Norfolk Tides

Norfolk Tides Founded in 1961 Norfolk, Virginia
Team Logo Cap Insignia
Class-level
Triple-A (1969-Present) High-A (1961-1968)
Minor league affiliations
International League South Division Carolina League (1963-1968) South Atlantic League (1961-1962)
Major league affiliations
Baltimore Orioles (2007-Present) New York Mets (1969-2006) Philadelphia Phillies (1966-1968) Chicago White Sox (1964-1965) St. Louis Cardinals (1962) Kansas City A's (1961)
Name
Norfolk Tides (1993-Present) Tidewater Tides (1963-1992) Portsmouth-Norfolk Tides (1961-1962)
Ballpark
Harbor Park (1993-Present) Met Park (1969-1992) Lawrence Stadium (1961-1968)
Minor league titles
Class titles	1983
League titles	1972, 1975, 1982, 1983, 1985
Division titles	1969, 1975, 1987, 1988, 1995, 2001, 2005
Owner(s)/Operated by: Maryland Baseball Holding, LLC
Manager: Gary Allenson
General Manager: Dave Rosenfield

The Norfolk Tides are a minor league baseball team in the Triple-A International League. They play at Harbor Park in Norfolk, Virginia. Since 2007 they have been a farm team of the Baltimore Orioles; prior to that, they had a 38-year affiliation with the New York Mets.

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.

Rip Tide, the mascot of the Norfolk Tides

In 1969, the New York Mets moved their Triple-A International League affiliate, then known as the Jacksonville Suns, from Jacksonville, Florida to Portsmouth. The team took up the Tides name and the previous owners 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 Mets and Tides ended their affiliation after the 2006 season. At the time, their 38-year association was the second longest in Triple-A, behind the Atlanta-Richmond partnership, which dated to 1966 (The Braves have since moved the Richmond club to Gwinnett County). The Baltimore Orioles announced their affiliation with the Tides in a press conference on September 25, 2006.^[1] Maryland Baseball Holding LLC, which owns the Tides,^[2] also owns two other Orioles-affiliated minor-league clubs, the Bowie Baysox and the Frederick Keys.^[3]

Titles

The Norfolk Tides take on the Columbus Clippers at Harbor Park

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

Alumni

The Tides at bat

•    Shane Halter
•    Matt Wieters
•    Edgardo Alfonzo
•    Heath Bell
•    Jeromy Burnitz
• 24 Mike Cervenak
•    Ron Darling
•    Octavio Dotel
•  4 Lenny Dykstra
•    Sid Fernandez
•    Armando Gabino
•    Ron Gardenhire
•    John Gibbons
• 16 Dwight Gooden
• 48 Aaron Heilman
• 42 Butch Huskey
• 44 Jason Isringhausen
•    Gregg Jefferies
•    Bobby Jones
•    Terrence Long
• 44 Lastings Milledge
•    Melvin Mora
•    Rey Ordóñez
•    Mike Piazza
•    Jay Payton
•  1 Timo Pérez
•    Roberto Petagine
•  7 José Reyes
•    Pete Schourek
• 34 Mike Scott
•    Alfredo Simón
•    John Stearns
• 18 Darryl Strawberry
•  1 Mookie Wilson
•    Eli Whiteside
•  5 David Wright
•  6 Mike Vail
•    Charles F. Yetter

Current roster

Norfolk Tides rosterview · talk · edit
Players				Coaches/Other
Pitchers 24 Mitch Atkins 46 Nick Bierbrodt 32 Chris George 45 Sean Gleason -- James Houser 40 Steve Johnson 33 Cole McCurry 38 Wynn Pelzer -- Ryohei Tanaka 22 Chris Tillman * 25 Mark Worrell		Catchers 21 Adam Donachie 19 John Hester Infielders 52 Zach Booker -- Blake Davis 16 Brendan Harris  9 Rhyne Hughes 10 Carlos R Rojas 29 Brandon Snyder * Outfielders  4 Tyler Henson -- Jacob Julius  2 Félix Pie		Manager  6 Gary Allenson Coaches 27 Mike Griffin (pitching) 49 Brad Komminsk (hitting) 7-day disabled list * On Baltimore Orioles 40-man roster ∞ Reserve list § Suspended list ‡ Restricted list # Rehab assignment Roster updated September 18, 2011 Transactions → More rosters

Notes

1. ^ Radford, Rich (2006-09-26). "ORIOLES HAVE HIGH HOPES FOR NORFOLK". The Virginian-Pilot: p. C1. 
2. ^ http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=59070
3. ^ Goldberg, Stan (2007-04-17). "Young is a hands-on owner". The Frederick News-Post. http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=59070. Retrieved 2008-08-09. 

External links

• Official website