The Bluefield Orioles, an Appalachian Rookie League affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, play at Bowen Field, which was originally built in 1939. A fire destroyed the stadium in 1973 when the current concrete one was constructed seating 2,250. The office area was the only building left after the fire, so it may date to 1939. All the seats in the covered stadium area are Orioles orange. Bluefield was playing a double header tonight because the field was not playable the night before because of the rains the previous night. The first game started at 6 pm, so we were able to start the night at Princeton at their first start of 5:30 pm. We stopped at McDonald's on the way from Princeton. When we arrived at Bluefield they were in only the 5th inning of the first game with the Elizabethton Twins. The Twins won 4-0. The box score was Twins R-4, H-9, E-1 and Orioles R-0, H-7, E-1. We stayed through the 4th inning of the second game when it was tied 1-1. The crowd had pretty much thinned out by that time as well. The Bluefield Orioles have been affiliated with Baltimore since 1958. The stadium is located very near the Virginia and West Virginia state lines. Getting to the stadium you cross the line several times. The gentleman in the picture was constantly making comments during the games, good calls and bad by the umpire and good plays and bad by the players. The announcing booth is above and behind the third base dugout. I'm not sure how they can call pitch placements, especially for the radio. They have plaques for every improvement made to the field. The box seats which are all sold have lawn chairs in them. There was one section that had the seats chained and locked. Maybe they had not been paid for yet? 2011 become the Bluefield Blue Jays affiliated with Toronto and new logo.
Attractions
Pocahontas Exhibition Mine and Museum - When opened in 1938, it was the only exhibition mine in the nation. The Pocahontas Operators Association reserved 875 feet of the original coal seam as an exhibit so that people could see the old methods of coal mining by hand loading. Tours of Mine and Educational Room: Mine-Fee, Museum-Free. The mine is located about 12 miles NW of Bluefield.