The Pulaski River Turtles are a

summer collegiate baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are Amateur baseball in the United States, amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibi ...

team of the

Appalachian League The Appalachian League is a collegiate summer baseball league that operates in the Appalachian regions of Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina. Designed for rising freshmen and sophomores using wood bats, its season runs from ...

. They are located in

Pulaski, Virginia Pulaski is a town in Pulaski County, Virginia, United States. The population was 9,086 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Pulaski County. Pulaski is part of the Blacksburg– Christiansburg Metropolitan Statistical Area. History ...

, and play their home games at

Calfee Park Calfee Park is a stadium in Pulaski, Virginia, United States. It is primarily used for baseball, and is the home ballpark of the Pulaski River Turtles in the Appalachian League, a summer collegiate baseball league. It was built in 1935 as a Works ...

History

Previous Pulaski teams

Professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

was first played in

, in 1942 as the Pulaski Counts. They were affiliated with eight different Major League Baseball teams and also played as an independent club for a few seasons. Their final affiliation as a rookie league professional club was with the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

. The team played its home games at

. The

Pulaski Yankees The Pulaski Yankees were a minor league baseball team based in Pulaski, Virginia, United States. They were an Advanced Rookie League team in the Appalachian League. The team played its home games at Calfee Park. They were affiliated with several ...

were awarded Minor League Baseball's top honor, the John H. Johnson President's Award, in 2019. The award recognizes the "complete baseball franchise—based on franchise stability, contributions to league stability, contributions to baseball in the community, and promotion of the baseball industry."

Collegiate summer team

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

were replaced by a new franchise in the revamped league designed for rising college freshmen and sophomores. The new team became known as the Pulaski River Turtles. The nickname refers to the team's location in the

New River Valley The New River Valley is a region along the New River in Southwest Virginia in the United States. It is usually defined as the counties of Montgomery (including the towns of Blacksburg and Christiansburg), Pulaski, Floyd, and Giles and the ...

. The 2021 season will mark Pulaski's 55th season fielding teams in the Appalachian League.

References

External links

*
Statistics from Baseball-Reference
{{Virginia Sports 2021 establishments in Virginia Amateur baseball teams in Virginia Appalachian League teams Baseball teams established in 2021 Pulaski County, Virginia