Martinsville Astros Appalachian League

Martinsville Astros

Appalachian League (1999-2003)

Tombstone

Born: 1999 – Affiliation Change from Martinsville Phillies
Moved: January 2004 (Greeneville Astros)

First Game: June 18, 1999 (W 8-7 vs. Pulaski Rangers)
Last Game: August 28, 2003 (L 5-3 vs. Elizabethton Twins)

Appalachian League Champions: 1999

Stadium

Ownership & Affiliation

Major League Affiliation: Houston Astros

Owner: Houston Astros (Drayton McLane, Jr.)

Attendance

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Source: The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.), Lloyd Johnson & Miles Wolff, 2007

 

Background

The Martinsville Astros were a Virginia-based Appalachian League farm club of the Houston Astros from 1999 to 2003. The team was owned directly by its Major League parent club.

Martinsville won the Appalachian League crown in its first season as an Astros affiliate in 1999, sweeping the Pulaski Rangers in a 2-game championship series. They returned to the finals in 2003, falling 2 games to 1 against the Elizabethton Twins.

More than a dozen Martinsville Astros players eventually advanced to the Major Leagues. The most impactful were pitchers Matt Albers (Martinsville ’02) who has 14 seasons and counting in the Show, and Wandy Rodriguez (Martinsville ’01) who won 97 games in an 11-year Big League career, spent primarily with Houston.

In January 2004, Houston moved its Appy League farm club from Martinsville to Greeneville, Tennessee. This ended the pro baseball era at Hooker Field after 16 seasons. The city now has a collegiate summer team, the Martinsville Mustangs, in the Coastal Plain League.

 

Appalachian League Shop

Editor's Pick

Appalachian League Baseball

Where Rookies Rise
By Allen LaMountain
 

Long-time Appy League beat writer Allen LaMountain wrote this exhaustive chronicle of the Rookie circuit in 2014, offering a history of each city in the circuit and profiles of dozens of the future Major League stars and Hall-of Famers who got their first taste of pro ball in places like Bluefield, Elizabethton, Johnson City and Kingsport.

 

When you make a purchase through an affiliate link like this one, Fun While It Lasted earns a commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support!

 

 

 

Downloads

6-23-2002 Astros vs. Bluefield Orioles Game Notes

6-23-2002 Martinsville Astros vs Bluefield Orioles Game Notes

 

Links

Appalachian League Media Guides

Appalachian League Programs

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