Carolina League

The Carolina League was a class A minor league that began play in 1945 and lasted until 2019. After the 2020 season was cancelled by the Coronavirus pandemic, it was dissolved as part of the reorganization of the minor leagues, with many of its former teams joining the Low-A East section of the Professional Development League. It was historically based around cities in North Carolina and Virginia. In 2022, the Low-A east rebranded itself as the Carolina League.

The league last operated as a ten-team circuit, with two divisions of five teams each, following the addition of two teams prior to the 2017 season. While the league had been in operation continuously since 1945, it almost went out of business in the mid-1970s, when it dwindled to just four teams from 1975 to 1977. Adding a couple of unaffiliated franchises in the wake of the expansion of 1977 saved the circuit.

The film Bull Durham is set in the Carolina League.

Current Teams, Managers, and Affiliations

North Division				Central Division				South Division
Team	Manager	Affiliation		Team	Manager	Affiliation		Team	Manager	Affiliation
Delmarva Shorebirds	Collin Woody	Baltimore Orioles		Carolina Mudcats	Nick Stanley	Milwaukee Brewers		Augusta GreenJackets	Wynston Sawyer	Atlanta Braves
Fredericksburg Nationals	Jake Lowery	Washington Nationals		Down East Wood Ducks	Carlos Maldonado	Texas Rangers		Charleston RiverDogs	Sean Smedley	Tampa Bay Rays
Lynchburg Hillcats	Jordan Smith	Cleveland Indians		Fayetteville Woodpeckers	Ricky Rivera	Houston Astros		Columbia Fireflies	Jesus Azuaje	Kansas City Royals
Salem Red Sox	Liam Carroll	Boston Red Sox		Kannapolis Cannon Ballers	Pat Leyland	Chicago White Sox		Myrtle Beach Pelicans	Buddy Bailey	Chicago Cubs

