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ApL Princeton WhistlePigs

P-Rays update

September 19, 2006 - Appalachian League (ApL)
Princeton WhistlePigs News Release


Well, another Appalachian League season is now in the books and our most rabid fans are already counting the days until the beginning of the 2007 Appalachian League season next June. The season just completed featured a P-Rays' team that, despite its 28-36 record, played a very entertaining brand of baseball that saw many games go down to the wire this year. So now once again, as we do every September, we resume the monthly production of "Raywatch," the monthly e-mail newsletter that keeps you up to date with all the happenings of the Princeton Devil Rays.

NEW LOOK NEWSLETTER COMING: We are currently in the process of changing how this newsletter is distributed to you and our "new look" could be coming as early as next month. Under the new format, you will receive a list of the story titles contained within the newsletter and you just click on the stories you want to read. Of course, we hope you still want to read all of them! As we go through this transition, this would be a good time to once again check with your friends to see if they are receiving this FREE newsletter. Please send new e-mail addresses to be added to our e-mailing list to us at raysball@sunlitsurf.com.

WEBSITE UPDATE: Newly added over the past several weeks to our website at www.princetondevilrays.com are five new stories on subjects of interest to you that you may have missed late in the season and includes:

1. Who won the 2006 P-Rays' "Most Popular Player" Award?

2. What 2006 P-Rays are going to "Instructional League?"

3. What six former P-Rays made their major league debuts this year?

4. An update on another outstanding year for the P-Rays' Booster Club.

5. A review of the great year turned in by our front office intern staff.

Once again, visit our website to pick up all the details on these stories and more!

THE BISCUITS WEAR THE CROWN: Our congratulations to Tampa Bay's AA affiliate, the Montgomery Biscuits, who won the 2006 Southern League Championship. Elliot Johnson (2002 P-Ray) was a clutch performer in the title clinching game as he hit for the cycle. In other Rays playoff news, Tampa Bay's High-A affiliate, the Visalia Oaks, advanced clear to the 2006 California League title series before falling three games to two.

APPY LEAGUE PLAYOFF RESULTS: In case you missed it, the Danville Braves are the champions of the Appalachian League for 2006, defeating the Elizabethton Twins two games to one in the best-of-three Championship Series. The P-Rays would like to congratulate both teams on their fine seasons.

A ROYAL WELCOME: There is a new major league team to welcome to the Appalachian League for the 2007 season as the Kansas City Royals have replaced the Cleveland Indians as the major league sponsor for Burlington, whose team will now be known as the Burlington Royals.

NO NO NO: Former P-Ray pitcher Wade Davis (2004) pitched a complete game no-hitter for the Southwest Michigan Devil Rays on August 31 but yet still lost the game 1-0. During the game, Davis set a new single season strikeout record for the Southwest Michigan franchise. Following completion of the game, Wade stood at 165 strikeouts for the 146 innings he worked during the 2006 Midwest League season.

UNDER THE KNIFE: 1998 P-Ray Brandon Backe, who has went on to mound stardom with the Houston Astros, recently underwent ligament replacement surgery on his pitching elbow. The recovery period is expected to span 12-18 months, meaning in all likelihood he will miss the 2007 season. He twice sprained his ulnar collateral ligament in 2006.

APPY 2006...INDIVIDUALS BY THE NUMBERS: Several Princeton names surfaced throughout the Appy League's final statistical leaders for this past season. All-Star catcher Nevin Ashley made a strong run at the league's batting title before finishing third with a .333 average. He also finished first in the league in on-base percentage at .440. Third baseman Mike McCormick finished tied for third in the league in homers with ten, while finishing tied for second in the league in both doubles (18) and extra base hits (28). Desmond Jennings 32 stolen bases made him the third player in Princeton franchise history to win the league's stolen base title, joining Chad Cooper (2003) and Greg Sims (1988). He also finished first in the league in runs scored with 48 to join Dan Frye of the 1992 Princeton Reds as the only Princeton players to ever lead the league in this category. On the pitching side of the ledger, Ryan Morse completed a fine season by finishing fifth in the league in earned run average at 2.88 while Chad Pendarvis also cracked the top ten with atenth place finish at 3.47. Only five pitchers in the league threw a complete game in 2006 and three of them were from Princeton: Wilton Noel, Tyree Hayes, and Chad Pendarvis with the latter two tossing two of only three complete game shutouts registered in the league this summer.

APPY 2006...PRINCETON BY THE NUMBERS: The 2006 P-Rays' pitching staff kept the team in games by finishing fifth in the league in earned run average with a 3.87 figure while offensively, the team closed with a seventh place finish among league teams with a .250 batting average. The aggressive managing style of Jamie Nelson was demonstrated by the team stealing a league-leading 106 bases, well ahead of second-place Kingsport's 79 "bags." The Rays also won the team stolen base crown in 2003 with 100 thefts. Overall, the P-Rays finished with a 28-36 record (16-17 at home and 12-19 on the road). The team played every game tough as 24 of the team's 64 games were decided by two runs or less, with Princeton going 11-13 in these games. Despite being the smallest city in the ten-team Appalachian League, our fans supported us well as the P-Rays finished fifth in the league with an average attendance of 936 fans per game.

108 WINS AND GROWING: Princeton manager Jamie Nelson's 108 career managerial victories in Appalachian League competition now positions him in 21st place all-time among the almost 250 managers who have piloted games in this league since it went to the short-season format in 1957.

"THANK YOU" FROM THE GM: "The very day after the conclusion of the 2006 season, we began the march toward our 20th season as a member of the Appalachian League. I did want to share with you that in my 15 seasons now completed as your General Manager, I enjoyed this one among the most and this may very well be the one season that I least wanted to see end because it was so much fun and also due to the great manners and professionalism our players exhibited here this summer. We played exciting baseball while we also had a lineup of game day promotions that was our best to date but yet we will try to top it in 2007. Our operation will forever only be as strong as our fans and our vendor support dictates, so in that respect I will report to you that we are pretty doggone strong and we will carry on with business as usual as we prepare for 2007. Thanks again to each and every one of you that by your presence at the ballpark or through you choosing our team as an advertising avenue for your business made 2006 the successful and memorable year it has been. Our door is always open for your input and thank you for continuing to spread the word about Princeton Devil Rays Professional Baseball. I hope I see a lot of you over the winter but if not I know I will see you next June! Have a great offseason!"

-Jim Holland, General Manager

Princeton Devil Rays Professional Baseball

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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