The Peninsula Grays were a Class A Carolina League ball club out of Hampton, Virginia during the mid-1960’s. As a Cincinnati Reds farm club from 1964 to 1966, the Grays helped to develop several Big Red Machine stars of the 1970’s. The 1966 Grays club was especially well stocked, featuring teenagers Johnny Bench and Bernie Carbo and a 20-year old Hal McRae.
The Lynchburg Mets were a Class-A farm club of the New York Mets for 12 seasons. This included a stretch in the early 1980’s when the Mets boasted one of the richest farm systems in Major League Baseball. The L-Mets won back-to-back Carolina League crowns in 1983 and 1984 and produced four straight Carolina League Most Valuable Players during the middle of the decade: Lenny Dykstra (’83), Barry Lyons (’84), Shawn Abner (’85) & Gregg Jeffries (’86).
South Atlantic League (1962-1963) Southern League (1964-1965) Carolina League (1966-1969) Born: August 26, 1962 – The Savannah White Sox relocate to Lynchburg, VA Re-Branded: Postseason 1969
The small city of Wilson, North Carolina fielded numerous minor league baseball teams between 1908 and 1973. Wilson’s local nine were typically known as the “Tobs” (short for “Tobacconists”) through various iterations and leagues, but when long-time minor league operator Marshall Fox arrived in town in early 1973, he chose the rather generic “Wilson Pennants” for his new Carolina League entry. Fox would stay only one season and the summer of 1973 would prove to be the last one for pro baseball in Wilson.
The Winston-Salem Spirits were a Class A minor league baseball team in North Carolina during the 1980’s and early 1990’s. The club won back-to-back Carolina League crowns in 1985 and 1986 as a Chicago Cubs farm team. The Spirits’ were featured in the classic 1988 minor league baseball film Bull Durham in their distinctive purple and green uniforms.
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