Charleston RiverDogs
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| Charleston RiverDogs Founded in 1980 Charleston, South Carolina |
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| Division titles | 4 | ||
| Owner(s)/Operated by: Bill Murray | |||
| Manager: Torre Tyson | |||
| General Manager: Goldklang Group | |||
The Charleston RiverDogs are a Minor League Baseball team based in Charleston, South Carolina. They play in the class A South Atlantic League and are an affiliate of the New York Yankees. Their home stadium is at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park
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[edit] Before the Riverdogs
[edit] Seagulls, Sea Gulls, and Gulls
Baseball can be traced in Charleston back to 1886, when the Charleston Seagulls took the field in front of only 32 people at an old high school baseball field. But over time the Seagulls became the Sea Gulls and were in full swing having great on-field play which included winning the South Atlantic League Championship in 1907. Due to unknown reasons the Sea Gulls did not play in 1910. They did, however play in 1911, but towards the end of the season a hurricane destroyed their stadium which resulted them not playing in 1912. In 1913 a brand new facility was built for the Seagulls, named College Park. Eventually in 1919, the Sea Gulls became officially the Gulls.
[edit] Palmettos and Pals
Starting in 1920 the Gulls became the Palmettos, however, in the following year that name was shortend to the Pals while Charleston was promoted to "Class B". In 1922 the Pals created excitement around Charleston as they won the South Atlantic League title, but due to unknown reasons the Pals folded at the end of the season, and that lead to a 16 year baseball drought in Charleston.
[edit] Rebels and the Return to Glory
Finally in 1940 a new team began play in the South Atlantic League known as the Charleston Rebels. Just two years later, in 1942 the Rebels won the South Atlantic League Championship ending a 20 year championship drought. However, the next year the Rebels posted a losing record. 1947 started out with a bang as the Rebels were promoted to Class A and drew 184,851 fans in the season, a Charleston baseball record that stood until 1997 After all the excitement from the 1947 year, the Rebels went out and won the South Atlantic League Championship for the second time in seven years. After that memorable season the Rebels declined and couldn't post a winning season. With fans losing interest the Rebels folded at the end of the 1953 season.
[edit] ChaSox and White Sox Experiment With Affiliation
In 1959 baseball returned to Charleston, but this time the team was affiliated with a Major League Baseball Team, the Chicago White Sox. The experiment failed horribly as attendance was down by more than 50% and the White Sox failed to post consecutive winning seasons.
[edit] New Team New League
In 1973 the Charleston Pirates were born, who were affiliated with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and for the first time since 1893 were playing in a league other than the South Atlantic League, they were in the Western Carolinas League. As the Pirates, Charleston excelled in pitching as in 1973 John Candelaria led the league with a 10-2 record. The following year the Pirates pitcher Randy Sealy set a team record with a 1.97 ERA. However after those promising years the Pirates set a league record by losing 22 straight games. In 1976 and 1977 the Pirates became the Patriots, but the name change still had no effect on the team's play as the team failed to post a winning record and watched attendance plunge. Finally, in 1978 the Pirates decided enough was enough and left town. By now Charleston had been given countless chances to prove that they could support a baseball team, so the city began to give up on baseball. Little, however, did Charlestonians know that commitment and tradition was just around the corner, and a bright future was in store for Charleston baseball.
[edit] The RiverDogs Are Born
[edit] Early Success As The Royals
The RiverDogs were originally formed in 1980 under the name of the Charleston Royals, and were a farm team of the Kansas City Royals. In their first season as the Royals they won the South Atlantic League's Southern Division championship, but fell in the playoffs against Greensboro. Like the Pirates, the Royals were known for their pitching, because in 1981 pitcher Jeffery Gladden led the league with a 2.09 ERA. In 1982 batting may have caught up with the pitching as pitcher Danny Jackson led the league with a 10-1 record and slugger Cliff Pastornicky paced the South Atlantic League with a .343 batting average. In 1983 Mark Pirruccello set a single-season team record with 25 home runs. 1984 was an exciting season for Charleston as the city hosted the all-star game in which Tom Glavine and Pat Borders played in. On the field the Royals went on to win the Southern Division and Kevin Seitzer was named league MVP.
[edit] Dark Days
In 1985 the Royals were renamed the Rainbows and became affiliated with the San Diego Padres. 1985-1987 were building years as the Rainbows improved each season under a great pitching staff until 1988 when they won the Southern Division title, but were bounced in the first round of the playoffs. The 1988 season was powered by a pitching staff whose combined ERA equaled 2.07. 1988 was the last of the "good ol' days", because starting in 1989 the team suffered eleven consecutive losing seasons. In 1989 despite Pedro Martínez tying a team-record with a 1.97 ERA the Rainbows suffered a 46-96 record. Poor play on the field translated into a South Atlantic League record, when in 1990 pitcher Charles Thompson registered seventeen losses. 1994 saw the final name change as the Rainbows became the RiverDogs. Despite the name change, the losing continued. 1997 saw the RiverDogs leave their 84-year-old College Park stadium and move into the brand-new 5,500-seat stadium, Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park. The team also began its eight year affiliation with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1997. The move to the "Joe" helped to spur a rise in total attendance, as the team set a record with an increase in over 100,000 fans over just season year. Finally, in 2000 the 'Dogs posted their first winning season since 1988. Despite missing the playoffs the RiverDogs continued posting losing seasons until 2003.
