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ApL Princeton WhistlePigs

Princeton Rays update

March 12, 2006 - Appalachian League (ApL)
Princeton WhistlePigs News Release


Spring training, the World Baseball Classic, and the arrival here locally of high school and college baseball are all signs that the 2006 Appalachian League season along with our home opening date of June 21 are creeping ever closer. Starting with the new "Tenth Season" logo at the top of this page, there is a renewed pride that we are enjoying as we enter year ten of a decade's worth of play on the field as an affiliate of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The 2006 season ends just prior to celebrating our tenth anniversary on September 27 of our original contract signing in 1996 with Tampa Bay. The weather is now being a little more consistent here in turning to the feel of baseball, so what better way for all of us to get a rip-roaring start straight ahead into the spring of 2006 than to enjoy this month's edition of "Raywatch," the official monthly e-mail newsletter of Princeton Devil Rays Baseball!

ABOUT THE LOGO: You are among the first to see an additional logo that the Princeton franchise will be using frequently during the course of this year to celebrate the team's tenth season as an affiliate of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (it is displayed at the beginning of this newsletter). The logo was designed by Eden Bane, a senior at Bluefield High School, and was selected as the winning entry in a contest among the students from the Graphic Design class of Mr. Rick Bay at the Mercer County Technical Education Center. Of particular interest, please note the Roman numeral "X" for ten in the middle of the logo is done in the predominant shades of blue and purple that were part of the original Princeton colors when the team first became the Devil Rays and is implanted on top by the current Rays green and black colored logo to show transition. This is just another successful project by the many departments at MCTEC in its long partnership with professional baseball in Princeton.

THEY'RE AT IT NOW: All of the minor league players in the Tampa Bay system have now reported for their first workouts of 2006 in St. Petersburg, FL at the Raymond A. Naimoli Baseball Complex. The pitchers first took the field on March 3 while position players commenced on March 8. A total of around 160 players were expected to be in camp to help stock the six teams in the Tampa Bay farm system.

PRINCETON AT THE WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: Four former Princeton players are wearing uniforms of teams playing in the inaugural World Baseball Classic. Pitcher Victor Zambrano (1997 P-Ray) is part of the mound staff for Venezuela and pitched the seventh and eighth innings of their opening round game versus the Dominican Republic. The starting catcher for Canada, 1998 P-Ray Pete Laforest, spent some time on the basepaths as part of Canada's shocking 8-6 opening round upset over the United States. Two former Princeton players from the 1999 P-Rays, catcher Chairon Isenia and infielder Yurendell Decaster, are playing for the Netherlands. On the coaching side of things, Ramon Henderson, who was the hitting coach for the 1990 co-op Princeton Patriots and now the major league bullpen coach for the Philadelphia Phillies, is a member of the coaching staff for the Dominican Republic.

TWO IN A ROW...WINTER'S HIGHEST HONOR: For the second year in a row, the player named by Baseball America magazine as their "Winter League Player of the Year" saw service time in the uniform of the Princeton Devil Rays. Last year it was 2001 P-Ray outfielder Jonny Gomes. He is now succeeded by Yurendell Decaster, a P-Ray in 1999. Yurendell is now a farmhand of the Pittsburgh Pirates and won the magazine's top billing for the winter of 2005-2006. The Pirates acquired him from Tampa Bay via the Rule 5 Draft at the 2000 Winter Meetings in Dallas, TX. Although Yurendell never advanced beyond full-season Low-A ball with the Devil Rays, he has steadily worked his way up the Pirates ladder to eventually reach the AAA Indianapolis Indians in 2005 and he is currently being given by many observers a very good chance of making the Pittsburgh Pirates squad when they leave Florida for Pittsburgh to open the regular season. He captured his winter award by playing outfield (he was primarily a second baseman at Princeton) for Oriente in the Venezuelan League, where he hit .325 with 17 homers and 47 RBI's in 209 at-bats. His home run total left him two shy of the league record and tied him for the league lead. He further showed his offensive versatility by topping the league in stolen bases while also finishing second in the league in both runs scored and RBI's.

MAKING THE TOP 100: When you consider that right now around 4500-5000 players are in minor league training camps across the country, it would indeed be quite an honor for a player to be named to the 17th annual "Top 100 Prospects List" by Baseball America magazine. When the group for 2006 was named in the March 13-26 edition, there indeed was a Princeton connection. Pitcher Jason Hammel, who started his professional career with two quick appearances for the 2002 Princeton Devil Rays before being shuttled on up the line, was named to the number 79 slot. The selections were based on a player's long-term major league value, a combination of his upside and his likelihood of reaching that ceiling. Consideration was given to each player's physical skills as well as his track record of performance.

ANOTHER INTERN LANDS IN FULL-SEASON BALL: Another in a long line of former Princeton interns is beginning a full-time career in sports with the naming of Angela Judd to the front office staff of the Salem Avalanche on January 9. Angela, a Bluefield College grad that interned here at Hunnicutt Field during the 2004 season, joins Patrick Day (Montgomery Biscuits), Jeff Tessier (Harvard University athletic department), Steven Lawhorn (Wilson Tobs), Brian LeHeup (Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association), Mike Zucconi (James Madison University sports information department), and Jessica Davis (Bluefield Daily Telegraph sports department) as those who are still currently working in sports after getting their start with professional baseball in Princeton with the team's highly successful intern program. If you know of a college student who desires an internship in fields relating to sports management, marketing and administration, please encourage them to contact the P-Rays front office either by e-mail at raysball@sunlitsurf.com or by telephone at the stadium at (304) 487-2000 to request more details.

