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ApL Princeton WhistlePigs

Rays start in three weeks

May 29, 2006 - Appalachian League (ApL)
Princeton WhistlePigs News Release


Coming off their first winning season in 2005 since 1998, the arrival of the Princeton Devil Rays in three weeks have their followers here looking forward in great anticipation to the 2006 Appalachian League season. We have a great lineup of promotions and giveaways for our fans at each of the team's 34 home games (be sure to read below about our very special opening night) and without further delay, let's dive into a special May-June double edition of "Raywatch," the official e-mail newsletter of the Princeton Devil Rays.

2006 TEAM ARRIVAL TIME: The 2006 edition of the Princeton Devil Rays will be arriving at Hunnicutt Field in Princeton by bus late on the night of Saturday, June 17 following the team plane's 8:14 p.m. landing at the airport in Greensboro, NC. The team bus will be loaded immediately after landing and immediately proceed to the field. We do encourage all interested parties that wish to greet the arrival of the bus at Hunnicutt Field to feel free to do so. The team will conduct preseason workouts at the stadium that are free and open to the public on June 18, 19, and 20 and we will e-mail to all of our "Raywatch" readers the workout times as they are confirmed a little closer to these dates.

DO YOU HAVE YOUR TICKETS YET? We hope you haven't forgotten how affordable P-Rays baseball can be. We have plenty of box seat locations still available under the grandstand roof that can be purchased individually at $100.00 per seat. These theatre-style seats feature seat backs and arm rests and the $100.00 season box seat fee does include your tickets. Any box seats not sold on a seasonal basis will be sold at each individual game at $5.00 per seat. Also, don't forget the always popular P-Rays' "season ticket book," which contain 30 undated general admission seating tickets which may be used in any quantity at any of the 34 P-Rays' regular season home games conducted at Hunnicutt Field during the 2006 Appalachian League season. These books sell for $50.00 per book, which in turn computes to an outstanding $1.67 per ticket! Season ticket books may be purchased at the team's Hunnicutt Field front office, from any member of the team's Board of Directors or at the following team satellite ticket sales locations: BB&T (Stafford Drive), Elizabeth's Boutique (901 Mercer Street), two First Century Bank locations (Stafford Drive, Springhaven Drive), and MCNB Bank (South Walker Street). There is a nine-inning vacation waiting for you and your friends at Hunnicutt Field 34 times this summer!!

NEW TEAM FOR CARLOS: Carlos Hines, who did a fine job as one of the pitchers on the 2001 P-Rays, was traded to the San Francisco Giants on April 28 for major league pitcher Tyler Walker, who was immediately inserted into the closer's role with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

DOWN FOR THE YEAR: 1997 P-Ray pitcher Victor Zambrano, was sidelined for the balance of the 2006 season when he was placed on the disabled list by his current major league team, the New York Mets, on May 7 with a torn tendon in his pitching elbow. Sources with the Mets feel strongly he will be able to resume his career with the arrival of Spring Training in 2007.

BASEBALL MARATHON-PART I: The hosting of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship baseball playoffs has been an annual tradition at Hunnicutt Field (with the exception of 1999) since 1988 but the 2006 version also became historic. The tourney's Sunday, May 7 session featured an 8 hour, 54 minute rain delay. The first game (of two) on the day was halted by inclement weather at 12:03 p.m. with play not resuming until 8:57 p.m. The delay was the longest in the history of college baseball at any level, breaking the old record of 8:12 in 1978 in a game played at Harvard versus the University of Delaware. It is thought to be a record for all levels of baseball. A second game followed beginning at 10:30 p.m. with the tournament finale concluding at 1:35 a.m. on May 8.

BASEBALL MARATHON-PART II: An "extended" good time was had by all of the 46 people who were part of the P-Rays' second annual major league bus trip on May 27 to Pittsburgh's PNC Park to see the Pirates play the Houston Astros. The fans also got nine innings of free baseball as it took the Pirates 5 hours, 49 minutes to finally take an 8-7 decision over the Astros in 18 innings. The fans both departed and arrived back to Princeton in daylight as the bus finally got back to Hunnicutt Field at 6:35 a.m.

THE CALENDARS ARE HERE: The "Friends of Princeton Devil Rays" baseball calendars are here and many have already been distributed to those who purchased them in advance. The beautiful full-process color calendars are dated from June 1, 2006 to May 31, 2007 and each month features photos of many former Princeton players throughout the calendar. Those who purchased the calendars in advance had their birthdays and anniversaries listed in the calendar date grids. There are extra calendars available for purchase at $5.00 each and they can be purchased at either the team's Hunnicutt Field baseball office or at the team's satellite souvenir sales location, Elizabeth's Boutique at 901 Mercer Street in Princeton. These are a great bargain when you consider all the great photos you get as well as the calendars being a great reference piece to keep up with all the special days in your friends and neighbors lives. For more information, you may contact the P-Rays' front office either by e-mail at raysball@sunlitsurf.com or by telephone at (304) 487-2000.

MEET THE INTERNS: The P-Rays summer intern program will be alive and strong once again in 2006 with a full staff of young future baseball executives learning the trade from us. There are many successful front office staff members who got their start in Princeton. We invite you to join us in welcoming our interns for 2006: Lowell Austin (Marshall University), Sarah Blankenship (Concord University), Ashley Dillow (Radford University), Caleb Harris (West Virginia University), Patrick Spence (Mars Hill College), and Matthew Taylor (West Virginia University). They will be joined by Andy Bradley (Southern Indiana University), who has been here interning since January 3. These young people will be in many instances your first contact at the games this summer and will do everything they can to make your visit to Hunnicutt Field a memorable and enjoyable experience.

