Professional Baseball in Princeton....Why
Not Princeton? With that question, posed by a prominent backer
of the nearby Bluefield Orioles, Allen Coppinger, began the journey
for Mercer County, West Virginia, to acquire its second professional
baseball team.
Coppinger, a local businessman, also sat on the Board of Directors
for the Mercer County Bank in Princeton and shared his vision
with bank president James Thompson. Shortly thereafter, Coppinger
brought together Thompson and other representatives of the community
with then league president Bill Halstead, who immediately saw,despite
the town's small size, that it featured a loyal and tireless group
which could support pro ball well.
The town sent City Manager Gary Christie and local accountant
Harry Finkelman to Dallas for the 1987 Winter Meetings armed with
an impressive slide presentation in hopes of catching the eye
of a prospective major league affiliate.
That
team turned out to be the Pittsburgh Pirates, who immediately
visited Princeton the next month. By the end of that day, the
town was informed it only had five months (instead of the eighteen
they were anticipating) to get a playing facility ready for the
1988 season.
Then the community's greatest resource, its people, went into
action by meeting the Pirates' deadline and erecting Hunnicutt
Field. Thompson was selected as the organization's first president
by a board of directors comprised of prominent community leaders.However,
due to financial cutbacks in Pittsburgh, the Pirates left town
at the end of the following year.
Enter
the Philadelphia Phillies to the rescue, who stocked Princeton
with a co-op team, which operated under the name "Patriots"
for one year while a new affiliate could be found. The team was
comprised of players from the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs
and Atlanta Braves.
A partnership.
which flourished from 1991-1996, began when the town joined forces
with the Cincinnati Reds. In an effort to stimulate even further
growth by the operation, Thompson, in his last major move as team
president before retiring, hired ex-Huntington Cub employee Jim
Holland, the team's first-ever full-time, year round, paid employee,
as general manager in November, 1991, Holland remains there today
as the longest-tenured general manager in the club's history.
The 1992 season began with a new president in the form of another
local banker, Dewey Russell. Together with an aggressive board
of directors, they have furthered the team's growth with continued
improvements to the facility and solidifying Princeton's positional
a respected professional baseball community. A booster club was
formed to address player needs away from the diamond.
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1994
P-Reds
One of the few teams in pro ball to operate on a non-profit basis,the
P-Reds did so to meet its goal of providing an affordable,wholesome
recreational opportunity where the entire family can spend a summer
evening. To realize this, the team's volunteer, 20-member board
of directors strategically features members from various professions
needed to reinforce Princeton's growing reputation as "a
small community with a big league attitude".
The most memorable season for professional baseball in Princeton
to date was easily 1994, when led by Appalachian League "Monograph
the Year" John Stearns, the Princeton Reds rallied from an
early season slow start and numerous injuries to capture the franchise's
only pennant. Four players from that team, have already appeared
on major league Spring Training 40-man rosters: Decomba Conner
(Detroit, Seattle - --who in a game on May 14, 1995, made another
mark in minor league baseball history, going 5 for 5, becoming
the first Bowie Baysox player to EVER hit for the cycle, driving
in five funs in a four inning span.), Darron Ingram (Cincinnati),
Luis Ordaz (St. Louis) and Curt Lyons (Cincinnati), the latter
two having appeared in regular season major league play. In addition
to Stearns' managerial honors, the '94 squad had four players
named to the league all-star team while Conner, while despite
playing only 60 percent of the season, was named the Appalachian
League's Most Valuable Player.
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1995
P-Reds
The 1995 season dawned with great expectations and anticipation
in Princeton, where the P-Reds were flying the '94 Appy League
pennant at Hunnicutt Field. Those expectations reached a fever
pitch when the Reds roared out to a 5-0 record. Would there be
a repeat?
However, during that stretch, the team had logged a batting marking
the .200 neighborhood, and the law of averages caught up withy
defending champs en route to a 1995 record of 31-32, good for
second place in the Northern Division standings.
The unblemished five-game start was followed by a 1-7 stint which
included a June 28 flood, leaving the Princeton home diamond underwater
during that period. Local officials termed the disaster the worst
flooding in Mercer County in over 40 years. As a result,the team
installed a 7,200 foot irrigation and drainage system in the fall
of 1995, which was termed by veteran ex Wrigley Field head groundskeeper
Lubie Veal as being equivalent to any he had seen at any level
of professional baseball. The flood broke one of the Reds' most
cherished records: a string of 70 straight successful home openings,
believed to be an Appy League record for non-rainouts.
