The Ottawa Athletics were the Class AAA International League farm club of the Philadelphia Athletics from 1952 through 1954. The A’s played three losing seasons at Lansdowne Park before departing for Columbus, Ohio in 1955.
The Peninsula Whips were a minor league baseball team out of Hampton, Virginia that served as the top farm club of the Montreal Expos in 1972 and 1973. Hampton hosted minor league baseball nearly every season from 1963 through 1992, but typically in the Class A Carolina League. The two-year run of the Whips in the early 70’s marked the only time that Hampton had a Class AAA ball club, just one step below the Major Leagues. Top Whips players included pitcher Steve Rogers (’72 & ’73) and catcher Gary Carter (’73).
International League (1961) Born: November 28, 1960 – The Miami Marlins relocate to San Juan, PR Moved: October 8, 1961 (Atlanta Crackers) First Game: Last
The Maine Phillies of the Class AAA International League were the top farm club of the Philadelphia Phillies during the summer of 1988. Previously known as the Maine Guides from 1947 to 1987, the ball club was also a lame duck, stranded in Old Orchard Beach that summer thanks to a ferocious legal dispute over the ownership of the franchise. After the 1988 season, the team executed its long-awaited move to Pennsylvania and became the Scranton-Wilkes Barre Red Barons in 1989.
The Charleston Charlies were a colorful Class AAA ballclub that made their home in West Virginia from 1971 through 1983. Initially, the Charlies were the top farm club for the Pittsburgh Pirates, who were a National League power at the time. The Houston Astros took over as the Charlies’ parent club in 1977. With the arrival of the Astros came fantastic (or grotesque, depending on your worldview) rainbow jerseys, modeled on Houston’s garish horizontal stripes of the late 1970’s/early 1980’s. The Charlies moved away to Old Orchard Beach, Maine following the 1983 season.
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