Hide Article Text (OCR)
2010., the year of change in the two VirginiasBy TOM BONEBluefield Daily TelegraphThe Bluefield Blue Jays?A Southwest District without Graham and Grundy? The birth of the Dana Holgorsen era at West Virginia University?A year of upheaval and change rocked traditions in local and regional sports dur ing 2010, producing one unexpected headline after another.Orioles abandon nest in BluefieldThe evening of Aug. 31 at historic Bowen Field was like no other in the 53 years that the Baltimore Orioles had an Appalachian League franchise at the state-line ball park. A host of fans came to say goodbye.Baltimore abruptly cut their ties to Four Seasons Country at the end of the 2010 Appy League season, ending what is believed to be the longest continuous affiliation between a minor-league city and a Major League Baseball club.Since their 1958 debut,“somewhere around 1,300 different players” for the Bluefield Orioles entertained more than 1.5 million fans at Bowen Field, said club president George McGonagle.He estimated “somewhere around 150 (to) 160” Bluefield Orioles made the Major Leagues, including two baseball hall of tamers, Cal Ripken Jr. and Eddie Murray.McGonagle said about the Baltimore organization, “It’s been 53 outstanding years. Allthe way, it’s been a class act. ...We want to wish them well.”Baltimore president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail said, “We had a relationship with the people in Bluefield for over half a century, and it is a remarkably difficult personal decision for a lot of the people that have beenthere for a long time and real ly enjoyed the relationship.”Bluefield’s local rivals, the Princeton Rays, defeated the home team 10-4 and 5-0 on the Orioles’ final night of existence. Bluefield finished with the league’s worst record.After the Orioles’ official announcement that they were eliminating Bluefield to reduce their number of short-season minor-league teams, McGonagle and the BluefieldBaseball Club did not waste time dwelling on the past.On Sept. 6, the local club and the Appalachian League revealed that the Toronto Blue Jays had agreed to rejoin the league and place a franchise in Bluefield. The new team is scheduled to begin its season on June 21 at Elizabethton.Billy Wagner ends pitching careerThe pride of Tazewell, Major League Baseball relief pitcher Billy Wagner was a solid contributor to the Atlanta Braves, his fifth big-league team, in their successful push for the 2010 National League playoffs.The seven-time All-Star hadLook back, C-3
Newspaper Details
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
Bluefield, West Virginia, US
Sat, Jan 01, 2011
Page 36
Full Page
Clipped by
Becky K.
NA, 02 Jun 2023
Other Publications Near Bluefield, West Virginia
Bluefield Evening Leader
Bluefield Daily Leader
Bluefield Sunset News
Bluefield Sunday Telegraph
The New Daily Telegraph
