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Old 04-07-2019, 02:42 PM   #15
gskweres9
Major Leagues
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Houston
Posts: 439
The move to Bluefield, West Virginia represented the real start of the minor league grind. Travis grew up in Houston, went to college in New York, and then transferred to another college in the suburbs of Tampa. In his eyes, Bluefield, West Virginia was a far call from civilization.

The "city" of Bluefield has 10,000 people, and it is in a micropolitan area of roughly 100,000. The weather is nice in June and July, usually mid-to-high 80s. In fact, the city's motto is "nature's air conditioned city, where the summer spends the winter." The town's claim to fame is it was the last place where country music legend Hank Williams was last seen alive, but even that is broiled in controversy. The town, to say the least, was nondescript, and it was culture shock in the eyes of a lifelong city slicker.

The good thing about Bluefield? Rent was cheap. Instead of seven or eight guys crammed into a two bedroom apartment, five guys crammed into a small three bedroom house that they were able to rent. Joining Travis and Miko was 21-year-old first baseman Preston Witt, and two pitchers named Jared Platero and Sen Kenneally (I promise that isn't a typo and his name is Sen). Witt played high school baseball in Houston, and Travis and Preston knew about each other from their childhood, although they weren't friends growing up. Platero played his college ball at Long Beach State, while Sen played at the University of Virginia. The five were the older guys on the team, although Travis was the oldest on the team by a full year. They made a good group, and in the early goings, they were getting along well.

They began their city at home against the Johnson City Cardinals. Bluefield won 7-5, tagging bonus baby Albert Hernandez for five runs in four innings. Travis went 1-for-4, lacing an RBI double off of Hernandez in the first inning. Travis hoped the double was a sign of things to come, as he really worked on driving the ball in the offseason and becoming less of a singles hitter. Only time would tell if his hard work would pay off.

Last edited by gskweres9; 04-07-2019 at 05:52 PM.
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