Today, the Dirty Birds sell nostalgic "throwback" merchandise from the Pittsburgh-affiliated era of the Charlies, which is generally considered the pinnacle of baseball in the city.

In late 1993, the Wheelers were purchased from then-owner Dennis Bastien by a conglomerate of local owners led by Charleston businessman Michael Paterno.

In 1998, the team changed affiliation to the Kansas City Royals, again in 2000 to the Toronto Blue Jays, to the Milwaukee Brewers after the 2004 season, joined the Pirates in 2009, and finally the Seattle Mariners in 2018.

The energy production from coal, natural gas, and hydro-electric sources, combined with the fact that Charleston serves as the center for the state's political and economic powers led us to the name of the team.

We felt it was extremely important that the name reflect the entire region and are excited about the tremendous marketing opportunities that will go along with the name.The Power won the 2007 SAL Northern Division title, but lost in the league championship series to the Columbus Catfish in three straight games.

[6] On February 24, 2021, the team announced that it had been sold to a new ownership group led by Andy Shea, also owner of the Power's former South Atlantic League rivals the Lexington Legends.

[7][8] On September 28, 2021, the team officially changed their name to the Charleston Dirty Birds, a reference to the canary in a coal mine.

Roster updated June 16, 2024 Transactions The Alley Cats and their predecessors played in Watt Powell Park in the Kanawha City neighborhood of Charleston.

Fans who would otherwise have had to pay to see the games periodically watched the action from a CSX railroad line hard up against the south wall of the stadium.

The Dirty Birds now play their home games in GoMart Ballpark at the east edge of downtown Charleston, a little more than a mile across the Kanawha River from the former site of Watt Powell Park.

Originally, the new park was to be completed for the 2004 season, but politically induced delays in securing state funds forced construction to be put off for a year.