Mariners Baseball Caravan Stops at Sherwood Thursday

WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- The annual Seattle Mariners Caravan makes a stop on Thursday, Jan. 12, in Sherwood Center on the Whitman College campus.

The session, slated for 4:30 to 6 p.m., is open to the public and features complimentary autograph and photo opportunities as well as the chance to win prizes.

The event includes appearances by pitchers Blake Beavan and Tom Wilhelmsen along with MLB Network analyst Dave Valle and the Mariner Moose.

Beavan

Wilhelmsen

The Caravan, which hit the road Monday with a stop in Yakima, Wash., will visit several Pacific Northwest communities between now and Jan. 27.

Beavan, a 6-foot-7 righthander, made his Major League debut last July and finished the season with a 5-6 win-loss record and 4.27 earned run average.

Beavan's best outing came Sept. 16 against Texas. The 22-year-old from Irving, Texas, tossed eight innings of scoreless ball, scattering four hits while fanning three.

Wilhelmsen, a 6-foot-6 righthander, made 25 relief appearances last season as a 27-year-old rookie. He finished the year with a 2-0 record and 3.31 earned run average, scattering 32 hits while striking 30 and issuing 13 walks over 25 innings.

Originally selected by Milwaukee in 2002 amateur draft, Wilhelmsen was out of organized baseball from 2004 through 2008.

Mariner Moose

Valle

Valle, a studio analyst for MLB Network, enjoyed a 13-year career (1984-1996) as a Major League catcher, playing 10 seasons for the Mariners before making stops in Boston, Milwaukie and Texas over the next three years.

Before joining MLB Network, Valle was a color commentator for Mariners TV and radio broadcasts from 1997 through 2008.

Valle is president, co-founder and board chairman of Esperanza International, a non-profit community development organization established in 1995 and based in the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

Esperanza serves economically disadvantaged through microfinance loans, health care and education by facilitating community-based sustainable development programs. The organization is currently serving over 21,000 families throughout the island of Hispaniola.

Click here for more information about the Mariners Caravan.

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CONTACT: Dave Holden
Sports Information Director
Whitman College, Walla Walla, Wash.
509 527-5902; holden@whitman.edu