The Wilson Tobs were a minor league baseball club based in Wilson, North Carolina and played periodically between 1908 and 1973. The Tobs nickname was a shortened form of the word "tobacconists". From 1908 to 1910, the team was officially known as the Wilson Tobacconists and played in the Eastern Carolina League . The club won the league's championship in 1909 and they were in the championship series in 1908, when play was suspended due to a tropical storm. They then next spent eight seasons in the Virginia League . During the 1920–1922 and 1924–1927 seasons the team was known as the Wilson Bugs . They won the Virginia League championship in 1922 and 1923. From 1939 to 1952, the renamed Wilson Tobs were also a member of the Class D Coastal Plain League , winning that league's championship in 1941. The 1941 Tobs were recognized as one of the 100 greatest minor league teams of all time . In 1942, the team played in the Bi-State League .
20-698: The team also played in the Carolina League from 1956 to 1968, winning the league championship in 1959, 1961, and 1963. The 1966 team had future Hall of Fame member Rod Carew in their line-up. Wilson returned to the Carolina League for one season in 1973 as the Wilson Pennants . Currently, a summer collegiate baseball team plays at Fleming Stadium as the Wilson Tobs . Hall of Fame Alumni Notable Alumni Carolina League The Carolina League
40-516: A California League team longer than any other city, hosting a team in all but seven of the CL's 82 seasons. Active team Former team The California League inducted its first class of 15 inductees into its Hall of Fame in 2016. The California League Most Valuable Player Award was established in 1941. For award winners, see footnote For award winners, see footnote For award winners, see footnote The Doug Harvey Award—established in 2010—is for
60-660: A fictionalized account of the Durham Bulls , at that time a Carolina League team (they have since become a Class AAA team in the International League ). Before he began making films, Shelton had a five-year minor league career in the Baltimore Orioles ' organization, which included a stint in the International League. The Carolina League added two expansion teams for the 2017 season to fill two vacant spots at
80-565: A lease dispute with the city of Adelanto , were folded; the High-A level replaced them by expanding the Carolina League to ten teams. The start of the 2020 season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic before ultimately being cancelled on June 30. As part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganization of the minor leagues, the California League was demoted to Low-A and temporarily renamed
100-460: A result of World War II, the league dropped to four teams, then ceased and suspended operations altogether, although major league baseball and some minor leagues continued as much as possible with limited availability of players during the war years. It reorganized and came back in 1946, adding teams in Visalia , San Jose , and Ventura by 1947. Further east, Reno, Nevada joined the league in 1955 with
120-521: Is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California . Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major League Baseball 's 2021 reorganization of the minor leagues. The league temporarily operated for the 2021 season as the Low-A West before reassuming its original moniker in 2022. Before
140-657: Is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major League Baseball 's 2021 reorganization of the minor leagues. The league temporarily operated for the 2021 season as the Low-A East before reassuming its original moniker in 2022. The organization that later became
160-466: The COVID-19 pandemic , league attendance continued to increase each season, with over one million fans attending games per year, part of a general nationwide growth and expansion to smaller towns, cities, and regions below those in the National League or American League with Minor League Baseball at various levels of play in growing popularity in the last few decades. There were various attempts in
180-825: The Class A-Advanced level previously occupied by the California League 's Bakersfield Blaze and High Desert Mavericks , which ceased operations at the end of the 2016 season. These additional teams were the Down East Wood Ducks in Kinston, North Carolina , and the Buies Creek Astros in Buies Creek, North Carolina . After the 2018 season, the Buies Creek Astros relocated to Fayetteville, North Carolina as
200-663: The Fayetteville Woodpeckers . After the 2019 season, the Potomac Nationals relocated within Northern Virginia to Fredericksburg , rebranding themselves as the Fredericksburg Nationals . The start of the 2020 season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic before ultimately being cancelled on June 30. As part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganization of the minor leagues, the Carolina League
