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22-580: The new Charlies, which were the re-located Memphis Blues won the 1977 Governors' Cup , awarded to the IL's playoff championship, while the 1978 teams won the league's regular-season title. The franchise relocated in 1984 to Old Orchard Beach, Maine , playing as the Maine Guides . Today, the franchise is known as the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders . Many Charleston residents fondly remember

44-743: A Triple-A International League (IL) team in 1974. The Triple-A Blues carried on the history of the Double-A team preceding it. Owner Bernard Kraus sold the Double-A Texas League team for US$ 25,000 to businessman Cal Rockefeller, who moved the team to Victoria, Texas , where they became the Victoria Toros . Affiliated with the Montreal Expos , Memphis finished its first season in the International League with an 87–55 record, winning

66-636: A 66–65 record and winning the Eastern Division title. In the best-of-five finals, Memphis defeated the Amarillo Giants , 3–0, to win the 1969 Texas League championship . Manager Roy McMillan won the Texas League Manager of the Year Award . Memphis repeated as the Eastern Division champions in 1970 with a first-place 69–67 record, but they lost the finals to Albuquerque, 3–1. In 1971,

88-564: A doubleheader. A second-place finish in 1972 again kept the Blues from the postseason. Memphis won the Eastern Division in 1973 with a 77–61 record. The Blues then won a second Texas League championship by defeating the San Antonio Brewers , 3–2, in the finals. Through six seasons in the Texas League as a Mets affiliate, Memphis accumulated a record of 423–396. The Blues were replaced by

110-700: The American Association through the 1960 season. They were farm clubs of the Chicago White Sox , Detroit Tigers and Washington Senators at various times during this period. On May 19, 1961, after only five weeks of play, the St. Louis Cardinals abandoned their plans to place their Triple-A International League affiliate in San Juan, Puerto Rico , and moved the team, nicknamed the Marlins , to Charleston to finish out

132-729: The Charleston Dirty Birds . Historically, it has also been represented in the Eastern League and the mid-20th century Middle Atlantic League , among others. Memphis Blues (minor league) The Memphis Blues were a Minor League Baseball team that played in Memphis, Tennessee , from 1968 to 1976. They competed in the Double-A Texas League from 1968 to 1973 as an affiliate of the New York Mets . Memphis transferred to

154-743: The Giants in 1892 and 1894, the Fever Germs in 1893, and the Lambs/Giants in 1895. The city's longest-operating baseball team, first known as Memphis Egyptians , was formed in 1901 as a charter member of the Southern Association . From 1909 to 1911, this club was called the Turtles before receiving its best-known moniker, the Chickasaws , often shortened to Chicks, in 1912. The original Chicks remained in

176-585: The Houston Astros in 1976. They qualified for the postseason with a top-four finish at an even 69–69, but they were swept out of the semifinals with a 3–0 series loss to the Syracuse Chiefs . Their final game was a 5–4 loss in Memphis. After nine seasons, the Blues' all-time record was 644–595. The International League revoked Memphis' franchise at a November 8, 1976, meeting of the league's directors because

198-608: The Memphis Blues relocated to Charleston and assumed the Charlies name. Levine announced in August 1981 that we would sell the franchise and sought local owners. The club was purchased by a group led by Carl Steinfeldt. In December 1982, Jordan Kobritz purchased the team from Steinfelt. Kobritz kept the team in Charleston in 1983. The Charlies then relocated to Old Orchard Beach, Maine , for

220-595: The Texas League , in 1968. The team played at Blues Stadium , a converted American Legion field which opened in 1963 and was located at the former Mid-South Fairgrounds. They were affiliated with the New York Mets . On April 16, the Blues won their inaugural season opener against the Arkansas Travelers , 10–2. On July 21, Steve Renko pitched a seven-inning no-hitter against the Albuquerque Dodgers in

242-586: The Triple-A International League in 1974, where they were affiliated with the Montreal Expos from 1974 to 1975 and Houston Astros in 1976. Their home games were played at Blues Stadium Over the course of their nine-year run, Memphis played in 1,239 regular season games and compiled a win–loss record of 644–595. The Blues reached the postseason on five occasions, winning four division titles, and two Texas League championships . They won their league titles in 1969 and 1973 as affiliates of