A FOOTBALL NOTE: Former 1997 P-Ray third baseman (and 6-year veteran NFL quarterback) Doug Johnson was back in the news recently on February 7 when he signed a one-year contract with the Cincinnati Bengals. He has previously been a member of the Atlanta Falcons, Tennessee Titans, and Cleveland Browns. The majority of his NFL playing time has been with the Falcons, where he appeared in 23 games (11 starts) from 2000-2003 and featured eight starts in 2003 when Falcon starter Michael Vick was sidelined by injury.

TB ROSTER MOVES: Several of the first roster moves out of the major league camp at Tampa Bay spring training on March 11 involved several players with Princeton ties. Pitcher Carlos Hines (2001) was designated to the AAA Durham Bulls while catcher Josh Arhart (2002) and pitcher Tony Peguero (2002) were both reassigned to the team's minor league camp.

MARCH 21 BASEBALL AT HUNNICUTT: We invite all of our P-Rays' fans and followers to join us in saying "good luck and best wishes" to Mick Bayle as he begins his first season as the baseball coach at Princeton Senior High School. The new coaching job will keep his days full of baseball in addition to serving in his 12th year on the professional baseball staff at Princeton (since 1995). He has been the team's Director of Stadium Operations since 1997. The Princeton High Tigers are scheduled to begin their season at George Washington on March 15 and are slated to open the home portion of their schedule on the afternoon of March 21 versus Parkersburg. Good luck Mick and good luck Tigers!!

PITCH, HIT, AND RUN CONTEST FOR KIDS: We remind you that Hunnicutt Field will be one of the hosts nationwide on Saturday, April 1 at 1:00 p.m. (registration begins at 12:00 p.m.) for the Pepsi/Major League Baseball "Pitch, Hit, and Run" competition. The Hunnicutt event is labeled as a "local" competition and represents the first in four steps that could actually land a participant in the national finals at the 2006 Major League All-Star Game at Pittsburgh's PNC Park in July. The P-Rays' front office has already been fielding a lot of phone calls on this event. As a result, the team has developed a standard list of questions and answers in relation to the event and persons wanting to obtain a copy of this Q & A by e-mail can do so by contacting the Princeton Devil Rays at raysball@sunlitsurf.com to make the request.

TRAINER OF THE YEAR: The Princeton Devil Rays would also like to share with you that we learned through a publication recently issued by the home office of Minor League Baseball that Matt Lucero (1999 P-Rays' athletic trainer) was named the 2005 AA Southern League "Athletic Trainer of the Year." The honor was designated by a vote of his fellow trainers in the league to Lucero, who spent the 2005 campaign with the Montgomery (AL) Biscuits.

NEXT P-RAYS BOOSTER CLUB MEETING: The next meeting of the Princeton Devil Rays Booster Club will be at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 16 at the Princeton Salvation Army Building. The club is busily planning events for 2006, and urge all current members to be there as well as anyone interested in joining the club. The club has a long and successful history of providing social outings and doing things for our players away from the field to make Princeton feel just like home to them. The Booster Club would like to remind you now to keep your lunch hour free on April 1 for their hot dog sale in which you can either dine in at the site of the sale, come in for carry-out, or have those good hot dogs the boosters are known for delivered to you! Once again, keep your schedules open and more details will be provided to our "Raywatch" e-mail readers as the event gets closer.

DEADLINES, DEADLINES: The P-Rays would like to remind readers that deadlines for two very important projects are in the near future. The deadline to purchase a seat(s) for the Major League Bus Trip to Pittsburgh for the May 27 game at 7:00 p.m. between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Astros is April 7. Fee is $80.00 per person and this fee includes your game ticket and all transportation costs. The bus will depart Hunnicutt Field at 11:00 a.m. on the day of the game and return to Princeton immediately following the game. All participants receive a Pirates baseball cap courtesy of Pittsburgh's group sales department and there is a bobblehead giveaway for fans as they enter the gate at the ballpark that night. Don't forget that two 1998 P-Rays, Brandon Backe and Humberto Cota, play for Houston and Pittsburgh respectively. Also, April 10 is the deadline for you to purchase your birthday and anniversary listings on the inaugural "Friends of Princeton Devil Rays Baseball" calendar. The 11" x 17" full-process color calendar features photos of many former P-Ray stars each month and is dated from June 1, 2006 to May 31, 2007. For $10.00, purchasers receive a calendar and the opportunity to have two birthday/anniversary listings placed in the corresponding calendar date squares. This is going to be a great collectible and will be a great reference piece for you to keep up with your fellow fans and residents' birthdays and anniversaries. The calendars will be ready for delivery in late May. Whether you are listing your own birthday or purchasing this as a surprise for your favorite baseball fan, do not miss being a part of this historic calendar while also helping the P-Rays at the same time! For more information on either the bus trip or the calendar project, please contact the Princeton Devil Rays front office either by e-mail at raysball@sunlitsurf.com or by telephone at (304) 487-2000.

CONCLUSION: You can certainly tell baseball is on the way when we have this much information to share in one of our newsletters. The sport of baseball really is like a rebirth each year as its arrival (unlike most sports) signals the winding down of winter and the forthcoming of better weather with the promise that soon again you will be filling the stands at Hunnicutt Field. We all know there is nothing better than the atmosphere and good times we share with each other all summer long as a result of our common interest in Princeton Devil Rays baseball. Dig out your seat cushions and shine up your cowbells as when you get your next issue of "Raywatch," we will be another month closer to introducing the 2006 version of the Princeton Devil Rays to you at our opening night home game on June 21.

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