| Charleston Dirty Birds | |||||
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| Information | |||||
| League | Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (South Division) | ||||
| Location | Charleston, West Virginia | ||||
| Ballpark | GoMart Ballpark (2005–present) | ||||
| Founded | 1987 | ||||
| League championships |
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| Division championships |
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| Former name(s) |
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| Former league(s) | South Atlantic League (1987–2020) | ||||
| Former ballparks | Watt Powell Park (1987–2004) | ||||
| Colors | Black, blue, orange, yellow, gray | ||||
| Ownership | Andy Shea | ||||
| Management | Chuck Domino | ||||
| General manager | Ben Blum[2] | ||||
| Manager | P. J. Phillips[1] | ||||
| Website | dirtybirdsbaseball | ||||
TheCharleston Dirty Birds are anAmericanprofessional baseball team based inCharleston, West Virginia. They are a member of the South Division of theAtlantic League of Professional Baseball, apartner league ofMajor League Baseball.[3] The Dirty Birds have played their home games atGoMart Ballpark since 2005.
The history of professional baseball inCharleston, dates back to1910, and a team known as theCharleston Statesmen of the long-forgottenClass D Virginia Valley League. In1911, the Statesmen moved to the Class D Mountain State League, and then folded after that year. A new team, theCharleston Senators was formed in 1914 and lasted three seasons in the Class D Ohio State League. In1931, a new Senators team joined theClass C Mid-Atlantic League as an affiliate of theCincinnati Reds. This team lasted until1943. In1949, the Senators were reformed as a member of theClass A Central League. In1952, the city was granted a franchise in theTriple-AAmerican Association. At first, this team was affiliated with theChicago White Sox, then theDetroit Tigers, and finally theWashington Senators. In1958, the Charleston Senators won the American Association championship. The franchise ceased operations after the1960 season.
In1961, the city had no team, but the Triple-AInternational LeagueSan Juan Marlins, affiliated with theSt. Louis Cardinals, moved to the city but on May 19 the team was deemed not financially viable. In1962, theCharleston Indians, affiliated with theCleveland Indians, moved to the city in the Class-AEastern League, and in1963 that league was elevated toDouble-A. The team folded after the1964 season.
Baseball returned to the city in1971 with theCharleston Charlies of the Triple-AInternational League. The Charlies played in the International League from 1971 to 1983. The team had previously been theColumbus Jets. The Charlies were affiliated with thePittsburgh Pirates,Houston Astros,Texas Rangers, and finally the Cleveland Indians. The team won theInternational League championship in1973 and1977. The Charlies left forMaine following the1983 season, and, after relocating toMoosic, Pennsylvania in 1989, the team is now known as theScranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
Today, the Dirty Birds sell nostalgic "throwback" merchandise from the Pittsburgh-affiliated era of the Charlies, which is generally considered the pinnacle of baseball in the city.
In1987, the city resumed minor league baseball after a three-year absence. The new team was first called theCharleston Wheelers, so named for the city's history of stern- and side-wheeled boats. The Wheelers began as a co-op team, with players from severalMajor League Baseball franchises including theLos Angeles Dodgers,Detroit Tigers,Chicago White Sox,Chicago Cubs,Philadelphia Phillies, andAtlanta Braves.
In 1988, the franchise became the Chicago Cubs' third full-season Class A franchise (the other two being Peoria in the Midwest League and Winston-Salem in the Carolina League). The only two players on that 1988 squad to reach the Major Leagues were SS Alex Arias and C Matt Walbeck.
The Wheelers won the Class ASouth Atlantic League championship in1990, the only league title for the franchise. By that point, they had changed affiliation to the Cincinnati Reds. SAL Northern Division championships followed in 1991 and 1992, with the Wheelers losing the championship series both years.
