The Alexandria Dukes were a Minor League Baseball team of the Class A

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

from 1978 to 1983. Alexandria was unable to secure a

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

affiliate for their inaugural season, and again in 1980, forcing the team to operate as a co-op franchise for those two seasons. They were affiliated with the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

in 1979 and the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

from 1981 to 1983. The Dukes won their sole Carolina League championship in 1982.

History

Inaugural season

Based in

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Downto ...

, the Dukes' home stadium was Municipal Stadium at

Four Mile Run Four Mile Run is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 15, 2011 stream in Northern Virginia that starts near Interstate 66, at Gordon Avenue in Fairfax County and pro ...

Park—a ballfield adjacent to Cora Kelly Elementary School. Because the field was the property of the Alexandria City School District, alcohol was not served at any game. Seating in the park was limited to several hundred open-air, backless bleacher seats. The Dukes finished their inaugural season in fourth place in both the first and second halves of the season, posting records of 29-37 and 29-38, respectively.

Alexandria Mariners

The Dukes' second season was more successful than the first, as the team was picked up by the Seattle Mariners as an affiliate. The team dropped the "Dukes" nickname for the Alexandria Mariners. Both halves of the season, the team finished in second place, winning more games than it lost, finishing 38-29 and 36-33. On April 30, 1979, third baseman Gary Pellant made baseball history when he hit two grand slams in one inning, one batting right-handed and the other left-handed.

Alexandria Dukes II

The 1980 campaign marked a return to a co-op management and a revival of the Dukes name – and a return to a sub-.500 winning percentage. The following year, Alexandria was able to once again obtain major-league affiliation, signing a six-year player development contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates as the team finished in second place and fourth place, posting records of 33-34 and 29-41 in the Northern Division. The 1982 season was the most successful season in the Dukes' six-year history. The first half of the season, Alexandria won nearly 70% of its games, winning the division with a 45-20 mark, securing a post-season appearance. After defeating the

Lynchburg Mets Lynchburg is a toponym that may refer to: *Lynchburg, California *Lynchburg, Mississippi *Lynchburg, Missouri *Lynchburg, North Dakota *Lynchburg, Ohio (in Clinton and Highland counties) *Lynchburg, Columbiana County, Ohio *Lynchburg, South Carolina ...

in a one-game playoff, the Dukes swept the

Durham Bulls The Durham Bulls are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. They are located in Durham, North Carolina, and play their home games at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, which opened in ...

in three games, winning their only championship. In their final season in 1983, the Dukes posted a third place record.

Move to Woodbridge

For the 1984 season the team moved to

Woodbridge Woodbridge may refer to: Places Australia *Woodbridge, Western Australia formerly called ''West Midland'' *Woodbridge, Tasmania Canada *Woodbridge, Ontario England *Woodbridge, Suffolk, the location of ** Woodbridge (UK Parliament constituency ...

Prince William County Prince William County is located on the Potomac River in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population sits at 482,204, making it Virginia's second-most populous county. Its county seat is the independent city of Manassas ...

, Virginia, with its home field at the newly constructed G. Richard Pfitzner Stadium. The team played there as the Prince William Pirates from 1984 to 1986, the Prince William Yankees from 1987 to 1988, the Prince William Cannons from 1989 to 1998, the Potomac Cannons from 1999 to 2004, and the

Potomac Nationals The Potomac Nationals were a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League. They were located in Woodbridge, Virginia, and played their home games at Northwest Federal Field at Pfitzner Stadium. After the 2019 season, the team relocated to Fr ...

from 2005 to 2019. The team played its last season at Pfitzner Stadium in 2019, and then moved in 2020 to Fredericksburg, Virginia, to become the

Fredericksburg Nationals The Fredericksburg Nationals are a Minor League Baseball team that is the Single-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and play their home games at Virginia Credit Union Stadium, with a capacity ...

Notable alumni

Rafael Belliard Rafael Leonidas Belliard Matias (born October 24, 1961) is a retired professional baseball shortstop who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1982 to 1998 with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Atlanta Braves. He was a member of Atlanta's 1995 W ...

(1981) *

Bobby Bonilla Roberto Martin Antonio Bonilla (, born February 23, 1963) is an American former professional baseball third baseman and outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1986 to 2001. Bonilla was one of the Major League's best batters a ...

(1983) MLB All-Star, World Series Champion * Tim Burke (1981) MLB All-Star *

Mike Quade Gregory Michael Quade (pronounced: KWAH-dee) (born March 12, 1957) is an American professional baseball coach and manager. The manager of the Rochester Red Wings, Triple-A farm system affiliate of the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball fro ...

(1981-1982) *

Rick Renteria Richard Avina Renteria (born December 25, 1961) is a Mexican-American former professional baseball infielder and former manager of the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). Renteria played in parts of five seasons bet ...

(1982) * Dave Valle (1979)

Season-by-season

References

External links

* * {{cite news , last1=Sanders , first1=Rich , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310190326/http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?archive=true&article=60071&paper=60&cat=152 , title=Minor League Baseball Struggled in Alexandria , url=http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?archive=true&article=60071&paper=60&cat=152 , newspaper=Arlington Connection , publisher=Connection Newspapers , date=March 30, 2006 , archivedate=March 10, 2007 Baseball teams established in 1978 Baseball teams disestablished in 1983 Defunct Carolina League teams Pittsburgh Pirates minor league affiliates Defunct baseball teams in Virginia 1978 establishments in Virginia 1983 disestablishments in Virginia Sports in Alexandria, Virginia