The season was not without its bright spots. Big 6'8", 245
pound lefthanded Chris Murphy finished with a slate of seven wins
against one loss before being promoted to Winston-Salem of the
Carolina League. He just missed being the third straight Princeton
pitcher to win the league's ERA title, finishing second with a
1.55 figure. His only loss was a 5-0 decision to Bluefield in
which all five runs were unearned.
Offensively, 18-year-old outfielder Darron Ingram won the Appy
League home run crown on his last at-bat of the season in the
ninth inning on August 28 at Martinsville. Another force for the
Reds was third baseman Anthony Patellis, who despite not joining
the squad until July 12, clubbed eleven round trippers. First
baseman Tony Boyette also was a member of the double figures contingent,going
"yard" ten times. The Reds could definitely play long
ball, finishing with 53 homers, good for second place in the league
behind Elizabethton and setting a Princeton club record.
The Reds closed the season the way they started: with a winning
streak, leaving them one game short of the .500 plateau for the
season.
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1996
P-Reds
August 30, 1996, brought the announcement that the Cincinnati
Reds were leaving Princeton but less than a month later baseball
enthusiasm reached a never before achieved fever pitch with the
unveiling of a new partnership with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.Within
weeks, the red color which formally adorned the town was being
replaced with the new colors of one of the major league's newest
expansion teams. The community's new enthusiastic reception for
the Princeton Devil Rays had fans already wearing new caps and
anxiously pointing to June 19, 1997 home opener at a freshly painted
Hunnicutt Field. And with the beginning of the 1997 season,Princeton
helped write the early chapters in the new heritage of Devil Rays
Baseball.
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1997 P-Rays - The Start of Something New
The inaugural 1997 summer with the Devil Rays far exceeded all of the local fans hopes for a first year team. After sputtering to an 0-3 start, the P-Rays unleashed one of the league's most potent offenses while spending the season chasing after their cross-county rival, the Bluefield Orioles, for the Eastern Division lead. The top scoring team in the Appy League in 1997, Princeton won games by scores of 20-3 over the Bristol White Sox on July 17, 25-1 over the Danville Braves on August 10 and 21-11 over the Johnson City Cardinals on August 18.
A late regular season collapse by the O's, coupled with the P-Rays winning 12 of their last 13 games, forced a one-game play-off after both teams finished the season tied for the Division crown.The Orioles captured the play-off game 5-4 in ten innings en route to collecting their second consecutive Appy League pennant. This was indicative of how close the campaign was between the two teams,who played 13 games (Bluefield winning 7) with a total difference of only one run.
The P-Rays final 39-30 Record marked the second winningest season in Princeton's franchise history and Devil Ray fever also showed at the turnstiles as attendance rose an astounding 29 percent over Princeton's last season with the Cincinnati Reds in 1996.
Individually, the home team was blessed with the league's two biggest stars of 1997: Jared Sandberg and Robert Berns, both who earned spots on the Appalachian League All-Star Team.
Sandberg, nephew of ex-Cubs second baseman Ryne Sandberg, practically rewrote the franchise record book while becoming the third Princeton player in the last six years to be named league MVP. Sandberg finished second in the league with a club record of of 17 homeruns and first in RBIs with 68. The last Appy League player with more RBIs was former major leaguer Glenn Braggs who had 74 in 1983.
Berns' bat got hot early and never cooled
down, setting Appalachian League records for both doubles (34)
and extra base hits (44)in a season. His 34 two-baggers also set
a record for all-short season leagues who are NAPBL members.
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The 1998 edition of the Princeton Devil Rays certainly faced a big challenge in attempting to duplicate the success of the 1997 inaugural season P-Rays crew. But the task proved to not be intimidating as the '98 squad roared to a 38-30 regular season record while capturing the Appalachian League's Eastern Division crown. The season once again featured a heated Princeton-Bluefield struggle for Division honors before a seven-game winning streak by the P-Rays in mid season opened the gap they needed.
