Carolina League

This article is about the baseball league founded in 1945. For the independent baseball league that operated between 1936 and 1938, see Carolina League (1936–1938).

The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganization of the minor leagues. The league temporarily operated for the 2021 season as the Low-A East before reassuming its original moniker in 2022.

Carolina League

Classification	Single-A (2022–present) Low-A (2021) Class A-Advanced (1990–2020)
Sport	Baseball
Founded	1945 (79 years ago) (1945)
No. of teams	12
Country	United States
Most recent champion(s)	Fredericksburg Nationals (2024)
Most titles	Winston-Salem Dash (11)
Official website	www.carolinaleague.com

The organization that later became the Carolina League formed in 1945, just as World War II was ending, and consisted of eight teams, six from North Carolina and two from southern Virginia. This later grew to as many as 12 teams at times.

History

The Carolina League was announced on October 29, 1944, after an organizational meeting at Durham, North Carolina. It was a successor to the Class D 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 (all from North Carolina), along with Danville and Martinsville from Virginia.^[1]

A few of the many Carolina League players who have gone on to star in the Major Leagues are: Johnny Bench (Peninsula, 1966), Wade Boggs (Winston-Salem, 1977), Barry Bonds (Prince William, 1985), Rod Carew (Wilson, 1966), Dock Ellis (Kinston, 1965), Dwight Evans (Winston-Salem, 1971), Dwight Gooden (Lynchburg, 1983), Zack Greinke (Wilmington, 2003), Andruw Jones (Durham, 1996), Chipper Jones (Durham, 1992), Willie McCovey (Danville, 1956), Joe Morgan (Durham, 1963), Dave Parker (Salem, 1972), Tony Pérez (Rocky Mount, 1962), Andy Pettitte (Prince William, 1993), Jorge Posada (Prince William, 1993), Darryl Strawberry (Lynchburg, 1981), Bernie Williams (Prince William, 1988), and Carl Yastrzemski (Raleigh, 1959).^{[citation needed]}

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 (they have since become a Class AAA team in the International League). Before he began making films, Shelton had a five-year minor league career in the Baltimore Orioles' organization, which included a stint in the International League.^[2]

The Carolina League added two expansion teams for the 2017 season to fill two vacant spots at the Class A-Advanced level previously occupied by the California League's Bakersfield Blaze and High Desert Mavericks, which ceased operations at the end of the 2016 season. These additional teams were the Down East Wood Ducks in Kinston, North Carolina, and the Buies Creek Astros in Buies Creek, North Carolina.^[3] After the 2018 season, the Buies Creek Astros relocated to Fayetteville, North Carolina as the Fayetteville Woodpeckers. After the 2019 season, the Potomac Nationals relocated within Northern Virginia to Fredericksburg, 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.^[4][5] As part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganization of the minor leagues, the Carolina League was demoted to Single-A and temporarily renamed the "Low-A East" for the 2021 season.^[6] In the realignment process, the Frederick Keys were demoted out of professional baseball, the Wilmington Blue Rocks and Winston-Salem Dash were shifted to the South Atlantic League (retaining their High-A status), and five teams were moved from the old SAL to bring the CL to twelve member teams. Following MLB's acquisition of the rights to the names of the historical minor leagues, the Carolina League name was restored effective with the 2022 season.^[7]

In July 2024, MiLB announced that the Hickory Crawdads will join the Carolina League in 2025, replacing the Down East Wood Ducks.^[8]

Current teams

Division	Team	MLB affiliation	City	Stadium	Capacity
North	Carolina Mudcats	Milwaukee Brewers	Zebulon, North Carolina	Five County Stadium	6,500
	Delmarva Shorebirds	Baltimore Orioles	Salisbury, Maryland	Arthur W. Perdue Stadium	5,200
	Fayetteville Woodpeckers	Houston Astros	Fayetteville, North Carolina	Segra Stadium	4,786
	Fredericksburg Nationals	Washington Nationals	Fredericksburg, Virginia	Virginia Credit Union Stadium	5,000
	Lynchburg Hillcats	Cleveland Guardians	Lynchburg, Virginia	Bank of the James Stadium	4,000
	Salem Red Sox	Boston Red Sox	Salem, Virginia	Salem Memorial Ballpark	6,300
South	Augusta GreenJackets	Atlanta Braves	North Augusta, South Carolina	SRP Park	4,782
	Charleston RiverDogs	Tampa Bay Rays	Charleston, South Carolina	Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park	6,000
	Columbia Fireflies	Kansas City Royals	Columbia, South Carolina	Segra Park	7,501
	Hickory Crawdads	Texas Rangers	Hickory, North Carolina	L. P. Frans Stadium	5,062
	Kannapolis Cannon Ballers	Chicago White Sox	Kannapolis, North Carolina	Atrium Health Ballpark	4,930
	Myrtle Beach Pelicans	Chicago Cubs	Myrtle Beach, South Carolina	Pelicans Ballpark	6,599

