Joe Mikulik

Joe Mikulik is a grandfather Major-league baseball player Ian Stewart and his wife Susan welcomed daughter Elise Gray Stewart into the world around 6 p.m. Tuesday at a Denver hospital. Susan, an Enka High graduate, is the daughter of Asheville Tourists manager Joe Mikulik. Susan and Ian make their off-season home in Candler. Ian, who met Susan while playing for the Tourists in 2004, is the Colorado Rockies' third baseman. He missed Tuesday night's game to be with his wife and daughter. This is their first child. Elise Gray's numbers: seven pounds, five ounces, 20 inches. 2009 has been a good year for Mikulik. He became a grandfather for the first time, was inducted into the South Atlantic League Hall of Fame and is on the verge of making the playoffs with the Tourists. With six games left to play, Asheville has a 2.5 game lead over Augusta in the race for the South Atlantic League's Southern Division second-half title. The Tourists play at McCormick Field tonight and Thursday night against Lexington in their final two home games of the regular season. If Asheville makes the playoffs, the first of a three-game series will be Wednesday, Sept. 9 at McCormick Field vs. Greenville, S.C