In late1993, the Wheelers were purchased from then-owner Dennis Bastien by a conglomerate of local owners led by Charleston businessman Michael Paterno. The team changed its name to theCharleston Alley Cats in 1995 and switched colors from blue and green to red and black. The team was purchased in2001 by Tom Dickson and Sherrie Myers. In1998, the team changed affiliation to theKansas City Royals, again in2000 to theToronto Blue Jays, to theMilwaukee Brewers after the2004 season, joined the Pirates in 2009, and finally theSeattle Mariners in 2018. Prior to the2005 season, they adopted theWest Virginia Power name. To quote the team's announcement following their decision to change the team name:
West Virginia is and will continue to be recognized as one of the leading energy providers for the country. The energy production from coal, natural gas, and hydro-electric sources, combined with the fact that Charleston serves as the center for the state's political and economic powers led us to the name of the team. We felt it was extremely important that the name reflect the entire region and are excited about the tremendous marketing opportunities that will go along with the name.
The Power won the 2007 SAL Northern Division title, but lost in the league championship series to theColumbus Catfish in three straight games.
In conjunction with Major League Baseball's reorganization of the minors after the 2020 season, the Mariners opted to discontinue their affiliation with West Virginia, leaving them in need of a new affiliate for 2021.[5] It was later confirmed that the Power would be dropped from affiliated baseball, with the team stating its intent to continue playing for 2021 and beyond in another league.[6]
On February 24, 2021, the team announced that it had been sold to a new ownership group led by Andy Shea, also owner of the Power's former South Atlantic League rivals theLexington Legends. The Power joined the Legends in theAtlantic League of Professional Baseball, an independent MLB Partner league, for the 2021 season and beyond.[7][8]
On September 28, 2021, the team officially changed their name to the Charleston Dirty Birds, a reference to thecanary in a coal mine.[3] Charleston won the second-half Southern Division championship, but fell short in the playoffs, losing to the eventual league champion Lexington Legends in the decisive third game of their playoff series.
| Active roster | Coaches/Other | |||
Pitchers
| Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
| Manager Coaches
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| Charleston Wheelers (South Atlantic League) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Regular Season | Post-season | |||||||
| Record | Win % | Finish* | Record | Win % | Result | MLB | |||
| 1987 | 66–73 | .475 | 7th | — | — | — | co-op | ||
| 1988 | 51–86 | .372 | 11th | — | — | — | Cubs | ||
| 1989 | 58–76 | .433 | 10th | — | — | — | Cubs | ||
| 1990 | 77–66 | .538 | 5th | 5–0 | 1.000 | Won North Division Championship vsFayetteville Generals, 2–0 WonSAL Championship vsSavannah Cardinals, 3–0 | Reds | ||
| 1991 | 92–50 | .648 | 1st | 0–3 | .000 | LostSAL Championship vsColumbia Mets, 0–3 | Reds | ||
| 1992 | 77–64 | .546 | 2nd | 2–3 | .400 | Won North Division Championship vsSpartanburg Phillies, 2–0 LostSAL Championship vsMyrtle Beach Hurricanes, 0–3 | Reds | ||
| 1993 | 76–64 | .543 | 4th | — | — | — | Reds | ||
| 1994 | 65–75 | .464 | 8th | — | — | — | Reds | ||
| Sub-Totals | 562–554 | .504 | — | 7–6 | .636 | 1SAL Championships | |||
| Charleston AlleyCats (South Atlantic League) | |||||||||
| Year | Regular Season | Post-season | |||||||
| Record | Win % | Finish* | Record | Win % | Result | MLB | |||
| 1995 | 77–65 | .542 | 6th | — | — | — | Reds | ||
| 1996 | 58–84 | .408 | 12th | — | — | — | Reds | ||
| 1997 | 76–62 | .551 | 2nd | 3–2 | .600 | Won Quarterfinal vsCape Fear Crocs, 2–0 Lost Semifinal vsDelmarva Shorebirds, 1–2 | Reds | ||
| 1998 | 44–96 | .314 | 14th | — | — | — | Reds | ||
