The Peninsula Pilots was a primary name of the Minor League Baseball franchise located in Hampton, Virginia from 1963–1992. The Pilots played in the Class A Carolina League.
Today, Peninsula is home to the summer collegiate baseball team who have adopted the same Peninsula Pilots moniker and are members of the Coastal Plain League.
History The Peninsula Pilots franchise began play in the Carolina League in 1963 as a Washington Senators farm team.
The franchise had many monikers, playing as the Peninsula Senators (1963), Peninsula Grays (1964–1968), Peninsula Astros (1969), Peninsula Phillies (1970–71), Peninsula Whips (1972–1973), Peninsula Pennants (1974), Peninsula Pilots (1976–1985), Peninsula White Sox (1986-1987), Virginia Generals (1988) and Peninsula Pilots (1976–1985, 1989–1992). The teams were members of the Class A Carolina League (1963–1971), Class AAA International League (1972–1973) and Class A Carolina League (1974–1992).
Peninsula teams were an affiliate of the Washington Senators (1963), Cincinnati Reds (1964–1966), Kansas City Athletics (1967), Oakland Athletics (1968), Houston Astros (1969), Philadelphia Phillies (1970–1971), Montreal Expos (1972–1973), Philadelphia Phillies (1976–1985), Chicago White Sox (1986–1987) and Seattle Mariners (1990–1992).
Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Johnny Bench (1966), Gary Carter (1973) and Satchel Paige (1966) played for Peninsula.
The 1980 team was named the 74th best Minor League team of the 20th century in a list by two noted minor league historians, Bill Weiss and Marshall Wright. The team was known as the Peninsula Senators (1963), Grays (1964–1968), Astros (1969), Phillies (1970–71), Whips (1972–1973), Pennants (1974) and White Sox in 19861987 while affiliated with the Chicago White Sox, and as the Virginia Generals in 1988 when they operated as an unaffiliated co-op club. They regained their original name in 1989 and major league affiliation returned in 1990 with the Seattle Mariners (19901992). The team's existence ended after the 1992 season when they relocated to Wilmington, Delaware and became the Wilmington Blue Rocks.
The ballpark Peninsula teams played at War Memorial Stadium (1963-1992). Built in 1948, the ballpark is still in use today and is located at 1889 West Pembroke Avenue, Hampton, Virginia, 23661. Today, War Memorial Stadium is home to the summer collegiate baseball team with the same Peninsula Pilots moniker who play in the Coastal Plain League.
War Memorial Stadium was first built by Branch Rickey for the Newport News Dodgers, who played at War Memorial from 1948-1958 as members of the Piedmont League. The ballpark has also been known as Peninsula Stadium.
Notable Peninsula alumni
Johnny Bench (1966) Inducted Baseball Hall of Fame, 1989 Gary Carter (1973) Inducted Baseball Hall of Fame, 2003 Satchel Paige (1966) Inducted Baseball Hall of Fame, 1971 Bret Boone (1990) 3x MLB All-Star Bernie Carbo (1966) Cesar Cedeno (1969) 4x MLB All-Star Darren Daulton (1982) 3x MLB All-Star; Philadelphia Phillies Wall of Fame Bob Dernier (1979) Jim Essian (1971) Darrell Evans (1967) 2x MLB All-Star; 1985 AL Home Run Leader; San Francisco Giants Wall of Fame Ken Forsch (1969) 2x MLB All-Star Julio Franco (1980) 3x MLB All-Star; 1991 AL Batting Title Craig Grebeck (1987) Cliff Johnson (1969) Mike LaValliere (1982) Skip Lockwood (1968) Hal McRae (1966) 3x MLB All-Star; Kansas City Royals Hall of Fame Mike Maddux (1983) Steve Mingori (1965–1966) Jeff Nelson (1990) MLB All-Star Scott Radinsky (1987) Steve Rogers (1972) 5x MLB All-Star Juan Samuel (1982) 3x MLB All-Star Gene Tenace (1967) MLB All-Star Andre Thornton (1970) 2x MLB All-Star; Roberto Clemente Award (1979); Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame Bob Walk (1977) MLB All-Star
Year-by-year records Year Record Finish Manager Playoffs 1976 71-65 2nd Cal Emery none 1977 71-67 2nd Jim Snyder League Champs 1978 90-49 1st Jim Snyder Lost League Finals 1979 68-68 3rd Ron Clark none 1980 100-40 1st Bill Dancy League Champs 1981 71-65 1st Bill Dancy Lost League Finals 1982 90-47 1st Bill Dancy Lost in 1st round 1983 58-80 7th Tony Taylor 1984 73-67 3rd Ron Clark Lost in 1st round 1985 67-68 3rd Ron Clark 1986 60-74 5th Bob Bailey / Duke Sims 1987 66-74 5th (tie) Marv Foley 1988 41-99 8th Joe Breeden 1989 44-89 8th Jim Thrift 1990 57-83 7th Jim Nettles 1991 46-93 8th Steve Smith 1992 74-64 2nd Marc Hill League Champs
See also Peninsula Pilots, an amateur baseball team in the Coastal Plain League, a collegiate summer baseball league
References