West Tenn Diamond Jaxx

Diamond Jaxx Become Southern League Affiliate of the Seattle Mariners
Date Posted: 9/28/2006

Jackson, TN (Sept. 28th)- The West Tenn Diamond Jaxx and the Seattle Mariners have signed a two year working agreement, making the Diamond Jaxx the Double-A Southern League affiliate of the Mariners. The Mariners Double-A team had previously been affiliated with the San Antonio Missions of the Texas League since 2001. Seattle becomes the third American League team to have their Double-A affiliate in the Southern League, joining the Chicago White Sox and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Seattle becomes the Diamond Jaxx second parent club in the nine year history of the franchise, replacing the recently departed Chicago Cubs.

Seattle’s most recent minor league accomplishments include the Inland Empire 66ers, the Mariners High-A affiliate, winning the California League championship this past season. In 2005, the Tacoma Rainiers, the Mariners Triple-A affiliate advanced to the Pacific Coast League championship and their Low-A affiliate, the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, advanced to the Midwest League championship as well. In 2003, San Antonio and Inland Empire celebrated championship titles in the Texas League and the California League, respectively. In 2002, San Antonio won a Texas League championship. In 2001, Tacoma won the Pacific Coast League title and in 2000 the Mariners Double-A affiliate, the New Haven Ravens, won the Eastern League championship.

“The Diamond Jaxx are excited to become a part of the Seattle Mariners family and look forward to seeing first-hand their commitment to developing future Major Leaguers from around the world right here in Jackson,” said Diamond Jaxx general manager Jeff Parker. “The leadership of the Mariners organization comes from a rich tradition of Major League Baseball and we look forward to having them as part of our community. One of the commitments the Mariners have made is to involve their players in our community. They guaranteed us that the future Mariners will be a strong presence in the West Tennessee community and we look forward to reaching out to our communities with them.”

“We are very excited to bring our players to West Tennessee,” said Frank Mattox, the Director of Player Development for the Mariners. “We look forward to bringing a championship back to Pringles Park in the near future.”

The Diamond Jaxx 2007 home opener will take place on April 16th when the Jaxx host the Mississippi Braves at Pringles Park. For more information, call the Diamond Jaxx offices at (731) 988-5299, or visit us on the web at www.diamondjaxx.com.