| 1999 | 61–80 | .433 | 13th | — | — | — | Royals | ||
| 2000 | 53–80 | .398 | 14th | — | — | — | Royals | ||
| 2001 | 51–87 | .370 | 16th | — | — | — | Blue Jays | ||
| 2002 | 61–79 | .436 | 15th | — | — | — | Blue Jays | ||
| 2003 | 57–76 | .429 | 12th | — | — | — | Blue Jays | ||
| 2004 | 84–56 | .600 | 3rd | 0–2 | .000 | Lost North Division Championship vsCapital City Bombers, 0–2 | Blue Jays | ||
| Sub-Totals | 622–765 | .448 | — | 3–4 | .429 | 0SAL Championships | |||
| West Virginia Power (South Atlantic League) | |||||||||
| Year | Regular Season | Post-season | |||||||
| Record | Win % | Finish* | Record | Win % | Result | ||||
| 2005 | 60–78 | .435 | 6th | — | — | — | Brewers | ||
| 2006 | 74–62 | .544 | 3rd | — | — | — | Brewers | ||
| 2007 | 82–54 | .603 | 3rd | 2–4 | .333 | Won Northern Division Championship vsHickory Crawdads, 2–1 LostSAL Championship vsColumbus Catfish, 0–3 | Brewers | ||
| 2008 | 77–62 | .554 | 6th | 3–3 | .500 | Won Northern Division Championship vsLake County Captains, 3–0 LostSAL Championship vsAugusta GreenJackets, 0–3 | Brewers | ||
| 2009 | 67–70 | .489 | 4th | — | — | — | Pirates | ||
| 2010 | 65–74 | .468 | 10th | — | — | — | Pirates | ||
| 2011 | 69–69 | .500 | 8th | — | — | — | Pirates | ||
| 2012 | 61–79 | .436 | 13th | — | — | — | Pirates | ||
| 2013 | 82–58 | .586 | 2nd | 1–2 | .333 | Lost Northern Division Championship vsHagerstown Suns, 1–2 | Pirates | ||
| 2014 | 54–81 | .586 | 2nd | — | — | — | Pirates | ||
| 2015 | 87–52 | .626 | 1st | 1–2 | .333 | Lost Northern Division Championship vsHickory Crawdads, 1–2 | Pirates | ||
| 2016 | 71–68 | .511 | 5th | — | — | — | Pirates | ||
| 2017 | 69–67 | .507 | 4th | — | — | — | Pirates | ||
| 2018 | 71–62 | .534 | 3rd | Pirates | |||||
| 2019 | 69–70 | .469 | 4th | – | – | - | Mariners | ||
| Sub-Totals | 1055–1006 | .499 | — | 7–11 | .389 | 0SAL Championships | |||
| Totals | 2,242–2325 | .491 | — | 17–21 | .447 | 1 League Championship | |||
| Note: * Finish denotes their position in the overall league standings. | |||||||||
| Charleston Dirty Birds (Atlantic League) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Regular Season | Post-season | |||||||
| Record | Win % | Finish | Record | Win % | Result | ||||
| 2021* | 58–62 | .483 | 3rd(South) | 1–2 | .333 | Lost to (LEX) in semi-final | |||
| 2022 | 53–79 | .402 | 5th(South) | — | — | — | |||
| 2023 | 56–70 | .444 | 3rd(South) | — | — | — | |||
| Totals | 167–211 | .442 | — | 1–2 | .333 | — | |||
| Note: * On September 28, 2021, the team officially changed their name to the Charleston Dirty Birds. | |||||||||
The Alley Cats and their predecessors played inWatt Powell Park in the Kanawha City neighborhood of Charleston. Seating approximately 4,500 fans, Watt Powell Park was bordered by MacCorkle Avenue on the front (north) side, 35th Street on the east, and South Park Road on the west. On the south side of the park, a ridge of hills formed a natural boundary. Fans who would otherwise have had to pay to see the games periodically watched the action from aCSX railroad line hard up against the south wall of the stadium.
The Dirty Birds now play their home games inGoMart Ballpark at the east edge of downtown Charleston, a little more than a mile across theKanawha River from the former site of Watt Powell Park. Most of the financing for the $25 million stadium came from the state, and the city, although the ownership team put up approximately $5 million. The original cost of the ballpark was supposed to be $20 million but cost overruns put the figure at $25 million. The city's share came mostly from the sale of Watt Powell Park to the nearbyUniversity of Charleston, which immediately sold two-thirds of the land toCharleston Area Medical Center, the region's largest hospital. Originally, the new park was to be completed for the 2004 season, but politically induced delays in securing state funds forced construction to be put off for a year. The new park opened in April 2005.
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