The Start of Rookie League Ball in Bluefield

by Matthew Taylor

"It gives us something to do here in Bluefield, so it's a good thing. I think that we've got a nice group of boys here and I think we'll do good this year."

A Meet and Greet picnic with the team? This is the sort of stuff that makes minor league baseball, or in this case rookie league ball, so great. The dispatch from Bluefield.

"Before a picnic dinner was served, first-year manager Orlando Gomez formally introduced himself to the assembled fans. Gomez is excited to be in Nature’s Air-Conditioned City.

'Everybody that I've talked to, they have some wonderful things to say about Bluefield, and I was looking forward to it here,' Gomez said. 'People so far have been nice. They love the game and make the players and even myself get involved.'

Linda Krondon was ready to begin the season. The Bluefield resident and president of the Bluefield Orioles Booster Club is coordinating the yearly adopt-a-player program where the athletes get food and shelter with in area households.

'It gives us something to do here in Bluefield, so it's a good thing,' Krondon said. 'I think that we've got a nice group of boys here and I think we'll do good this year.'"

WVNS provides a brief write-up of the event and some video coverage to boot.

This 2004 story from The Sun details the love affair between Bluefield and its "Baby Birds."


[Image source: WVNS. Click on photo for original.]