Carolina League


The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which operates along the Atlantic Coast of the United States. It is classified as a Class A-Advanced league.
The organization that later became the Carolina League formed in 1945, just as World War II was ending, and consisted of only two teams based in southern Virginia and six from North Carolina. Historically, however, as many as 12 teams in a given year have competed in the Carolina League. Today, the league consists of 10 teams in a region stretching from Delaware to South Carolina, and is divided into a Northern Division and a Southern Division.

History

The league was officially announced on October 29, 1944 after an organizational meeting at Durham, North Carolina. The league was a successor to the Bi-State League that existed before World War II. The league began play in 1945 with eight teams based in Burlington, Durham, Greensboro, Leaksville, Raleigh, Winston-Salem, along with Danville and Martinsville from Virginia.
A few of the many Carolina League players who have gone on to star in the Major Leagues are: Johnny Bench, Wade Boggs, Barry Bonds, Rod Carew, Dock Ellis, Dwight Evans, Dwight Gooden, Zack Greinke, Andruw Jones, Chipper Jones, Willie McCovey, Joe Morgan, Dave Parker, Tony Pérez, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, Darryl Strawberry, Bernie Williams, and Carl Yastrzemski.
Director and screenwriter Ron Shelton's 1988 film Bull Durham, starring Kevin Costner, Tim Robbins, and Susan Sarandon, depicted a fictionalized account of the Durham Bulls, at that time a Carolina League team. Before he began making films, Shelton had a five-year minor league career in the Baltimore Orioles' organization, which included a stint in the Carolina League.
On August 22, 2016, it was announced that the Carolina League would add two expansion teams for the 2017 season to fill two vacant spots at the High-A level previously occupied by the California League's Bakersfield Blaze and High Desert Mavericks franchises, which ceased operations at the end of the 2016 season. The Down East Wood Ducks play in Kinston, North Carolina, as an affiliate of the Texas Rangers. The Buies Creek Astros played in Buies Creek, North Carolina, in 2017 and 2018, and moved in 2019 to their new permanent home in nearby Fayetteville, rebranding as the Fayetteville Woodpeckers. The most recent change to the team's roster came in the 2019–20 offseason, with the Potomac Nationals relocating within Northern Virginia to Fredericksburg and rebranding themselves as the Fredericksburg Nationals.
The start of the 2020 season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic before ultimately being cancelled on June 30.

Current teams

DivisionTeamMLB AffiliationCityStadiumCapacity
NorthernFrederick KeysBaltimore Orioles Frederick, MarylandNymeo Field at Harry Grove Stadium5,400
NorthernFredericksburg NationalsWashington Nationals Fredericksburg, VirginiaNew Fredericksburg Ballpark5,000
NorthernLynchburg HillcatsCleveland Indians Lynchburg, VirginiaCalvin Falwell Field4,281
NorthernSalem Red SoxBoston Red Sox Salem, VirginiaHaley Toyota Field at Salem Memorial Ballpark6,300
NorthernWilmington Blue RocksKansas City Royals Wilmington, DelawareDaniel S. Frawley Stadium6,404
SouthernCarolina MudcatsMilwaukee Brewers Zebulon, North CarolinaFive County Stadium6,500
SouthernDown East Wood DucksTexas Rangers Kinston, North CarolinaGrainger Stadium4,100
SouthernFayetteville WoodpeckersHouston Astros Fayetteville, North CarolinaSegra Stadium4,786
SouthernMyrtle Beach PelicansChicago Cubs Myrtle Beach, South CarolinaTicketReturn.com Field at Pelicans Ballpark6,599
SouthernWinston-Salem DashChicago White Sox Winston-Salem, North CarolinaTruist Stadium5,500

Current team rosters

Past champions

Awards

All-time teams (1945–present)

All teams that have competed in the Carolina League from its founding in 1945. Teams in bold are currently active.

