Blue Ridge League

The Blue Ridge League (BRL) was the name of two minor league baseball organizations that operated in the first half of the twentieth century in the United States.

First League

Blue Ridge League
Sport Baseball
Founded 1915
Inaugural season 1915
Ceased 9 February 1931
No. of teams 6 (1915–1917) (1920–1929)
4 (1918, 1930)
Country United States United States
Last
champion(s)		 Chambersburg Young Yanks
Most titles Hagerstown (5)
Official website blueridgeleague.org

The first league 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 Double-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 it ceased its operations shortly before the beginning of the 1931 season.[1]

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, and ultimately disbanded after three weeks of play due to the lack of players during World War I.

Due to the aftermath of the war and the 1918 flu pandemic, the BRL did not resume operations until 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

Cities representedTeamsYear(s)
Chambersburg, PennsylvaniaChambersburg Maroons1915–1917, 1920–1928
Chambersburg Young Yanks1929–1930
Cumberland, MarylandCumberland Colts1917–1918
Frederick, MarylandFrederick Hustlers1915, 1917; 1920–1928
Frederick Champs1916
Frederick Warriors1929–1930
Gettysburg, PennsylvaniaGettysburg Patriots
Gettysburg Ponies		1915
1916–1917
Hagerstown, MarylandHagerstown Blues1915
Hagerstown Terriers1916–1918, 1922–1923
Hagerstown Champs1920–1921
Hagerstown Hubs1924–1930
Hanover, PennsylvaniaHanover Hornets1915
Hanover Raiders1916–1917, 1920–1929
Martinsburg, West VirginiaMartinsburg Champs1915
Martinsburg Blue Sox1916–1917, 1922–1929
Martinsburg Mountaineers1920–1921
Piedmont, West Virginia
Westernport, Maryland		Piedmont-Westernport Drybugs1918
Waynesboro, PennsylvaniaWaynesboro Red Birds1920, 1928–1930
Waynesboro Villagers1921–1927

Championship teams

Season records

Hitting

Pitching

No-Hitters

YearDatePitcherTeamOppositionScore
1915August 3Edward StrickerChambersburgGettysburg1-0
1916June 28Wick WinslowHagerstownChambersburg4-0
1916August 25Earl HowardHagerstownGettysburg4-0
1924July 5Walt HalasHanoverChambersburg5-1
1926August 3Chuck WardenWaynesboroHagerstown3-0

Second League

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

Cities representedTeamsYear(s)
Abingdon, VirginiaAbingdon Triplets1948
Bassett, VirginiaBassett Statesmen1950
Elkin, North CarolinaElkin Blanketeers1949–1950
Galax, VirginiaGalax Leafs1946–1950
Leaksville, Draper, Spray, North CarolinaLeaksville-Draper-Spray Triplets1948
Lenoir, North CarolinaLenoir Red Sox1946–1947
Mount Airy, North CarolinaMount Airy Graniteers1946–1950
North Wilkesboro, North CarolinaNorth Wilkesboro Flashers1948–1950
Radford, VirginiaRadford Rockets1946–1950
Salem, VirginiaSalem Friends1946
Wytheville, VirginiaWytheville Pioneers1948
Wytheville Statesmen1949–1950

Championship teams

  1. Salem moved to Lenoir in the midseason

References

  1. ↑ "Blue Ridge League Disbands After Operating Continuously For 16 Years" (PDF). The Frederick Post. Frederick, Maryland. 10 February 1931. Retrieved 8 November 2014.

Sources

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