lost the Championship Series 3–1 to the Asheville Tourists. In September 2018, the Grasshoppers signed a 2-year affiliation agreement with the Pittsburgh Pirates. For the 2018 season, the Grasshoppers went 60-76 under manager Todd Pratt for a 13th-place finish in the South Atlantic League. For 2019, the Pirates organization made Miguel Perez head coach, who managed the Grasshoppers to an improved 79-59 for a 3rd-place finish. For 2020 Perez was moved to the Pirates' Bradenton Marauders club, and the Pirates announced Kieran Mattison would be the Grasshoppers' new manager. However, all minor league baseball was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In conjunction with Major League Baseball's restructuring of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the Grasshoppers were organized into the High-A East. They finished the 2021 season in second place in the Southern Division with a record of 74–46. Despite not winning the division, their record was the second-best overall in the league, which qualified them for the playoffs. They lost the best-of-five championship series to the Bowling Green Hot Rods, 3–2. In 2022, the High-A East became known as the South Atlantic League, the name historically used by the regional circuit prior to the 2021 reorganization. On January 4, 2022, Temerity Baseball bought the team. Temerity Baseball also owns the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers. Team owner Andy Sandler intends to develop mixed-use and multi-family around the stadium. Ballpark The Greensboro clubs initially played their home games at Cone Athletic Park, better known as simply Cone Park, a small facility on the grounds of the Cone Mills textile plant. World War Memorial Stadium opened in 1926 (on Armistice Day), but the Patriots continued to play at Cone Park until 1930, when the addition of lights and other improvements to the Stadium, spurred by the affiliation with the Cardinals, resulted in the team moving to the Stadium. The various Greensboro clubs would call the Stadium "home" for the next 75 years. The franchise moved from 80-year-old War Memorial Stadium to First National Bank Field in 2005. Notable franchise alumni Hall of Fame alumni Heinie Manush (1941-1942, MGR) Inducted, 1964 Johnny Mize (1930-1931, 1933) Inducted, 1981 Mariano Rivera (1991, 1993) 13 x MLB All-Star; 1999 World Series Most Valuable Player; All-Time MLB Saves Leader, Inducted 2019 Derek Jeter (1992-1993) 14 x AL All-Star; 1995 AL Rookie of the Year; 2000 World Series Most Valuable Player Notable alumni Johnny Allen (1945) MLB All-Star