On a recent trip to Harbor Park to watch my adopted hometown team, the Norfolk Tides, I was distracted by a beacon of light. On the façade of the press box, which sits directly behind home plate and above the 200 level of seating, is a row of team championship banners. The banner shows the year of the team, the team name, and the championship awarded. Strange or not, you decide…the other night the only banner that was backlighted and visible in the night sky at Harbor Park was the 1972 Governor’s Cup winning Tidewater Tides banner. Maybe the other lights hadn’t kicked in yet, maybe the other banners needed lightbulbs to be replaced, or maybe it was baseball divine intervention for me to check out who the 1972 Tidewater Tides were. I’ll go with the simple fact that I was born in 1972 and I share my birth year with their championship year, and of course my enormous thirst for baseball knowledge of any kind. Cue the research machine, let’s check out some info on that 1972 team…
In 1972, The Tidewater Tides were the New York Mets AAA Affiliate. They are now the Norfolk Tides, who are now the AAA Affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles The Tides of Tidewater played their home games at Metropolitan Park in Norfolk, years before they migrated over to their current digs on the shores of the Elizabeth River, Harbor Park. In that 1972 Governors Cup Series, the Tides defeated the Louisville Colonels (the who???), who were, for a few years, the Boston Red Sox AAA Affiliate. Hank Bauer managed the 1972 Tides, Darrell Johnson managed the Colonels. Here are the rosters for the two teams. First, the Tidewater Tides:
Now, the Colonels, who featured a future Red Sox star or two. Namely, Dwight Evans and Cecil Cooper.
After the 1972 season in Louisville, the AAA Affiliation moved to Pawtucket for the 1973 season. The Pawtucket Red Sox, once a AA Eastern League affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, would move up to the AAA level and stay there until the 2020 season. Some of the 1972 Colonels actually played at AA Pawtucket prior to the 1972 season. Then, when the Pawtucket Red Sox became a AAA level, some of those players went back to Pawtucket, this time as a AAA player. For many of you who have read my blogs over the years, you know how special the Pawtucket Red Sox experience was/is to me. So, this is a cool historical find!
I casually peeked through the Tidewater Tides roster for anyone of interest MLB wise, and didn’t really find too much. Many of those 1972 Tides had a few stints in the Major Leagues, as did many of the Colonels players. Metropolitan Park is now an industrial park, with shops and hotels and businesses. Cardinal Stadium, the home of the Louisville Colonels, was converted into a more football stadium look. Plus, the Colonels left town after the 1972 season. Pawtucket’s McCoy Stadium has recently been demolished and will be replaced by a massive Pawtucket school project. The Tides, as previously noted, are now a Baltimore Orioles affiliate. The Colonels became the Pawtucket Red Sox, who then became the Worcester Red Sox. So, pretty much all we have left to remember that 1972 Governor’s Cup series is that banner, lit up for me to notice, and of course the existing members of the two teams. Overall, it was a fun project and an interesting experience learning more about the 1972 Governor’s Cup, featuring the Louisville Colonels and the champion Tidewater Tides.
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