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The West Virginia Power is a minor league baseball team from Charleston, West Virginia that plays in the Class A South Atlantic League as an affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers (as of the 2005 season). Originally founded in 1987 as the Charleston Wheelers (so named for the city's history of stern- and side-wheeled boats), the team began as a shared team, hosting players from several Major League Baseball franchises. The team changed its name to the Charleston Alley Cats in 1995, and adopted the current West Virginia Power name after the 2004 season.
The team was founded shortly after Charleston had lost a Class AAA franchise, the Charleston Charlies. The Charlies first moved to Old Orchard Beach, Maine and became the Maine Guides; they later moved to their current home of Moosic, Pennsylvania, where they are known as the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons.
In 1990, the Wheelers won the South Atlantic League championship, the only time the franchise has won their league. By that point, they had changed affiliation to the Cincinnati Reds (after a brief stint with the Chicago Cubs organization).
In late 1993, the Wheelers were purchased from then-owner Dennis Bastien by a conglomerate of owners. The team changed its name to the Alley Cats in 1995 and switched colors from blue and white, with green trim, to grey and red, with black trim. The team was purchased in 2001 by the current ownership of Tom Dickson and Sherry Myers. In 1995, the team changed affiliations to the Kansas City Royals, again in 2001 to the Toronto Blue Jays, and finally to the Brewers after the 2004 season.
The Alley Cats and their predecessors played in Watt Powell Park in the Kanawha City neighborhood of Charleston. Seating approximately 4,500 fans, Watt Powell Park is bounded by MacCorkle Avenue on the front (North) side, 35th Street on the east, and South Park Road on the west. On the south side of the park, a ridge of hills forms a natural boundary. Fans who would otherwise have to pay to see the games periodically watch the action from a CSX railroad line hard up against the south wall of the stadium.
The Power is currently building a new stadium at the east edge of downtown Charleston, a little more than a mile and across the Kanawha River from Watt Powell Park. Most of the financing for the $23 million stadium will come from the state and the city, although the ownership team is putting up approximately $5 million. The city's share will mainly come from the sale of Watt Powell after the new stadium is completed. Originally, the new park was to be completed for the 2004 season, but politically induced delays in securing the state funds forced construction to be put off for a year. The new park is now expected to open in the spring of 2005.
The team finished the 2004 SAL season at 84-56 (41-29 and 43-27 in the two halves of the SAL's split-season format), qualifying for the league playoffs for the first time since 1997.
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