220-512: The National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues , an organization of minor leagues was formed in 1902, (following the "truce" and agreements between the older National League of 1876 and the newly "upstart" American League of 1901), the California League operated outside the NAPBL system as an independent league in 1902 and again from 1907 to 1909. This led to huge differences in
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#1733093325035240-581: The "Low-A West" for the 2021 season. Following MLB's acquisition of the rights to the names of the historical minor leagues, the Low-A West was renamed the California League and reclassified as a Single-A league effective with the 2022 season. Year by Year list of league champions: The Los Angeles area, Riverside, San Bernardino, Palm Springs, Yuma (AZ) and Las Vegas (NV) were also major league spring training site cities, as well possessed California League teams on different occasions. Modesto has hosted
260-745: The Carolina League formed in 1945, just as World War II was ending, and consisted of eight teams, six from North Carolina and two from southern Virginia . This later grew to as many as 12 teams at times. The Carolina League was announced on October 29, 1944, after an organizational meeting at Durham , North Carolina. It was a successor to the Class D Bi-State League that existed before World War II. The league began play in 1945 with eight teams based in Burlington , Durham , Greensboro , Leaksville , Raleigh , Winston-Salem (all from North Carolina), along with Danville and Martinsville from Virginia. A few of
280-559: The early eighties, then reached ten in 1986 and held that configuration for thirty-one seasons. From 1996 to 2016, the league had a remarkably stable alignment for Class A baseball, with no teams moving or folding for twenty-one years. After the 2016 season, the Bakersfield Blaze , long dogged by inadequate facilities and unable to negotiate significant repairs, and the High Desert Mavericks , suffering from falling attendance and
300-508: The late 1800s and early 1900s to form a "California League" on the West Coast , considering the distance of the two current major leagues which generally had teams only in the Northeast and were restricted at first until World War I by long-distance train travel. The first organized California League lasted from 1887 to 1889, then another followed in 1891, and 1893, and finally in 1899–1902. After
320-997: The many Carolina League players who have gone on to star in the Major Leagues are: Johnny Bench (Peninsula, 1966), Wade Boggs (Winston-Salem, 1977), Barry Bonds (Prince William, 1985), Rod Carew (Wilson, 1966), Dock Ellis (Kinston, 1965), Dwight Evans (Winston-Salem, 1971), Dwight Gooden (Lynchburg, 1983), Zack Greinke (Wilmington, 2003), Andruw Jones (Durham, 1996), Chipper Jones (Durham, 1992), Willie McCovey (Danville, 1956), Joe Morgan (Durham, 1963), Dave Parker (Salem, 1972), Tony Pérez (Rocky Mount, 1962), Andy Pettitte (Prince William, 1993), Jorge Posada (Prince William, 1993), Darryl Strawberry (Lynchburg, 1981), Bernie Williams (Prince William, 1988), and Carl Yastrzemski (Raleigh, 1959). Director and screenwriter Ron Shelton 's 1988 film Bull Durham , starring Kevin Costner , Tim Robbins , and Susan Sarandon , depicted
340-528: The movement of the old Channel Cities Oilers in Santa Barbara and continued as a member for 37 years. Though nicknames and affiliations shifted, the California League's postwar configuration was largely stable by the late 1950s; four of the six cities in the league in 1960 would still be part of the league 50 years later. The league reached eight clubs in 1966 and would hold that for ten years, briefly dipped to six before wavering between eight and nine clubs in
360-615: The quality of teams competing with each other. In 1907, the San Francisco team was 3–34, while later in 1908 San Francisco was 9–67 and Oakland was 4–71. Oakland and San Francisco competed in every year of these various state leagues, with San Francisco having two teams during 1887–88. The latest version of the California League was founded in 1941, and included teams in Anaheim , Bakersfield , Fresno , Merced , Riverside , San Bernardino , Santa Barbara , and Stockton . The following year, as
380-497: The rights to the names of the historical minor leagues, the Carolina League name was restored effective with the 2022 season. In July 2024, MiLB announced that the Hickory Crawdads will join the Carolina League in 2025, replacing the Down East Wood Ducks . All teams that have competed in the Carolina League since its founding in 1945: Current team Earlier team California League The California League
400-604: Was demoted to Single-A and temporarily renamed the "Low-A East" for the 2021 season. In the realignment process, the Frederick Keys were demoted out of professional baseball, the Wilmington Blue Rocks and Winston-Salem Dash were shifted to the South Atlantic League (retaining their High-A status), and five teams were moved from the old SAL to bring the CL to twelve member teams. Following MLB's acquisition of
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