Eulogy for Bluefield

Andy MacPhail has announced that next year the Bluefield Orioles will be no more. From a development standpoint, this will not have a huge impact of the Baltimore Orioles. If they maintain the rest of their minor league teams, they will still have 8, which is plenty.


But from a historical perspective, it's a sad decision. The Orioles have had a 53-year partnership with Bluefield and a ton of Baltimore Orioles started their career in southern West Virginia including Cal Ripken, Jr., Eddie Murray, Boog Powell and Don Baylor. That's the oldest minor league affiliation in baseball and now it will be gone. They won nine Appalachian League championships as an Oriole affiliate. Joe Altobelli managed there as well.


This too shall pass and the Orioles will move on. But the end of this historic relationship deserves a bit more than flippant comments like this:


Yes, Bluefield and the Orioles had plenty of history. But it is tough to get too worked up about this one.


Wow, Dan Connolly, really? There was obviously more to his post but this comment pretty much sums up the tone. Bluefield deserves more than casual dismissal. I get that a lot of fans (or writers) don't care about the minor leagues or team history and Connolly is an MLB writer who, he admits, has never been to Bluefield. But I would expect more historical awareness from a Baltimore native.


I finally got out to Bluefield this summer but the game got rained out. I managed to snap a few pictures of the stadium and stand on the historic field. I am very bummed that I never got to see a game there but was happy I got to visit this little piece of Orioles history. Here's the pics of Bowen Field from this past July:

Snapshots: Bowen Field, Bluefield, WV

On our way back from a family vacation, I talked my wife into a stopover in Bluefield, WV so I could catch a game at this historic stadium. Unfortunately, rain earlier in the day had caused a rain out. (They have a tarp...but it appeared to not have been placed on the field before the rain. Water was pooled all around the first base area. Not sure why that was or if the tarp would have helped anyway...)

The rain out was a real letdown but as I am want, I managed to get into the stadium anyway to snap off a few pictures of this field that is rich in Oriole history. The Bluefield Orioles have been Baltimore's team in the Appalchian League since 1958. Memorial Stadium is gone; Bowen Field is the oldest link to the team's early history. Boog Powell, Cal Ripken, Jr., Eddie Murray and many other Orioles have begun their professional careers on Bowen Field.

Here's the pictures. Next time, I'm hoping for an actual game...