The Bluefield Blue Jays were a minor league baseball team of the Rookie Appalachian League representing the twin cities of Bluefield, West Virginia, and Bluefield, Virginia.[1] The team played their home games at Bowen Field at Peters Park, a historic stadium (opened in 1939) in Bluefield's city park. The park, which straddles the West Virginia–Virginia state line, was operated by the West Virginia city; however, Bowen Field lies entirely within Virginia.
On August 28, 2010, Andy MacPhail, then-president of baseball operations for the Baltimore Orioles announced that Baltimore was ending their affiliation with Bluefield and the Appalachian League, effective at the end of the 2010 Appalachian League season.[2][3] Bluefield's 53 season affiliation with the Orioles, which lasted from 1958 to 2010, had been the oldest continuous affiliation with the same major league franchise in Minor League Baseball.[3]
The Orioles were sometimes known as the "Baby Birds" or the "Baby O's", a reference to their major league parent club. One of the best known players to have played in Bluefield is Cal Ripken Jr., who played with Bluefield in 1978 when he was 17 years old. Another famous former Baby Bird is Boog Powell, who played there in 1959, also as a 17-year-old.
Bluefield became an affiliate organization with Toronto for the 2011 season.[4]
Outfielder Kevin Pillar played for the Bluefield Blue Jays in 2011, and batted .347, winning the Appalachian League batting title and leading the organization in batting average.[5][6] He holds the team's all-time records for batting average, on-base percentage (.377), and slugging percentage (.534).[7] In August 2013, Pillar became the first Bluefield Blue Jays alumnus to play in the major leagues for Toronto.[8]
The start of the 2020 season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic before ultimately being cancelled on June 30.[9][10] In conjunction with a contraction of Minor League Baseball beginning with the 2021 season, the Appalachian League was reorganized as a collegiate summer baseball league, and the Blue Jays were replaced by a new franchise known as the Ridge Runners[11] in the revamped league designed for rising college freshmen and sophomores.[12]
Playoffs
1992: Defeated Elizabethton 2–1 to win championship.
