baseball in wv - Visit West Virginia : Visit West Virginia

Baseball begins in Southern West Virginia

lisastrader | April 10, 2013

And there’s the pitch . . . the swing . . . and it’s a hit! The thrill of baseball has returned to West Virginia.

America’s favorite pastime has began for the 2013 season at Appalachian Power Park in Charleston, WV. Fans flood the stadium to root,

Power Park

root, root for the minor league Power team, a Class A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

WHAT TO SEE
One avid regular adds to the entertainment: “The Toast Man” —- perches behind home plate each game with his toaster, flinging toasted bread into the crowd, taunting the opposing team’s struck out players with a “You are toast!”

There are also crowd participation games between innings, where fans can be selected to play for prizes. And anyone can buy a tennis ball to hawk into a bucket on the pitcher’s mound at the end of the game. Sink it, and you win!

Kids getting antsy? Let them race around the field in the kids’ parade, then take them to the Fun Zone for games and obstacle courses. Stop the fuzzy team mascot, Chuck, for a photo or high-five.

WHEN TO GO
Throughout the season, April through August, there are special offers and events during the game, including the Big 12 special games. You can check the promotions schedule for a complete list of what’s coming up at Power Park.

Thursday night games bring $1 beers for Thirsty Thursdays. the cups fill from the bottom, so each includes a Power magnet you can take home. Fridays always feature a fireworks show and autograph session with the players after the game.

WHAT TO EAT
In addition to Chuck’s, who sells premium hot dogs (including organic options and sausages) and concession stands, you can wine and dine on fine Italian cuisine at Paterno’s at the Park.

Make it all-inclusive, with dinner, snacks and drinks for $25 (plus game ticket) on the Party Deck. Cookout foods, pretzels, sodas, draft beers and wine are all-you-can-eat throughout the game. (Sometimes, they also give out free tee shirts).

MORE BASEBALL!
The Power isn’t the only team taking a swing at glory in WV. Stay tuned for posts about the West Virginia Miners in Beckley who will step up to the plate in late May. In June we will cover both the Princeton Rays (affiliate team of the Tampa Bay Rays) and the Bluefield Blue Jays (affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays).

So what is left to say? Play ball!

Baseball… In Southern WV!

lisastrader | April 16, 2010

When you come to southern West Virginia, you have some expectations, generally. Natural beauty. Secluded mountain cabins. White water rafting, maybe. Adventure. Art. That sort of thing.

Most people don’t think, “baseball”. But they should. Southern WV has

Power Park - Home of the WV Power

long been home to three minor league teams, the furthest south being the Princeton Rays and the Bluefield Orioles. They’ve provided the area with awesome baseball for decades.

And let’s not forget the West Virginia Power, whose long history as a franchise in Charleston as the Alley Cats, the Charlies, and the Senators (originally the Toledo Mud Hens!) has given the state a baseball team to cheer on since 1952.

And now Beckley will step in. A brand new, non-pro collegiate franchise, The West Virginia Miners, will begin play in “the small town with a mine of its own”. Here’s some info to get you ready…

The Miners will play in the Prospect League. This league is designed for college players and uses wooden bats (NCAA college teams use aluminum bats, but all other rules apply). That makes it unique among other collegiate leagues.

There’s a brand new, state of the art baseball stadium for the team in Beckley. The Linda K. Epling Stadium may even be outfitted with extra bleacher seats pre-season to meet demand for tickets.

The Miners are developing a competitive junior league for both girls and boys called the Red Hats. The boys will play in under-8, -10, and -12 divisions, and the girls will play under 18 softball. Home field for the kids? You guessed it- Epling Stadium.

Since the Miners are a collegiate club, the organization is running a promotion to find host families for some of its players. Host families that “adopt a Miner” get all kinds of perks in addition to the satisfaction of helping the team, like season tickets and parking passes.

The West Virginia Miners’ home opener is on Saturday June 5^th at 7 p.m. Expect the whole city to come out and welcome the team, so get your tickets early.

Baseball begins in Southern West Virginia

Baseball… In Southern WV!

Blog Archive

Categories