Western Carolinas League (1972)
Tombstone
Born: January 14, 1972 – WCL expansion franchise
Folded: September 19721Rollins, Glenn & Quincy, Bob. “Charlotte Strikes Out As Hornets, Twins Leave”. The Observer (Charlotte, NC). September 16, 1972
First Game: April 14, 1972 (L 7-4 vs. Gastonia Pirates)
Last Game: August 28, 1972 (L 2-0 @ Anderson Giants)
Western Carolinas League Championships: None
Stadium
Ownership & Affiliation
Owner: Minnesota Twins (Calvin Griffith)
Major League Affiliation: Minnesota Twins
Attendance
Background
The Charlotte Twins were a Class A farm team of the Minnesota Twins for a single season during the summer of 1972. The team entered the Western Carolinas League (WCL) as part of an unusual arrangement that saw Minnesota operate two farm clubs simultaneously out of Charlotte’s Clark Griffith Park that summer.
Relationship with Charlotte Hornets
The Charlotte Hornets of the Southern League were by far the more familiar attraction to Queen City fans. Some version of the Hornets played in the city on a more or less uninterrupted basis since World War I. The Hornets also played a higher calibre of ball (Class AA) and had 10 former or future Major Leaguers on their roster, compared to just two – Lyman Bostock and Rob Wilfong – for the Baby Twins.
The Charlotte Twins debuted on Friday, April 14th, 1972 as part of an four-team, two league doubleheader. The Twins hosted the Gastonia Pirates at 6:30 PM in the WCL season opener, followed by the Hornets against the Montgomery Rebels in the Southern League nightcap.
For the rest of the season, the two Charlotte clubs played a yin and yang schedule that saw the Twins home at Clark Griffith Park while the Hornets were on the road and vice versa. The two teams even shared a combined game program (above). Charlotte-area fans could enjoy minor league baseball of one class or another at Griffith Park virtually every single night during the summer of 1972. But few chose to.
Minnesota Abandons Charlotte
The Charlotte Twins finished the 1972 season with a 50-79 record, good for 5th place in the 6-team WCL.
In September 1972, the Minnesota Twins announced that both the WCL Twins and the double-AA Hornets would leave Charlotte. Minnesota moved transferred the Hornets club down to Orlando where they remained in the Southern League as the Orlando Twins (1973-1989). The Charlotte Twins were simply folded.
Charlotte had no pro baseball at all for the next three summers. The Southern League returned in 1976 with the formation of the Charlotte Orioles (1976-1987), a franchise which later evolved into the Class AAA Charlotte Knights ball club that still plays in the city today.
Trivia
The Charlotte Twins’ most dangerous bat was a 23-year old masher named Buddy Whitley. The 6′ 3″ outfielder led Charlotte in hits (119), home runs (13), RBIs (79) and slugging (.408). He never played another inning of pro ball after the 1972 season.
In Memoriam
Outfielder Lyman Bostock (Charlotte ’72) was shot to death in a case of mistaken identity in his hometown of Gary, Indiana on September 23, 1978 at the age of 27. Washington Post obituary.
Field Manager Bob Sadowski passed away on January 6, 2017 at age 79.
Links
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One Response
I did not know this was tried by the Twins organization. I remember some time ago that Nashville had a AAA and AA teams. It doesn’t work out.