Charlotte Knights
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| Charlotte Knights | ||
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| League | International League | |
| Division | South Division | |
| Year founded | 1976 | |
| Major League affiliation | Chicago White Sox | |
| Home ballpark | Knights Stadium | |
| Previous home ballparks | Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Park | |
| City | Fort Mill, South Carolina | |
| Current uniform colors | green, navy blue | |
| Previous uniform colors | ||
| Logo design | A navy blue horse head with green hair centered above the "Knights" wordmark. | |
| Division titles | ||
| League titles | 1993, 1999 | |
| Manager | Marc Bombard | |
| Owner | Don Beaver | |
The Charlotte Knights are a minor league baseball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The team, which plays in the International League, is the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox major-league club. The Knights currently play in Knights Stadium, located in Fort Mill, South Carolina. The Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners have begun pursuing a new downtown stadium for the AAA Charlotte Knights.
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[edit] History
The Knights were created as the Charlotte O's in 1976. At that time, they were the AA affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles and played in the Southern League. The creation of the O's followed a 4-year absence of minor-league baseball in Charlotte. Charlotte had been a single A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins from the 1940s until 1972.Eventual major-league superstars Eddie Murray, 1976, Cal Ripken, Jr, 1980, and Curt Schilling (mid-1980s) played for the O's. Eventual major-league All-Star Eddie Murray was the O's original first-baseman. The O's were owned by the Crockett family, who had made their fortune in professional wrestling. In fact, wrestling announcer Tony Schiavone actually started out his career as the announcer for the O's (and after leaving wrestling, has been affiliated with the Atlanta Braves), and through the Crockett family entered the wrestling business. The team originally played in Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Park,(formerly Griffith Stadium during the Twins affiliate era, named for the Twins owner Calvin Griffith) commonly referred to as Crockett Park. In the late 1980s, the stadium (mostly wood-framed) was destroyed by a massive fire after a high school baseball game. An investigation revealed that the cause of the fire was arson. The Crockett family built a temporary grandstand on the same site for the 1988 season In 1989, George Shinn (who would later own the New Orleans Hornets NBA team) bought the team from the Crockett family. In 1989, the team was renamed the Knights and was now the AA affiliate of the Chicago Cubs.
The team moved to suburban Fort Mill, SC, when Knights Stadium (Seating Capacity: 10,002)opened in 1990, located just off Interstate 77, next to the practice facility of Shinn's NBA team. (The arena next to Knights Stadium was renamed RLJ Arena in 2002, and became the Bobcats Training Center in 2004.) In 1991, Charlotte was awarded an International League franchise. They would become the AAA affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. Their first year in the International League was in 1993; that team included current major-league stars Jim Thome and Manny Ramírez. For the 1996-1997 seasons, the Knights were the AAA affiliate of the Florida Marlins. Before the 1998 season, George Shinn sold the Knights to N.C. businessman Don Beaver, who negotiated a AAA affiliation agreement with the Chicago White Sox. Notable former Knights under the White Sox affiliation include current White Sox pitcher Jon Garland and White Sox position player Joe Crede. This agreement has recently been extended to ensure that professsional baseball will remain in the Charlotte area for many years to come.
Recently, the Charlotte City Council and Mecklenburg County Commission approved a land-swap agreement which, barring potential legal action, will permit construction of a new AAA-sized minor league stadium in downtown Charlotte. If built, it will be located near Bank of America Stadium, home of the Carolina Panthers. It is hoped that this move will increase attandance to games by bringing the team back to its original city home. There have been rumors that the Knights will advance to the professional level, but Charlotte City Council doubted it would ever happen.
[edit] Affiliations
- Baltimore Orioles 1976-1988
- Chicago Cubs 1989-1992
- Cleveland Indians 1993-1995
- Florida Marlins 1996-1998
- Chicago White Sox 1998-present
[edit] Titles
The Knights have won the Governors' Cup, the championship of the IL, 2 times.
[edit] Alumni
[edit] As the O's
[edit] As the Knights
[edit] Coaches
Former Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Juan Nieves is currently a pitching coach for the Knights. Nieves is the second youngest hurler, and only Brewer to date, to throw a no-hitter.
[edit] External link
| Chicago White Sox Franchise | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| AAA | AA | A | Rookie |
| Charlotte Knights | Birmingham Barons |
Winston-Salem Warthogs Kannapolis Intimidators |
Bristol White Sox Great Falls White Sox |
| International League | ||||
| North Division | South Division | West Division | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo Bisons | Ottawa Lynx | Pawtucket Red Sox | Rochester Red Wings | Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees | Syracuse Chiefs | Charlotte Knights | Durham Bulls | Norfolk Tides | Richmond Braves | Columbus Clippers | Indianapolis Indians | Louisville Bats | Toledo Mud Hens | ||
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