[3] Popularly known as the O's, the club joined the Southern League and inherited the Asheville team's status as the Orioles' Double-A affiliate.

The Southern League used a split-season schedule wherein the division winners from each half qualified for the postseason championship playoffs.

[4] Charlotte won another first half title in 1979 but were again eliminated in the Eastern Division series by the Columbus Astros, 2–0.

[10] They then swept the Savannah Braves in a three-game series for the Eastern Division title and defeated the Memphis Chicks, 3–1, to win their first Southern League championship.

[4] The Orioles returned to the postseason four years later when managers Grady Little and John Hart led them to a 75–72 record and the second half title.

They defeated the Greenville Braves, 3–1, for the Eastern Division title before winning their second league championship over the Knoxville Blue Jays, 3–0.

[3] The Crockett family built a 3,000-seat makeshift stadium immediately afterward, which served as the O's home for two years.

[12] Similarly, the 1987 first-half champion O's won the division title versus the Jacksonville Expos, 3–2, but lost the league crown to the Birmingham Barons, 3–1.

[7] Following the 1987 season, George Shinn, founder of the National Basketball Association's Charlotte Hornets, bought the team from the Crockett family and committed to building a permanent ballpark.

[7] Charlotte returned to the playoffs in 1992, but they lost the Eastern Division title to Greenville, who had won both halves of the season.

[20][21] He solicited offers to purchase the club to help defray a US$5 million International League enfranchisement cost.

[22] Shinn initially sold the Double-A franchise to Tom Benson, owner of the National Football League's New Orleans Saints, who sought to relocate the club to New Orleans,[21][23] but the move was blocked when Minor League Baseball granted territorial rights to the higher-classification Triple-A Denver Zephyrs, who wanted to move to New Orleans after being uprooted by the Colorado Rockies National League expansion team.

They then defeated the Richmond Braves, 3–1, in the semifinals to advance to the Governors' Cup finals for the International League championship.

[27] Third baseman Jim Thome, who was later inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame, won the 1993 International League Most Valuable Player Award with the Knights.

[28] Before the 1997 season, Shinn sold the Knights to North Carolina businessman Don Beaver,[31] who negotiated a Triple-A affiliation with the Chicago White Sox, which began in 1999.

Manager Tom Spencer led the Knights to win the IL Wild Card that season with an 82–62 record.

[28] Jon Garland, later of the 2005 World Series champion White Sox, won the IL Most Valuable Pitcher Award in 2000 with the Knights.

[28] Charlotte next qualified for the Governors' Cup playoffs in 2006 having won the Southern Division title, but they lost the semifinals to the Toledo Mud Hens, 3–1.

The defeated the Indianapolis Indians, 3–1, to reach the finals but were swept out of the championship round by the Pawtucket Red Sox in three games.

[38] The Knights narrowly missed the 2016 playoffs, finishing a half game behind the first-place Gwinnett Stripers.

[43] No playoffs were held to determine a league champion; instead, the team with the best regular-season record was declared the winner.

[45] In 2022, the Triple-A East became known as the International League, the name historically used by the regional circuit prior to the 2021 reorganization.

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