150km
100miles

Pelicans

12

Cannon Ballers

11

Crawdads

10

Fireflies

9

RiverDogs

8

GreenJackets

7

Red Sox

6

Hillcats

5

Nationals

4

Woodpeckers

3

Shorebirds

2

Mudcats

1

  

Current team locations:

  North Division

  South Division

1

Carolina Mudcats

2

Delmarva Shorebirds

3

Fayetteville Woodpeckers

4

Fredericksburg Nationals

5

Lynchburg Hillcats

6

Salem Red Sox

7

Augusta GreenJackets

8

Charleston RiverDogs

9

Columbia Fireflies

10

Hickory Crawdads

11

Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

12

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Champions

Main article: List of Carolina League champions

Awards

Main article: Baseball awards § Carolina League

All-time teams (1945–present)

All teams that have competed in the Carolina League since its founding in 1945:^[9]

Alamance Indians (1958–1964, became the Burlington Senators) Alexandria Dukes (1978, became the Alexandria Mariners) Alexandria Dukes (1980–1983, became the Prince William Pirates) Alexandria Mariners (1979, became the Alexandria Dukes) Asheville Tourists (1967, moved to Southern League) Augusta GreenJackets (2021–present) Buies Creek Astros (2017–2018; became the Fayetteville Woodpeckers) Burlington Bees (1945–1951, became the Burlington-Graham Pirates) Burlington Rangers (1972, folded) Burlington Senators (1965–1971, became the Burlington Rangers) Burlington-Graham Pirates (1952–1955, folded) Carolina Mudcats (2012–present) Charleston RiverDogs (2021–present) Columbia Fireflies (2021–present) Danville 97s (1998, became the Myrtle Beach Pelicans) Danville Leafs (1945–1958, folded) Delmarva Shorebirds (2021–present) Down East Wood Ducks (2017–present) Durham Bulls (1945–1967, merged with the Raleigh Pirates and became the Raleigh-Durham Mets) Durham Bulls (1980–1997, became the Danville 97s) Fayetteville Athletics (1950–1952, became the Fayetteville Highlanders) Fayetteville Highlanders (1953–1956, folded) Fayetteville Woodpeckers (2019–present) Frederick Keys (1989–2020, moved to MLB Draft League) Fredericksburg Nationals (2020–present) Greensboro Patriots (1945–1957, became the Greensboro Yankees) Greensboro Patriots (1968, folded) Greensboro Yankees (1958–1967, became the Greensboro Patriots) Hagerstown Suns (1981–1988, became the Frederick Keys) High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms (1954–1958, folded) High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms (1968, became the High Point-Thomasville Royals) High Point-Thomasville Royals (1969, folded) Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (2021–present) Kinston Blue Jays (1982–1985, became the Kinston Eagles) Kinston Eagles (1956–1957, merged with the Wilson Tobs) Kinston Eagles (1962–1973, became the Kinston Expos) Kinston Eagles (1978–1981, became the Kinston Blue Jays) Kinston Eagles (1986, became the Kinston Indians) Kinston Expos (1974, folded) Kinston Indians (1987–2011, became the Carolina Mudcats) Leaksville-Draper-Spray Triplets (1945–1947, moved to the Blue Ridge League) Lynchburg Hillcats (1995–present) Lynchburg Mets (1976–1987, became the Lynchburg Red Sox) Lynchburg Rangers (1975, became the Lynchburg Mets) Lynchburg Red Sox (1988–1994, became the Lynchburg Hillcats) Lynchburg Twins (1970–1974, became the Lynchburg Rangers) Lynchburg White Sox (1966–1969, became the Lynchburg Twins) Martinsville Athletics (1945–1949, folded) Myrtle Beach Pelicans (1999–present)

