The Columbus Catfish were a minor league baseball team in

Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee ...

. They were a Class A team in the

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its h ...

, and were an affiliate of the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...

for the

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

and

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

seasons. The Catfish relocated to

Bowling Green, Kentucky Bowling Green is a city in Warren County, Kentucky, United States, and its county seat. Its population was 72,294 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Kentucky, third-most populous city in the stat ...

for the

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

season and are now known as the

Bowling Green Hot Rods The Bowling Green Hot Rods are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. They are located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and play their home games at Bowling Green Ballpark, which ...

. The Catfish played home games at

Golden Park Synovus Park, formerly known as Golden Park, is a baseball stadium in Columbus, Georgia that originally opened in 1926 and is currently the home field of the Columbus Clingstones of the Southern League, the Atlanta Braves' AA affiliate. While ...

. The team colors were royal blue, peach, and sand. The name "Catfish" referred to the

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

of the same name, which is commonly eaten in the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

and is often harvested from the

Chattahoochee River The Chattahoochee River () is a river in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern United States. It forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida and Georgia border. It ...

. The city of Columbus and Golden Park itself lie on the Chattahoochee. The peach in the Catfish logo indicates that they are from the state of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

and not the

Columbus Clippers The Columbus Clippers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They are located in Columbus, Ohio, and are named for speedy Merchant ship, merch ...

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

. In 2007, the Catfish swept the

West Virginia Power The Charleston Dirty Birds are an United States, American professional baseball team based in Charleston, West Virginia. They are a member of the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a MLB Partner League, partner league ...

in three games to win their first South Atlantic League championship.

History

The Catfish, then known as the

Wilmington Waves The Wilmington Waves were a minor league baseball team in Wilmington, North Carolina in the 2001 baseball season. They were a Low-A class team that played in the South Atlantic League, and were a farm team of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the fra ...

as one of two South Atlantic League expansion teams in 2001, played their inaugural season in

Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, eighth-most populous city in the st ...

, as an affiliate of the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

. The team left Wilmington after one season due to the lack of a permanent

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

. The Waves moved to

Albany, Georgia Albany ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Located on the Flint River, it is the county seat of Dougherty County, Georgia, Dougherty County, and is the sole incorporated city in that county. Located in Southwest Geo ...

, for one season until settling in Columbus, which had lost the RedStixx prior to the 2003 season. The team was known as the South Georgia Waves during its single season in Albany and its first year in Columbus.

Relocation to Bowling Green

The team was sold to

New Hampshire Fisher Cats The New Hampshire Fisher Cats are a Minor League Baseball team based in Manchester, New Hampshire. The team, which plays in the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League, is the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Ja ...

owner Art Solomon in April 2008. Solomon would move the team to

, for the 2009 season, where the team would be known as the

Season-by-season records

, - , 2001 , , 75 , , 63 , , 2nd , , , - , 2002 , , 75, , 63 , , 2nd , , , - , 2003 , , 64 , , 72 , , 11th , , , - , 2004 , , 69 , , 69 , , 7th , , , - , 2005 , , 57 , , 79 , , 14th , , , - , 2006 , , 72 , , 68 , , 7th , , , - , 2007 , , 82 , , 53 , , 2nd ² , , League champions
Southern Division, 2 games to 0 over Augusta.
League Finals, 3 games to 0 over West Virginia. , - , 2008 , , 67 , , 69 , , 10th , , , - 2001: Wilmington Waves 2002: South Georgia Waves, Albany 2003: South Georgia Waves, Columbus ¹- 1st half Southern division champions ²- 2nd half Southern division champions

Notable events

*May 20, 2004: Catfish pitcher Chuck Tiffany pitched a 7-inning perfect game against the Greensboro Bats in game 2 of a doubleheader.

Tommy Lasorda Thomas Charles Lasorda (September 22, 1927 – January 7, 2021) was an American professional baseball pitcher and manager. He managed the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1976 through 1996. He was inducted into the Nation ...

, Tiffany's boyhood idol, saw the performance. *June 10, 2004: Catfish pitcher Julio Pimentel set all-time Columbus records, outdueling

Rome Braves The Rome Emperors are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. They are located in Rome, Georgia, and play their home games at AdventHealth Stadium. From 2003 to 2023, the team wa ...

(and future

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

) pitcher

Chuck James Charles Hamilton James (born November 9, 1981) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who pitched for the Atlanta Braves and Minnesota Twins. Playing career Atlanta Braves He was signed by the Braves on July 29, , after he was sele ...

by striking out the first 8 batters, and 16 total in game 1 (7 innings complete game) of doubleheader. *September 13, 2007: Catfish defeat West Virginia Power 6–0 in game 3 to clinch their first South Atlantic league championship in a three-game sweep.

References

{{reflist

External links

Bowling Green Professional Baseball
2003 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) 2008 disestablishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Baseball teams disestablished in 2008 Baseball teams established in 2003 Defunct baseball teams in Georgia (U.S. state) Defunct South Atlantic League teams Los Angeles Dodgers minor league affiliates Professional baseball teams in Georgia (U.S. state) Sports in Columbus, Georgia Tampa Bay Rays minor league affiliates