- Asheville Tourists
-
Asheville Tourists
Founded in 1915
Asheville, North Carolina
Team Logo
Cap InsigniaClass-level - Class A (1967), (1976-present)
- Double-A (1968-1971)
- Class A (1967)
- Double-A (1963), (1964-1966)
- Class A (1959-1962)
- Class B (1932), (1934-1942) (1946-1955)
- Class C (1931)
- Class B (1924-1930)
- Class D (1915-1917)
Minor league affiliations - South Atlantic League (1980-present)
- Southern Division
- Western Carolinas League (1976-1979)
- Southern League (1968-1971)
- Carolina League (1967)
- Southern League (1964-1966)
- South Atlantic League (1959-1963)
- Tri-State League (1946-1955)
- Piedmont League (1931-1932, 1934-1942)
- South Atlantic League (1924-1930)
- North Carolina State League (1915-1917)
Major league affiliations - Colorado Rockies (1994-present)
- Texas Rangers (1976-1981)
- Baltimore Orioles (1972-1975)
- Chicago White Sox (1971)
- Cincinnati Reds (1968-1970)
- Houston Astros (1967, 1982-1993)
- Pittsburgh Pirates (1961-1966)
- Philadelphia Phillies (1959-1960)
- Brooklyn Dodgers (1946-1951, 1953-1955)
- St. Louis Cardinals (1935-42)
- Boston Red Sox (1934)
Name - Asheville Tourists (1994-present)
Ballpark - McCormick Field (1992-present)
Minor league titles League titles 5 (1915, 1939, 1961, 1968, 1984) Division titles Owner(s)/Operated by: Mike Dewine and family Manager: Joe Mikulik General Manager: Larry Hawkins The Asheville Tourists are a minor league baseball team based in Asheville, North Carolina, USA. They play in the Class A South Atlantic League and have been a farm team of the Colorado Rockies since 1994.
Asheville teams have played under the Tourists moniker in different leagues and classifications for decades, with the earliest dating to 1915. The current team has played continuously in what is now known as the South Atlantic League since 1976. They have won one league championship, in 1984. Previous Tourists teams won a total of four additional championships.
The Tourists play home games at McCormick Field. The park opened in 1924 and was renovated in 1959, and again for the 1992 season. McCormick Field seats 4,000 fans, and is often joked about because of its scoreboard, which reads "Visitors" in the guest slot and "Tourists" in the home slot.[1]
Contents
History
Earlier teams
Professional baseball in Asheville, North Carolina dates to 1897, when the Asheville Moonshiners took the field.[1] It has been played continuously for nearly every year since 1909, with early teams such as the Redbirds (1909), the Moonshiners (1910–1912), and the Mountaineers (1913–1914).[1][2] The "Tourists" name dates to 1915, when local sportswriters began referring to the Mountaineers team as the Tourists.[1]
The original Tourists brought Asheville its first ever professional sports championship in 1915. They continued playing in the Class-D North Carolina State League until 1917, when the league suspended operations due to World War I. In 1924 the "Asheville Skylanders" started play in the South Atlantic League; however, they soon adopted the Tourists nickname.[1] They played in the South Atlantic League until 1930, when they jumped to the Piedmont League, where they played for two seasons before folding. In 1934 the Columbia Sandlappers moved to Asheville, taking up the Tourists name.[3] This incarnation won the 1939 Piedmont League championship; however the league suspended operations in 1942, due to the outset of World War II.[1]
In 1946 a new Tourists franchise started up in the Tri-State League. During the 1940s they shared McCormick Field with the Asheville Blues, an independent Negro Leagues team.[4] They folded along with their league in 1955.[2] In 1959 a new South Atlantic League (later the Southern League) franchise came to town. McCormick Field was renovated. The team initially wanted a new name, and organized a fan vote to pick. However, fans voted overwhelmingly to keep the Tourists nickname.[1] The team won two league titles, in 1961 and 1968. In 1968, the Tourists won the Southern League championship under manager Sparky Anderson, who went on to manage the Cincinnati Reds and Detroit Tigers during his 26 years in Major League Baseball.
In 1972 Asheville became affiliated with the Baltimore Orioles MLB team. As part of Baltimore's "Oriole Way" system, the Asheville team was rebranded the Asheville Orioles, adopting the logo and colors of their affiliate. The team had four successive winning seasons, but after the 1975 season the Orioles relocated their Double-A franchise to Charlotte, North Carolina as the Charlotte Orioles.[1]
Current team
In 1976 the departed Orioles were followed by a new franchise in the Western Carolinas League (now the modern South Atlantic League). Like many teams before it, it assumed the Tourists nickname. The team has remained in Asheville continuously since, winning the 1984 league championship. They are currently a farm team of the Colorado Rockies, with whom they have been affiliated since 1994. They were previously affiliated with the Texas Rangers (1976–81) and the Houston Astros (1982–93).