League Champions and Award Winners

Year	Champion	Most Valuable Player	Pitcher of the Year	Manager of the Year
1945	Danville Leafs	-	-	Herb Brett Danville Leafs
1946	Raleigh Capitals	-	-	Floyd Patterson Durham Bulls
1947	Raleigh Capitals	-	-	Buddy Bates Burlington Bees
1948	Martinsville A's	Lewis Hester Reidsville Luckies	-	Buddy Bates Burlington Bees
1949	Burlington Bees	Leo Shoals Reidsville Luckies	-	Ace Parker Durham Bulls
1950	Winston-Salem Cardinals	Bill Evans Burlington Bees	-	George Kissell Winston-Salem Cardinals
1951	Winston-Salem Cardinals	Ray Jablonski Winston-Salem Cardinals	-	Ace Parker Durham Bulls
1952	Reidsville Luckies	Len Matarazzo Fayetteville Athletics	-	Herb Brett Raleigh Capitals
1953	Danville Leafs	Ramon Monzant Danville Leafs	-	Herb Brett Raleigh Capitals
1954	Fayetteville Highlanders	Guy Morton Greensboro Patriots	-	Stan Wentzel Burlington-Graham Pirates
1955	Danville Leafs	Danny Morejon High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms	-	Jimmy Brown High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms
1956	Fayetteville Highlanders	Curt Flood High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms	-	Johnny Pesky Durham Bulls
1957	Durham Bulls	Fred Van Dusen High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms	-	Bobby Mavis Durham Bulls
1958	Burlington Indians	Fred Valentine Wilson Tobs	-	Vern Hoscheit Greensboro; Pinky May Burlington
1959	Wilson Tobs	Carl Yastrzemski Raleigh Capitals	-	Ken Deal Raleigh Capitals
1960	Greensboro Yankees	Ed Olivares Winston-Salem Red Birds	-	Pinky May Burlington Indians
1961	Wilson Tobs	Chuck Weatherspoon Wilson Tobs	-	Jack McKeon Wilson Tobs
1962	Kinston Eagles	Rusty Staub Durham Bulls	-	Lou Fitzgerald Durham Bulls
1963	Wilson Tobs	Jim Price Kinston Eagles	-	Pat Colgan Burlington Indians
1964	Winston-Salem Red Sox	Ed Stroud Tidewater Tides	-	Bill Slack Winston-Salem Red Sox
1965	Portsmouth Tides	Bobby Murcer Greensboro Yankees	-	Pinky May Peninsula Grays
1966	Rocky Mount Leafs	Robbie Snow Winston-Salem Red Sox	-	Joe Morgan Raleigh Pirates
1967	Durham Bulls	Don Money Raleigh Pirates	-	Clyde McCullough Durham Bulls
1968	High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms	Tony Solaita High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms	-	Don Hoak Salem Rebels
1969	Raleigh-Durham Phillies	Luther Quinn Salem Rebels	-	Al Federoff Rocky Mount Leafs
1970	Winston-Salem Red Sox	Cliff Johnson Raleigh-Durham Triangles	-	Cliff Davis Raleigh-Durham Triangles
1971	Peninsula Phillies	Richard Giallella Peninsula Phillies	-	Gene Hassell Kinston Eagles
1972	Salem Pirates	Dave Parker Salem Pirates	-	Gene Hassell Kinston Eagles
1973	Winston-Salem Red Sox	Terry Whitfield Kinston Eagles	-	Dick Phillips Lynchburg Twins
1974	Salem Pirates	Miguel Dilone Salem Pirates	-	Johnny Lipon Salem Pirates
1975	Rocky Mount Phillies	Luke Wrenn Salem Pirates	-	Cal Emery Rocky Mount Phillies
1976	Winston-Salem Red Sox	Marshall Brant Lynchburg Mets	-	Tony Torchia Winston-Salem Red Sox
1977	Peninsula Pilots	Ossie Olivares Salem Pirates	-	Jack Aker Lynchburg Mets
1978	Lynchburg Mets	Ozzie Virgil Peninsula Pilots	-	Jack Aker Lynchburg Mets
1979	Peninsula Pilots	Bob Dernier Peninsula Pilots	Thomas Hart Peninsula Pilots	Bill Slack Winston-Salem Red Sox
1980	Peninsula Pilots	Julio Franco Peninsula Pilots	Roy Smith Peninsula Pilots	Johnny Lipon Salem Redbirds
1981	Hagerstown Suns	Brad Komminsk Durham Bulls	Mike Brown Winston-Salem Red Sox	Grady Little Hagerstown Suns
1982	Alexandria Dukes	Juan Samuel Peninsula Pilots	Charles Hudson Peninsula Pilots	Bill Dancy Peninsula Pilots
1983	Lynchburg Mets	Lenny Dykstra Lynchburg Mets	Dwight Gooden Lynchburg Mets	Sam Perlozzo Lynchburg Mets
1984	Lynchburg Mets	Barry Lyons Lynchburg Mets	Randy Myers Lynchburg Mets	Mike Cubbage Lynchburg Mets
1985	Winston-Salem Spirits	Shawn Abner Lynchburg Mets	Kyle Hartshorn Lynchburg Mets	Grady Little Kinston Blue Jays
1986	Winston-Salem Spirits	Gregg Jefferies Lynchburg Mets	Dave Pavlas Winston-Salem Spirits	Jim Essian Winston-Salem Spirits