Peninsula Astros (1969–1970, became the Peninsula Phillies) Peninsula Grays (1964–1968, became the Peninsula Astros) Peninsula Pennants (1974, folded) Peninsula Phillies (1971, folded) Peninsula Pilots (1976–1985, became the Peninsula White Sox) Peninsula Pilots (1989–1992, became the Wilmington Blue Rocks) Peninsula Senators (1963, became the Peninsula Grays) Peninsula White Sox (1986–1987, became the Virginia Generals) Potomac Cannons (1999–2004, became the Potomac Nationals) Potomac Nationals (2005–2019, became the Fredericksburg Nationals) Prince William Cannons (1990–1998, became the Potomac Cannons) Prince William Pirates (1984–1986, became the Prince William Yankees) Prince William Yankees (1987–1989, became the Prince William Cannons) Raleigh Capitals (1957–1962, became the Raleigh Mets) Raleigh Capitals (1945–1953, folded) Raleigh Cardinals (1964–1965, became the Raleigh Pirates) Raleigh Mets (1963, became the Raleigh Cardinals) Raleigh Pirates (1966–1967, merged with the Durham Bulls and became the Raleigh-Durham Mets) Raleigh-Durham Mets (1968, became the Raleigh-Durham Phillies) Raleigh-Durham Phillies (1969, became the Raleigh-Durham Triangles) Raleigh-Durham Triangles (1970–1971, folded) Red Springs Twins (1969, folded) Reidsville Luckies (1948–1954, became the Reidsville Phillies) Reidsville Phillies (1955, folded) Rocky Mount Leafs (1962–1963, became the Rocky Mount Senators) Rocky Mount Leafs (1965–1972, became the Rocky Mount Phillies) Rocky Mount Phillies (1973–1975, folded) Rocky Mount Pines (1980, became the Hagerstown Suns) Rocky Mount Senators (1964, became the Rocky Mount Leafs) Salem Avalanche (1995–2008, became the Salem Red Sox) Salem Buccaneers (1987–1994, became the Salem Avalanche) Salem Pirates (1972–1979, became the Salem Redbirds) Salem Rebels (1968–1971, became the Salem Pirates) Salem Red Sox (2009–present) Salem Redbirds (1980–1986, became the Salem Buccaneers) Tidewater Tides (1963–1968, moved to the International League) Virginia Generals (1988, became the Peninsula Pilots) Wilmington Blue Rocks (1993–2020, moved to High-A East) Wilson Pennants (1973, folded) Wilson Tobs (1956–1968, folded) Winston-Salem Cardinals (1945–1953, became the Winston-Salem Twins) Winston-Salem Dash (2009–2020, moved to High-A East) Winston-Salem Red Birds (1957–1960, became the Winston-Salem Red Sox) Winston-Salem Red Sox (1961–1983, became the Winston-Salem Spirits) Winston-Salem Spirits (1984–1994, became the Winston-Salem Warthogs) Winston-Salem Twins (1954–1956, became the Winston-Salem Red Birds) Winston-Salem Warthogs (1995–2008, became the Winston-Salem Dash)

League timeline (1945–present)

Current team Earlier team

Notes

References

1. Barrier, Smith (November 2, 1944). "Wilson Heads Carolina Loop: Seven Franchises Awarded to N.C. Cities, Another to Danville, Va". The Sporting News.
2. "Baseball Reference".
3. Glaser, Kyle. "Carolina League To Add Two Franchises In 2017". BaseballAmerica.com. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
4. "A Message From Pat O'Conner". Minor League Baseball. March 13, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
5. "2020 Minor League Baseball Season Shelved". Minor League Baseball. June 30, 2020. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
6. Mayo, Jonathan (February 12, 2021). "MLB Announces New Minors Teams, Leagues". Major League Baseball. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
7. "Historical League Names to Return in 2022". Minor League Baseball. March 16, 2022. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
8. "South Atlantic, Carolina Leagues to realign in 2025". Minor League Baseball (Press release). July 23, 2024. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
9. "2013 Carolina League Media Guide and Record Book". p. 4.

External links

• Official website