The Port City Roosters were a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League and the Double-A affiliate of 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) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

from 1995 to 1996. They were located in

Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth most populous city in the state. Wilmington is t ...

, and played their home games at Brooks Field on the campus of the

University of North Carolina Wilmington The University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW or UNC Wilmington) is a public research university in Wilmington, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina System and enrolls 17,499 undergraduate and graduate students eac ...

. The team's moniker came from the combination of the city's tradition of being called the Port City, owing to it being the state's largest seaport, and for the team's arrival being heralded as an awaking to professional baseball as well as for the uniqueness of the name—no other team was known as the Roosters.

History

The Roosters were designed to play in Wilmington only on an interim basis for two seasons. After the 1992 baseball season,

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, home of the Southern League's

Charlotte Knights The Charlotte Knights are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. They are located in Charlotte, North Carolina, and play their home games at Truist Field, which opened in 20 ...

, acquired a Triple-A expansion team in the International League, leaving the Southern League franchise in need of a new home. The team temporarily moved to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

for the 1993 and 1994 seasons, becoming the

Nashville Xpress The Nashville Xpress were a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League and the Double-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins from 1993 to 1994. They were located in Nashville, Tennessee, and played their home games at Herschel Greer Stadi ...

. The Xpress played at

Herschel Greer Stadium Herschel Greer Stadium was a Minor League Baseball park in Nashville, Tennessee, on the grounds of Fort Negley, an American Civil War fortification, approximately south of the city's downtown district. The facility closed at the end of the 2 ...

, home of the Nashville Sounds, for two seasons while the team sought a permanent location. In order to accommodate a second team at Greer Stadium, the Xpress' home games were scheduled during the Sounds' road trips and vice versa. In January 1995, the team's owner, Dennis Bastien, arrived at terms to move the franchise to

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...

, where they would play in a new stadium scheduled to open in 1997. In the intervening two seasons, the franchise would play in Wilmington. The Roosters were operated by Steve Bryant, owner of the

Carolina Mudcats The Carolina Mudcats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Zebulon, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh, and play their home games at Five County Stadium. ...

. The team never made it to Springfield after the city was unable to secure federal funding for a ballpark. Bastien made an attempt to place the team in the Springfield suburb of

Ozark The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant porti ...

, but residents voted down a sales tax increase to pay for a stadium. He subsequently sold the forlorn franchise to sports investor Eric Margenau, who moved the team to Mobile, Alabama, where they began play at

Hank Aaron Stadium Hank Aaron Stadium is a baseball park in Mobile, Alabama. From 1997 to 2019, it hosted the Mobile BayBears, a minor league baseball, minor-league professional team in the Southern League (1964–2020), Southern League. The stadium opened in 1997 a ...

as the

Mobile BayBears The Mobile BayBears were a Minor League Baseball team based in Mobile, Alabama, United States. The team, which played in the Southern League, served as the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres (1997–2006), Arizona Diamondbacks (2007–2 ...

in 1997.

1995 season

In 1995, the Roosters finished with an overall record of 62–80, finishing fourth in the five-team East Division. During their first season, 110,233 people attended Roosters games.

1996 season

The 1996 squad finished with an overall record of 56–84, finishing last in their division. During their second and final season, the Roosters drew 68,463 fans.

Radio

The Roosters' games were broadcast locally on

WAAV WAAV (980 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a News/Talk format. Licensed to Leland, North Carolina, United States, it serves the Wilmington area. The station is currently owned by Cumulus Media. History WAAV debuted as an FM station in 197 ...

980. David Kelly and Mike Ferreri did the play-by-play.

Players

Among the better-known future major leaguers who wore the Roosters' uniform were

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

Jason Varitek Jason Andrew Varitek (; born April 11, 1972), nicknamed Tek, is an American professional baseball coach and former catcher. He is currently the game planning coordinator, a uniformed coaching position, for the Boston Red Sox. After being traded ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

s Derek Lowe and

Ryan Franklin Ryan Ray Franklin (born March 5, 1973), is an American former professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Philadelphia Phillies, Cincinnati Reds, and St. Louis Cardinals. Franklin currently w ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

Desi Relaford, and

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

José Cruz Jr. José Luis Cruz Jr. (born April 19, 1974), is a Puerto Rican baseball coach and former outfielder, who is the current head baseball coach for the Rice Owls. He played college baseball at Rice University from 1992 to 1995 and played in Major Lea ...

and

Raúl Ibañez Raúl Javier Ibañez (; born June 2, 1972) is a Cuban-American former professional baseball left fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) now serving as Senior Vice President of On-Field Operations for MLB. He played 11 of his 19 big league seaso ...

References

;Specific ;General *{{cite news, last=Boaz, first=Mike, title=So Long, Roosters, work=Morning Star, location=Wilmington, North Carolina, date=September 3, 1996, url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=t7YsAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QhUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5418%2C913954, via=Google News, accessdate=February 25, 2020, page=1C * Carree, Chuck. (June 26, 1997). "Baseball a Bust in the Port City, Mobile Finds Fans Where Wilmington Could Not." ''Morning Star''. Wilmington, North Carolina. Defunct Southern League (1964–present) teams 1995 establishments in North Carolina 1996 disestablishments in North Carolina Professional baseball teams in North Carolina Seattle Mariners minor league affiliates Baseball teams established in 1995 Sports clubs disestablished in 1996