Asheville Tourists
- Location: Asheville, NC
- League: North Carolina State League 1916-1917; South Atlantic Association 1924-1930; Piedmont League 1931-1932, 1934-1942; Tri-State League 1946-1955; South Atlantic League 1959-1963; Southern League 1964-1966; Carolina League 1967; Southern League 1968-1970; Dixie Association 1971, Western Carolinas League 1976-1979; South Atlantic League 1980-2019; High-A East 2021; South Atlantic League 2022-
- Affiliation: Boston Red Sox 1934; St. Louis Cardinals 1935-1942; Brooklyn Dodgers 1946-1955; Philadelphia Phillies 1959-1960; Pittsburgh Pirates 1961-1966; Houston Astros 1967; Cincinnati Reds 1968-1970; Chicago White Sox 1971; Texas Rangers 1976-1981; Houston Astros 1982-1993; Colorado Rockies 1994-2020; Houston Astros 2021-present
- Ballpark: McCormick Field 1992-present
Team History[edit]
The Asheville Tourists, of the High-A South Atlantic League and briefly in High-A East, use a nickname that dates in their hometown to 1915 - but Augusta, GA, teams used it from 1904 through 1917. The Houston Astros farmhands play their home games at McCormick Field in Asheville, NC.
Asheville has had professional baseball continually since 1915, although in various levels and leagues and briefly using other nicknames. "Tourists" refers to Asheville's pleasant climate, which makes it a sought-after resort for those seeking to escape the oppressive heat of the Carolina plains in summer.
MLB's 2021 Minor League Reorganization raised the team one level while ending the quarter-century Tourists-Colorado Rockies affiliation and moving the Tourists under the Astros.
Asheville hosted professional baseball's shortest game - 31 minutes - at nearby Oates Park in 1916. August 30th was the last day of that season and their opponents, the Winston-Salem Twins, had a train to catch. The teams agreed to start their afternoon game 30 minutes early (without advising the umpire, who arrived after three innings had been played) and change sides on the run. Further, by agreement, pitchers lobbed the ball toward batters who swung on every pitch, and hitters ran until tagged out. The game started at 1:28 and ended at 1:59 in a 2-1 win by Winston-Salem. All three runs - not surprisingly - scored on solo homers. The game was one minute shorter than the Southern Association game of September 17, 1910, between the Atlanta Crackers and Mobile Sea Gulls - often listed as pro baseball's shortest game. The Asheville game received only local coverage, and was forgotten until a researcher uncovered it 50 years later.
The Tourists play Copa de la Diversión Hispanic engagement campaign games as Yacumamas de Asheville (the Yacumama is an enormous serpent that is supposed to live somewhere in the Amazon rainforest; the Tourists' angle is that an Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians legend places a similar beast in western North Carolina).
Year-by-Year Record[edit]
| Year | Record | Finish | Manager | Playoffs | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1916 | 58-54 | 4th | Jack Corbett | none | |
| 1917 | 12-16 | -- | Ernest "Doc" Ferris | Team disbanded May 18 | |
| 1924 | 58-63 | 5th | Bob Higgins | none | |
| 1925 | 66-63 | 5th | Bob Higgins (27-35) / Bennie Allen (0-2) / Larry Gardner (37-26) | none | |
| 1926 | 80-66 | 2nd | Larry Gardner | none | |
| 1927 | 76-73 | 4th | Larry Gardner | none | |
| 1928 | 97-49 | 1st | Ray Kennedy | none | |
| 1929 | 84-62 | 2nd | Ray Kennedy | Lost League Finals | |
| 1930 | 79-61 | 3rd | George Speirs | ||
| 1931 | 66-67 | 4th | Ray Kennedy (31-35) / Bobby Hipps (35-32) | ||
| 1932 | 35-33 | -- | Joe Guyon | Team disbanded July 7 | |
| 1934 | 34-59 (55-78 overall) | 5th | Bill Laval (34-47 overall) / Possum Whitted (21-31) | Columbia moved to Asheville June 7 | |
| 1935 | 75-62 | 1st | Billy Southworth | Lost League Finals | |
| 1936 | 40-103 | 6th | Billy Southworth (29-59) / Tommy West (9-42) / Sebastian Wagner (2-2) | ||
| 1937 | 89-50 | 1st | Hal Anderson | Lost in 1st round | |
| 1938 | 63-75 | 7th | Hal Anderson | ||
| 1939 | 89-55 | 1st | Hal Anderson | League Champs | |
| 1940 | 75-60 | 2nd | Tommy West | Lost in 1st round | |
| 1941 | 64-76 | 7th | Nick Cullop | ||
| 1942 | 61-77 | 6th | Bill DeLancey (35-55) / Ollie Vanek (26-22) | ||
| 1946 | 83-57 | 2nd | Bill Sayles | Lost in 1st round | |
| 1947 | 65-74 | 6th | Bill Sayles | ||
| 1948 | 95-51 | 1st | Clay Bryant | Lost in 1st round | |
| 1949 | 76-71 | 3rd | Ed Head | Lost in 1st round | |
| 1950 | 83-62 | 2nd | Clay Bryant | Lost League Finals | |
| 1951 | 85-55 | 2nd | Ray Hathaway | Lost League Finals | |
| 1952 | 65-75 | 5th | William Hart (34-46) / George Tesnow (31-29) | ||
| 1953 | 83-67 | 2nd | Ray Hathaway | Lost in 1st round | |
| 1954 | 86-54 | 1st | Ray Hathaway | Lost League Finals | |
| 1955 | 53-63 | 3rd | Earl Naylor | ||
| 1959 | 70-70 | 5th | Clyde McCullough | ||
| 1960 | 62-77 | 6th | Chuck Kress | ||
| 1961 | 87-50 | 1st | Ray Hathaway | none League Champs | |
| 1962 | 70-70 | 4th | Ray Hathaway | Lost in 1st round | |
| 1963 | 79-61 | 2nd | Ray Hathaway | ||
| 1964 | 52-86 | 8th | Ray Hathaway (28-53) / Bob Clear (24-33) | none | |
| 1965 | 80-60 | 2nd | Hardy Peterson | none | |
| 1966 | 78-61 | 2nd | Hardy Peterson | none | |
| 1967 | 64-74 | 10th | Chuck Churn | ||
| 1968 | 86-54 | 1st | Sparky Anderson | none League Champs | |
| 1969 | 69-69 | 3rd | Alex Cosmidis | none | |
| 1970 | 59-80 | 8th | Jim Snyder | none | |
| 1971 | 90-51 | 2nd | Larry Sherry | Lost League Finals |
Further Reading[edit]
- Bill Ballew: Baseball in Asheville, Arcadia Publishing, 2004.
- Wynn Montgomery: "Quicker than Quick", The Baseball Research Journal, SABR, Volume 40, Number 2 (Fall 2011), pp. 104-106.
Related Sites[edit]
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