Tag: Watt Powell Park

1988 Charleston Wheelers Baseball Program from the South Atlantic League

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.

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1979 Charleston Charlies baseball program from the International League

Charleston Charlies

August 15, 2014

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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1955 Charleston Senators baseball program from the American Association

Charleston Senators

December 28, 2013

The Charleston Senators of 1949-1960 (actually two different franchises) were the last in a spate of minor league baseball clubs to operate under the “Senators” nickname in the West Virginia city during the first half of the 20th century. Previous incarnations of the Sens played from 1910-1916 and again from 1931-1942.

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