The Roanoke Times

File May Avalanche manager Jim Pankovits participates in practice. Pankovits was in his third season in Salem.

Who could forget back in 2003 when Houston Astros' farmhand Todd Self, frustrated by a bad at-bat, slammed the dugout bathroom door shut so hard that he locked himself in?

"I was hollering [for help] and they were laughing at me," Self reported at the time.

Self was stuck in that bathroom at Kinston's Grainger Stadium so long he actually needed a fielder to take over for him at first base and wasn't freed until after the game ended.

Not every moment in the Houston Astros' six-year tenure as the major-league affiliate of the Salem Avalanche was quite so odd. Salem broke a 17-year pennant drought and saw some big-league talent come through, but the baseball partnership fizzled to an end Monday when the Avalanche dropped its final game under the Astros' star.

The Salem franchise is now owned by Fenway Sports Group, sister company to the Boston Red Sox, and now that Salem's player development deal with Houston has run its course, the Red Sox are expected to install themselves as the new affiliate. Baseball rules prohibit discussions about affiliation changes until the middle of September, so for now, all that can be said out loud is that the Astros are seeking a new home for their high-A minor-league club.

"It's been a lot of fun here," Pankovits said. "This is a great place to work, to develop players. We'll be hard-pressed to find a place to do it as well."

Self is one of 21 Astros farmhands that have come through Salem who have sipped at least a taste of the big leagues so far. The fastest was catcher J.R. Towles, who opened the 2007 season with the Avalanche and climbed three rungs to the majors by the end of the year.

But most of the players who play in the minors don't make it to the bigs. In the minor leagues, a player is dubbed the "mayor" of a team if he has hung around a town long enough to qualify for such a candidacy. In Salem, catcher Jeff Mackor (2004-06) may face a runoff against pitchers Rory Shortell (2005-07) and Raymar Diaz (2006-08) for the "honor."

Manager Jim Pankovits may, in fact, qualify for governor. Not only has he defied baseball trends and remained in Salem for three seasons (2006-08), but he was born in Pennington Gap, Va., and grew up in Richmond.

The Astros-affiliated teams went to the playoffs the past two seasons and fell a game short in 2005. Salem won the second-half Southern Division championship in 2006, its first pennant since the first half of 1988.

But this year, Salem posted its worst record since 1990 when as the Buccaneers, it went 55-84.

"Winning is a lot more fun, that's for sure," Pankovits said.

Sept. 10, 2002 -- Avalanche owner Kelvin Bowles announces he has signed a four-year player development agreement with the Houston Astros, ending Salem's affiliation with the Colorado Rockies.

September 2003 -- Todd Self makes the Carolina League All-Star team. Jared Gothreaux leads the league in wins (13). Mike Rodriguez leads the league with eight triples.

July 28, 2004 -- A foul ball off the bat of John Fagan breaks manager Russ Nixon's leg.

September 2004 -- Mark Saccomanno ties with Winston-Salem's Brian Becker for the Carolina League home run lead with 22.

April 22, 2005 -- Adam Seuss is suspended 15 days for violating baseball's prohibition against performance enhancing drugs. He was later released.

Sept. 6, 2005 -- Kevin Davidson goes 2-for-5 with a double and drives in three runs but Salem falls a run shy in a one-game play-in game against Winston-Salem for the Southern Division's second-half title.

September 2005 -- Ivan DeJesus is voted Carolina League manager of the year. Chance Douglas leads the league with a 2.90 ERA and 162 ²₃ innings.

April 12, 2006 -- Frederick's Radhames Liz and three others combine to no-hit the Avalanche.

May 21, 2006 -- Jeff Mackor hits his first career grand slam on a grand stage, RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. Mackor went 3-for-4 and drove in six runs in the game against the Potomac Nationals. Mackor spent three seasons in Salem.

June 27, 2006 -- Lou Santangelo ties for the Home Run Derby title, Chad Reineke is the winning pitcher and Rodrigo Escobar gets the save as Avalanche players starred in the Carolina League's 6-3 win over the California League in the All-Star Game at Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium. Beau Torbert goes 2-for-4 and drives in two runs and Drew Sutton turns two double plays.

Aug. 15-29, 2006 -- The Avalanche musters a 14-game winning streak to capture the Southern Division second-half championship. It's the first half-season title Salem has won since the first half of 1988.

September 2006 -- Kinston sweeps Salem 2-0 in Southern Division Championship series. It is Salem's first playoff appearance since it won the 2001 Mills Cup Championship as a wild card.

September 2006 -- Jim Pankovits is voted Carolina League manager of the year. Santangelo and infielder Torbert make the postseason All-Star team. Jimmy Barthmaier leads the league in strikeouts (134) and walks (67). Francisco Caraballo and Neil Sellers lead the league with 40 doubles each.

March 2006 -- Bowles renews the Avalanche affiliation with the Astros for two more seasons.

July 16, 2006 -- Bowles announces he is selling the Avalanche to Hardball Sports, an Atlanta-based investment group.

September 2007 -- Reliever Chris Blazek emerges as a clutch reliever picking up a win and a save as wild-card Salem beats Kinston 2-1 in the Southern Division Championship Series. But the Avalanche then falls 3 games to 1 to Frederick in the Mill Cup Series.

September 2007 -- After declaring himself the "worst player in the Carolina League" in 2006, Billy Hart wins the batting title in 2007 with a .305 average, edging teammate Mitch Einertson by hundredths of a percent. Einertson, who led the league with 40 doubles, was voted league MVP.

Dec. 10, 2007 -- Mike Dee, chief operating officer of the Boston Red Sox, announces that the Red Sox's sister company Fenway Sports Group has purchased the Avalanche. "We'll have to do the best we can to find a new home," Houston farm director Ricky Bennett said at the time, noting that the Astros' affiliation deal with Salem ends at the close of the 2008 season.

July 30-Aug. 11, 2008 -- Salem loses 12 of 13, getting no-hit by Frederick's Brandon Erbe and two others on Aug. 5.

September 2008 -- Mark Ori and Jordan Parraz make the Carolina League postseason All-Star team.