The Burlington Royals were a minor league baseball team in

Burlington, North Carolina Burlington is a city in Alamance County, North Carolina, Alamance and Guilford County, North Carolina, Guilford counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the principal city of the Burlington, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Are ...

, United States. They were a Rookie-level team in the

Appalachian League The Appalachian League is a collegiate summer baseball league that operates in the Appalachian regions of Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina. Designed for rising freshmen and sophomores using wood bats, its season runs from ...

. The team was affiliated with the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

from 1986 to 2006 as the Burlington Indians. They were known as the Royals during an affiliation with the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

from 2007 to 2020. The Royals played their home games at

Burlington Athletic Stadium Burlington Athletic Stadium is a baseball stadium in Burlington, North Carolina. It seats 3,500 and serves as the home field for the Burlington Sock Puppets of the Appalachian League. The Sock Puppets were previously known as the Burlington R ...

. Opened in 1960, Burlington Athletic Stadium held 3,500 fans. Major League Baseball alumni of note are featured on the wall inside the men's restroom at the Burlington Athletic Stadium in the form of painted jerseys:

Manny Ramirez Manuel Arístides Ramírez Onelcida (born May 30, 1972) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for parts of 19 seasons. He played with the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, L ...

(#22),

Jim Thome James Howard Thome (; born August 27, 1970) is an American former professional baseball corner infielder and designated hitter, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 22 seasons (1991–2012). He played for six different teams during the ...

(#25),

Bartolo Colón Bartolo Colón (born May 24, 1973), nicknamed "Big Sexy," is a Dominican-American professional baseball pitcher. He has played for 11 different Major League Baseball (MLB) teams: the Cleveland Indians (1997–2002), Montreal Expos (2002), Chicago ...

(#40) and

CC Sabathia Carsten Charles Sabathia Jr. (born July 21, 1980) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily with the New York Yankees. He also played for the Cleveland Indians and Milwauk ...

(#52). The start of the 2020 season was postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

before ultimately being cancelled on June 30. In conjunction with a contraction of Minor League Baseball beginning with the 2021 season, the Appalachian League was reorganized as a collegiate summer baseball league, and the Royals were replaced by a new franchise in the revamped league designed for rising college freshmen and sophomores.

Playoffs

*2019: Defeated Pulaski 2–1 in semifinals; lost to Johnson City 2–1 in finals. *2016: Defeated

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...

2–1 in semifinals; lost to Johnson City 2–0 in finals. *2012: Defeated Johnson City 2–1 in semifinals; lost to Elizabethton 2–1 in finals. *2010: Lost to Johnson City 2–0 in semifinals. *1993: Defeated Elizabethton 2–0 to win championship. *1991: Lost to Pulaski 2–0 in finals. *1988: Lost to Kingsport 2–0 in finals. *1987: Defeated Johnson City 2–0 to win championship.

Burlington Indians (Carolina League)

In addition to the Appalachian League version of the Burlington Indians, from 1958 to 1964 a team representing Burlington, N.C., of the same name competed in the

Carolina League The Carolina League 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 unti ...

(Class B through 1962; thereafter Class A) as a Cleveland

farm club In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

. During its seven years of existence, the Carolina League Burlington Indians won one league championship. Its players included future major leaguers

Luis Tiant Luis Clemente Tiant Vega () (born November 23, 1940) is a Cuban former Major League Baseball (MLB) right-handed starting pitcher. He pitched in MLB for 19 years, primarily for the Cleveland Indians and the Boston Red Sox. Tiant compiled a 22 ...

and

Duke Sims Duane B. "Duke" Sims (born June 5, 1941) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played eleven seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1964 to 1974 for the Cleveland Indians, Los Angeles Dodgers, Detroit Tigers, New York Yank ...

. Prior to opening their Burlington ballpark in 1960, the club was known as Alamance, and played their home games at Graham Athletic Park a.k.a. Graham Park. That park still exists, as the ballfield for Graham Middle School on East Pine Street in

Graham, North Carolina Graham is a city in Alamance County, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the Burlington, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census the population was 17,153. It is the county seat of Alamance County. History ...

br>

Burlington Indians (Central Association)

A third team called the Burlington Indians was based in

Burlington, Iowa Burlington is a city in, and the county seat of, Des Moines County, Iowa, United States. The population was 23,982 in the 2020 census, a decline from the 26,839 population in 2000. Burlington is the center of a micropolitan area, which includes ...

, and played in the Class C

Central Association The Central Association was an American minor league baseball league. It began operations in 1908, as it was essentially renamed from the 1907 Iowa State League. The Central Association ran continuously through 1917. It was reorganized thirty year ...

in the late 1940s.

References

{{reflist

External links

Burlington Royals Official Site
Baseball teams established in 1986 Baseball teams disestablished in 2020 Defunct Appalachian League teams Kansas City Royals minor league affiliates Cleveland Guardians minor league affiliates Professional baseball teams in North Carolina 1986 establishments in North Carolina 2020 disestablishments in North Carolina Burlington, North Carolina