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264-803: The 1984 season, becoming the Maine Guides . Many former major leaguers spent time with the Charlies including Pirates All-Stars Dave Parker , Richie Zisk , John Candelaria and Kent Tekulve . Others star players included reliever Gene Garber , the Astros' Terry Puhl , Yankee fan favorite Rick Cerone , Phillies star Von Hayes , slugger Tony Armas , former St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa , former Brewers outfielder Bob Coluccio , and former New York Mets manager Willie Randolph . Six former Charleston Charlies players have been major league managers: La Russa and Randolph, as well as Bobby Valentine, Luis Pujols, Art Howe, and Ken Macha. Valentine (1996–2002), Howe (2003–2004) and Randolph (2005–2008) all managed

286-662: The New York Mets and La Russa (1988–1995), Howe (1996–2002) and Macha (2003–2006) managed the Oakland Athletics. Former Major League baseball player and Atlanta Braves coach, Jim Beauchamp managed the Charleston Charlies from 1977 to 1979. Charleston's first Triple-A club, the Charleston Senators , moved to town on June 23, 1952, when the original Toledo Mud Hens franchise shifted there. The Senators played in

308-608: The New York Mets. The team had an overall postseason record of 9–12. The first professional baseball team in Memphis was the Memphis Reds of the League Alliance in 1877. A different Reds team was created as a charter member of the original Southern League in 1885. The city's Southern League team was known as the Grays in 1886 and 1888, the Browns in 1887, simply Memphis in 1889,

330-683: The Southern Division title. They were eliminated, however, in the semifinals by the Rochester Red Wings , 4–2. Manager Karl Kuehl was selected for the IL Manager of the Year Award . The Blues missed the playoffs with a sub-.500 record in 1975. After two seasons with the Expos, the Blues' record was 152–130. Their all-time eight-year record stood at 575–526. Memphis became the Triple-A affiliate of

352-540: The Texas League joined forces with the Southern League to form the Dixie Association . Under the interleague partnership, the two leagues played an interlocking schedule with individual league champions determined at the end of the season, but Memphis missed the playoffs with a second-place finish in its Central Division. On June 25, Tommy Moore no-hit Arkansas, 4–0, on the road in the second seven-inning game of

374-512: The league through 1960, winning eight pennants, one playoff championship , and one Dixie Series title. Russwood Park , their home ballpark, was destroyed by fire in April 1960. With the cost of building a new facility too high, the team dropped out of the league after the 1960 season. After a seven-year span with no professional team, the city became host to the Memphis Blues, a Double-A club of

396-584: The logo of the Charlies, which was a baseball with a derby hat on and smiling while a cigar hung from the corner of his mouth. In the morning paper of The Charleston Gazette on the front page the day after a Charlies game, the logo would be displayed with a smile if the Charlies won or a frown if the Charlies lost. The Charlies were owned by Bob Levine, who bought the Columbus Jets , moving them from Columbus, Ohio to Charleston in 1971 and renamed them Charleston Charlies in honor of his father, Charlie Levine, who

418-461: The owner was unable to pay $ 22,000 owed for league dues plus lodging and transportation bills due to different cities in the league. An audit revealed the team to be nearly $ 340,000 in debt. The franchise was switched to Charleston, West Virginia , in 1977 as the Charleston Charlies . Memphis businessman Avron Fogelman attempted to acquire a Texas League franchise to replace the Blues, but

440-665: The season. This club – Charleston's second Triple-A franchise – stayed only those few months and relocated to Atlanta , for the 1962 season to become the Atlanta Crackers . Charleston had a team, the West Virginia Power , in the Low A South Atlantic League until the 2020 reorganization of the Minor Leagues resulted in Charleston being left without an MLB affiliate. The franchise continues to operate as an Atlantic League team as

462-534: The second game of a doubleheader in Memphis. The Blues finished the season with a 67–69 record, placing third in the Eastern Division and missing the championship playoffs for which only division winners qualified. On April 20, 1969, Les Rohr pitched an 8–0 no-hitter against the San Antonio Missions in the second game of a seven-inning doubleheader at Blues Stadium. The 1969 Blues improved over their previous record, ending their sophomore season with

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484-518: Was an avid baseball fan who watched the Charlies seated in a wheelchair, wearing a derby hat, and smoking a cigar. The elder Levine referred to himself as "Poor Charlie" during his earlier years as a scrap-metal dealer in Beckley, West Virginia . Charlie Levine died in 1981 at age 89 and Bob Levine died at age 87 in 2011. In 1977, the team relocated back to Columbus to become the Columbus Clippers and

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