The Asheville Tourists are a Minor League Baseball team based in Asheville, North Carolina. They are members of the South Atlantic League and are the High-A affiliate of the Houston Astros.
Asheville teams have played under the Tourists moniker in different leagues and classifications for over a century, with the earliest dating to 1897. The current team has played continuously in what is now known as the South Atlantic League since 1976, though it was briefly known as the High-A East in 2021. Asheville has won three South Atlantic league championships, first in 1984 and most recently in 2014. Previous Tourists teams won a total of four additional championships.
The Tourists play home games at HomeTrust Park. The stadium opened in 1924, renovated in 1959, 1992, and again now through the 2026 season. It seats 4,000 fans.Jarrett, Keith (May 14, 2007). "On Base with the Asheville Tourists" . Asheville Citizen-Times blog. Retrieved April 5, 2011
History
Earlier teams Professional baseball in Asheville, North Carolina, dates to 1897, when the Asheville Moonshiners took the field. It has been played continuously for nearly every year since 1909, with early teams such as the Redbirds (1909) and the Mountaineers (1910–1914).Asheville, North Carolina Minor League City Encyclopedia. baseball-reference.com. Retrieved April 5, 2011. The "Tourists" name dates to 1915, when local sportswriters began referring to the Mountaineers team as the Tourists.
The original Tourists brought Asheville its first ever professional sports championship in 1915. It continued playing in the Class-D North Carolina State League until 1917, when the league suspended operations due to World War I. In 1924 the "Asheville Skylanders" started play in the South Atlantic League; however, it soon adopted the Tourists nickname. It played in the South Atlantic League until 1930, when it jumped to the Piedmont League, where it played for two seasons before folding. In 1934 the Columbia Sandlappers moved to Asheville, taking up the Tourists name. This incarnation won the 1939 Piedmont League championship; however the league suspended operations in 1942, due to the outset of World War II.
In 1946 a new Tourists franchise started up in the Tri-State League. During the 1940s the team shared McCormick Field with the Asheville Blues, an independent Negro leagues team. It folded along with its league in 1955. In 1959 a new South Atlantic League (later the Southern League) franchise came to town. McCormick Field was renovated. The team initially wanted a new name, and organized a fan vote to pick. However, fans voted overwhelmingly to keep the Tourists nickname. The team won two league titles, in 1961 and 1968. In 1968, the Tourists won the Southern League championship under manager Sparky Anderson, who went on to manage the Cincinnati Reds and Detroit Tigers during his 26 years in Major League Baseball.
In 1972 Asheville became affiliated with the Baltimore Orioles MLB team. As part of Baltimore's "Oriole Way" system, the Asheville team was rebranded the Asheville Orioles, adopting the logo and colors of its affiliate. The team had four successive winning seasons, but after the 1975 season the Orioles relocated its Double-A franchise to Charlotte, North Carolina, as the Charlotte Orioles.
Current team
McCormick Field would not be unoccupied for the 1976 season, however. Shortly after the AA franchise moved to Charlotte, its place was taken by an expansion team in the Western Carolinas League (which in 1980 became the South Atlantic League). Like many teams before it, it assumed the Tourists nickname. The team has remained in Asheville continuously since, winning the 1984 league championship. It is currently a farm team of the Houston Astros (1982–93, 2021–), with whom it has been affiliated since 2021. It was previously affiliated with the Texas Rangers (1976–81) and the Colorado Rockies (1994–2020). The team has subsequently won two additional league titles in 2012 and 2014.
In conjunction with Major League Baseball's restructuring of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the Tourists were organized into the High-A East. In 2022, the High-A East became known as the South Atlantic League, the name historically used by the regional circuit prior to the 2021 reorganization.
