ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, May 7, 1994                   TAG: 9405110071
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: By RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

PULASKI NOT GIVING UP HOPE FOR TEAM

The president of the Appalachian League said there are still "some slim hopes" that Pulaski could get a minor league baseball team for the 1995 season, even though the town probably won't meet the league's June 19 deadline for securing an affiliation with a major league team.

League president Bill Halstead and the Appalachian League's executive committee probably will extend the deadline - which coincides with the start of the 1994 Appalachian League season - to allow Pulaski and Beckley, W.Va., more time to continue what Halstead called "good-faith efforts" to meet all the requirements for entry into the Appalachian League.

The deadline is "still June 19," Halstead said. "I'm sure if something doesn't develop by then, we'll get [the executive committee] to push it back."

Halstead is hoping that the Boston Red Sox will want to put a team in Pulaski's Calfee Park, which will require about $100,000 of renovations to meet ball-park specifications outlined in the Professional Baseball Agreement.

If he doesn't hear from the Red Sox soon, Halstead said he will send a letter to every major league club not already represented in the Appalachian League to try to drum up interest in getting Pulaski a ball club.

"I haven't written that letter yet," said Halstead. "I'll get one out if this [effort to get the Red Sox] doesn't come through."

Pulaski was home to the Atlanta Braves' Appalachian League team from 1982 until 1992, when the Braves moved the team to Danville.

The Pittsburgh Pirates expressed interest in putting a team in Pulaski for nearly 18 months before deciding in March they could not afford the cost of fielding another minor league team. 


 by CNB