Peninsula Astros

Carolina League (1969-1970)

Tombstone

Born: February 15, 1969 – Re-branded from Peninsula Grays¹
Re-Branded: 1971 (Peninsula Phillies)

First Game: August 17, 1969 (W 11-0 vs. Rocky Mount Leafs)
Last Game: September 2, 1970 (L 6-4 vs. Lynchburg Twins)

Carolina League Championships: None

Stadium

War Memorial Stadium
Opened: 1948

Ownership & Affiliation

Owner: Peninsula Baseball Club, Inc. (William Van Buren Jr., et al.)

Major League Affiliations:

1969: Houston Astros
1970: Philadelphia Phillies

Attendance

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Print Download

Source: The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.), Lloyd Johnson & Miles Wolff, 2007

Background

The Peninsula Astros were one of nine different minor league baseball teams to rotate through Hampton, Virginia’s War Memorial Stadium during the 30 summers between 1963 and 1992. They were also one of the least durable. The Astros lasted just a single season as a Houston Astros farm club in the summer of ’69. The Philadelphia Phillies took over as parent club in 1970 and, strangely, kept the Astros name for one more summer. In 1971 the team belatedly became the Peninsula Phillies.

Although just a Class A farm team in the Carolina League, the 1969 Peninsula club featured a remarkable 14 players who eventually played in the Major Leagues. Most notable among those were pitcher Ken Forsch, outfielder Cesar Cedeno, and slugging catcher Cliff Johnson, who led Peninsula with 11 home runs.

We found this colorful Peninsula Astros program (above) on e-Bay recently. Tucked inside was a sharp full color game-day roster insert full of vintage ads that you can grab in the Downloads area below.