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ApL Princeton WhistlePigs

Princeton Rays receive two-year contract extension

November 21, 2006 - Appalachian League (ApL)
Princeton WhistlePigs News Release


The Tampa Bay Devil Rays have signed an agreement for a two-year contract extension that will keep them operating as the major league baseball affiliate for Princeton Baseball Association, Inc. through at least the conclusion of the 2008 Appalachian League season. The local team in the 2007 season will still continue to be known as the Princeton Devil Rays.

The November 21, 2006 announcement was made by P-Rays General Manager Jim Holland, who was pleased that Tampa Bay has decided to return for their eleventh consecutive season in Princeton this coming summer.

"It has been a long and great partnership with Tampa Bay. We are certainly proud of the large number of former Princeton Devil Rays we have sent to the major leagues," commented Holland.

A total of 23 different former P-Rays have played in regular season Major League Baseball action since May, 2001. Since the franchise became a Tampa Bay affiliate prior to the 1997 season on September 27, 1996, the team has captured an Appalachian League Eastern Division Championship in 1998 and have won four Mercer Cups, including three of the last four years, in head-to-head competition versus their cross-county rivals, the Bluefield Orioles.

"We are excited to be back with Princeton," Tampa Devil Rays' director of Minor League operations Mitch Lukevics said. "Many of our current Major League players began their professional careers there. It's proven to be a successful starting point for our entry-level players."

Princeton is the second-longest tenured Rays affiliate behind only the short-season Class-A Hudson Valley (NY) Renegades.

"Continuing to have professional baseball here is a great family oriented entertainment venue for our citizens as well as the economic impact of the many outside dollars that it brings into our area. They continue to send us players annually that represents our community well and I am thrilled that we are going to continue to be working with the great folks that are in the front office at Tampa Bay," Holland concluded.

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