South Atlantic League

Infobox sports league

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pixels = 150px
caption = South Atlantic League logo
sport = Baseball
founded = 1980
motto =
teams = 16
country = USA
champion = Augusta GreenJackets
folded =
website = [http://www.southatlanticleague.com/ Official Website]

The South Atlantic League, or "Sally League," is a minor league baseball league which operates mostly in the southeastern United States, although it now has teams in New Jersey and Ohio. 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.

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, who keeps his age a private matter, retired at the close of the 2007 [Baseball America, December 15, 2007] Sally League season.

Currently, the league has sixteen teams, divided into two divisions of eight clubs.

The SAL had the highest attendance in 101 years with over 3,541,992 fans. In fact, minor league baseball set a second straight attendance record in 2005 with 41,333,279 fans.

Current teams

The league is divided into a Northern Division and a Southern Division.

:¹ The Captains will transfer to the Midwest League in 2010:² Hosting 2009 South Atlantic League All-Star Game:³ The Catfish will relocate to city-state|Bowling Green|Kentucky in 2009 and transfer to the Midwest League in 2010:⁴ To be replaced in 2009 by a new stadium currenly named "Bowling Green Ballpark".

Current team rosters

*

Future cities

*Bowling Green, Kentucky at a new ballpark [http://bgdailynews.com/articles/2007/06/13/news/news2.txt]

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.

Western Carolinas League / South Atlantic League teams

Since 1960:
*Albany Polecats
*Anderson Braves
*Anderson Giants
*Anderson Mets
*Anderson Rangers
*Anderson Senators
*Anderson Tigers
*Asheville Tourists
*Augusta GreenJackets
*Augusta Pirates
*Augusta Tourists
*Belmont Chiefs
*Cape Fear Crocs
*Capital City Bombers
*Charleston Alley Cats
*Charleston Patriots
*Charleston Pirates
*Charleston Rainbows
*Charleston RiverDogs
*Charleston Royals
*Charleston Wheelers
*Charlotte Twins
*Columbia Mets
*Columbus Catfish
*Columbus Indians
*Columbus RedStixx
*Delmarva Shorebirds
*Fayetteville Generals
*Florence Blue Jays
*Gastonia Cardinals
*Gastonia Expos
*Gastonia Jets
*Gastonia Pirates
*Gastonia Rangers
*Gastonia Rippers
*Gastonia Tigers
*Greensboro Bats
*Greensboro Grasshoppers
*Greensboro Hornets
*Greenville Bombers
* Greenville Braves
*Greenville Drive
*Greenville Mets
*Greenville Rangers
*Greenville Red Sox
*Greenwood Braves
*Greenwood Pirates
*Hagerstown Suns
*Hickory Crawdads
*Hickory Rebels
*Kannapolis Intimidators
*Lake County Captains
*Lakewood BlueClaws
*Lexington Giants
*Lexington Indians
*Lexington Legends
*Lexington Red Sox
*Lynchburg White Sox
*Macon Braves
*Macon Peaches
*Macon Pirates
*Macon Redbirds
*Monroe Indians
*Monroe Pirates
*Myrtle Beach Blue Jays
*Myrtle Beach Hurricanes
*Newton-Conover Twins
*Orangeburg Cardinals
*Orangeburg Dodgers
*Piedmont Boll Weevils
*Piedmont Phillies
*Rock Hill Cardinals
*Rock Hill Indians
*Rock Hill Spinners
*Rock Hill Wrens
*Rome Braves
*Rutherford County Owls
*Salisbury Astros
*Salisbury Braves
*Salisbury Dodgers
*Salisbury Senators
*Savannah Cardinals
*Savannah Sand Gnats
*Shelby Colonels
*Shelby Mets
*Shelby Pirates
*Shelby Rebels
*Shelby Reds
*Shelby Senators
*Shelby Yankees
*South Carolina South Stars
*South Georgia Waves
*Spartanburg Phillies
*Spartanburg Spinners
*Spartanburg Suns
*Spartanburg Traders
*Statesville Colts
*Statesville Indians
*Statesville Owls
*Statesville Tigers
*Sumter Astros
*Sumter Braves
*Sumter Flyers
*Sumter Indians
*Thomasville Hi-Toms
*Western Carolina Marions
*West Virginia Power
*Wilmington Waves

Notable alumni

*Hank Aaron
*Walter Alston
*Sparky Anderson
*Ryan Braun
*Steve Carlton
*Roger Clemens
*Ty Cobb
*Carlos Delgado
*Bob Gibson
*Vladimir Guerrero
*Ryan Howard
*Derek Jeter
*Tommy Lasorda
*Don Mattingly
*Eddie Murray
*Phil Niekro
*Dave Parker
*Mariano Rivera
*Hanley Ramirez
*Frank Robinson
*Nolan Ryan
*C. C. Sabathia
*Enos Slaughter
*Willie Stargell

References

External links

* [http://www.southatlanticleague.com/ South Atlantic League official site]