The 1966 Philadelphia Phillies based Tidewater Tides saw future Yankees' Manager Stump Merrill (.182) while 1967
saw the 10th future MLB All-Star to be promoted from Frank D. Lawrence Stadium
in 2 timer Larry Hisle (24 2B, 23 HR, 78 RBI, 31 SB, .302). The Outfielder would
see his best seasons come in 1977 with the Minnesota Twins when he batted .302
with 36 2B,k 28 HR and a league leading 119 RBI's along with 21 steals, earning
his first All-Star nod. His 2nd came a year later when he was traded to the
Milwaukee Brewers and hit a career high 34 HR with 115 RBI while batting .290.
The Tides also produced the amazing backup catcher Buck Martinez (.282) who spent
17 years in the Major Leagues with Milwaukee, Kansas City and Toronto joined
in 1968. With that, the Tidewater Tides announced that some huge changes were
on their way. They would be dropping the Philadelphia Phillies affiliation after 3 strong seasons and the Single-A Carolina League as well. Big things lay ahead for the Tidewater Tides... but that didn't necessarily
include Frank D. Lawrence Stadium. In 1969 the New York Mets would be taking over the Tidewater Tides on a permanent basis and with that, would
be promoting them to the International League. Becoming a Triple-A stadium for the first time sounds like it would have been an
exciting move for Frank D. Lawrence Stadium but it wasn't. The news came with
a death sentence for the FDL; the New York Mets also announced that they would be building a brand new ballpark in the Tidewater
region for their Triple-A team called Metropolitan Stadium. While awaiting for completion of their new stadium, they would be move their Triple-A
operations from their Jacksonville home, Sam Wolfson Stadium and play just one season at Frank D. Lawrence Stadium while construction was completed
on their new Metropolitan Stadium. |