CARL'S HOT BAT: 1999 P-Ray and current Tampa Bay outfielder Carl Crawford had one of those games he'll never forget on May 24 in Toronto as a huge part of TB's 10-8 victory over the Blue Jays. He had five hits (including a homer), scored five runs, and stole four bases to ignite the attack. He carried this surge on to Boston the next two nights, where he had three hits on the 25th and then followed this with a two-homer game on the 26th. Through major league games of May 28, Carl is hitting .297 and has already stolen 20 bases.

ANOTHER P-RAY TO THE SHOW: Infielder Yurendell Decaster of the 1999 P-Rays made his major league debut recently with the Pittsburgh Pirates and becomes the 37th former Princeton player in franchise history to appear in a regular season major league game. He is the fourth member of the 1999 team to reach "the show," joining Carl Crawford, Seth McClung, and Doug Waechter. The 1998 edition of the P-Rays has produced the most major leaguers to date with five: Brandon Backe, Humberto Cota, Joe Kennedy, Pete Laforest, and Jason Standridge. The only other Princeton squad to cultivate at least four major leaguers was the Devil Rays initial entry here in 1997 with Paul Hoover, Travis Phelps, Jared Sandberg, and Victor Zambrano.

YOUTH BASEBALL CLINIC: The tenth annual Princeton Devil Rays Youth Baseball Clinic for boys and girls ages 7-15 will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 1 at Hunnicutt Field. Instructors for the clinic are P-Rays' manager Jamie Nelson, pitching coach Rafael Montalvo, and hitting coach Rafael Deleon as well as several of the 2006 Princeton Devil Rays' team members. All campers will receive a clinic T-shirt (courtesy of Newberry Ford and The Lewis Agency) and a P-Rays' baseball cap (courtesy of Wendy's). Pre-registration is encouraged as the clinic will be limited to 150 participants. The fee for the clinic is $25.00 per person for all entries registered by June 21 and $28.00 per person for late registration after June 21 (the additional $3.00 is used for postage to mail T-shirts to late registrants). All pre-registered entrants (prior to June 21) will receive their shirts on the day of the clinic while all participants will receive their caps on the day of the clinic. For more information or to request a registration form, please contact the P-Rays' front office either by e-mail at raysball@sunlitsurf.com or by telephone at (304) 487-2000.

P-RAYS IN-SEASON BUS TRIP: The P-Rays will conduct their eleventh annual Appalachian League bus trip for fans on Saturday, July 29, to Kingsport, TN to see the P-Rays play the Kingsport Mets in 7:00 p.m. game. The bus will depart from Hunnicutt Field at 3:00 p.m. and return to Princeton immediately following the game. The cost will be $25.00 per person and includes all transportation fees and your game ticket. The team is accepting reservations now and you may obtain more information by contact the P-Rays' front office either by e-mail at raysball@sunlitsurf.com or by telephone at (304) 487-2000.

2006 HOME RUN DERBY DATE: The P-Rays tenth annual "Home Run Derby" for fans will be on Saturday, August 5, 2006 and we welcome aboard U.S. Cellular as our new corporate headline sponsor for the event. The event has been popular here throughout the years in determining the best home run hitters in our region as they are divided into various age groups for both men and women. Trophies will be awarded to the top two in each age group. Mark this date on your calendar and tell your friends to come be a part of this event. We will provide more details and hitting times as the date gets closer.

GREAT OPENING NIGHT BARGAIN-IT'S FREE: The P-Rays would like to invite you and all your friends to help us "pack the park" on Wednesday, June 21, when the P-Rays open the season versus the Pulaski Blue Jays in a 7:00 p.m. game with the gates opening at 6:00 p.m. Admission to the June 21 opening game is ABSOLUTELY FREE (no ticket required) courtesy of First Community Bank! In addition, the first 500 fans through the gate will receive a FREE P-Rays softee baseball (courtesy of First Community Bank) while the first 700 fans through the gate will receive a FREE P-Rays full-process color 2006 magnet schedule (courtesy of Papa John's Pizza). The band "Avalanche" will be playing music in the concourse before the game and as a special bonus, several Jackie Robinson bronze medals will be given away throughout the game, courtesy of "The Bronze Look" of Princeton.

"RAYS REPORT" RETURNS TO YOUR PROGRAM: "Rays Report," an updated sheet of statistics and feature stories on our team, will return to your program/yearbooks this season for a second straight year. The reports are changed with the beginning of each new home series and are exclusively printed and sponsored by "The Bronze Look" of Princeton. The addition of this report has been valuable for our fans to better keep up with all the happenings of their local professional team. The P-Rays once again would like to thank Randolph Evans and his staff at "The Bronze Look" for leading this endeavor again this year and we encourage our fans to stop by his store at the intersection of Mercer and Second Streets with all your questions concerning coins.

SUMMER "RAYWATCH" NEWSLETTERS: As with each of the previous three summers, there will not be an official monthly edition of "Raywatch" sent to you via e-mail in July and August. However, you will receive more frequent (but shorter) transmissions from us concerning things like giveaways on upcoming homestands or other quick news items that you need to know in a more timely (as opposed to once a month) fashion since the season will be in full swing.

CONCLUSION: We leave you now by saying we hope you are ready for the 2006 Appalachian League season. The motor is running-come help us drive the vehicle that is the Princeton Devil Rays. We look forward to seeing you at the ballpark very soon!

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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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