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Period = from:01/01/1945 till:12/31/2019
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Colors = id:barcolor
id:line value:pink
id:bg value:white
id:Full value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a current league member
id:Past value:rgb # Use to indicate a former team
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bar:1 color:Past from:01/01/1945 till:12/31/1955 text:Burlington Bees / Burlington-Graham Pirates
bar:1 color:Past from:01/01/1958 till:12/31/1972 text:Burlington Indians / Senators / Rangers
bar:2 color:Past from:01/01/1945 till:12/31/1958 text:Danville Leafs
bar:2 color:Past from:01/01/1998 till:12/31/1998 text:Danville 97s
bar:3 color:Past from:01/01/1945 till:12/31/1971 text:Durham Bulls / Raleigh-Durham Mets / Phillies / Triangles
bar:3 color:Past from:01/01/1980 till:12/31/1997 text:Durham Bulls
bar:4 color:Past from:01/01/1945 till:12/31/1968 text:Greensboro Patriots / Red Sox / Patriots / Yankees / Patriots
bar:5 color:Past from:01/01/1945 till:12/31/1947 text:Leaksville-Draper-Spray Triplets
bar:6 color:Past from:01/01/1945 till:12/31/1949 text:Martinsville A's
bar:7 color:Past from:01/01/1945 till:12/31/1953 text:Raleigh Capitals
bar:7 color:Past from:01/01/1958 till:12/31/1967 text:Raleigh Capitals / Mets / Cardinals / Pirates
bar:8 color:Full from:01/01/1945 till:12/31/2019 text:Winston-Salem Cardinals / Twins / Red Birds / Red Sox / Spirits / Warthogs / Dash
bar:9 color:Past from:01/01/1948 till:12/31/1955 text:Reidsville Luckies / Phillies
bar:10 color:Past from:01/01/1950 till:12/31/1956 text:Fayetteville A's / Highlanders
bar:10 color:Full from:01/01/2019 till:12/31/2019 text:Fayetteville Woodpeckers
bar:11 color:Past from:01/01/1954 till:12/31/1958 text:High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms
bar:11 color:Past from:01/01/1968 till:12/31/1969 text:High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms / Royals
bar:12 color:Past from:01/01/1956 till:05/11/1957 text:Kinston Eagles
bar:12 color:Past from:01/01/1962 till:12/31/1974 text:Kinston Eagles / Expos
bar:12 color:Past from:01/01/1978 till:12/31/2011 text:Kinston Eagles / Blue Jays / Eagles / Indians
bar:12 color:Full from:01/01/2017 till:12/31/2019 text:Down East Wood Ducks
bar:13 color:Past from:01/01/1956 till:12/31/1968 text:Wilson Tobs
bar:13 color:Past from:01/01/1973 till:12/31/1973 text:Wilson Pennants
bar:14 color:Past from:01/01/1962 till:12/31/1975 text:Rocky Mount Leafs / Phillies
bar:14 color:Past from:01/01/1980 till:12/31/1980 text:Rocky Mount Pines
bar:15 color:Past from:01/01/1963 till:12/31/1971 text:Peninsula Senators / Grays / Astros / Phillies
bar:15 color:Past from:01/01/1974 till:12/31/1974 text: / Pennants
bar:15 color:Past from:01/01/1976 till:12/31/1992 text:Peninsula Pilots | / Pilots / White Sox / Virginia Generals / Peninsula Pilots]
bar:16 color:Past from:01/01/1963 till:12/31/1968 text:Tidewater Tides
bar:17 color:Full from:01/01/1966 till:12/31/2019 text:Lynchburg White Sox / Twins / Rangers / Mets / Red Sox / Hillcats
bar:18 color:Past from:01/01/1967 till:12/31/1967 text:Asheville Tourists
bar:19 color:Full from:01/01/1968 till:12/31/2019 text:Salem Rebels / Pirates / Redbirds / Buccaneers / Avalanche / Red Sox
bar:20 color:Past from:01/01/1969 till:12/31/1969 text:Red Springs Twins
bar:21 color:Past from:01/01/1978 till:12/31/1983 text:Alexandria Dukes / Mariners / Dukes
bar:22 color:Past from:01/01/1981 till:12/31/1988 text:Hagerstown Suns
bar:23 color:Past from:01/01/1984 till:12/31/1998 text:Prince William Pirates / Yankees / Cannons
bar:24 color:Full from:01/01/1990 till:12/31/2019 text:Frederick Keys
bar:25 color:Full from:01/01/1993 till:12/31/2019 text:Wilmington Blue Rocks
bar:26 color:Full from:01/01/1999 till:12/31/2019 text:Potomac Cannons / Nationals
bar:27 color:Full from:01/01/1999 till:12/31/2019 text:Myrtle Beach Pelicans
bar:28 color:Full from:01/01/2012 till:12/31/2019 text:Carolina Mudcats
bar:29 color:Past from:01/01/2017 till:12/31/2018 text:Buies Creek Astros
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:01/01/1945
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text:^"Carolina League Timeline"
  1. > If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following three options Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space. <#