The Virginia Beach Neptunes were a proposed American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

team based in

Virginia Beach, Virginia Virginia Beach is an independent city located on the southeastern coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 census. Although mostly suburban in character, it is the most populous city ...

. They were planned to be a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, which is not affiliated with

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), ...

. They would have been the second professional baseball club in the Hampton Roads region after the

Norfolk Tides The Norfolk Tides are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. They are located in Norfolk, Virginia, and are named in nautical reference to the city's location on the Chesapea ...

of the International League (AAA). Virginia Beach Professional Baseball, LLC, was awarded an Atlantic League franchise in April 2013 "after more than three years of effort". In February 2014 the city council approved the team's ballpark proposal with completion expected by April 2015. It was announced in April 2015 that the Neptunes would play their home games at

Wheeler Field Wheeler Army Airfield , also known as Wheeler Field and formerly as Wheeler Air Force Base, is a United States Army post located in the City & County of Honolulu and in the Wahiawa District of the Island of O'ahu, Hawaii. It is a National His ...

beginning in the 2016 season, but it was later reported that the stadium would open in 2017. A May 2016 report suggested that the team would not be ready even for the 2017 season. A July 2017 reply from the team's Facebook account said, "We are still working diligently to make this happen." (That reply was later deleted, as was their Facebook account.) The "Neptunes" name alluded to Virginia Beach's location on the Atlantic Ocean, which was commemorated by a bronze statue of Neptune on September 30, 2005. It was sculpted by Paul DiPasquale and established by the city's annual

Neptune Festival The Neptune Festival is an annual festival in Virginia Beach, Virginia.Norfolk Neptunes The Norfolk Neptunes were an American football franchise based in Norfolk, Virginia that played in the Continental Football League from 1965 until 1969 and the Atlantic Coast Football League from 1970 to 1971. The team played at Foreman Field a ...

, a popular minor league football team in the late 1960s, also used the name.

References

External links

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Atlantic League of Professional Baseball
{{DEFAULTSORT:Virginia Beach Neptunes Sports in Virginia Beach, Virginia Baseball teams established in 2014 2014 establishments in Virginia Defunct baseball teams in Virginia