Discover and Celebrate the Bliss of Asheville and Western North Carolina Area's Minor League Baseball Team, The Asheville Tourists
Asheville Tourists
This is the official website of the Asheville Tourists, and the gateway to everything from fan activity to buying tickets to listening to streaming broadcasts of the games.
The Tourists play home games at McCormick Field. The park opened in 1924. It was renovated in 1959, and renovated again for the 1992 season. McCormick Field seats 4,000 fans, and is often joked about because of its scoreboard, which reads "Visitors" in the guest slot and "Tourists" in the home slot...."
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Sometimes it really gets exciting... here's the full unedited video of Asheville Tourist's Joe Mikulik disputing a call at second base in Lexington, Ky.
Now, with the support of Asheville Savings Bank, the Tourists will host four nights in the upcoming campaign.
"Asheville Savings Bank has been a part of the community almost as long as McCormick Field. We are very excited to host four fireworks nights with the Tourists this summer," said John Dietrich, director of marketing for Asheville Savings Bank. "It's hard to find more family friendly entertainment than baseball and fireworks. We are proud to be a part of these events."
The fireworks shows will again take place after games. The dates are:
Click on each of the dozens of categories to the left to uncover what makes the Asheville area so vital, so intriguing and so, well, UTTERLY BLISSFUL!
Discover the Bliss of Asheville's Baseball Team, The Tourists!
"... Baseball has served as the pastime of preference in Asheville, North Carolina, for more than a century. Nearly anywhere a flat lot can be found in the rolling hills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, baseball has been played by locals and visitors alike, with many of the city's greatest thrils created by the hometown Tourists, who have been mainstays in the professional ranks for most of the past 80 years. Oates Park, where author Thomas Wolfe toiled as a batboy prior to attending the University of North Carolina,
served as the home of the Mountaineers, Tourists, and the semi-pro Asheville Royal Giants during the first three decades of the 20th century until McCormick Field was built in the mid-1920's. The ballpark, just south of downtown Asheville, welcomed the likes of Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth during exhibition contests, while future Hall of Famers Eddie Murray and Willie Stargell and current standouts Todd Helton and Juan Pierre honed their skills in the mountains on their way to the game's top level. In Baseball in Asheville author Bill Ballew has compiled a vast array of photographs, containing many of the key contributors to the storied history that makes up Asheville baseball...."
"... Asheville, North Carolina, is not widely recognized as a baseball crazy city. However, for a small town where flat land is hard to find and everything is far removed from the bright lights of the big cities, Asheville's part in professional baseball is remarkable. In these pages you'll find little-known stories of baseball's stars, the ups and downs of the national pastime in the Land of the Sky and a number of local heroes. Meet "Struttin" Bud Shaney, a pitcher from the 1920s who served as athletic director, umpire and the McCormick Field groundskeeper at various times in the diamond's past...."
Celebrate Your Child's Birthday at McCormick Field with The Tourist's Mascot Ted E Tourist!
If your whole family is big Tourists fans, what could be a better place to hold a birthday for your son or daughter than with Ted E Tourist at McCormick Field. There are two different price points for the parties. The least expensive "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" bash consists of:
• A delicious, personalized cake provided by Sam’s Club.
• One reserved, Box Seat ticket to the game for each member of the birthday party
• Soft drinks for each person in the birthday party
• Hot dog and chips for each person in the birthday party
• Personal Visit from our Mascot “Ted E. Tourist”
• Baseball and display case for birthday child to receive autographs pre-game. Birthday child will be escorted into dugout to meet the players and coaches
• Public Address and Scoreboard recognition during the game
• Tourists Representative to personally assist with the party set-up & clean up
Tourist Promotion Video Shows
Mascot Ted E. Tourist Playing Poker with Joe Mikulik
All 140 scheduled Tourists games to be broadcast on WRES 100.7 FM!
"...in 2008, the Asheville Tourists begin a new journey with local radio. For the first time in club history, all games, home and road, will be broadcast over the airwaves. From downtown Asheville, WRES 100.7 FM will serve as the home of Tourists baseball. Just turn the dial to 100.7 FM and hear all 140 Tourists games and all potential post-season games. Game broadcasts will begin with a pre-game show starting 15 minutes before every contest. A short post-game show will follow...."
Listen to the Games Online
"Fans can hear the play-by-play on the Internet, at www.milb.com and the team's official Web site, www.theashevilletourists.com.... Just click on Audio in the menu on the left... or under the "Multimedia" pull-down menu at the top of this screen..."
