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 The Tides set a franchise record for attendance in 1993 when 542,040 fans bought tickets to a game at Harbor Park. General Manager Dave Rosenfield won his fourth International League Executive of the Year Award and both Rosenfield and the team won their first John H. Johnson President’s Trophy from the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues in 1993. This award is emblematic of the “complete” baseball franchise. It is based on the club’s history and commitment to the community, as well as success financially and at the box office.
In 1994, the Tides won the Triple-A Bob Freitas Award from Baseball America, ranking the club among the upper echelon of Minor League Baseball. The Tides once again set an attendance record with 557,586 fans purchasing tickets.
1995 was Harbor Park’s first foray into postseason play, as the Tides tied the franchise record with 86 wins, originally set in 1975. It was the Tides first taste of the playoffs since 1988. The success on the field also led to success at the gates, as the club set an attendance record for the third straight year when 586,317 fans entered Harbor Park. The Tides were selected by Baseball America as its “Team-of-the-Year," as more than a dozen players were promoted to the Major Leagues.
Bobby Valentine became the first manager to return for a second tour of duty in team history when he skippered the club in 1996. With a team made up of veteran free agents, the Tides were in or near first place all season, and for the first time ever, the club reached the 80-win mark for the second consecutive season. For the second time in as many seasons, the Tides made the playoffs, falling to the Columbus Clippers in the first round. Another first occurred during the '96 season, as Valentine became the first Tides manager to be called up to the Major Leagues during the season when he replaced Dallas Green at the helm of the Mets on August 26th. Valentine also took long-time pitching coach Bob Apodaca with him. Third base coach Bruce Benedict completed the season as skipper of the Tides. Also, the Tides drew in excess of 500,000 fans and finished in the Top 10 in minor league attendance for the fourth straight season.
 The Tides drew in excess of 500,000 fans for the fifth consecutive season in 1997 and missed the playoffs by just 1.5 games under first-year manager Rick Dempsey.
1998 saw the Tides host the 11th Annual Triple-A All-Star Classic to rave reviews in front of a national television and radio audience. Manager Rick Dempsey and his team finished the season with a 70-72 record as they finished 2nd in the South Division of the expended IL behind newcomer Durham.
1999 saw another former player return as manager as John Gibbons returned the Tides to a winning record with a mark of 77-63, but it was not enough to overcome Durham, which won 83 games. The biggest news of ‘99 was the installation of TidesVision, a television replay board, the first of its kind in Hampton Roads.
Gibbons returned for the 2000 season to lead the Tides to a 65-79 record, placing them third in the International League’s Southern Division.
Gibbons led the 2001 team to a South Division Regular Season Championship with an outstanding ball club, as the team clinched the division with two weeks left to play in the regular season. After the September 1 call-ups, however, the Tides were left with just over half of the team that they had all season. The young men from Binghamton who came to Norfolk in the call-up trickle-down effect stepped up and took control. The Tides jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the Semifinal but eventually lost to the Louisville RiverBats. The young guns gave fans a preview of the coming season.
The Tides lost a large part of their 2001 team when the Mets traded for Robbie Alomar. Alex Escobar, Jerrod Riggan, Earl Snyder, and Billy Traber all played for the Tides at some point during the 2001 season. Matt Lawton was the only other part of the momentus trade by the Mets in December of 2001.
The 2002 season, the Tides 10th season at Harbor Park, was one of mediocrity on the field. The Tides were not able to get away from the .500 mark all season. New manager, Bobby Floyd, led the Tides through the battle that ended with a 70-73 record, 3rd place in the South Division. Marco Scutaro was named All-Star Shortstop and five Tides made their Major League debut even before September call-ups: Jaime Cerda, Tyler Walker, Marco Scutaro, Jae Seo, and Ty Wigginton. Pat Strange and Pedro Feliciano also got their Major League debuts with September call-ups.
 A soggy 2003 rained out 13 of the Tides games. One game even needed to be rescheduled due to a blackout in the northeast. Only one game was lost however and the Tides finished 67-76, 3rd in the International League’s South Division. Speed was the theme for the 2003 team. The season started with the likes of Mets’ top prospect, Jose Reyes, at shortstop. Reyes stole 26 bases before his promotion in June. Esix Snead broke Mookie Wilson’s 23-year-old stolen base record swiping 61 bags on the season. Jeremy Griffiths led the league with a 2.74 ERA and participated in the All-Star Game in Memphis when Jorge Toca was not able to attend due to injury. Manager, Bobby Floyd, was also selected to the All-Star team as a coach. The season was capped off by a rehab visit from Mike Piazza in August. The Tides set top 10 attendance and homestand records as area fans flocked to the ballpark to get a glimpse of the former All-Star.
The 2004 season began slow for the Tides, as the club suffered a losing month during April, May, and June. Just before the All-Star break, the Tides rallied and went 24-7 from July 6th through August 10th to jump to five games over .500 and just 2.0 games back of the division lead. The team suffered a key six-game losing streak in mid-August, however, and finished up the season at 72-72 and in third place in the IL South Division. The season was hilighted by the promotion of Chesapeake native David Wright to the Tides in mid-June. Wright hit .298 with eight home runs and 17 RBI in 31 games with Norfolk before being promoted to New York in July. Wright continued where he left off in New York, hitting .293 with 14 home runs and 40 RBI in 69 games with the Mets. Another offensive star for the Tides was Victor Diaz, who ranked among IL leaders in hits, RBI, and extra-base hits. He also spent a brief period with the Mets, hitting .294 with three home runs and eight RBI in 15 games.
2005 saw a return to the playoffs for the Tides, as manager Ken Oberkfell helped the Tides win the South Division by a record 14.0 games. Pitcher Jason Scobie earned the starting nod at the Triple-A All-Star game and eventually tied a Tides franchise record with 15 wins, while Brian Daubach powered Norfolk’s offense by leading the team with a .325 average, 16 home runs and 62 RBI. Youngsters Anderson Hernandez and Jeff Keppinger were sparkplugs at the top of the order, while third baseman Rodney Nye and veteran catcher Mike DiFelice drove in clutch runs all season long. After losing several key members of the team to promotions, the Tides fell to eventual league champion Toledo in five games in the semifinals of the playoffs. For his efforts, Oberkfell was named the Baseball America Manager of the Year.
Norfolk struggled to a 57-84 mark in 2006, using a season-ending five-game winning streak to avoid posting the worst record in franchise history. 26 different Tides appeared in the major leagues, including John Maine and Oliver Perez, who both pitched tremendously for the parent New York Mets during the postseason. 2006 turned out to be the 38th and final year for the Tides as the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate, as Norfolk partnered with the Baltimore Orioles after the season concluded.
The 2007 season got off to a great start, as the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Washington Nationals in a Major League spring training game in front of a sellout crowd at Harbor Park. Once the regular season began, Tides’ closer Cory Doyne had a record-breaking season, picking up a franchise record 29 saves while being named to the midseason and postseason All-Star teams. He was joined at the midsummer classic by catcher J.R. House, who was elected to start in the contest after ammasing fantastic offensive totals from behind the plate. Mike Cervenak became the first Tides player to lead the league in hits in 11 years, while local product Jason Dubois was one of five Norfolk players to reach double figures in home runs, only the second time in the history of Harbor Park that a Tides’ team has accomplished that feat. Norfolk finished the 2007 season 69-74.
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