1987	Salem Buccaneers	Casey Webster Kinston Indians	Blaine Beatty Hagerstown Suns	Mike Hargrove Kinston Indians
1988	Kinston Indians	Mickey Pina Lynchburg Red Sox	Kent Mercker Durham; Kevin Bearse Kinston	Dick Berardino Lynchburg Red Sox
1989	Prince William Cannons	Phil Plantier Lynchburg Red Sox	Charles Nagy Kinston Indians	Grady Little Durham Bulls
1990	Frederick Keys	Gary Scott Winston-Salem Spirits	Frank Seminara Prince William Cannons	Wally Moon Frederick Keys
1991	Kinston Indians	Pedro Castellano Winston-Salem Spirits	Sam Militello Prince William Cannons	Brian Graham Kinston Indians
1992	Peninsula Pilots	Bubba Smith Peninsula Pilots	John Cummings Peninsula Pilots	Marc Hill Peninsula Pilots
1993	Winston-Salem Spirits	Bubba Smith Winston-Salem Spirits	Julian Tavarez Kinston Indians	Dave Keller Kinston; Pete Mackanin Frederick
1994	Wilmington Blue Rocks	Larry Sutton Wilmington Blue Rocks	Bart Evans Wilmington Blue Rocks	Mike Jirschele Wilmington Blue Rocks
1995	Kinston Indians	Richie Sexson Kinston Indians	Bartolo Colon Kinston Indians	John Mizerock Wilmington Blue Rocks
1996	Wilmington Blue Rocks	Jose Guillen Lynchburg Hillcats	Noe Najera Kinston Indians	Jack Mull Kinston Indians
1997	Lynchburg Hillcats	Aramis Ramirez Lynchburg Hillcats	Cliff Politte Prince William Cannons	Joel Skinner Kinston Indians
1998	Wilmington Blue Rocks	Joe Crede Winston-Salem Warthogs	Rick Ankiel Prince William Cannons	Chris Cron Winston-Salem Warthogs
1999	Myrtle Beach and Wilmington (tie)	Marcus Giles Myrtle Beach Pelicans	Josh Kalinowski Salem Avalanche	Eric Wedge Kinston Indians
2000	Myrtle Beach Pelicans	Troy Farnsworth Potomac Cannons	Christian Parra Myrtle Beach Pelicans	Brian Snitker Myrtle Beach Pelicans
2001	Salem Avalanche	Victor Martinez Kinston Indians	Trey Hodges Myrtle Beach; Jimmy Journell Potomac	Brad Komminsk Kinston Indians
2002	Lynchburg Hillcats	Brad Hawpe Salem Avalanche	Sean Burnett Lynchburg Hillcats	Jeff Garber Wilmington Blue Rocks
2003	Winston-Salem Warthogs	Chris Shelton Lynchburg Hillcats	Zack Greinke Wilmington Blue Rocks	Dave Clark Lynchburg Hillcats
2004	Kinston Indians	Brad Eldred Lynchburg Hillcats	Zach Duke Lynchburg Hillcats	Torey Lovullo Kinston Indians
2005	Frederick Keys	Leo Daigle Winston-Salem Warthogs	Jim Johnson Frederick Keys	Ivan DeJesus Salem Avalanche
2006	Kinston Indians	Jordan Brown Kinston Indians	Chuck Lofgren Kinston Indians	Jim Pankovits Salem Avalanche
2007	Frederick Keys	Mitch Einertson Salem Avalanche	Rowdy Hardy Wilmington Blue Rocks	Mike Sarbaugh Kinston Indians
2008	Potomac Nationals	Beau Mills Kinston Indians	Jake Arrieta Frederick Keys	Rocket Wheeler Myrtle Beach Pelicans
2009	Lynchburg Hillcats	Brandon Waring Frederick Keys	Zach Britton Frederick Keys	Joe McEwing Winston-Salem Dash
2010	Potomac Nationals	Tyler Moore Potomac Nationals	Jordan Hotchkiss Lynchburg Hillcats	Joe McEwing Winston-Salem Dash
2011	Frederick Keys	Ian Gac Winston-Salem Dash	Robbie Ross Myrtle Beach Pelicans	Aaron Holbert Kinston Indians
2012	Lynchburg Hillcats	Dan Black Winston-Salem Dash	Gus Schlosser Lynchburg Hillcats	Tommy Thompson Winston-Salem Dash
2013	Salem Red Sox	Chris Curley Winston-Salem Dash	Cody Anderson Carolina Mudcats	Jason Wood Myrtle Beach Pelicans
2014	Potomac Nationals	Joey Gallo Myrtle Beach Pelicans	Glenn Sparkman Wilmington Blue Rocks	Tripp Keister Potomac Nationals
2015	Myrtle Beach Pelicans	Nellie Rodriguez Lynchburg Hillcats	Matt Heidenreich Winston-Salem Dash	Mark Johnson Myrtle Beach Pelicans
2016	Myrtle Beach Pelicans	Bobby Bradley Lynchburg Hillcats	Trevor Clifton Myrtle Beach Pelicans	Mark Budzinski Lynchburg Hillcats
2017	Lynchburg and Down East	Ademar Rifaela Frederick Keys	Triston McKenzie Lynchburg Hillcats	Tony Mansolino Frederick Keys
2018	Buies Creek Astros	Bobby Dalbec Salem Red Sox	Wil Crowe Potomac Nationals	Omar Vizquel Winston-Salem Dash
2019	Wilmington Blue Rocks	Mario Feliciano Carolina Mudcats	Noah Zavolas Carolina Mudcats	Corey Ragsdale Down East Wood Ducks

