📍 Norfolk, Virginia
⚾ Home of the Norfolk Tides

The closest thing fans in the Hampton Roads region have to a major league team, the Triple-A Norfolk Tides have been a summertime staple for decades. The top affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles and a successful franchise both at the box office and on the field, the Tides – despite their aging facility – are certainly not picking up their anchor anytime soon.

The present-day Tides have been playing minor league baseball nonstop since 1961, originally competing as a Class-A affiliate of the Athletics. After a few more partnership changes, the team would get bumped up to Triple-A ball in 1969 and endured a nearly forty-year partnership with the New York Mets until the Orioles took over in 2007. The club had previously been known as the Portsmouth-Norfolk Tides and the Tidewater Tides, before setting sail as the Norfolk Tides in 1993.

That same year, the Tides’ new home on the Elizabeth River – christened Harbor Park – opened its gates. The ballpark has a prime location in proximity to downtown Norfolk, a Tide light rail station, the city’s Amtrak station and a ferry dock for fans coming from the south bank of the river. The stadium can hold close to 12,000 fans, a number that’s been shattered on several occasions, including for the 1998 Triple-A All-Star Game and MLB exhibitions featuring the Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles.

Harbor Park’s design, while uninspiring, truly maximizes space and allows for large crowds thanks to the pair of party decks in left and right field, as well as the restaurant in the right field corner. The ballpark’s three tiers of seating also means that every fan in the house can enjoy a sweeping vista of the field and riverfront beyond.

And being just 230 miles south of Camden Yards, fans in Norfolk are keenly interested in watching the development of the Orioles’ stars of tomorrow. Darryl Strawberry, Ryan Mountcastle and Cedric Mullins are just a few of the names who’ve been on the Tides roster, helping the team grab 7 International League titles and leading them to victory in the 1983 and 2023 Triple-A Championship games. With continued success of the team and some much-needed aesthetic overhauls to Harbor Park, perhaps the Tides will continue to be a fundamental piece of the entertainment scene in Hampton Roads.