The Asheville Tourists Opening Day Roster seems to be staffed with some big name talent this year. Five out of the twenty-five are on Baseball America's top 30 prospects for the Colorado Rockies.
The two biggest names have ACC football ties, outfielder Kyle Parker from Clemson and Second Baseman Russell Wilson from NC State. Parker didn't play in the game I went to see against the Lexington Legends on April 23rd but Wilson did.
Kyle Parker has the reputation coming out of college of being a power bat (he hit 20+ homeruns at Clemson last year) and he is off to a hot start in his pro career. He is batting over .400 with a homerun and he drove in 7 runs in a single game the other night against the Lakewood Blueclaws.
Russell Wilson is a smooth fielding Second Baseman who needs to work on his hitting. He made several good plays in the field in the game which I saw but he hitting below the Mendoza on the season so far although he did hit a homerun the other night, his first on the season.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
The Asheville Tourists 2011
I love minor league baseball. I have been to all levels of minor league baseball- AAA, AA, High A, and Low A. I have not been able to go to any of the rookie leagues. There is a homier, grass roots sort of feel to baseball in the minors. The vast majority of the players are not overpaid prima donnas and only a handful will ever make it to the major leagues.
I got to go to my first Asheville Tourists game of the season on Sunday afternoon, April 17th, and I always enjoy afternoon baseball. It was a beautiful afternoon, temperature in the high 60's, a slight breeze blowing (straight out to centerfield for the most part), and a better than average crowd for a Sunday afternoon.
New ownership, the DeWine Seeds Silver Dollar Baseball LLC, purchased the team towards the end of last year, and started putting their stamp on the team throughout the course of the off season. A new logo, new uniforms, and some upgrades to the stadium such as the video scoreboard have all left a very good first impression with me.
I love the new uniforms. "Blue Ridge Blue" I believe is what they call the color, the craftsman font, and numbers give the new uniforms a unique touch but was able to draw from the historical roots of the Asheville Tourists. The new logo is very prominent and also unique to minor league baseball and the new ownership is off to a very good start.
The Tourists lost this game to the Lexington Legends, the low A affiliate of the Houston Astros, 18-9 but it was still a very good experience and I plan on going back for several more games this season.
I got to go to my first Asheville Tourists game of the season on Sunday afternoon, April 17th, and I always enjoy afternoon baseball. It was a beautiful afternoon, temperature in the high 60's, a slight breeze blowing (straight out to centerfield for the most part), and a better than average crowd for a Sunday afternoon.
New ownership, the DeWine Seeds Silver Dollar Baseball LLC, purchased the team towards the end of last year, and started putting their stamp on the team throughout the course of the off season. A new logo, new uniforms, and some upgrades to the stadium such as the video scoreboard have all left a very good first impression with me.
I love the new uniforms. "Blue Ridge Blue" I believe is what they call the color, the craftsman font, and numbers give the new uniforms a unique touch but was able to draw from the historical roots of the Asheville Tourists. The new logo is very prominent and also unique to minor league baseball and the new ownership is off to a very good start.
The Tourists lost this game to the Lexington Legends, the low A affiliate of the Houston Astros, 18-9 but it was still a very good experience and I plan on going back for several more games this season.
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