Asheville Tourists

From BR Bullpen

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Team History[edit]

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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
Year Record Finish Manager Playoffs Hitting coach Pitching coach Coach
1976 76-62 1st Wayne Terwilliger Lost League Finals
1977 81-58 2nd Wayne Terwilliger Jeff Scott
1978 73-67 4th Wayne Terwilliger none
1979 75-63 2nd Wayne Terwilliger Jeff Scott
1980 69-71 5th Tom Robson Andy Hancock
1981 74-68 4th Tom Robson
1982 65-76 8th Dave Cripe Charley Taylor
1983 64-80 9th (t) Tom Spencer
1984 73-70 5th Tom Spencer League Champs
1985 76-62 4th Fred Hatfield
1986 90-50 2nd Ken Bolek Lost League Finals Fred Gladding
1987 91-48 1st Keith Bodie Lost League Finals Charley Taylor
1988 65-75 9th Gary Tuck (16-23) / John Stearns (0-3) / Jim Coveney (49-49) Charley Taylor
1989 68-70 8th Jim Coveney Charley Taylor
1990 66-77 9th Frank Cacciatore Rick Aponte
1991 55-83 14th Frank Cacciatore Bob Robertson Rick Aponte
1992 74-66 4th Tim Tolman Bob Robertson Jim Hickey
1993 51-88 14th Bobby Ramos Jim Coveney Don Alexander
1994 60-73 11th Tony Torchia Bill McGuire Jack Lamabe
1995 76-63 5th Bill McGuire Lost in 1st round Joe Marchese Jack Lamabe
1996 84-52 1st P.J. Carey Lost in 2nd round Stu Cole Stan Kyles
1997 62-76 12th (t) Ron Gideon Billy White Jack Lamabe
1998 71-69 7th Ron Gideon Billy White
1999 64-77 11th Jim Eppard Billy White Jack Lamabe
2000 66-69 9th Joe Mikulik Mike Arner
2001 68-71 9th Joe Mikulik Lost League Finals Billy White Mike Arner
2002 64-74 12th Joe Mikulik Billy White Jim Bennett
2003 74-65 6th Joe Mikulik Theron Todd
2004 64-75 13th Joe Mikulik Dave Hajek Greg Booker
2005 71-67 10th Joe Mikulik Dave Hajek Greg Booker
2006 74-63 6th Joe Mikulik Dave Hajek
2007 80-58 4th Joe Mikulik Houston Jimenez Bryan Harvey
2008 83-56 2nd Joe Mikulik Lost in 1st round Houston Jimenez Doug Linton
2009 68-70 7th Joe Mikulik Lost in 1st round Kevin Riggs Dave Schuler
2010 69-70 7th Joe Mikulik Kevin Riggs Dave Schuler
2011 69-70 9th Joe Mikulik Lenn Sakata Joey Eischen
2012 88-52 1st Joe Mikulik League Champs Mike Devereaux Joey Eischen
2013 63-73 10th Fred Ocasio Mike Devereaux Joey Eischen
2014 89-49 1st Fred Ocasio League Champs Mike Devereaux Mark Brewer
2015 72-67 5th Warren Schaeffer Lost League Finals Mike Devereaux Mark Brewer
2016 66-72 11th Warren Schaeffer Mike Devereaux Mark Brewer
2017 68-70 10th Warren Schaeffer Norberto Martin Ryan Kibler
2018 64-73 10th Robinson Cancel Norberto Martin Ryan Kibler
2019 68-72 8th Robinson Cancel Norberto Martin Mark Brewer
2020 Season cancelled
2021 54-62 8th Nate Shaver Rene Rojas Eric Niesen Kyle Brennan
2022 62-69 8th Nate Shaver Rene Rojas Jose Rada Mike Ramazzotti
2023 51-76 12th Nate Shaver Bryan Muniz Sean Buchanan Robert Rosado, Eric Stamets

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]