The South Georgia Waves were a Low-A class minor league baseball team in Albany,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

for one season before relocating to

Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee County, with which it ...

where they operated under the same name for the 2003 season before being rebranded the

Columbus Catfish The Columbus Catfish were a minor league baseball team in Columbus, Georgia. They were a Class A team in the South Atlantic League, and were an affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays for the 2007 and 2008 seasons. The Catfish relocated to Bowling Green, ...

. The Waves were members of the

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

and a

farm team In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

of the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

Franchise history

South Georgia's mascot was a blue creature named "Crash", who was brought over when the franchise moved from Wilmington. According to Crash’s baseball card for the 2001 Wilmington Waves, Crash was born on November 11, 2000 in Wilmington, North Carolina. Crash made his first appearance at the Westfield Shoppingtown Independence Mall with Santa Claus. Also, Crash’s favorite things were baseball, the beach, dancing, playing with water guns, and his park buddy, the Wilmington Waves’ head groundskeeper. Nine days before the 2003 season was to begin the Waves moved from Albany to Columbus. This was due in part because of disputes between the team owner David Heller and the city of Albany in regard to a baseball stadium deal. Originally, the team was going to be bought by both

Cal Ripken Jr. Calvin Edwin Ripken Jr. (born August 24, 1960), nicknamed " The Iron Man", is an American former baseball shortstop and third baseman who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles (1981–2001). One of his posit ...

and

Don Mattingly Donald Arthur Mattingly (born April 20, 1961) is an American former professional baseball first baseman, coach, and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). He is the bench coach for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). Nicknamed ...

, where the two would move the franchise north to

Evansville Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

prior to the 2004 season. However, the deal fell through and Heller retained ownership and renamed the team the

List of South Georgia Waves players in the MLB

All players are listed in alphabetical order by surname. * Edwin Bellorín *

Jonathan Broxton Jonathan Roy Broxton (born June 16, 1984) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Kansas City Royals, Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardin ...

* Francisco Cruceta * Joselo Díaz *

Jumbo Díaz Jose Rafael "Jumbo" Diaz (born February 27, 1984) is a Dominican professional baseball relief pitcher who is a free agent. He made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut in 2014 with the Cincinnati Reds, and has also played for the Tampa Bay Rays ...

* Víctor Díaz *

A.J. Ellis Andrew James Ellis (born April 9, 1981), is an American former professional baseball catcher who is currently a Special Assistant to the General Manager in the front office of the San Diego Padres. Ellis played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for ...

Franklin Gutiérrez Franklin Rafael Gutiérrez (born February 21, 1983), nicknamed "Guti", is a Venezuelan former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Seattle Mariners and Los Angeles Dodgers. While pri ...

* Eric Hull * Edwin Jackson * Russell Martin * Franquelis Osoria

Year-by-year record

References

{{reflist Defunct South Atlantic League teams Los Angeles Dodgers minor league affiliates Sports in Albany, Georgia Sports in Columbus, Georgia 2002 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) 2003 disestablishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Professional baseball teams in Georgia (U.S. state) Baseball teams established in 2002 Baseball teams disestablished in 2003 Defunct baseball teams in Georgia