The South Atlantic League, or "Sally League," is a minor league baseball league which operates mostly in the southeastern United States, although it has a team in New Jersey, and also had a team in the Cleveland area from 2003 through 2009. It is a Class A league that plays a full season; its players are typically a mixture of newly-signed draftees (especially late in the season) and players promoted from rookie leagues.
[edit] History
There have been different South Atlantic Leagues in the history of minor league baseball, spanning from 1904 to the present with a few breaks. The Sally ran from 1904-1917 as a class C league, then started up again in 1919, also class C. This time it ran from 1919-1930, moving up to class B beginning in 1921. William G. Bramham became league president in mid-1924, and served until 1930. The Sally league was re-started again as a class B from 1936-1942, shut down for the war and returned in 1946 as a class A league. The AA Southern Association (which never integrated) died after the 1961 season and so the SAL was promoted to AA in 1963 to take its place; a year later the name was changed to the Southern League. Out of the 51 seasons of operation, Augusta, GA competed in 46, Macon, GA was around for 46, and Columbia, SC was in 45. Charleston, SC, Jacksonville, FL, Savannah, GA, and Columbus, GA each competed for at least 29 years also, making for a relatively stable line-up.
The South Atlantic League name went unused for 16 years—in 1980 the Western Carolinas League brought back the name when it sought to change its identity. For nearly 60 years, 1948 through 2007, the dominant figure in the WCL/SAL was league founder and president John Henry Moss, who started the WCL as a young man in 1948, refounded it in 1960 and then led it into the new century. Moss retired at the close of the 2007[1] Sally League season. He died at age 90 on July 1, 2009, at Kings Mountain, North Carolina — a town where he had also been mayor for 23 years.[2]
In 2005, the SAL had the highest attendance in 101 years with over 3,541,992 fans (while minor league baseball set a second straight record with 41,333,279 attendees). Currently, the league has 14 teams, divided into two divisions of seven clubs.
[edit] Current teams
The league is divided into a Northern Division and a Southern Division.
| Division | Team | MLB Affiliation | City | Stadium | Capacity |
| Northern | Delmarva Shorebirds | Baltimore Orioles | Salisbury, Maryland | Arthur W. Perdue Stadium | 5,200 |
| Greensboro Grasshoppers | Florida Marlins | Greensboro, North Carolina | NewBridge Bank Park | 7,499 |
| Hagerstown Suns | Washington Nationals | Hagerstown, Maryland | Municipal Stadium | 4,600 |
| Hickory Crawdads | Texas Rangers | Hickory, North Carolina | L. P. Frans Stadium | 5,092 |
| Kannapolis Intimidators | Chicago White Sox | Kannapolis, North Carolina | Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium | 4,700 |
| Lakewood BlueClaws | Philadelphia Phillies | Lakewood, New Jersey | FirstEnergy Park | 6,588 |
| West Virginia Power | Pittsburgh Pirates | Charleston, West Virginia | Appalachian Power Park | 6,200 |
| Southern | Asheville Tourists | Colorado Rockies | Asheville, North Carolina | McCormick Field | 4,000 |
| Augusta GreenJackets | San Francisco Giants | Augusta, Georgia | Lake Olmstead Stadium | 4,400 |
| Charleston RiverDogs | New York Yankees | Charleston, South Carolina | Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park | 6,000 |
| Greenville Drive | Boston Red Sox | Greenville, South Carolina | Fluor Field at the West End | 6,000 |
| Lexington Legends | Houston Astros | Lexington, Kentucky | Applebee's Park | 6,994 |
| Rome Braves | Atlanta Braves | Rome, Georgia | State Mutual Stadium | 5,105 |
| Savannah Sand Gnats | New York Mets | Savannah, Georgia | Grayson Stadium | 5,000 |
[edit] Heritage: The former 'Sally League'
The current Class A South Atlantic League came into being in 1980 as the successor to the former Western Carolinas League.
The original SAL - often called the "Sally League" - was a higher-classification circuit that played from 1904-17, 1919-30, 1936-42 and 1946-63. The old Sally League grew from Class C status to class B (through 1942), then Class A (until 1962). In its final season, it was elevated to AA. The Sally League then morphed into the current AA Southern League in 1964 and the South Atlantic League name disappeared from the minor league baseball rolls through the end of the 1979 season.
[edit] South Atlantic League teams (1980–present)
Notes: Bold font indicates that team is an active South Atlantic League team • An "^" indicates that team's article redirects to an article of an active South Atlantic League team
[edit] League champions
[edit] Notable alumni
[edit] References
- ^ Baseball America, December 15, 2007
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/14/sports/baseball/14moss.html?hpw
[edit] External links
| South Atlantic League | | | Northern Division | | | | Southern Division | | |
