Blue Ridge League

The Blue Ridge League (BRL) was a minor league baseball organization that operated for the better part of sixteen years, from 1915 through 1918, and 1920 to 1930.

It was a Class D league in the old classification system that ran from Class D up to Class Triple-A, and had teams from Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

The league was founded by Charles W. Boyer in 1915, as part of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues. Boyer, former president of the original South Atlantic League, served as the league president in the BRL inaugural season. Due to internal problems, Boyer resigned as president the first week of the 1916 season, being replaced by James Vincent Jamison, Jr. Jamison was at the forefront of the league until 1930, when it ceased its operations.

The BRL play officially began in 1915 with six teams from Chambersburg, Frederick, Gettysburg, Hagerstown, Hanover and Martinsburg. The team to win the most games during the regular season was declared the pennant winner. Through the 1917 midseason, Chambersburg replaced Cumberland when this team refused to pay its annual forfeit fee. The league shrank from six teams to four in 1918, with teams representing Cumberland, Hagerstown, Martinsburg and Piedmont. In 1919, the league disbanded after three weeks of play due to the lack of players during World War I.

The BRL resumed operations in 1920, with Chambersburg, Frederick, Hagerstown, Hanover and Martinsburg rejoining the action, as well as the addition of the Waynesboro franchise to bring again the six-team format. Since 1928, the two teams with the best records compited in a series of play-off games to determine the League Champion. Gradually, six Major League Baseball franchises started their affiliation with the league, among others Cleveland Indians (Frederick), Detroit Tigers (Hanover), New York Yankees (Chambersburg), St. Louis Cardinals (Waynesboro) and Philadelphia Athletics (Martinsburg), Washington Senators (Hagenstown). But after the Wall Street Crash of 1929, Detroit and St. Louis dropped their affiliations due to heavy financial losses. Only the teams of Chambersburg, Frederick, Hagerstown and Waynesboro returned in 1930, the BRL's last ever season.

Cities/Teams/Years

Championship teams

• 1915 Frederick Hustlers
• 1916 Chambersburg Maroons
• 1917 Hagerstown Terriers
• 1918 Cumberland Colts
• 1919 Season suspended
• 1920 Hagerstown Champs
• 1921 Frederick Hustlers
• 1922 Martinsburg Blue Sox
• 1923 Martinsburg Blue Sox
• 1924 Martinsburg Blue Sox
• 1925 Hagerstown Hubs
• 1926 Hagerstown Hubs
• 1927 Chambersburg Maroons
• 1928 Hanover Raiders
• 1929 Hagerstown Hubs
• 1930 Chambersburg Young Yanks

Hall of Fame Alumni

• Three future Hall of Famers took their first steps in the league: pitcher Lefty Grove (Martinsburg, 1920), outfielder Hack Wilson (Martinsburg, 1921-'22) and umpire Bill McGowan (1917). Besides this, Bill Allington (Chambersburg, 1926), the most successful manager in All-American Girls Professional Baseball League history, gained induction into the Hall with the rest of the league.

Other players

Second stage

Another Blue Ridge League operated between 1946 and 1950. It was located in North Carolina and Virginia and was rated as a D-level league. The Presidents in the history of the league were Joe Ryan (1946), Stanley F. Radke (1947-'48), Judge E. C. Bivins (1948-'49) and John B. Spiers (1950). In 1946, the team with the best winning record was declared the pennant winner. From 1947 through 1950, the two teams with the best records faced in a series of play-off games to determine the League Champion.

Cities/Teams/Years

Championship teams

• 1946 Salem Friends/Lenoir Red Sox #
• 1947 Galax Leafs
• 1948 Galax Leafs
• 1949 Mount Airy Graniteers
• 1950 Elkin Blanketeers

1. Salem moved to Lenoir in the midseason

Major League Baseball alumni

• Bob Bowman
• Chubby Dean
• Larry Douglas
• John Glenn
• Tom Gorman
• Jim Mooney
• Eddie Morgan
• Bob Porterfield
• Ed Sadowski
• Van Fletcher

Sources

• Minor League Baseball Standings: All North American Leagues, through 1999 – Benjamin Barrett Sumner. Publisher: McFarland & Company, 2000. Format: Hardcover, 726pp. Language: English. ISBN 0-7864-0781-6
• Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball: The Official Record of Minor League Baseball – Lloyd Johnson, Miles Wolff, Steve McDonald. Publisher: Baseball America, 1997. Format: Paperback, 672pp. Language: English. ISBN 0-9637189-7-5

External links

• Class D, Blue Ridge League (1915-1930) Website
• Baseball Reference - Blue Ridge League History