Richmond Braves

Richmond Braves
1966–2008
Richmond, Virginia
Team logoCap insignia
Class-level
Previous Triple-A (1966–2008)
Minor league affiliations
League International League (1966–2008)
Division South Division
Major league affiliations
Previous Atlanta Braves (1966–2008)
Minor league titles
League titles 1978, 1986, 1989, 1994, 2007
Team data
Previous names
 Richmond Braves (1966–2008)
Previous parks

The Richmond Braves were an American minor league baseball club based in Richmond, Virginia, the Triple-A International League affiliate of the Atlanta Braves from 1966 to 2008. Owned by the parent Atlanta club and colloquially referred to as the R-Braves, they played their home games at a stadium called The Diamond on Richmond's Northside built for them in 1985, and before then Parker Field on the same site. The franchise moved to Gwinnett County, Georgia in 2009 to play in the newly built Coolray Field as the Gwinnett Braves, following several years of unsuccessful agitation for a new stadium in the Richmond metropolitan area.

The R-Braves came to Richmond in 1966; the Milwaukee Braves' move to Atlanta that year displaced their AAA club, the Atlanta Crackers, and Richmond's Parker Field had been left open by the previous year's move of the Richmond Virginians, a New York Yankees affiliate that moved in 1965. At the time of the R-Braves' move to Gwinnett, only the Baltimore Orioles and their Appalachian League affiliate the Bluefield Orioles had held a longer affiliation agreement in a single city than Atlanta/Richmond's 43 seasons. The Braves played their final game on September 1, 2008, against their long-time intrastate rivals, the Norfolk Tides. Richmond won, 9–3, in front of a sellout crowd of 12,167. After the game players and alumni threw balls and other keepsakes to fans in the stands, and fans were able to walk onto the field.

In 2010, the Double-A Eastern League's Connecticut Defenders, a San Francisco Giants affiliate (but independently owned), moved to Richmond to play as the Richmond Flying Squirrels.

Titles

The R-Braves won the Governors' Cup, the championship of the International League, five times, and played in ten championship series. Their predecessor team, the Richmond Virginians, a New York Yankees International League franchise from 1954 through 1964, played in only one championship.

Alumni

All Star Jason Marquis
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