Tombstone
Formed:
Re-Branded: 1980 (South Atlantic League)
First Game: May 25, 1960
Last Game: September 5, 1979
Seasons: 20
States & Provinces: 2
(North Carolina & South Carolina)
Leadership
President: John Henry Moss
Trophy Case
Western Carolinas League Most Valuable Player
Year | Player | Position | Team |
---|---|---|---|
1970 | George Hodge | Third Base | Spartanburg Phillies |
1978 | Jim Barbe | First Base | Asheville Tourists |
Western Carolinas League Most Valuable Pitcher
Year | Pitcher | Team |
---|---|---|
1970 | Craig Skok | Greenville Red Sox |
1978 | Scott Munninghoff | Spartanburg Phillies |
Western Carolinas League Most Outstanding Major League Prospect
Year | Player | Position | Team |
---|---|---|---|
1970 | Nelson Garcia | Outfielder | Spartanburg Phillies |
1978 | Scott Munninghoff | Spartanburg Phillies |
Western Carolinas League Manager of the Year
Year | Pitcher | Team |
---|---|---|
1978 | Jim Lett | Shelby Reds |
Background
The Western Carolinas League formed as a Class D circuit in late 1959/early 1960 with the intention of providing farm clubs to the Continental League, a proposed third addition to the ranks of the Major Leagues that would bring top-flight baseball to cities such as Dallas, Denver, Minneapolis, Toronto and New York (to replace the recently departed Dodgers and Giants). The Continental League intended to throw its first pitch in April 1961. The Western Carolinas League would get underway a year earlier in the summer of 1960.
The American and National Leagues ultimately scuttled the challenge posed by the Continental League with pre-emptive expansion. The Continental League disbanded in August 1960. But the Western Carolinas League opened for business that summer with eight clubs in North Carolina.
That number was reduced to six teams in 1961. And those clubs began pursuing American and National League affiliations. Four of the six club in the 1961 WCL secured Major League parent club partnerships. But 1962 saw a step back, as the WCL fielded just four clubs and only the Salisbury Braves (hitched up with the expansion New York Mets) had a Major League tie-up.
Surviving the 70’s
Minor league baseball re-classified its Class structure prior to the 1963 season and the Western Carolinas League shifted from the abandoned Class D designation to Class A. The league grew back to eight clubs in 1963, six of whom had Major League affiliations. 1963 also saw the WCL expand into South Carolina for the first time.
For the next 16 summers the WCL carried on a rather precarious existence, never expanding beyond its North Carolina and South Carolina homeland. In both 1975 and 1976 the league operated with just four member teams. But fortunes began to improve by the late 1970’s as the league built back to six teams. In 1979, the league added a notably strong new expansion club in Greensboro, North Carolina operated by Nashville’s Larry Schmittou, one of the top minor league promoters of the late 1970’s and 1980’s.
1980 Re-Branding
The Western Carolinas League re-branded itself as the South Atlantic League in 1980. Expansion beyond the Carolinas coincided with the new name as a team in Macon, Georgia was added for the 1980 season. The South Atlantic League thrives today with 14 franchises and has expanded as far afield as Kentucky and New Jersey.
Western Carolinas League Franchise List
FRANCHISE | YEARS ACTIVE | WCL CHAMPIONS |
---|---|---|
Anderson Giants | 1972 | Never |
Anderson Mets | 1974 | Never |
Anderson Rangers | 1975 | Never |
Anderson Senators | 1970-1971 | Never |
Anderson Tigers | 1973 | Never |
Asheville Tourists | 1976-1979 | Never |
Belmont Chiefs | 1961 | Never |
Charleston Patriots | 1976-1977 | Never |
Charleston Pirates | 1973-1975 & 1978 | Never |
Charlotte Twins | 1972 | Never |
Gastonia Cardinals | 1977-1979 | 1977 |
Gastonia Pirates | 1963-1970 & 1972 | Never |
Gastonia Rangers | 1973-1974 | 1974 |
Gastonia Rippers | 1960 | Never |
Greensboro Hornets | 1979 | Never |
Greenville Braves | 1963-1964 | 1963 |
Greenville Mets | 1965-1966 | Never |
Greenville Rangers | 1972 | Never |
Greenville Red Sox | 1967-1971 | 1970 |
Greenwood Braves | 1968-1979 | 1968, 1969, 1971, 1976, 1978 & 1979 |
Hickory Rebels | 1960 | Never |
Lexington Braves | 1967 | Never |
Lexington Giants | 1963-1966 | Never |
Lexington Indians | 1960-1961 | Never |
Monroe Indians | 1969 | Never |
Monroe Pirates | 1971 | Never |
Newton-Conover Twins | 1960-1962 | Never |
Orangeburg Cardinals | 1973 | Never |
Orangeburg Dodgers | 1974 | Never |
Rock Hill Cardinals | 1964-1965 | 1965 |
Rock Hill Indians | 1967-1968 | Never |
Rock Hill Wrens | 1963 | Never |
Rutherford County Owls | 1960 | Never |
Salisbury Astros | 1965-1966 | Never |
Salisbury Braves | 1960-1962 | 1960 |
Salisbury Dodgers | 1963-1964 | 1964 |
Shelby Colonels | 1960-1963 | 1961 |
Shelby Pirates | 1979 | Never |
Shelby Rebels | 1965 | Never |
Shelby Reds | 1977-1978 | Never |
Shelby Senators | 1969 | Never |
Shelby Yankees | 1964 | Never |
Spartanburg Phillies | 1963-1979 | 1966, 1967, 1972, 1973 & 1975 |
Statesville Colts | 1964 | Never |
Statesville Indians | 1969 | Never |
Statesville Owls | 1960-1963 | 1962 |
Statesville Tigers | 1966-1967 | Never |
Sumter Astros | 1971 | Never |
Sumter Indians | 1970 | Never |
Thomasville Hi-Toms | 1965-1966 | Never |
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