The Tourists played a minor role in the 1988 film Bull Durham. In the film Kevin Costner's character, Crash Davis, finishes his baseball career with the Tourists after being cut from the Durham Bulls, and with them breaks the all-time minor league home run record.
On January 5, 2010 it was reported by the Asheville Citizen-Times that Palace Sports and Entertainment have sold the team to former U.S. senator Mike DeWine and his family. It was reported that Brian DeWine, son of Mike, would be the team president.[5]
Year-by-year record
Year Record Finish Manager Playoffs 1915 74-46 1st Jack Corbett League Champs 1916 58-54 4th Jack Corbett none 1917 12-16 -- Ernest "Doc" Ferris none Team disbanded 1917-1923 1924 58-63 5th Bob Higgins none 1925 66-63 5th Bob Higgins / Larry Gardner none 1926 80-66 2nd Larry Gardner none 1927 76-73 4th Larry Gardner none 1928 97-49 1st Ray Kennedy none 1929 84-62 2nd Mike Kennedy Lost League Finals 1930 79-61 3rd George Speirs 1931 66-67 4th Ray Kennedy / Bobby Hipps 1932 35-33 -- Joe Guyon Team disbanded July 7 Team disbanded 1933 1934 34-59 (55-78 overall) 5th Bill Laval / Possum Whitted Columbia moved to Asheville June 7 1935 75-62 1st Billy Southworth Lost League Finals 1936 40-103 6th Billy Southworth 1937 89-50 1st Hal Anderson Lost in 1st round 1938 63-75 7th Hal Anderson 1939 89-55 1st Hal Anderson League Champs 1940 75-60 2nd Tommy West Lost in 1st round 1941 64-76 7th Nick Cullop 1942 61-77 6th Bill DeLancey Team disbanded 1943-1946 1946 83-57 2nd Bill Sayles Lost in 1st round 1947 65-74 6th Bill Sayles 1948 95-51 1st Clay Bryant Lost in 1st round 1949 76-71 3rd Ed Head Lost in 1st round 1950 83-62 2nd Clay Bryant Lost League Finals 1951 85-55 2nd Ray Hathaway Lost League Finals 1952 65-75 5th William Hart[disambiguation needed 
] / George Tesnow1953 83-67 2nd Ray Hathaway Lost in 1st round 1954 86-54 1st Ray Hathaway Lost League Finals 1955 53-63 3rd Earl Naylor Team disbanded 1956-1958 1959 70-70 5th Clyde McCullough 1960 62-77 6th Chuck Kress 1961 87-50 1st Ray Hathaway none League Champs 1962 70-70 4th Ray Hathaway Lost in 1st round 1963 79-61 2nd Ray Hathaway 1964 52-86 8th Ray Hathaway (28-53) / Bob Clear (24-33) none 1965 80-60 2nd Pete Peterson none 1966 78-61 2nd Pete Peterson none 1967 64-74 10th Chuck Churn 1968 86-54 1st Sparky Anderson none League Champs 1969 69-69 3rd Alex Cosmidis none 1970 59-80 8th Jim Snyder none 1971 90-51 2nd Larry Sherry Lost League Finals Team known as Asheville Orioles 1972-1975 1976 76-62 1st Wayne Terwilliger Lost League Finals 1977 81-58 2nd Wayne Terwilliger 1978 73-67 4th Wayne Terwilliger none 1979 75-63 2nd Wayne Terwilliger 1980 69-71 5th Tom Robson 1981 74-68 4th Tom Robson 1982 65-76 8th Dave Cripe 1983 64-80 9th (t) Tom Spencer 1984 73-70 5th Tom Spencer League Champs 1985 76-62 4th Fred Hatfield 1986 90-50 2nd Ken Bolek Lost League Finals 1987 91-48 1st Keith Bodie Lost League Finals 1988 65-75 9th Gary Tuck / Jim Coveney 1989 68-70 8th Jim Coveney 1990 66-77 9th Frank Cacciatore 1991 55-83 14th Frank Cacciatore 1992 74-66 4th Tim Tolman 1993 51-88 14th Bobby Ramos 1994 60-73 11th Tony Torchia 1995 76-63 5th Bill McGuire Lost in 1st round 1996 84-52 1st P.J. Carey Lost in 2nd round 1997 62-76 12th Ron Gideon 1998 71-69 7th Ron Gideon 1999 64-77 11th Jim Eppard 2000 66-69 8th (t) Joe Mikulik 2001 68-71 9th Joe Mikulik 2002 64-74 12th Joe Mikulik 2003 74-65 6th Joe Mikulik 2004 64-75 13th Joe Mikulik 2005 71-67 10th Joe Mikulik 2006 74-63 6th Joe Mikulik 2007 80-58 Joe Mikulik 2008 83-56 2nd Joe Mikulik Roster
