Carolina League
|
|
|
| sport | baseball |
| League foundation | 1945 |
| Teams | 10 |
| Country countries |
 United States
|
| Title holder | Wilmington Blue Rocks (2019) |
| Record champions | Winston-Salem Dash (11) |
| TV partner | CSN Mid-Atlantic Fox Sports Carolinas |
| Website | milb.com/carolina-league |
The Carolina League is a minor league baseball league that 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 was formed in 1945 and consisted of only two teams from southern Virginia and six teams from North Carolina. Historically, however, up to 12 teams have competed in the Carolina League in any given year. Today the league consists of 10 teams in a region that stretches 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 a meeting in Durham , North Carolina . The league was a successor to the Bi-State League , which existed before World War II. The league began in 1945 with eight teams in Burlington , Durham, Greensboro , Leaksville , Raleigh , Winston-Salem (all from North Carolina) and Danville and Martinsville from Virginia.
Director and screenwriter Ron Shelton's 1988 film Bull Durham, starring Kevin Costner , Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon , showed a fictional account of the Durham Bulls , then a Carolina League team (they are now a Class AAA team in the International League). Before he started making films, Shelton had a five-year career in a small league 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 be adding two more teams for the 2017 season to fill two vacancies at the High-A level previously held by the Bakersfield Blaze and High Desert Mavericks of California League was occupied, which ceased operations at the end of the 2016 season. The Down East Wood Ducks play in Kinston , North Carolina , as partners of the Texas Rangers . The Buies Creek Astros played in Buies Creek , North Carolina in 2017 and 2018 , and plans to open their new home in nearby Fayetteville in 2019.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Carolina League To Add Two Franchises In 2017. Accessed November 1, 2018 .