The Shelby Reds were a short-lived farm club of the Cincinnati Reds that played the county seat of Cleveland County, North Carolina, fifty miles west of Charlotte. Though the team played in the lower depths of the minors – the Class A Western Carolinas League – and played just two seasons, the Shelby Reds nevertheless produced a handful of future Major League regulars.
South Atlantic League (1980) Born: 1979 – Affiliation change from Shelby Pirates Moved: 1983 (Columbia Mets) First Game: April 9, 1981 (L 3-0 @ Asheville Tourists)
The Shelby Pirates were a Class A farm club of the Pittsburgh Pirates that operated in 1979 and 1980 in the small Western North Carolina city of Shelby (pop. 15,310 in 1980). Shelby had long but spotty track record of hosting Minor League ball dating back to the Great Depression. Shelby clubs played under a dozen different names between 1936 and 1982, none lasting more than five years at a stretch.
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