Championship Knights Part I

1993 was an exciting year for professional baseball in the Charlotte area, as International League expansion landed a Triple-A team in Carolinas. The Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate was no more; and the Triple-A Charlotte Knights were born, taking over as the Cleveland Indians top farm team. The league promotion did not affect the team's location, as the Knights continued to play their home games at Knights Castle in Fort Mill, South Carolina (later renamed Knights Stadium); making it the first time a team in the Carolinas could claim a franchise in baseball's highest minor league level.

With the new affiliation came a new pool of talent; and what a deep pool of talent the 1993 Charlotte Knights possessed. Charlie Manuel, a former Charlotte star as a player for the 1968 Hornets, returned to the Queen City as manager of the inaugural Triple-A Knights; remaining with the Indians top affiliate despite the team's relocation from Colorado Springs.

The '93 Knights' star player was a young third baseman by the name of Jim Thome, who would go on to win International League Most Valuable Player honors in his rookie campaign. The future Indians, White Sox, and Phillies star would eventually hit 612 home runs in his major league career, but he also pummeled 25 long balls in his only Triple-A season.

At the all-star break, Thome was positioned to make a run at the triple-crown, leading the league in batting average (.346) and runs batted in (71), while ranking second in the league in home runs (17). Despite being second in the league in home runs at the break, Thome didn't even lead his own team in the category; that distinction belonged to Knights designated hitter Sam Horn.

Horn had 20 long balls at the break, including 12 in a 25-game stretch in late-May and early-June. The veteran slugger finished the season with 38 home runs, a total that still stands as the Knights single-season franchise record.

The inevitable loss of Jim Thome to the big league club came later in the season, but thanks to the arrival of another future major league All-Star kept the team on the road to a championship. Future Indians and Red Sox great Manny Ramirez would join the team, playing in 40 games for the Knights, batting .317 while adding 14 home runs and 38 runs batted in. Ramirez also showed enough promise to be promoted, making his big-league debut later that season.

Manuel led the star-studded team to an 86-65 record, punching their ticket to the playoffs in their first Triple-A season. The Knights would defeat the Richmond Braves in the West Division Series three games to one, using a thrilling 11-10 victory in the decisive game four. Charlotte would then top the Rochester Red Wings in the Governor's Cup Finals, winning game five 6-1 at Silver Stadium in Rochester to become champions of the International League.

The Championship was the first for the city of Charlotte in any sport since the Charlotte O's won the Southern League title in the 1984 season. The 86 victories also remains the largest win total in Knights history.

The success of the 1993 Knights not only triggered promotions of Thome and Ramirez to the Indians, but also Charlie Manuel, who would join the big league club in 1994 as the hitting coach. Each of these three former Knights contributed to the 1995 and 1997 Cleveland teams that represented the American League in the World Series. Manuel would be promoted again in 2000, becoming the manager of the Cleveland Indians.

The inaugural Triple-A Knights were not only a success on the field, but at the gates as well, surpassing the 400,000 mark in attendance for the first time in Charlotte baseball history. The 429,132 total stood as the single-season attendance record until the 2014 opening of BB&T Ballpark in Uptown Charlotte, which amassed 687,715 attendees in its first season.