Princeton Whistlepigs

GENERAL INFORMATION

Address:..................................345 Old Bluefield Road, ....................................................... Princeton, WV 24739 Phone: ...................................................(304) 487-2000 Website: ................................ whistlepigsbaseball.com Twitter/Instagram: ........................... @Go_WhistlePigs Facebook: ...............Princeton Baseball Association Affiliation.............................................Tampa Bay (1997) League Championships..........................................1994 Stadium...................................................Hunnicutt Field Stadium Built..............................................................1988 Stadium Capacity ................................................... 1,950 Stadium Dimensions (LF-CF-RF)...........330-396-330

FRONT OFFICE STAFF

Operated By ... Princeton Baseball Association, Inc. Farm Director....................Jeff McLerran (Tampa Bay) President .................................................Dewey Russell General Manager ............................Danny Shingleton Director, Stadium Ops.............................Adam Sarver Asst. Director, Stadium Ops....................Rusty Sarver Finance Specialist ....................................Mori Williams Executive Assistant....................Courtney Longworth Head Groundskeeper ............................................. TBD

GAME INFORMATION

PA Announcer ........................................Thomas Lester Broadcast Announcer ................... Wes McKinney (H) ...................................................................Kyle Cooper (R) Broadcast Network...............WAEY 103.3 FM, online No. of Games Broadcast ................... All - 68 Official Scorer..............................................................John Lowe Standard Game Times ...........................Mon-Sat 6:30 ............................................................................. Sun 5:00 Newspaper.......................... Bluefield Daily Telegraph Beat Writer ........................ Tom Bone, (304) 327-2813 NOTABLE ALUMNI

Willie Greene.............................................................1989 Kevin Jarvis.................................................................1991 Pokey Reese...............................................................1991 Chad Fox ....................................................................1992 Luiz Ordaz ........................................................... 1993-93 Scott Sharp.................................................................1994 Travis Phelps..............................................................1997 Jared Sandberg........................................................1997 Carl Crawford ............................................................1999 Josh Hamilton ...........................................................1999 Rocco Baldelli.......................................................... 2000 Jonny Gomes ........................................................... 2001 Jason Hammel ........................................................ 2002 Reid Brignac............................................................. 2004 Wade Davis.............................................................. 2004 Jake McGee............................................................. 2004 Jeremy Hellickson.................................................. 2005 Desmond Jennings................................................ 2006 Alex Cobb................................................................. 2006 Matt Moore.........................................................2007-08 Alex Colome ............................................................ 2008 Kevin Kiermaier........................................................ 2010 Blake Snell .................................................................2012

ABOUT

When the Appalachian League’s Princeton organization started to look for a new nickname, it didn’t have to look far.

Near to the team’s home, Hunnicutt Field, is a small creek where you can often spot one of the area’s more adorable, albeit pesky, animals.

While they might normally be referred to as groundhogs, that is not the case in West Virginia where residents often call them by the more colloquial name of whistlepigs, based on the highpitched whistling sound they are known to make when they feel threatened.

That was as far as the search for a new team name needed to go and how the Princeton Whistlepigs became part of the new-look Appy League.

Previously known as the Princeton Rays due to their affiliation with Tampa Bay since 1997, the West Virginia town has seen its fair share of future big leaguers suit up for the hometown team, including Carl Crawford, Josh Hamilton, Kevin Kiermaier, Blake Snell, and current Minnesota Twins manager

Rocco Baldelli.

Taking the reins as manager of the Whistlepigs this summer is Patrick Anderson who arrives in Princeton with over two decades of coaching experience, including seven years as a manager in the Minor Leagues and three more as a collegiate head coach. Assisting him will be pitching coach Hector Mercado, hitting coach Joe Szekely, and player development coach Mac Seibert.

COACHING STAFF

PATRICK ANDERSON

MANAGER

Patrick Anderson arrives to the Appy League with coaching experience that dates back over two decades, including seven years of managerial experience. Anderson most recently served as the manager for the Single-A Hagerstown Suns in the Washington Nationals organization. In six years as the Hagerstown skipper, he led the club to a 428-399 record, finishing first in the South Atlantic League in 2016. He got his coaching career started in 1996 as an assistant coach at Gannon University before holding the same position at Hofstra University from 1999 to 2001. Anderson then returned to Hofstra as the head coach from 2009-2011 after spending nine years in various levels of the Kansas City Royals organization, including a season as the hitting coach for the Burlington Royals in the Appalachian League. In 2013, he joined the Nationals organization as the club’s Gulf Coast League manager, where he led the team to a first place finish and league championship with a 49-9 record before taking over at the helm of the Hagerstown Suns in 2014. Prior to starting his coaching career, Anderson played at Mars Hill College and spent three seasons in the Frontier League, where he hit .287 in 181 games. HECTOR MERCADO

PITCHING COACH

Hector Mercado will join the Princeton Whistlepigs as the club’s pitching coach for the 2021 season. The southpaw was selected by the Houston Astros in the 13th round of the 1992 MLB June Amateur Draft and made his Major League debut less than a year later on April 4, 2000. Mercado appeared in 112 major league games during his career with the Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies and then spent several seasons playing internationally, in the Atlantic League, and in the Texas Rangers and Detroit Tigers systems before starting his coaching career. Mercado most recently served as the pitching coach for the Gulf Coast League Phillies and was set to be the pitching coach for Class-A Advanced Clearwater before the 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mercado also spent time coaching in the Houston Astros organization from 2010-2011. JOE SZEKELY

HITTING COACH

Joe Szekely returns to the Appalachian League in 2021 with over 20 years of coaching experience in the Atlanta Braves, Kansas City Royals, and Tampa Bay Rays organizations. Szekely was drafted in the second round of the 1982 MLB Draft and spent 11 seasons in the minor leagues with the Royals, Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto Blue Jays, and Braves. After his playing career, he stayed on as a coach in the Braves organization for several years before joining the Royals organization as the Charleston Alley Cats manager in 2000. Szekely went on to serve as the manager for the Burlington Bees from 2001-2003 before becoming the Royals’ minor league catching coordinator in 2004. From 20052019, Szekely served in various roles within the Rays organization, including managing the Appalachian League’s Princeton Rays in 2008. A majority of his time with the Rays was spent in two stints with the Charlotte Stone Crabs, working for the team as a coach from 2009-2016 and again from 2018-2019.

MAC SEIBERT

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT

Mac Seibert is set to make his coaching debut in 2021 with the Princeton Whistlepigs as the team’s player development coach. Although originally selected in the 36th round of the 2012 MLB Draft by the San Diego Padres, Seibert started his professional career a year later when he was drafted in the 34th round by the Atlanta Braves out of Meridian Community College (Meridian, Miss.). The Cantonment, Florida, native spent four years playing in the Tampa Bay Rays organization, last suiting up for the Charlotte Stone Crabs during the 2019 season. Seibert is also an Appy League alumnus, having played for the Princeton Rays during the 2017 season.