Tides’ season delayed a month; Kendall to return as manager
NORFOLK — Professional baseball’s return to Norfolk will have to wait a little longer.
The Norfolk Tides and other Triple-A teams won’t begin their season as scheduled next month. Instead, the Baltimore Orioles’ top affiliate won’t start until May 4, the club announced Tuesday night via Twitter.
The Tides, who didn’t play in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, were scheduled to begin the 2021 season on April 6 at Nashville as part of the new Triple-A East League. The 20-team league will at least temporarily replace the 137-year-old International League, of which Norfolk had been a member since 1969.
But the club plans to take the field when it can.
“The Tides are looking forward to returning to play at Harbor Park as soon as it is safe for fans, players and staff,” Tides GM Joe Gregory said. “We will be ready for fans to return as soon as Major League Baseball, as well as state and local officials, determine we can throw out the first pitch.”
Triple-A players will begin their season at alternate training sites near their parent clubs’ home cities, a setup MLB teams used last season in place of the minor leagues.
The games in the Triple-A season’s scheduled first month will not be made up. As it stands, Norfolk’s home opener is scheduled for May 18 against Jacksonville.
The move continues a preseason
of uncertainty that has seen many minor league clubs, including the Tides, lay off employees and make other cuts in the wake of steep financial losses as a result of the lost 2020 season.
Last month, MLB announced a complete overhaul of its player development system, essentially taking over Minor League Baseball after an agreement between the two organizations expired.
Norfolk was originally scheduled to play 142 games this season under the new arrangement.
Meanwhile, the Tides and Orioles announced Wednesday that Gary Kendall will return as the team’s manager in 2021.
Tim Gibbons will serve as Norfolk’s hitting coach, Kennie Steenstra will be the pitching coach and Ramon Sambo will return as fundamentals coach.
Malcolm Holland will join the Tides as a development coach, Chris Poole will return as the club’s athletic trainer and Trey Wiedman joins the team as its strength coach.
Kendall posted a 60-79 record in his first season with the Tides in 2019, leading a squad that featured an IL MVP (IF/OF Ryan Mountcastle) and the league leader in strikeouts (LHP Keegan Akin).
Kendall, who was slated to return to Norfolk in 2020 before the season was canceled, spent eight seasons as the manager at Double-A Bowie, where he set a franchise record with 570 wins.