Charleston Wheelers
August 23, 2015
Charleston, West Virginia went without pro baseball for three summers after the Charleston Charlies pulled up stakes for Maine in late 1983. The Charlies were a triple-A club just one step removed from the Major Leagues. But by 1983, Charleston was the smallest Class AAA city in America by population. So it was little surprise that when pro ball returned with the formation of the Charleston Wheelers in the spring of 1987, local hardball fans had to accept a two-level demotion to the Class A South Atlantic League. The Wheelers era at Watt Powell Park lasted for eight summers. Ahead of the 1995 season, a new set of owners re-branded the ball club as the Charleston Alley Cats.
