West Virginia Power
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The history of professional baseball in Charleston dates to 1910 and a team knows as the Charleston Statesmen of the long-forgotten Class D Virginia Valley League. In 1911 the Statemen moved to the Class D Mountain State League. The team folded following that year. A new team, the Charleston Senators was formed in 1914 and lasted three seasons in the Class D Ohio State League. In 1931 a new Senators team joined the Class C Mid-Atlantic League as an affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. This team lasted until 1943. In 1949 the Senators were reformed as a member of the Class A Central League. In 1952 the city was granted a franchise in the Class AAA American Association. This team was affiliated with first the Chicago White Sox, then the Detroit Tigers and finally the Washington Senators. In 1958 the Senators were the American Associaton champions. The franchise was cancelled after the 1960 season.
In 1961 the city had no team, but the St. Louis Cardinals affiliated San Juan Marlins moved to the city at mid-season due to a hurricane which destroyed their ballpark. This team was in the Class AAA International League. It returned to Puerto Rico after the season. In 1962 the Charleston Indians were granted to the city in the Class A Eastern League, and in 1963 that league was elevated to Class AA. The team folded after the 1964 season. This team was affiliated with the Cleveland Indians.
Baseball returned to the city in 1971 with the Charlies. That team was in the Class AAA International League. It was affiliated with the Pittsburgh Pirates for its first six years, then the Houston Astros, Texas Rangers and finally the Cleveland Indians. That team left for Maine following the 1983 season. The team won the league championship in 1973 and 1977. That team, after several moves, is today located in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
In 1987 the city resumed minor league baseball after a three year absence. The team was first called the Charleston Wheelers (so named for the city's history of stern- and side-wheeled boats), the team began as a shared team, hosting players from several Major League Baseball franchises. The team changed its name to the Charleston Alley Cats in 1995, and adopted the current West Virginia Power name after the 2004 season.
In 1990, the Wheelers won the South Atlantic League championship, the only time the franchise has won their league. By that point, they had changed affiliation to the Cincinnati Reds (after a brief stint with the Chicago Cubs organization).
In late 1993, the Wheelers were purchased from then-owner Dennis Bastien by a conglomerate of owners. The team changed its name to the Alley Cats in 1995 and switched colors from blue and white, with green trim, to grey and red, with black trim. The team was purchased in 2001 by the current ownership of Tom Dickson and Sherry Myers. In 1995, the team changed affiliations to the Kansas City Royals, again in 2001 to the Toronto Blue Jays, and finally to the Brewers after the 2004 season.
The Alley Cats and their predecessors played in Watt Powell Park in the Kanawha City neighborhood of Charleston. Seating approximately 4,500 fans, Watt Powell Park was bounded by MacCorkle Avenue on the front (North) side, 35th Street on the east, and South Park Road on the west. On the south side of the park, a ridge of hills formed a natural boundary. Fans who would otherwise have had to pay to see the games periodically watched the action from a CSX railroad line hard up against the south wall of the stadium.
The Power now plays its home games in Appalachian Power Park at the east edge of downtown Charleston, a little more than a mile and across the Kanawha River from Watt Powell Park. Most of the financing for the $23 million stadium came from the state and the city, although the ownership team put up approximately $5 million. The city's share will mostly come from the sale of Watt Powell Park to the University of Charleston, a nearby college, which immediately sold two-thirds of the land to Charleston Area Medical Center, the region's largest hospital. Originally, the new park was to be completed for the 2004 season, but politically induced delays in securing the state funds forced construction to be put off for a year. The new park opened in April 2005.
Today the power sell nostalgia "throwback" merchandise from the Pittsburgh affiliated era of the Charlies, which is generally considered the "heyday" of the sport in the city. However, neither the Senators, Charlies, nor the Wheelers championships are acknowleded in the park in any way.
West Virginia Power was also a short lived electric utility in the southeastern part of the state, now a part of Allegheny Power.
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| Delmarva Shorebirds | Hagerstown Suns | Hickory Crawdads | Kannapolis Intimidators | Lake County Captains | Lakewood BlueClaws | Lexington Legends | West Virginia Power | Asheville Tourists | Augusta GreenJackets |Charleston RiverDogs | Columbus Catfish | Greensboro Grasshoppers | Greenville Drive | Rome Braves | Savannah Sand Gnats | |
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