group leaders the first shot at seats for this one-of-a-kind event,” Brown said. “This is something that we have done for other major events in the past, and we look forward to a full house on Sept. 2.”

Fans can currently obtain tickets to the Sept. 2 game by ordering a ticket package or booking a group outing by calling 732-901- 7000, option 3.