Governors' Cup
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The Governors' Cup is the trophy awarded each year to the champion of the International League, one of the two AAA (Triple-A) Level minor leagues of Major League Baseball.
[edit] Governors' Cup History
In 1933, Frank Shaughnessy, General Manager of the League's Montréal Royals, introduced a new playoff system to International League President Charles H. Knappe and the Governors' Cup was born. Shaughnessy, who would ultimately serve as International League President from 1936 until 1960, was interested in developing a way for more than two clubs to share in the excitement of post-season play. His playoff format, devised to maintain the interest of fans and players alike during the Depression era, provided an opportunity for four teams to participate rather than only two. Several other leagues noticed the success of the "Shaughnessy Plan" and followed suit.
In response to the new playoff format, the Governors of Maryland, New Jersey, and New York and the Lieutenant Governors of the Provinces of Quebec and Ontario sponsored a trophy to be awarded annually to the winner of the International League playoffs. The trophy, created by the Supervisor of International League Umpires W.B. Carruth, was created out of solid silver and has been appraised at over $3,000.
In 1988, International League President Harold Cooper donated the trophy to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, where it is on permanent display. A new trophy of the same name was minted in its place and is presented annually to the winner of the Governors' Cup Series. In 2007, the trophy will again reside at Fifth Third Field in Toledo, Ohio, home of the back-to-back 2005 & 2006 International League Champion Toledo Mud Hens.
From 1988 to 1991, the International League and the American Association played a championship series after each league's own respective playoffs, known as the Triple-A Classic.
[edit] Governors' Cup Champions
Ten
Rochester (1939,1952,1955,1956,1964,1971,1974,1988,1990,1997)
Eight
Syracuse (1935,1942,1943,1947,1954,1969,1970,1976)
Seven
Six
Buffalo (1933,1936,1957,1961,1998,2004)
Five
Tidewater/Norfolk (1972,1975,1982,1983,1985)
Four
Three
Toledo (1967, 2005, 2006)
Two
- Baltimore (1944,1950)
Indianapolis (1963,2000)
Pawtucket (1973,1984)
Charlotte (1993,1999)
Durham (2002, 2003)
One
Havana (1959)- Atlanta (1962)
- Jacksonville (1968)
- Charleston (1977)
Ottawa (1995)
Louisville (2001)
[edit] Governors' Cup Champions Year-by-year
| Year | Champion | Manager | Runner-Up | Other Playoff Teams |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1933 | Buffalo | Ray Schalk | Rochester | Newark & Baltimore |
| 1934 | Toronto | Ike Boone | Rochester | Newark & Albany |
| 1935 | Syracuse | Nemo Leibold | Montreal | Buffalo & Newark |
| 1936 | *Buffalo | Ray Schalk | Baltimore | Newark & Rochester |
| 1937 | *Newark | Oscar Vitt | Baltimore | Syracuse & Montreal |
| 1938 | *Newark | Johnny Neun | Buffalo | Rochester & Syracuse |
| 1939 | Rochester | Billy Southworth | Newark | Jersey City & Buffalo |
| 1940 | Newark | Johnny Neun | Baltimore | Rochester & Jersey City |
| 1941 | Montreal | Clyde Sukeforth | Newark | Buffalo & Rochester |
| 1942 | Syracuse | Jewel Ens | Jersey City | Montreal & Newark |
| 1943 | Syracuse | Jewel Ens | Toronto | Newark & Montreal |
| 1944 | *Baltimore | Tommy Thomas | Newark | Buffalo & Toronto |
| 1945 | Newark | Bill Meyer | Montreal | Toronto & Baltimore |
| 1946 | *Montreal | Clay Hopper | Syracuse | Baltimore & Newark |
| 1947 | Syracuse | Jewel Ens | Buffalo | Jersey City & Montreal |
| 1948 | *Montreal | Clay Hopper | Syracuse | Rochester & Newark |
| 1949 | Montreal | Clay Hopper | Buffalo | Rochester & Jersey City |
| 1950 | Baltimore | Nick Cullop | Rochester | Montreal & Jersey City |
| 1951 | *Montreal | Walter Alston | Syracuse | Rochester & Buffalo |
| 1952 | Rochester | Harry Walker | Montreal | Syracuse & Toronto |
| 1953 | Montreal | Walter Alston | Rochester | Buffalo & Baltimore |
