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Flashback Fridays: 2012 Team Cruised Into Playoffs

January 28, 2022

While many may remember it like it was yesterday, this season marks 10 years since the Charlotte Knights cruised into the playoffs in 2012. That was a special year. The 2012 Charlotte Knights featured solid veterans and a bevy of young talented players on their way up to Chicago. It

While many may remember it like it was yesterday, this season marks 10 years since the Charlotte Knights cruised into the playoffs in 2012. That was a special year.

The 2012 Charlotte Knights featured solid veterans and a bevy of young talented players on their way up to Chicago. It was the second-to-last season in Fort Mill at Knights Stadium. In fact, the day after the team's final playoff game that year, members of the front office prepared to break ground on Truist Field in Uptown Charlotte. A lot was happening for the Knights in 2012!

2012 KNIGHTS WERE TOUGH TO BEAT
Led by manager Joel Skinner, the Knights posted one of the finest records in franchise history -- 83-61. The team's first-year manager -- who played briefly for the Knights in 1994 as a catcher -- guided the club to their second-highest single-season win total in franchise history. The Knights, with Charlie Manuel as manager, won 86 games in 1993, still the franchise high for wins in a season.

The 2012 Knights won the International League South Division by nine games over the Norfolk Tides and went on to win the first round of the playoffs that season against the Indianapolis Indians.

With many roster changes and some injuries late, the team ended up falling to the Pawtucket Red Sox in the finals, three games to zero.

MORE ON JOEL SKINNER
With 285 career wins as manager of the Charlotte Knights from 2012 to 2015, Joel Skinner is the all-time winningest manager in franchise history. In his first season at the helm, Skinner led the 2012 Knights to the Governors’ Cup Finals. Overall, Skinner managed the Knights for four seasons and is just one of three managers in franchise history to accumulate 200 wins (Nick Capra and Mark Grudzielanek are the others).

SOLID OFFENSE
Offensively, the 2012 Knights were led by Dan Johnson, who recorded a team-high 28 home runs. Johnson appeared in 137 games that season and also led the team in hits (127), runs scored (77), and RBIs (85). Other key contributors that season were catcher Héctor Gimenez (14 home runs), Dallas McPherson (12 home runs), Greg Golson (124 hits and 20 stolen bases), and the all-time hits leader in franchise history, Jordan Danks (.317 batting average). Other players such as Josh Phegley, Jim Gallagher and Conor Jackson were key contributors.

DANKS RANKS
Most recently, Jordan Danks was announced as the newest member of the Charlotte Baseball Round Table of Honor. He will be inducted during an on-field ceremony before a game this season. Danks currently holds the franchise record for hits (449) and is also the all-time franchise leader in games played (463), runs scored (250), walks (215) and at-bats (1,682). In addition, he is tied for first in triples (12) and ranks second all-time in doubles (95) and second in RBI (222).

Charlie Leesman won a team-high 12 games in 2012.Ron Deshaies

ON THE MOUND
The Knights featured a number of young hurlers and a mix of veterans. LHP Charlie Leesman had one of the finest seasons in team history as he posted a 12-10 record with an impressive 2.47 ERA – the fourth-lowest mark in single-season franchise history. The 25-year-old finished second in the International League in ERA and tied for third in the league in wins. He was an International League Mid-Season All-Star.

The Charlotte staff also featured RHP Charlie Shirek, who posted an 11-5 record with a 3.65 ERA. Shirek led the team in innings pitched (170.1), strikeouts (117), and tied Leesman for the most games started on the club with 26. RHP Dylan Axelrod (7-5, 2.88), RHP Matt Zaleski (7-6, 3.70), and RHP Terry Doyle (6-3, 2.83) were also solid arms in the team’s rotation.

MORE ON ZALESKI
Matt Zaleski became the first former Knights pitcher to become the team’s pitching coach when he was named to the team’s coaching staff in 2020. It took a year later until he made his Charlotte coaching debut as the season was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the mound, Zaleski appeared in 92 games with the Knights and is the all-time leader in franchise history in games started (74) and is second in franchise history in innings pitched (437.2).

IN THE ‘PEN
In the bullpen, RHP Brian Bruney (1.70 ERA). LHP Leyson Septimo (1.31 ERA), RHP Jhan Marinez (2.86), and LHP Donnie Veal (2.08) were solid for the team in the late innings. Marinez led the team in appearances with 40, while RHP Anthony Carter finished second in appearances with 39.

CHARLOTTE CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
Overall, the Knights are two-time Governors’ Cup Champions (1993 and 1999) with both of those championships coming during the team’s 25 years playing at Knights Stadium in Fort Mill, SC. The last professional baseball championship for a Charlotte team came in 1984 when the Charlotte O’s won the Southern League Championship. The O’s won two championships in history – 1980 & 1984. The team played at Crockett Park in Charlotte from 1976 to 1987. The Charlotte Hornets won 12 championships over the course of the team’s history – which dates back to 1892.