Norfolk Tides
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| Norfolk Tides Founded in 1961 Norfolk, Virginia |
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Carolina League (1964-1968)
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| Minor League titles | |||
| Class titles | 1983 | ||
| League titles | 1972, 1975, 1982, 1983, 1985 | ||
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| Owner(s)/Operated by: Maryland Baseball Holding, LLC | |||
| Manager: Gary Allenson | |||
| General Manager: Dave Rosenfield | |||
The Norfolk Tides are a Norfolk, Virginia, minor league baseball team, the AAA farm team for the Baltimore Orioles in the International League. The team was a longtime affiliate of the New York Mets from 1969 to 2006. The team plays their home games at Harbor Park.
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[edit] Franchise History
The franchise began its history in the South Atlantic League in 1961 as the Tidewater Tides , playing at Lawrence Stadium in Portsmouth. The main newspaper of South Hampton Roads, The Virginian-Pilot, ran a contest to determine the team name. Although the chosen name was "Mariners," the Pilot's editor overruled the contest, deciding he liked the alliteration of "Tidewater Tides."
The Tides spent their first year as an "independent" team with no direct major-league affiliation, but became a St. Louis Cardinals affiliate the following season. However, the South Atlantic League decided to pull out of Virginia in 1963, threatening the future of minor-league baseball in the Hampton Roads area. A local group was able to convince the Carolina League to expand by two teams, one of them being the Tides.
In 1969, the Tides became a Triple-A team when the New York Mets moved their International League franchise from Jacksonville, Florida to Portsmouth. The previous owners of the Tides continued to run the team under the Mets' ownership. Their first year in Triple-A ended with a pennant. At the same time, the Mets and the city of Norfolk cooperated to build the team's next home, Met Park.
The Tides won the Governors' Cup, the International League championship, in 1972, 1975, 1982, 1983, and 1985. They also had the league's best regular-season record in 1987, but lost in the playoffs. In 1992, ground was broken on the club's current home of Harbor Park, and the Tides moved into the new facility in 1993. This period was a time of change in several other ways. First, in 1992, the Mets sold the franchise to a group led by Tampa businessman, Ken Young. At the time the Tides moved into Harbor Park, the team also replaced the "Tidewater" in its name with that of Norfolk, partly for marketing reasons and partly for political considerations, as the city of Norfolk had facilitated the financing and building of Harbor Park. Also in 1993, The Tides introduced their mascot Rip Tide.
The New York Mets did not renew their contract with the Norfolk Tides for the 2007 season, ending a 38-year continuous partnership, the second longest in AAA (the Atlanta-Richmond partnership dates to 1966). The Baltimore Orioles announced their affiliation with the Tides in a press conference on September 25, 2006. [1] The owner of the Tides also owns two other Orioles-affiliated minor-league clubs, the Bowie Baysox and the Frederick Keys. [2]
Hampton Roads ESPN Radio affiliate WGH-AM 1310 cover every game home and away. The local television station WSKY-TV Channel 4 Hampton Roads will cover 20 games, 8 home and 12 away, during the 2008 season.
[edit] Titles
The Tides have won the Governors' Cup, the championship of the International League, 5 times, and played in the championship series 9 times.
- 1971 - Lost to Rochester
- 1972 - Defeated Louisville
- 1975 - Defeated Syracuse
- 1982 - Defeated Rochester
- 1983 - Defeated Richmond
- 1985 - Defeated Columbus
- 1987 - Lost to Columbus
- 1988 - Lost to Rochester
- 1995 - Lost to Ottawa
[edit] Alumni
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Jeromy Burnitz - 44 Lastings Milledge
- Greg Jeffries
- Bobby Jones
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Edgardo Alfonzo -
Rey Ordonez - 7
Jose Reyes - 48 Aaron Heilman
- 4 Lenny Dykstra
- 16 Dwight Gooden
- 42 Butch Huskey
- 44 Jason Isringhausen
- 34 Mike Scott
- 18 Darryl Strawberry
- 1 Mookie Wilson
- 5 David Wright
- 1 Timo Perez
[edit] Current Roster
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Norfolk Tides roster
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| Players | Coaching staff | ||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
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Manager
Coaches
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[edit] External links
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| AAA | AA | A | Rookie |
| Norfolk Tides | Bowie Baysox |
Frederick Keys Delmarva Shorebirds Aberdeen IronBirds |
Bluefield Orioles GCL Orioles |
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