Peninsula Pilots (minor league team)

The Peninsula Pilots were a Minor League Baseball team located in Hampton, Virginia. They began play in the Carolina League in 1976 as a Philadelphia Phillies farm team. The 1980 team was named the 74th best Minor League team of the 20th century in a list by two noted minor league historians, Bill Weiss and Marshall Wright. The team was known as the Peninsula White Sox in 1986–1987 while affiliated with the Chicago White Sox, and as the Virginia Generals in 1988 when they operated as an unaffiliated co-op club. They regained their original name in 1989 and major league affiliation returned in 1990 with the Seattle Mariners (1990–1992). The team's existence ended after the 1992 season when they relocated to Wilmington, Delaware and became the Wilmington Blue Rocks.