Go M's!

The Pulaski Mariners start the Appalachian League Finals tonight against the Elizabethton Twins.

Of course, MILB.com has a preview.

From a Jonathan Mayo story on the return of baseball to Pulaski.

Absence has made the heart grow fonder in Pulaski, Virginia.

The Appalachian League was down to nine teams in 2007 when the Blue Jays left Pulaski following the '06 season, despite many efforts to find a way to field a team at historic Calfee Park. Then the Mariners stepped in to save the day, agreeing to bring baseball back to Pulaski by fielding a seventh minor league club -- and third short-season or rookie-level team -- in the United States.

It's worked out pretty well for all parties involved, with the Pulaski Mariners ending the Danville Braves' four-year run as the East Division champions. Attendance has increased by roughly 10 percent after the one-year layoff, from 902 fans per game in 2006 up to 1,007 this year. Considering Pulaski has less than 9,500 residents, that's not nothing, and the "blooming" fan base is gearing up for a championship matchup against the Elizabethton Twins, who have won the title in two of the past three years.

"It's been great," said Mariners farm director Greg Hunter. "We were stretched more than we had been in the past. I'd like to have a little more insurance on the bench, but it worked out. Guys were able to get at-bats and innings pitched more than in the past. Having the three teams enabled us to put the right guys in the right spots."

Pulaski is ready

The Appalachian League starts tonight, too.

Their first home game for the Pulaski Mariners is next week and it's going to be free. Free? Free!

Mariners’ first-ever game to be free

The Princeton Rays have announced that the first game in Pulaski Mariners history, June 17 at Princeton, has ABSOLUTELY FREE ADMISSION courtesy of First Community Bank.

Game time is 7 p.m. with the gates opening at 6 p.m.

For those who want to say that they were there when the Pulaski Mariners played their first game ever, no ticket is necessary!

But, won't they need to have a ticket stub to prove they were there?

Professional baseball set to return to Pulaski

Not much is yet known about how the newcomer in town, the Seattle Mariners organization, conducts its minor-league affairs. What we do know is that the Mariners are willing to go to the ends of the Earth for talent.

Players from eight different countries were on hand Monday at the last preseason workout for the new tenants of Calfee Park.

"I think it's really good when it all comes together and you get to share the game together," said pitcher Tom Johannesen-Ellis, who is from Australia. "You get to one thing in common and that is baseball."

Among the nationalities on hand besides those from the United States and Australia are players from Canada, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, South Africa and The Netherlands.

Is the Calfee clubhouse the new Tower of Babel?

"We can figure it out," third baseman Guy Welsh said. "When we're talking baseball, baseball is one language."

PLAY BALL!

“Pulaski is a great baseball community,” said Pulaski Town Manager John Hawley. “When you can put 800 or more people into Calfee Park on 34 different nights during the summer months, it shows that Pulaski has taken another progressive step forward.”

Flash-forward to today, with the summer heat already beating down on the residents of Pulaski County, that cold and rainy December day seems like a lifetime ago. But to Pulaski Baseball, Inc. Director of Marketing and Baseball Operations Marty Gordon, December 21 seems like just yesterday.

“We were going 70 miles-per-hour to start off and haven’t slowed since,” Gordon said, referring to the Pulaski Mariners front office work since December.

“Along the trip, the business support from the area has been great, as have the ticket sales,” Gordon continued.

Welcome back.