Unlike the big power hitters which comprised the 1997 squad,the 1998 P-Rays fashioned many victories through defense, timely pitching and playing "station to station" baseball. However, there was one big power bat in the lineup, All -Star catcher Humberto Cota, who finished with regular season totals of 15 homers, (adding another in the championship playoff games)and 61 RBIs to go along with a .310 batting average.
Otherwise, teams were held at bay by the likes of crafty starting pitching such as lefty Jeremy Robinson, who was named the 1998 Appalachian League "Pitcher of the Year." When the starters gave way to the bullpen late in the game it was usually an appearance by James Lira, a thin fireballing Texan, who rang up 14 saves,made the League All Star team, and was awarded the League's "Rolaids Relief Man of the Year" award.
And if potential base hits were directed up the middle, more often than not they were intercepted by Princeton's flashy keystone combination of shortstop Nestor Perez and second baseman Derek Mann, who also led the league in hits offensively.
Locally, the team brought many smiles to Princeton fans by capturing the 1998 Mercer Cup. This trophy is awarded annually to the winner of the regular season series between Princeton and their cross county rivals from Bluefield. The final outcome of eight games to four in Princeton's favor featured victories that ranged from a 15-2 pounding administered by Princeton in their 1998 home opener to pitching goose eggs at the Orioles in the Cup-clinching game by a 7-0 score at the O's Bowen Field on August 18.
Despite being swept in the League Championship
Series by a much older Bristol White Sox team by 10-6 and 15-6
scores, when the smoke cleared it was replaced by the anticipation
of another set of Princeton Devil Rays coming home to Princeton
for the 1999 season to wear the home colors in the Appalachian
League's newest and most modern stadium - "NEW" Hunnicutt
Field!
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1999 P-Rays - Out With The Old - In With The New . . .
With the Tampa Bay Devil Rays departure from the Gulf Coast League, Princeton became the first step in the Devil Ray farm club ladder and as a result fielded a very young squad in an advanced rookie league in 1999.
The anticipation for the season began in earnest on September 11, 1998 with the demolition of "old" Hunnicutt Field to be replaced on the same site with a new $2.8 million dollar stadium created with every convenience known for player and fan comfort. Unforeseen construction and material delays prompted a restructuring of the P-Rays schedule in late May forcing the delay of the home portion of the schedule, which commenced in Princeton on July 2, 1999.
Taking the field with a very young team (no starter over the age of 20), the Princeton squad competed admirably but saw the.500 mark for the last time on June 26 at 4-4 and limped home with a final overall 25-45 record.
But the season will be memorable overall by the presence of 18-year-old centerfielder Josh Hamilton, the number one draft pick overall in the 1999 amateur draft. The Raleigh, NC native backed up his advance billing by scorching Appy League pitching for a .347 batting average with 10 home runs, 48 RBI's, 82 hits,49 runs, 20 doubles and four triples in ONLY 56 games. This five-tool player also displayed his speed with 17 stolen bases and amazed fans with his effortless ease in the field where he took sure base hits away from opposing batters, and the ones who did reach base had to contend with his cannon of an arm. Under intense media scrutiny all season, Hamilton did not disappoint in his debut by homering against the Bluefield Orioles at Bluefield's Bowen Field on June 19,1999.
Despite the team's overall youth, Hamilton was not the only bright spot for the team, which finished fourth in the Appalachian League's five team Eastern Division. Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay's number two pick and also rated as a "Top 100"by Baseball America magazine, grew steadily stronger as the season progressed. The 17-year-old outfielder from Houston, TX recorded a .319 batting average with 83 hits and 62 runs scored.
Overshadowed by a collection of high-priced pitching draftees,20 - year old Nelson Valera, a free-agent from the Dominican Republic,shined brightest on a mound corps that finished with an astronomical team earned run average of 6.30. Valera finished fifth in the Appy League with an ERA of 2.91
Princeton's losses though, were the
gains of Tampa Bay's New York Penn League team at Hudson Valley,
NY. The Renegades captured that league's titles with significant
help from five players who where the 1999 P-Rays colors earlier
in the season. Neal Frendling, Shaggy Isenia, Matt Dailey, Nelson
Valera and a late arrival by Josh Hamilton, who hit .400 for the
Renegades in their championship series. These departures, plus
injuries which plagued Princeton impact players like dependable
starting pitcher Jarrett "Soup" Campbell and power hitting
outfielder Jesus Lama (four homers in the league's first week
before being injured), made for challenging times, but has everyone
now looking forward to the 2000 Appalachian League Season to start
in late June.
