An article on my local minor league team by the same newspaper were I had my first job after college is on BTF.

I got nothing more to add to this pointless story.

Wait, you're in Charleston area, hokieneer? I'm from Boone County. Still haven't gotten to see a game at Power Park when I go back to WV to visit family.

I saw a game in Charleston this spring (traveling from California). They played the Lexington Legends. It was a day game that appeared to have some kind of special field trip outing for the local schools. It started about 10:30 AM, the ballpark was surrounded by school buses and jammed with kids. It was hot and the only seats in the shade were under the scoreboard in the outfield. Luckily I got one before that section was overwhelmed by munchkins. I figure it's probably a good place to see a night game. (I bought one of the Charleston Charlie caps with the logo much like Pittsburgh's pirate except he's wearing a derby. Love it!)

Even with the heat and the munchkins everywhere, I enjoyed the game more than the game I saw in Lexington which was a nearly constant loud commercial announcement from beginning to end. There wasn't a single moment of peace unless the ball was in play. If the ball wasn't in play, the PA announcer was yammering away at high volume with some kind of announcement. I liked the park and it was a good game but it turns me off when the game is window dressing for a carnival.

A fellow West Virginian on BTF, how unexpected. Yeah I live and work in the Charleston area. In fact I work about 5 blocks from Power Park.

I've been to one or 2 games at power park. The park is nice and so much better than the old park across the river. I just haven't gotten behind this current incarnation of our single A squad, the Power. I don't care for the name, uniforms, and the 5 mascots (at least those are going away). The have switched major league affiliations so many times in the last 6-8 years, it's really tiresome. I'm too young for the Charlies (though that was my fantasy football team name last year), but I followed the Wheelers a lot becuase they were a Reds affiliate for 4-5 years.

I've went to more college games at power park than Power games. Every year WVU and Marshall will host a series against a "big opponent", UCF, Rice, etc. The park plays so small anyway, that when you throw in metal bats and mid-week NCAA starters you get a lot of 15-12 type of games.

Loved the Wheelers when I was a kid. The lamo song they play when the cubs win (not much this year) is basically the same as the old "Roll Wheelers Roll" song they played back in the day. I also fondly recall when they had a ss named Rafael Bustamante. The PA announcer loved saying his name over the intercom: "RA FA EL BUUUUUUSSSSTAMAAAAANTEEEE!" Shame he was a slap-hitter or he'd have been cool to see in the big leagues. I very much meant to watch the Power when the Brewers were affiliated with them since there was a lot of talent piped through town, and I missed all of the recent sud players Pittsburgh sent through too. Perhaps I'll make it at some point, though.

I'll let you know next time I'm in WV. Perhaps we can grab a game and a couple drinks.

Speaking of Wheelers SS, if you went to Watt Powell Park in the 1990 chances are you watched Trevor Hoffman play SS. I was just a young kid then, so I never made the connection. I was stumbling around b-ref one day and found that Hoffman played 100 games at SS for the Wheelers in 1990.

Hit me up when you make it back to the mountains. Be a good excuse to make it out to Power park

You know, I didn't realize that either, but I bet I saw him play there. I saw Dan Wilson and Scott Pose play for a good Wheelers team. Neither turned into any big shakes, but both were great minor-league hitters, and Wilson had a good career all things considered.

Will certainly shoot an E-mail. Should be back in October, so we might hit a bar in Charleston and watch some postseason baseball with the locals.