Asheville Tourists rosterPlayers Coaches/Other Pitchers
- 37 Albert Campos
- 24 Juan Gonzalez
- 10 Josh Hungerman
- -- Tyler Matzek
- 35 Joshua Mueller
- 30 Juan Perez
- 19 Taylor Reid
- -- Nick Schnaitmann
- 35 Kraig Sitton
- 33 Joshua Slaats
- 26 Peter Tago
Catchers
- 16 Anthony Aguilera
- 15 Dustin Garneau
- 25 Bryce Massanari
Infielders
- 2 Cristhian Adames
- -- Dominic Altobelli
- 9 Brett Tanos
- 40 Mark Tracy
- 11 Helder Velazquez
- 3 Russell Wilson ‡
- l Joey Wong
Outfielders
- 4 Avery Barnes
- 23 Corey Dickerson
- 18 Chandler Laurent
- 8 Kyle Parker
Manager
- 20 Joe Mikulik
Coaches
- 38 Joey Eischen (pitching)
- 14 Lenn Sakata (hitting)
7-day disabled list
* On Colorado Rockies 40-man roster
∞ Reserve list
§ Suspended list
‡ Restricted list
# Rehab assignment
Roster updated September 13, 2011
Transactions
→ More rostersReferences
- ^ a b c d e f g h Jarrett, Keith (May 14, 2007). "On Base with the Asheville Tourists". Asheville Citizen-Times blog. Retrieved April 5, 2011
- ^ a b Asheville, North Carolina Minor League City Encyclopedia. baseball-reference.com. Retrieved April 5, 2011.
- ^ http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/team.cgi?id=839cdff6
- ^ http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Asheville_Blues
- ^ Asheville (N.C.) Citizen Times Story on sale
External links
Colorado Rockies The Franchise History • Expansion • Expansion Draft • Seasons • Records • No-hitters • Players • Managers • Owners and executives • Broadcasters • Root Sports Rocky Mountain • Opening Day startersBallparks Mile High Stadium • Coors Field
Spring Training: Hi Corbett Field • Salt River Fields at Talking StickCulture Dinger • "Get Free" • "Hey Baby" • "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" • Rocktober • Continental League • Mike Coolbaugh incidentKey Personnel Owners: Charlie Monfort and Dick Monfort • President: vacant • General Manager: Dan O'Dowd • Manager: Jim TracyNational League
Pennants (1)National League
Wild Cards (3)Minor League
AffiliatesColorado Springs Sky Sox (AAA) • Tulsa Drillers (AA) • Modesto Nuts (A) • Asheville Tourists (A) • Tri-City Dust Devils (A) • Grand Junction Rockies (Rookie) • VSL Rockies (Rookie)Seasons (19) 1990s 2000s 2010s 2010 • 2011 • 2012Colorado Rockies franchiseTriple-A Double-A Class A Rookie Colorado Springs Sky Sox Tulsa Drillers Modesto Nuts
Asheville Tourists
Tri-City Dust DevilsGrand Junction Rockies
DSL RockiesSouth Atlantic League Northern Division Southern Division Asheville Tourists • Augusta GreenJackets • Charleston RiverDogs • Greenville Drive • Lexington Legends • Rome Braves • Savannah Sand GnatsHall of Fame South Atlantic League Hall of FameCategories:- Sports clubs established in 1915
- South Atlantic League
- Former Southern League baseball teams
- Former Carolina League teams
- Sports in Asheville, North Carolina
- Professional baseball teams in North Carolina
- Colorado Rockies minor league affiliates
- Former St. Louis Cardinals minor league affiliates
- Former Cincinnati Reds minor league affiliates
- Former Boston Red Sox minor league affiliates
- Former Philadelphia Phillies minor league affiliates
- Former Pittsburgh Pirates minor league affiliates
- Former Chicago White Sox minor league affiliates
- Former Houston Astros minor league affiliates
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