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2000 P-Rays - The Start Of The New Millennium. . .
The 2000 season opened with great fanfare and anticipation for this edition of the Princeton Devil Rays. The home opener on June 23 against the Danville Braves marked the first pro game in the finally completed "New" Hunnicutt Field. West Virginia's Governor Cecil H. Underwood proclaimed the date as Devil Rays Day for the entire state and Tampa Bay Devil Rays owner Vince Namolli along with Appalachian League President Lee Landers were among the 2,554 fans on hand for the big event.
It was a season of streaks for the P-Rays who reached their highest peak for the season above the .500 mark at 13-7 after only 20 games. The team finally settled at the .500 level on August 8 at 22-22. At this point, the Princeton Squad nailed down five straight victories to be a strong contender for the league's Eastern Division crown. Unfortunately, this was followed by a five game losing streak, so it was no surprise the team finished the 2000 campaign with a 34-34 record.
The team's title aspirations faded as the season progressed with the promotions of key players such as pitchers Chad Coward, Dustin McKey and Hans Smith as well as catcher Alex Marconi to other Tampa Bay affiliates. Despite the team's youth, the P-Rays still managed a second place in the Eastern Division finish.
The local fans were treated to a good year as the P-Rays finished with a 19-14 home record and witnessed the development of such front line players as Kelly Eddlemon, Dan DeMent, Jeff Ridgway, Jason Cromer, and Rocco Baldelli, who was the number six overall pick in the 2000 Major League Draft. The squad also featured one of its best balanced bullpens in Princeton history led by the quintet of Evan Rust, Oscar Bustillos, Miguel Lopez, Benny Gomez and Juan Renteria.
Eddlemon and DeMent both were among
the Appy League's statistical leaders throughout the bulk of the
season and were also named to the League's All-Star team. Ridgway
finished second in the circuit in earned run averages.
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2001 A Season Of Surprises, Recognitions and Awards
The Princeton Devil Rays opened the 2001 season with hopes of improving the previous season's record (34-34) .500 record but instead the summer was another one of intense rains and a nine-game losing streak that plummeted the team to the basement of the Appalachian League's Eastern Division with a final record of 28-39, worst in the ten-team circuit. It was the first last place finish for the Princeton franchise history.
However, many high-energy promotions and several exciting players propelled the P-Rays to a second place finish in the league's attendance standings while keeping fans interest alive all summer long.
July 10 marked the last time the team was as many as two games above .500 with a 10-8 record following a 15-3 shellacking of the Bluefield Orioles. The team last saw the .500 mark at 13-13 on July 18 and was also leading the Division. This was promptly followed by a nine game losing streak that kept the team winless until July 31.
There were several bright spots. The team logged a 3-2 record against the best team in the league, the Elizabethton Twins while going 5-1 against the team with the league's second best record - the Bristol White Sox.
Princeton centerfielder Jonny Gomes was a tremendous offensive catalyst who became the fourth Princeton player in franchise history to be named as the League's Most Valuable Player. He was recognized by Baseball America as one of the Appalachian League's Top 10 major league prospects and was also named the Topps Player -of-the-Month for August 2001 for the Appalachian League.
2001 saw him lead the Appy League in:
Home Runs 16
On Base Percentage .442
Slugging Percentage .597
Hit By Pitch 26 (ties Appy all time record)
To cap off his dominate year, Gomes
also finished second in the Appy League in:
Runs Scored 58
Extra Base Hits 29
RBI's 44
Two P-Rays were honored by ESPN/Sports Ticker during the season as Appalachian League "Hitter of the Week:" outfielder Alex German and catcher Shawn Riggans. Following a season-ending injury by Riggans, Brent Cordell took over the catching duties and finished ninth in the league in hitting while also notching fourth place finish in the league tally in slugging percentage.
The team's home schedule ended on a
high note on August 25 with a P-Rays 5-2 decision over the Johnson
City Cardinals and their much heralded pitcher ex-St. Louis fireballer
Rick Ankiel. The ONLY home run to be hit off of Ankiel was hit
by Jeremy "Maddog" Maddox at Princeton's Hunnicutt Field.
