The Columbus Jets were a Minor League

Minor league

Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities. This term is used in North America with regard to several organizations competing in...

 baseball team that played in Columbus, Ohio

Columbus, Ohio

Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...

 from 1955 to 1970. The team moved from Ottawa, Canada where they were known as the Ottawa Athletics

Ottawa Athletics

The Ottawa Athletics were a professional minor-league baseball team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada that operated from 1952-1954. The team played at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa.-History:After the 1951 season, the Ottawa Giants folded...

. The Jets were a member of the International League

International League

The International League is a minor league baseball league that operates in the eastern United States. Like the Pacific Coast League and the Mexican League, it plays at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball. It was so named because it had teams in both the United States...

. From 1955-56 they were the Triple-A affiliate of the Kansas City Athletics and from 1957 to 1970 the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...

. The Jets played their home games at Jet Stadium

Cooper Stadium

Cooper Stadium is a baseball stadium in Columbus, Ohio and was the home of the minor league Columbus Clippers from 1977 to 2008. Cooper Stadium has had several names over the years, including Red Bird Stadium, Jets Stadium and Franklin County Stadium, but in 1984 the stadium was renamed in honor of...

.

In 1971 the franchise moved to Charleston, West Virginia

Charleston, West Virginia

Charleston is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers in Kanawha County. As of the 2010 census, it has a population of 51,400, and its metropolitan area 304,214. It is the county seat of Kanawha County.Early...

 and became the Charleston Charlies

Charleston Charlies

The Charleston Charlies was the name of the third and most recent Class AAA minor league baseball franchise that was located in Charleston, West Virginia, United States. The Charlies played in the International League from 1971 to 1976 as the relocated Columbus Jets franchise. In 1977 the franchise...

, leaving Columbus without organized baseball for the first time since 1894. In 1977 the Columbus Clippers

Columbus Clippers

The Columbus Clippers are a minor league baseball team based in Columbus, Ohio. The team plays in the International League and is the Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. The team is owned by the government of Franklin County, Ohio....

 returned baseball to Ohio's capital.

Notable alumni

• Johnny Lipon
  Johnny Lipon
  John Joseph Lipon was an American Major League Baseball shortstop for the Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Browns and Cincinnati Reds over the course of 12 seasons . He was born in Martins Ferry, Ohio....
  
  
• Frank Verdi
  Frank Verdi
  Frank Michael Verdi was a Major League Baseball player in 1953 for the New York Yankees and a longtime manager at the minor league level. As a player, he batted and threw right-handed, stood 5'10½" tall and weighed 170 pounds...
  
  
• Bob Kuzava
  Bob Kuzava
  Robert Leroy Kuzava is a retired American professional baseball player, a left-handed pitcher for the Cleveland Indians , Chicago White Sox , Washington Senators , New York Yankees , Baltimore Orioles , Philadelphia Phillies , Pittsburgh Pirates and St...
  
  
• Billy Shantz
  Billy Shantz
  Wilmer Ebert Shantz was an American Major League Baseball player. Shantz played for the Philadelphia/Kansas City Athletics and the New York Yankees in , and...
  
  
• Julian Javier
  Julián Javier
  Manuel Julián Javier Liranzo , best known as Julián Javier [hoo-lee-AN hah-vee-ER], is a former Major League Baseball second baseman and right-handed batter. He played with the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds...
  
  
• Roman Mejias
  Román Mejías
  Román Mejías Gómez is a former professional baseball player who played outfielder in the Major Leagues from 1955-1964. He played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Boston Red Sox, and Houston Colt .45s . He also played one season in Japan, in , for the Sankei Atoms.-External links:*...
  
  
• Donn Clendenon
  Donn Clendenon
  Donn Alvin Clendenon was a Major League Baseball first baseman. He is best remembered as the World Series MVP for the Amazin' Mets.-Early life:...
  
  
• Bob Veale
  Bob Veale
  Robert Andrew Veale is a former left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. He pitched for the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Boston Red Sox . He attended Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas.Veale was a top strikeout pitcher for the Pirates for about seven years...
  
  
• Willie Stargell
  Willie Stargell
  Wilver Dornell "Willie" Stargell , nicknamed "Pops" in the later years of his career, was a Major League Baseball left fielder and first baseman. He played his entire 21-year baseball career with the Pittsburgh Pirates...
  
  
• Pat Gillick
  Pat Gillick
  Lawrence Patrick David Gillick is a retired American professional baseball executive. He was the general manager of four Major League Baseball teams, and guided two teams to three World Series championships in his career: in 1992 and 1993 titles with the Toronto Blue Jays, and a 2008 title with...
  
  
• Steve Blass
  Steve Blass
  Stephen Robert "Steve" Blass is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher and a current broadcast announcer for the Pittsburgh Pirates.-Playing career:Blass was born in Canaan, Connecticut...
  
  
• Manny Mota
  Manny Mota
  Manuel Rafael Mota Geronimo, more commonly known as Manny Mota was a Major League Baseball Outfielder for the San Francisco Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates, Montreal Expos and most notably the Los Angeles Dodgers, best known for his pinch hitting abilities...
  
  
• Dave Roberts
  Dave Roberts (pitcher)
  David Arthur Roberts was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for eight teams from 1969 to 1981. He was second in the National League with a 2.10 earned run average in for the San Diego Padres, after which he was traded to the Houston Astros, where he spent the...
  
  
• Gene Michael
• Wilbur Wood
  Wilbur Wood
  Wilbur Forrester Wood, Jr. is a former knuckleball pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, and most notably the Chicago White Sox, where he got 163 of his 164 wins...
  
  
• Manny Sanguillen
  Manny Sanguillen
  Manuel De Jesus Sanguillen Magan, better known as Manny Sanguillen or "Sangy" , is a former professional baseball player who was a catcher in the Major Leagues. He was named to the All-Star team three times, in , , and . He played primarily for the Pittsburgh Pirates, but also for the Oakland...
  
  
• Doc Ellis
• Freddie Patek
  Freddie Patek
  Frederick Joseph Patek is a former Major League Baseball shortstop. At 5'5" tall , he was the shortest player of his time.-Pittsburgh Pirates:...
  
  
• Al Oliver
  Al Oliver
  Albert Oliver, Jr. is a former Major League Baseball player. Over the course of his 18-year career, he played for the Pittsburgh Pirates , Texas Rangers , Montreal Expos , San Francisco Giants , Philadelphia Phillies , Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays...
  
  
• Richie Hebner
  Richie Hebner
  Richard Joseph Hebner is an American former professional baseball third baseman. He played from 1968 to 1985 in Major League Baseball. He played with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets, and Chicago Cubs, all of the National League, and the Detroit Tigers of the American...
  
  
• Steve Arlin
  Steve Arlin
  Steven Ralph Arlin is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. In six major league seasons, Arlin pitched for the San Diego Padres and Cleveland Indians .-College Star:...
  
  
• Milt May
  Milt May
  Milton Scott May is a former professional baseball player and coach who played in the Major Leagues from to for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Houston Astros, Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, and San Francisco Giants. May was a catcher who hit for a fairly high batting average during the era in which...