Alan Kim | The Roanoke Times

Wilma and Lee (wearing hat) Pieper, retirees from Radford who bought season tickets, enjoy a Mariners game at Calfee Park during the 2008 season. The Mariners will return in 2009.

PULASKI -- The last time an official from the Seattle Mariners' front office visited Calfee Park in August, it was helpful that another record crowd was on hand.

Scouting director Bob Fontaine was suitably impressed.

"He was ecstatic," said Tom Compton, one of the Pulaski Mariners' owners.

Good first impressions were certainly a factor in the Seattle organization's decision to sign a new player development contract with Pulaski. The Mariners announced the two-year deal Thursday.

It was the first season in the Appalachian League for the Mariners, and it turned out to be a banner year in more ways than one.

Not only did the team finish a surprising league runner-up to the always strong Elizabethton Twins, but the Mariners had a robust year at the box office as well.

Pulaski drew 33,679 fans for 33 home games, the fourth-best total in the league. Record business was also done in souvenir sales.

After going without baseball for the 2007 season, Pulaski sold almost 5,000 more tickets than it did in 2006, the last season for the old Pulaski Blue Jays.

Many of the newcomers came from surrounding areas, particularly Radford, Galax, and Wytheville. Marty Gordon, Pulaski's marketing director, estimated that as many as half of the team's fans came from outside Pulaski County.

It made a strong case that the Mariners were not just a local attraction. Pulaski is the circuit's smallest market.

Another highlight of the year was having third baseman Mario Martinez and catcher Juan Nueves named to the league's all-star team. Pulaski's Rob Mummau was picked league manager of the year.

That prompted Fontaine to quip he might have to consider a career change from scouting director.

"Maybe I should be Mummau's agent," he said.