The Carolina League was an "outlaw" professional baseball league in the

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

region of

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

.Holaday, Chris,
Baseball in North Carolina's Piedmont
' (Arcadia, 2002), pp. 79, 92 Drawing from the

textile mill Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...

s and milling towns in that region, the league was independent, meaning that it was not a part of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, the body that governed minor-league baseball during the league's lifetime. The Carolina League was the successor to the short-lived 1935 Carolina Textile League.

History

The league's independent status led to the league being branded as an "outlaw" league by supporters of the NAPBL, and the league's practice of allowing players to freely leave their contracts to play for teams in other leagues, was unorthodox at the time. Additionally, players on various teams were often given year-round

no-show job A no-show job is a paid position that ostensibly requires the holder to perform duties, but for which no work, or even attendance, is actually expected. The awarding of no-show jobs is a form of political or corporate corruption. A no-work job is ...

s in the team owners' various mills with salaries that supplemented their earnings from baseball. There was no cap to salaries for Carolina League players, and there were no limits to how many players with professional experience could play on any given team, a sharp difference from previous "mill leagues".Utley, R.G., and Verner, Scott,
The Independent Carolina Baseball League, 1936-1938
', (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1999) pp. 7-9, 66, 112, 187, 241, 260-61 This added incentive caused several players in NABPL leagues to moonlight as Carolina League players, often under assumed names. When caught by NABPL officials, moonlighting players were often banned from play in NAPBL leagues, effectively putting on hold or ending their professional careers. Professional players such as

Fred Archer Fred or Frederick Archer may refer to: * Fred Archer (jockey) (1857–1886), English jockey * Fred R. Archer (1889–1963), photographer and co-inventor of the photographic Zone System * Frederick Scott Archer (1813–1857), inventor of the photogr ...

and Vince Barton did stints with the Carolina League while on hiatus from

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

. In addition, the NAPBL combatted the insurgent influence of the Carolina League by installing an eight-team class-D league, the

North Carolina State League The North Carolina State League was a "Class D" league in Minor League Baseball. The original version of the league existed from 1913–1917 as the successor to the Carolina Association. The second version of the league was established in 1937 ...

in towns near Carolina League teams. The league folded in 1938 due to pressure from "organized" baseball, and many of the league's players went on to play in NABPL leagues, with some, such as

Dick Culler Richard Broadus Culler (January 15, 1915 – June 16, 1964), known outside of professional baseball by his middle name, was an American pro baseball player who appeared in 472 Major League games (primarily as a shortstop) for the Philadelphia A ...

and Grey Clarke going on to achieve prominence in the major leagues.

Teams

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony) * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...

Concord Weavers The Concord Weavers were a minor league baseball team based in Concord, North Carolina. Between 1936 and 1951, Concord teams played as a member of the Independent level Carolina League from 1936 to 1938 and the Class D level North Carolina State ...

, 1936–38 *

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

: Charlotte Hornets, 1936 * Forest City: Forest City/Rutherford County Owls, 1936 * Gastonia: Gastonia Spinners, 1937–38 * Hickory: Hickory Rebels, 1936–38 * Kannapolis: Kannapolis Towelers, 1936–38 *

Lenoir Lenoir may refer to: Locations: * Lenoir, North Carolina, United States * Lenoir County, North Carolina, United States * Lenoir City, Tennessee In Universities: * Lenoir-Rhyne University * Lenoir Dining Hall, a dining hall at the University of N ...

: Lenoir Finishers, 1937–38 * Mooresville: Mooresville Moors, 1936 *

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

: Salisbury Colonials, 1936 * Shelby: Shelby Cee Cees, 1936 * Valdese: Valdese Textiles, 1936–38

Champions

The following teams were champions of the Carolina League:

History

Teams

Champions

References

Footnotes

Further reading