Ownership On January 5, 2010 it was reported by the Asheville Citizen-Times that Palace Sports and Entertainment have sold the Asheville Tourists for $7 million to former U.S. Senator and current Governor of Ohio Mike DeWine and his family. It was reported that Brian DeWine, son of Mike, would be the team president. The team is owned by DeWine Seeds-Silver Dollar Baseball. Governor DeWine has a 32% stake in the team but does not play a role in management. In 2020 the team received a $189,500 Paycheck Protection Program loan during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Roster
Notable alumni
Baseball Hall of Fame alumni Sparky Anderson (1968, Manager) Inducted, 2000 Craig Biggio (1987) Inducted, 2015 Eddie Murray (1974) Inducted, 2003 Willie Stargell (1961) Inducted, 1988 Billy Southworth (1935–1936, Player/Manager) Inducted, 2008
Notable alumni
Larry Gardner (1925–1926, Player/Manager) Johnny Allen (1929) MLB All-Star Mort Cooper (1936) 4 x MLB All-Star; 1942 NL Most Valuable Player Walker Cooper (1939) 8 x MLB All-Star Clem Labine (1947) 2 x MLB All-Star Spook Jacobs (1948) Tri-State League MVP Gene Alley (1961–62) MLB All-Star Bob Lee (1961) MLB All-Star Steve Blass (1962) MLB All-Star Bob Lee (1965) MLB All-Star Dave Roberts (1964) Doc Ellis (1966) MLB All-Star Fred Patek (1966) MLB All-Star Dave Concepción (1969) MLB All-Star Larry Sherry (1971) 1959 World Series MVP Al Bumbry (1972) MLB All-Star; 1973 AL Rookie of the Year Doug DeCinces (1973) MLB All-Star Mike Flanagan(1974) MLB All-Star; 1979 AL Cy Young winner Rich Dauer (1974–75) Tom Henke (1981) MLB All-Star Luis Gonzalez (1988) MLB All-Star Kenny Lofton (1989) MLB All-Star Shane Reynolds (1989) MLB All-Star Bobby Abreu (1992) MLB All-Star Melvin Mora (1993) MLB All-Star Todd Helton (1995) MLB All-Star Matt Holliday (1999) MLB All-Star Ubaldo Jiménez (2003) MLB All-Star Dexter Fowler (2006) MLB All-Star Brian Fuentes (2007) MLB All-Star Nolan Arenado (2010) MLB All-Star Russell Wilson (2011) NFL Super Bowl Champion Trevor Story (2012) MLB All-Star
Season-by-season records Season Record Finish Manager Playoffs 1915 74–46 1st Jack Corbett League Champs 1916 58–54 4th Jack Corbett none 1917 12–16 – Ernest "Doc" Ferris noneTeam disbanded 1917–1923 1924 58–63 5th Bob Higgins none 1925 66–63 5th Bob Higgins / Larry Gardner 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 Mike Kennedy Lost League Finals 1930 79–61 3rd George Speirs 1931 66–67 4th Ray Kennedy / Bobby Hipps 1932 35–33 – Joe Guyon Team disbanded July 7Team disbanded 1933 1934 34–59 (55–78 overall) 5th Bill Laval / Possum Whitted Columbia moved to Asheville June 7 1935 75–62 1st Billy Southworth Lost League Finals 1936 40–103 6th Billy Southworth 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 Team disbanded 1943–1946 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 Bill Hart / George Tesnow 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 Team disbanded 1956–1958 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 Pete Peterson none 1966 78–61 2nd Pete 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 FinalsTeam known as Asheville Orioles 1972–1975 1976 76–62 1st Wayne Terwilliger Lost League Finals 1977 81–58 2nd Wayne Terwilliger 1978 73–67 4th Wayne Terwilliger none 1979 75–63 2nd Wayne Terwilliger 1980 69–71 5th Tom Robson 1981 74–68 4th Tom Robson 1982 65–76 8th Dave Cripe 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 1987 91–48 1st Keith Bodie Lost League Finals 1988 65–75 9th Gary Tuck / Jim Coveney 1989 68–70 8th Jim Coveney 1990 66–77 9th Frank Cacciatore 1991 55–83 14th Frank Cacciatore 1992 74–66 4th Tim Tolman 1993 51–88 14th Bobby Ramos 1994 60–73 11th Tony Torchia 1995 76–63 5th Bill McGuire Lost in 1st round 1996 84–52 1st P. J. Carey Lost in 2nd round 1997 62–76 12th Ron Gideon 1998 71–69 7th Ron Gideon 1999 64–77 11th Jim Eppard 2000 66–69 8th (t) Joe Mikulik 2001 68–71 9th Joe Mikulik 2002 64–74 12th Joe Mikulik 2003 74–65 6th Joe Mikulik 2004 64–75 13th Joe Mikulik 2005 71–67 10th Joe Mikulik 2006 74–63 6th Joe Mikulik 2007 80–58 4th Joe Mikulik 2008 83–56 2nd Joe Mikulik 2009 68–70 7th Joe Mikulik Lost in 1st round 2010 69–70 7th Joe Mikulik 2011 69–70 9th Joe Mikulik 2012 88–52 1st Joe Mikulik League Champs 2013 63–73 9th Fred Ocasio 2014 89–49 1st Fred Ocasio League Champs 2015 72–67 2nd Warren Schaeffer Lost League Finals 2016 66–72 5th Warren Schaeffer 2017 68–70 5th Warren Schaeffer 201864-735thRobinson Cancel201968-724thRobinson Cancel2020Season cancelled (COVID-19 pandemic)202154-724thNate Shaver202262-694thNate Shaver202351-766thNate Shaver202451-796thNate Shaver202552-766thNate Shaver
References
External links Official site