Tombstone
Born: September 1972 (Re-branded from Rocky Mount Leafs)
Folded: Fall 1975
First Game: April 13, 1973 (W 4-1 vs. Kinston Eagles)
Last Game: August 28, 1975 (L 10-5 vs. Winston-Salem Red Sox)
Carolina League Champions: 1975
Stadium
Ownership & Affiliation
Owner: John Dickens, et al.
Major League Affiliation: Philadelphia Phillies
Attendance
Background
The Rocky Mount Phillies were a High Class-A minor league affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies for three summers in the mid-1970’s. In their final season, Rocky Mount won the 1975 Carolina League pennant with a 91-51 record. No playoffs were held as the Carolina League consisted of just four teams in 1975.
The Rocky Mount Phillies developed over a dozen future Major League players. The most successful was catcher John Stearns (Rocky Mount ’74), who earned four National League All-Star selections while playing with the New York Mets from 1975 to 1984.
Infielder Jim Morrison (Rocky Mount ’74-’75) was the last active former Rocky Mount Phils player. He played his final game with the Atlanta Braves in September 1988.
Demise & Aftermath
Attendance in Rocky Mount was weak, as it was across the Carolina League in the mid-1970’s. In 1974, Rocky Mount drew just 38,677 fans for a 70 game home schedule, barely above 500 per game. (The Carolina League’s top draw that summer in Lynchburg only claimed 48,723).
In 1975, the 4-team Carolina League was forced to play an inter-locking schedule against the Class A Western Carolinas League in order to survive. One unusual effect of 1975’s inter-league play was that Rocky Mount’s Philadelphia Phillies prospects periodically played against another Phillies farm club, the Spartanburg Phillies from South Carolina.
In July 1975, Rocky Mount hosted a combined All-Star Game for the Carolina and Western Carolinas Leagues. Although Rocky Mount was in the midst of a stellar season enroute to a league pennant, just 463 fans showed up for the All-Star game.
Soon after the 1975 season ended, Philadelphia announced plans to move their Carolina League operations to Hampton, Virginia in 1976. Rocky Mount has never again hosted a Major League farm club. In 1980, Rocky Mount returned to the Carolina League for one season. But the 1980 Rocky Mount Pines played without Major League sponsorship and finished with an historically awful 24-114 record.
In Memoriam
Shortsop Todd Cruz (Rocky Mount ’74-’75) died of a heart attack while swimming on September 2, 2008 at age 52. Las Vegas Sun coverage.
Manager Cal Emery (Rocky Mount ’74-’75) passed away November 28, 2010. He was 73 years old. Penn State Athletics obituary.
Links
###