| 1954 | Syracuse | Skeeter Newsome | Montreal | Toronto & Rochester |
| 1955 | Rochester | Fred Walker | Toronto | Havana & Montreal |
| 1956 | Rochester | Fred Walker | Toronto | Miami & Montreal |
| 1957 | Buffalo | Phil Cavarretta | Miami | Toronto & Richmond |
| 1958 | *Montreal | Clay Bryant | Toronto | Rochester & Columbus |
| 1959 | Havana | Preston Gomez | Richmond | Buffalo & Columbus |
| 1960 | *Toronto | Mel McGaha | Rochester | Richmond & Buffalo |
| 1961 | Buffalo | Kerby Farrell | Rochester | Columbus & Charleston |
| 1962 | Atlanta | Joe Schultz | Jacksonville | Toronto & Rochester |
| 1963 | *Indianapolis | Rollie Hemsley | Atlanta | Syracuse & Toronto |
| 1964 | Rochester | Darrell Johnson | Syracuse | Jacksonville & Buffalo |
| 1965 | Toronto | Dick Williams | Columbus | Atlanta & Syracuse |
| 1966 | Toronto | Dick Williams | Richmond | Rochester & Columbus |
| 1967 | Toledo | Jack Tighe | Columbus | Richmond & Rochester |
| 1968 | Jacksonville | Clyde McCullough | Columbus | Toledo & Rochester |
| 1969 | Syracuse | Frank Verdi | Columbus | Tidewater & Louisville |
| 1970 | *Syracuse | Frank Verdi | Columbus | Rochester & Tidewater |
| 1971 | *Rochester | Joe Altobelli | Tidewater | Charleston & Syracuse |
| 1972 | Tidewater | Hank Bauer | Louisville | Charleston & Rochester |
| 1973 | Pawtucket | Darrell Johnson | Charleston | Rochester & Tidewater |
| 1974 | *Rochester | Joe Altobelli | Syracuse | Memphis & Richmond |
| 1975 | *Tidewater | Joe Frazier | Syracuse | Charleston & Rochester |
| 1976 | Syracuse | Bobby Cox | Richmond | Rochester & Memphis |
| 1977 | Charleston | Jim Beauchamp | Pawtucket | Richmond & Tidewater |
| 1978 | Richmond | Tommie Aaron | Pawtucket | Charleston & Toledo |
| 1979 | *Columbus | Gene Michael | Syracuse | Richmond & Tidewater |
| 1980 | *Columbus | Joe Altobelli | Toledo | Richmond & Rochester |
| 1981 | *Columbus | Frank Verdi | Richmond | Rochester & Tidewater |
| 1982 | Tidewater | Jack Aker | Rochester | Richmond & Columbus |
| 1983 | Tidewater | Dave Johnson | Richmond | Columbus & Charleston |
| 1984 | Pawtucket | Tony Tochia | Maine | Columbus & Toledo |
| 1985 | Tidewater | Bob Schafer | Columbus | Syracuse & Maine |
| 1986 | *Richmond | Roy Majtyka | Rochester | Pawtucket & Tidewater |
| 1987 | Columbus | Bucky Dent | Tidewater | Rochester & Pawtucket |
| 1988 | *Rochester | Johnny Oates | Tidewater | N/A |
| 1989 | *Richmond | Jim Beauchamp | Syracuse | N/A |
| 1990 | *Rochester | Greg Biagini | Columbus | N/A |
| 1991 | *Columbus | Rick Down | Pawtucket | N/A |
| 1992 | *Columbus | Rick Down | Scranton/Wilkes-Barre | Richmond & Pawtucket |
| 1993 | *Charlotte | Charlie Manuel | Rochester | Richmond & Ottawa |
| 1994 | *Richmond | Grady Little | Syracuse | Charlotte & Pawtucket |
| 1995 | *Ottawa | Pete Mackanin | Norfolk | Richmond & Rochester |
| 1996 | *Columbus | Stump Merrill | Rochester | Norfolk & Pawtucket |
| 1997 | *Rochester | Marv Foley | Columbus | Charlotte & Pawtucket |
| 1998 | *Buffalo | Jeff Datz | Durham | Louisville & Syracuse |
| 1999 | *Charlotte | Tom Spencer | Durham | Louisville & Syracuse |
| 2000 | *Indianapolis | Steve Smith | Scranton/Wilkes-Barre | Buffalo & Durham |
| 2001 | *x-Louisville | Dave Miley | Scranton/Wilkes-Barre | Buffalo & Norfolk |
| 2002 | *Durham | Bill Evers | Buffalo | Scranton-Wilkes/Barre & Toledo |
| 2003 | *Durham | Bill Evers | Pawtucket | Louisville & Ottawa |
| 2004 | *Buffalo | Marty Brown | Richmond | Columbus & Durham |
| 2005 | *Toledo | Larry Parrish | Indianapolis | Norfolk & Buffalo |
| 2006 | *Toledo | Larry Parrish | Rochester | Charlotte & Scranton WB |
(*) - Also Pennant Winner
(x) - A one-game playoff as a result of the series being cancelled September 12, 2001. Louisville, which had won Game 1, 2-1, of the five-game series on September 10, was declared the winner.
After 10 seasons in a two division format, the International League switched to a three division alignment in 1998. The practice of recognizing the League Champion as not only the Pennant Winner, but also the Governors’ Cup Winner will continue.