[edit] Great Play and Return to the Playoffs
2003 saw the beginning of a new era as the RiverDogs played well on the field and posted a winning season for the first time since 2000. In 2004 the RiverDogs secured the wildcard spot in the playoffs bringing Charleston a playoff series for the first time in sixteen years. Charleston faced the hated rival Capital City in the first round, but were swept two games to none. The RiverDogs became a Class A affiliate with the New York Yankees on September 15, 2004. 2005 was another great season as the Riverdogs jumped out winning the first-half Southern Division Championship qualifying them for the playoffs for the first consecutive seasons in franchise history. The 2005 playoffs weren't as good to the RiverDogs as fans had hoped, because the RiverDogs fell to eventual champion the Kannapolis Intimidators two games to none. At the end of the 2005 season, Charleston was making an attempt to attract a Class AA team by expanding their stadium by a few hundred seats. 2006 saw a good performance on the field, but no playoffs as the RiverDogs posted a 78-62 record. 2007 saw a record year for winning seasons when they finished the season with a 78-62 record and securing their fifth consecutive winning season tying a Charleston Professional Baseball record with the Sea Gulls (1914-1917, 1919) (No team in 1918). A downside to the record tying season was that the 'Dogs failed to make the playoffs for the second straight season.
[edit] Season-by-season records
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses
| Season | W | L | Finish | Postseason |
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| 1980 (Royals) | 78 | 61 | Southern Division Champions | Lost (Greensboro) |
| 1981 (Royals) | 75 | 67 | Did Not Qualify | |
| 1982 (Royals) | 74 | 66 | Did Not Qualify | |
| 1983 (Royals) | 64 | 80 | Did Not Qualify | |
| 1984 (Royals) | 78 | 64 | Southern Division Champions | Lost (Asheville) |
| 1985 (Rainbows) | 63 | 69 | Did Not Qualify | |
| 1986 (Rainbows) | 68 | 71 | Did Not Qualify | |
| 1987 (Rainbows) | 85 | 53 | Did Not Qualify | |
| 1988 (Rainbows) | 72 | 68 | Southern Division Champions | Lost (Spartanburg) |
| 1989 (Rainbows) | 46 | 96 | Did Not Qualify | |
| 1990 (Rainbows) | 69 | 72 | Did Not Qualify | |
| 1991 (Rainbows) | 55 | 85 | Did Not Qualify | |
| 1992 (Rainbows) | 55 | 85 | Did Not Qualify | |
| 1993 (Rainbows) | 66 | 70 | Did Not Qualify | |
| 1994 (Riverdogs) | 50 | 89 | Did Not Qualify | |
| 1995 (Riverdogs) | 50 | 89 | Did Not Qualify | |
| 1996 (Riverdogs) | 63 | 78 | Did Not Qualify | |
| 1997 (Riverdogs) | 60 | 82 | Did Not Qualify | |
| 1998 (Riverdogs) | 67 | 74 | Did Not Qualify | |
| 1999 (Riverdogs) | 65 | 77 | Did Not Qualify | |
| 2000 (Riverdogs) | 73 | 66 | Did Not Qualify | |
| 2001 (Riverdogs) | 64 | 76 | Did Not Qualify | |
| 2002 (Riverdogs) | 60 | 76 | Did Not Qualify | |
| 2003 (Riverdogs) | 77 | 62 | Did Not Qualify | |
| 2004 (Riverdogs) | 76 | 63 | Lost Southern Division Championship Series (First Round) (Capital City) 2-0 | |
| 2005 (Riverdogs) | 80 | 58 | First-Half Southern Division Champions | Lost Southern Division Championship Series (First Round)(Kannapolis) 2-0 |
| 2006 (Riverdogs) | 78 | 62 | Did Not Qualify | |
| 2007 (Riverdogs) | 78 | 62 | Did Not Qualify |
[edit] The Curse of the Rainbow
Even though Riverdogs is a unique nickname, one that is probably more distinctive, and that got Charleston made fun of, is Rainbows. As the Rainbows Charleston made the playoffs once and began an eleven losing season streak. Also the Rainbows never won a playoff game as they were swept the only year they made the playoffs in 1988. Since becoming the Riverdogs, Charleston has made the playoffs twice being swept both years. These stats have led fans to believe they are cursed like the Chicago Cubs with The Curse of the Billy Goat, but affectionately named their curse, The Curse of the Rainbow. The fans say that the curse will only be broken when the Riverdogs win the South Atlantic League Penant, not just a playoff game. However, other fans say that is just the downsides to having minor league baseball, the teams don't try to win a penant, they try to develop players. Supposedly the curse is responsible for eleven consecutive losing seasons and a sixteen year playoff drought, along with a winless record in the playoffs for over twenty years. The Riverdogs record for most consecutive winning seasons is only five, and this ties a Charleston Professional Baseball Record with the Sea Gulls (1914-1917, 1919) (No team in 1918). That making it known that Charleston baseball has had little success itself. So, the question is, if people believe in a curse, do they believe in a different curse that has plagued Charleston since 1893 when professional baseball began in Charleston or the Curse of the Rainbow?
[edit] Notable players
A number of ex-RiverDogs have gone on to make a name for themselves in Major League Baseball, including: Carl Crawford, Rocco Baldelli, Delmon Young, Sandy Alomar, Jr. who played for the Rainbows, Roberto Alomar who played for the Rainbows, Carlos Baerga who played for the Rainbows, Seth McClung, Josh Hamilton, Fernando Tatis, Aubrey Huff, and David Cone who played for the Royals.
[edit] Current Roster
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Charleston RiverDogs roster
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| Players | Coaching staff | ||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
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Manager
Coaches
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[edit] External links
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| Baseball | SAL: Charleston RiverDogs |
| Football | AIFA: Carolina Sandsharks |
| Hockey | ECHL: South Carolina Stingrays |
| Soccer | USL-1: Charleston Battery |
| College athletics (NCAA Division I) |
Charleston Southern • College of Charleston • The Citadel |
