Remembering the ruined relationship with Rochester

The news last week that the Nationals were adopting Rochester as their Triple-A affiliate - so much for the gag order intended to withhold announcements until a later date - immediately took me back to the day that the Red Wings severed ties with the Orioles.

This was a huge deal. They had been affiliated since 1961 - a span of 42 years that represented the longest relationship between major league and Triple-A teams. So many future stars began to shine in Rochester.

It was hard to imagine the Orioles without the Red Wings.

It was harder to accept their affiliate being all the way in Ottawa.

Was the North Pole taken?

The arrangement didn't make much sense for the Orioles, but they were in a bind and the choices basically came down to Ottawa and Edmonton. Pick your Canadian poison.

The end officially came on Sept. 17, 2002 when Rochester signed a two-year agreement with the Twins. The relationship had been deteriorating in recent years and the Red Wings filed for free agency - which apparently is a thing - in August.

"That was totally their decision to change," Don Buford, director of minor league operations, said at the time. "Rochester felt we weren't giving them winning-caliber players. The approach I always take is the number of players who go from Rochester to the big leagues. That's an important factor as far as building a relationship with a franchise.

"We had a long history with Rochester - Hall of Famers, the Governors' Cup. It's a long relationship that ended over a five-year period of dislike on Rochester's part for not producing a winning club. I'm not knocking them. That was an executive decision on their part to make a change."

In short, the Red Wings became frustrated with five straight losing seasons and blamed the Orioles, making it appear that they felt the record was more important than developing prospects for the majors.

Meanwhile, Ottawa also filed for free agency and ditched the Expos. The Lynx ranked last in attendance that summer in the International League and owner Ray Pecor estimated his losses at approximately $1 million.

The Twins dumped Edmonton in order to become affiliated with Rochester. The Orioles went in the opposite direction by going to Ottawa, with bitter cold and snow in April and games played before only a handful of fans.

Dave Trembley managed Ottawa from 2005-06 and told me that he couldn't find major league box scores in the local paper. And, yeah, it was really cold.

Getting a player to Baltimore or a visiting city on short notice was pretty much impossible. As if it weren't bad enough to have spring training in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and the minor league complex in Sarasota.

The Orioles really have come a long way by shortening the distances.

They signed a player development contract with the Norfolk Tides on Sept. 25, 2006, and it's been a tremendous upgrade, including how players can drive to Baltimore. I haven't heard any rumors of a potential change.

The Tides had partnered with the Mets since 1969.

"We are obviously thrilled to reach an affiliation agreement with Norfolk," said Jim Duquette, the Orioles' vice president of baseball operations. "Having worked with the Tides in the past, I know firsthand that Norfolk is one of the elite franchises in all of baseball. We have an outstanding relationship with Tides president Ken Young and general manager Dave Rosenfield, and we are excited to be able to place our top minor league players in a great facility like Harbor Park."

"I think it's a tremendous move for us," said Orioles manager Sam Perlozzo. "We wondered why we would get a little thin in Triple-A. Now, I think it's going to be a lot easier to sign some six-year (free agents) that will come to a stadium like Norfolk and be in the good weather."

Yeah, seriously, the Ottawa weather was really cold in April.

Having only three Triple-A affiliates since the 1960s is like Steelers head coaches. That's impressive stability.