NOTE: 1999 Mills Cup Championship Series canceled because of Hurricane Floyd with the series tied 2-2. In 2017, the finals were canelled because of Hurricane Irma. In both, cases two teams were declared co-champions.

League Presidents

• Thomas Wilson (1945-47)
• Carroll Brown (1948)
• Herb Brett (1949)
• Ted Mann (1949-56)
• Bill Jessup (1957-69)
• Wallace McKenna (1970-76)
• James Mills (1977-83)
• John Hopkins (1984-2020)

Cities Represented

• Delaware:
  • Wilmington, DE: Wilmington Blue Rocks 1993-2019
• Maryland:
  • Frederick, MD: Frederick Keys 1989-2019
  • Hagerstown, MD: Hagerstown Suns 1981-1988
• North Carolina:
  • Asheville, NC: Asheville Tourists 1967
  • Buies Creek, NC: Buies Creek Astros 2017-2018
  • Burlington, NC: Burlington Bees 1945-1951; Burlington Indians 1958-1964; Burlington Senators 1965-1971; Burlington Rangers 1972
  • Burlington, NC & Graham, NC: Burlington-Graham Pirates 1952-1955
  • Durham, NC: Durham Bulls 1945-1967; Durham Bulls 1980-1997
  • Fayetteville, NC: Fayetteville A's 1950-1952; Fayetteville Highlanders 1953-1956 Fayetteville Woodpeckers 2019
  • Greensboro, NC: Greensboro Patriots 1945-1957; Greensboro Yankees 1958-1967; Greensboro Patriots 1968
  • High Point, NC & Thomasville, NC: High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms 1954-1958; High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms 1968; High Point-Thomasville Royals 1969
  • Kinston, NC: Kinston Eagles 1956-1957; Kinston Eagles 1962-1973; Kinston Expos 1974; Kinston Eagles 1978-1981; Kinston Blue Jays 1982-1985; Kinston Eagles 1986; Kinston Indians 1987-2011; Down East Wood Ducks 2017-2019
  • Leaksville, NC, Spray, NC: & Draper, NC Leaksville-Spray-Draper Triplets 1945-1947
  • Raleigh, NC: Raleigh Capitals 1945-1953; Raleigh Capitals 1958-1962; Raleigh Mets 1963; Raleigh Cardinals 1964-1965; Raleigh Pirates 1966-1967
  • Raleigh, NC & Durham, NC: Raleigh-Durham Mets 1968; Raleigh-Durham Phillies 1969; Raleigh-Durham Triangles 1970-1971
  • Red Springs, NC: Red Springs Twins 1969
  • Reidsville, NC: Reidsville Luckies 1948-1954; Reidsville Phillies 1955
  • Rocky Mount, NC: Rocky Mount Leafs 1962-1963; Rocky Mount Senators 1964; Rocky Mount Leafs 1965-1972; Rocky Mount Phillies 1973-1975; Rocky Mount Pines 1980
  • Wilson, NC: Wilson Tobs 1956-1968; Wilson Pennants 1973
  • Winston-Salem, NC: Winston-Salem Cardinals 1945-1953; Winston-Salem Twins 1954-1956; Winston-Salem Red Birds 1957-1960; Winston-Salem Red Sox 1961-1983; Winston-Salem Spirits 1984-1994; Winston-Salem Warthogs 1995-2008; Winston-Salem Dash 2009-2019
  • Zebulon, NC: Carolina Mudcats 2012-2019
• South Carolina:
  • Myrtle Beach, SC: Myrtle Beach Pelicans 1999-2019
• Virginia:
  • Alexandria, VA: Alexandria Dukes 1978; Alexandria Mariners 1979; Alexandria Dukes 1980-1983
  • Danville, VA: Danville Leafs 1945-1958; Danville 97s 1998
  • Fredericksburg, VA: Fredericksburg Nationals 2020 (did not play)
  • Hampton, VA: Peninsula Grays 1963-1968; Peninsula Astros 1969; Peninsula Phillies 1970-1971; Peninsula Pennants 1974; Peninsula Pilots 1976-1985; Peninsula White Sox 1986-1987; Virginia Generals 1988; Peninsula Pilots 1989-1992
  • Lynchburg, VA: Lynchburg White Sox 1966-1969; Lynchburg Twins 1970-1974; Lynchburg Rangers 1975; Lynchburg Mets 1976-1987; Lynchburg Red Sox 1988-1994; Lynchburg Hillcats 1995-2019
  • Martinsville, VA: Martinsville A's 1945-1949
  • Portsmouth, VA: Portsmouth Tides 1963-1968
  • Salem, VA: Salem Rebels 1968-1971; Salem Pirates 1972-1980; Salem Redbirds 1981-1986; Salem Buccaneers 1987-1994; Salem Avalanche 1995-2008; Salem Red Sox 2009-2019
  • Woodbridge, VA: Prince William Pirates 1984-1986; Prince William Yankees 1987-1988; Prince William Cannons 1989-1998; Potomac Cannons 1999-2004; Potomac Nationals 2005-2019

Alumni

Hall of Famers

• Heinie Manush (Manager, 1945 Martinsville Athletics)
• Earl Weaver (1950 Winston-Salem Cardinals)
• Joe Medwick (Manager, 1951 Raleigh Capitals)
• Willie McCovey (1956 Danville Leafs)
• Carl Yastrzemski (1959 Raleigh Capitals)
• Enos Slaughter (Manager, 1961 Raleigh Capitals)
• Tony Perez (1962 Rocky Mount Leafs)
• Joe Morgan (1963 Durham Bulls)
• Satchel Paige (1966 Peninsula Grays) - Paige was also signed to pitch one game for Greensboro in 1955, but George Trautman ruled the contract invalid
• Johnny Bench (1966 Peninsula Grays)
• Rod Carew (1966 Wilson Tobs)
• Dave Parker (1972 Salem Pirates)
• Wade Boggs (1977 Winston-Salem Red Sox)
• Fred McGriff (1983 Kinston Blue Jays)
• Jim Thome (1990 Kinston Indians)
• Chipper Jones (1992 Durham Bulls)

Further Reading

• Bill Kirkland: Eddie Neville of the Durham Bulls, 1993
• Jim L. Sumner: Separating the Men from the Boys, 1994

External Link

• Carolina League