The victory also gave Edwin Rodriguez his 59th career victory
as Princeton manager and made him the winningest skipper in franchise
history enabling him to pass former leader Sam Mejias (58 victories
total in 1991 & 1992).
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2002
New Looks & New Records
APPY LEAGUE MVP BACK TO BACK & MORE!!!
The 2002 season dawned for a "new look" P-Rays squad with a more business-like uniform of green and black to replace the splashy multi-colored jerseys of the past five campaigns.
An ominous cloud was cast over the team early as they limped out of the gate to show an 0-4 start before going 8-8 over the next sixteen games to show an 8-12 overall mark entering play on July 10 at Bristol. Hopes for a respectable summer at that point caved in with a franchise-record 11 consecutive losses. The squad then showed a meager .297 winning percentage for the balance of the season to finish with a dismal 19-49 record for the season.
However, there was a silver lining to this cloud, there were three players that just kept setting records this season. For the first time in Princeton Baseball's 14 years plus franchise history - a player hit for The Cycle (a home run, a triple, a double and a single all in one game). On July 26 in a 12-7 White Sox victory, Gabriel Martinez's first hit of the night was a two-run home run in the first inning, the single came in the fourth inning, the double was his third hit of the night and the triple came in the eighth.
Despite the team's win loss record, fans kept coming to games at Hunnicutt Field to watch Wes Bankston and Jason Pridie patrol the outfield.
The number four pick of Tampa Bay in the 2002 draft, Bankston displayed a power bat early and often by recording 18 homers to lead the Appalachian League in home runs, while topping the franchise record of 17 set by Jared Sandberg in 1997. Bankston had collected eight hits in his first four games and never looked back. The first baseman led the Appy with 18 homers (five of which were in consecutive games) and 57 RBIs while hitting .301. Bankston also tied the Princeton Single Season record for the most Grand Slams in one season with three. He tied the Princeton Franchise record for the most Grand Slams in one season with three. He is tied for first place for the Appy League record for the Most Grand Slams in one season with three. He then showed it was no fluke when he was promoted to the New York-Penn League with Hudson Valley and hit .303 in 8 games at the end of the season.
As for Pridie, he demonstrated why he was Tampa Bay's number two draft pick in 2002 by becoming the league's most feared hitting machine. By accumulating 105 hits for the season, Jason became only the sixth player in the league's history to achieve at least 100 hits in a season while tying Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett (Elizabethton - 1982) for the second highest single season total in league history. In addition to his hit total, Jason also set franchise records for a season in triples (9), and batting average (.368). Pridie became the fourth player in the Appalachian League since 1993 to achieve a 20-game hitting streak by hitting safely in 20 games from July 3-24. During this 20-game streak, Pridie batted 92 times and registered 39 hits for a .424 average. He scored 19 runs, had four doubles, three triples and knocked in seven runs. Throughout his first 61 games , he reached base safely at least once in the 57 games. In this 61 game stretch, he recorded at least one hit in 52 of those contests with 33 being multi-hit games.On a more personal side - Pridie was voted by the Princeton fans as the 2002 Most Popular Princeton Player. He also was promoted to he New York-Penn League with Hudson Valley and hit .344 in 8 games at the end of the season - where he had another 11 hits!
When the smoke cleared, Pridie and Bankston comprises two-thirds of the outfield spots on the 2002 Appalachian League All Star team. Bankston also captured the league's "Player of the Year" award. Bankston's honor made it two years in a row for a P-Ray player and Princeton's fifth in the last eleven years.
For the 2002 Minor League season, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays named Bankston and Pridie Co-Players of the Year for their Princeton farm team.
The editors of Baseball America in their Appalachian League Top 20 Prospects ranked Wes Bankston second and Jason Pridie fifth.
For the week ending August 10, 2002, Jason Pridie was named ESPN / SportsTicker "Hitter of the Week" for the Appalachian League.
For the week ending August 17, 2002, Wes Bankston was named ESPN / SportsTicker "Hitter of the Week" for the Appalachian League.
TOPPS Baseball Card Co. named Wes Bankston the Appalachian League's TOPS Player of the Month for the Appalachian League for the month of August.
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