| Richmond Braves | |||||
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| Minor league affiliations | |||||
| Previous classes | Triple-A (1966–2008) | ||||
| League | International League (1966–2008) | ||||
| Division | South Division | ||||
| Major league affiliations | |||||
| Previous teams | Atlanta Braves (1966–2008) | ||||
| Minor league titles | |||||
| League titles (5) |
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| Wild card berths (1) |
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| Team data | |||||
Previous names | Richmond Braves (1966–2008) | ||||
Previous parks |
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The Richmond Braves were an American minor league baseball club based in Richmond, Virginia, the Triple-A International League affiliate of the Atlanta Braves from 1966 to 2008. Owned by the parent Atlanta club and colloquially referred to as the R-Braves, they played their home games at a stadium called The Diamond on Richmond's Northside built for them in 1985, and before then Parker Field on the same site.[1][2] The franchise moved to Gwinnett County, Georgia, in 2009 to play in the newly built Coolray Field as the Gwinnett Braves.
The R-Braves came to Richmond in 1966 after the Braves' top affiliate, the Atlanta Crackers, moved to Virginia. The then-Milwaukee Braves had bought the Crackers as part of their planned move to Atlanta in 1965; under MLB rules of the day, they bought the Crackers in order to obtain the major league rights to Atlanta. However, an injunction forced the Braves to play a lame-duck season in Milwaukee in 1965, leaving them to operate the Crackers in Atlanta for one more season. When searching for a new home for the Crackers, they landed in Richmond, where Parker Field had been left open by the previous year's move of the Richmond Virginians, a New York Yankees affiliate that moved in 1965.
At the time of the R-Braves' departure to Gwinnett, only the Baltimore Orioles and their Appalachian League affiliate, the Bluefield Orioles, had held a longer affiliation agreement in a single city than Atlanta/Richmond's 43 seasons.[3] The Braves played their final game on September 1, 2008, against their long-time intrastate rivals, the Norfolk Tides. Richmond won, 9–3, in front of a sellout crowd of 12,167. After the game players and alumni threw balls and other keepsakes to fans in the stands, and fans were able to walk onto the field.
In 2010, the Double-A Eastern League's Connecticut Defenders, a San Francisco Giants affiliate (but independently owned), moved to Richmond to play as the Richmond Flying Squirrels.[4]
- ^ Sabin, Rainer (September 2, 2008). "Labor Day was Richmond's last day with their Braves". The Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
- ^ "From the Archives: Professional baseball in Richmond, 1953-1990". Richmond Times-Dispatch. February 4, 2020. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
- ^ Gorman, Lou (2007). High and Inside: My Life in the Front Offices of Baseball. McFarland pg. 63. ISBN 978-0-7864-3163-2.
- ^ Teeple, Devon (September 11, 2010). "Outbreak of Flying Squirrels Is Root Cause of Eastern League Attendance Record". Bleacher Report. Retrieved November 10, 2021.