Harlan Smokies was the primary name of a minor league baseball team based in

Harlan, Kentucky Harlan is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Harlan County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 1,745 at the 2010 census, down from 2,081 at the 2000 census. Harlan is one of three Kentucky county seats to share its name w ...

. The team complete for a total of 11 seasons during 1948–1965, first in the Mountain States League and later 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 known as the Harlan Yankees in 1963 and Harlan Red Sox in 1965, due to

affiliation Affiliation or affiliate may refer to: * Affiliate (commerce), a legal form of entity relationship used in Business Law * Affiliation (family law), a legal form of family relationship * Affiliate marketing * Affiliate network or affiliation platfo ...

s with the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

and

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

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), ...

. The Smokies qualified for the Mountain States League postseason in four consecutive seasons, 1949–1952, and were league champions in three of those years (1949, 1950, and 1952).

Notable players

Multiple players with Harlan also made appearances in

: * 1948: — * 1949: — * 1950:

Roger McCardell Roger Morton McCardell (August 29, 1932 – November 13, 1996) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the San Francisco Giants in . Baseball career McCardell was born in Gorsuch Mill ...

* 1951: — * 1952: — * 1953:

Cliff Melton Clifford George Melton (January 3, 1912 – July 28, 1986) was an American professional baseball left-handed pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Giants over parts of eight seasons spanning 1937–44. Listed at , ...

* 1954: — * 1961:

Cisco Carlos Francisco Manuel Carlos Guzmán (born September 17, 1940), best known as Cisco Carlos, is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played from 1967 through 1970 for the Chicago White Sox and Washington Senators of Major League Baseba ...

, Mike DeGerick,

Art López Arturo López Rodríguez (born May 8, 1937) is a former professional baseball player. He played one season in Major League Baseball as an outfielder for the New York Yankees in 1965. He also played in Nippon Professional Baseball from 1968 until ...

, Luis Peraza,

Mel Stottlemyre Melvin Leon Stottlemyre Sr. (November 13, 1941 – January 13, 2019) was an American professional baseball pitcher and Coach (baseball)#Pitching coach, pitching coach. He played for 11 seasons in Major League Baseball, all for the New York Yanke ...

* 1962: Fred Klages, Dave McDonald,

Denny McLain Dennis Dale McLain (born March 29, 1944) is an American former professional baseball player. He played for ten seasons in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher, most prominently as a member of the Detroit Tigers. In 1968, McLain became ...

, John Miller, Billy Murphy,

Cecil Perkins Cecil Boyce Perkins (December 1, 1940 – October 28, 2021) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher who appeared in two games for the New York Yankees in . He posted a 0–1 record with a 9.00 earned run average in five full innings pitc ...

Jim Shellenback James Philip Shellenback (born November 18, 1943) is an American former professional baseball pitcher and coach (baseball), coach. He appeared in 165 Major League Baseball, Major League games pitched, games for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1966–1967; ...

* 1963:

Mike Jurewicz Michael Allen Jurewicz (born September 20, 1945) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. Jurewicz played for the New York Yankees in . In 2 career games, he had a 0–0 record with a 7.71 ERA. He batted right and left and threw left-handed. Ju ...

Jim Ollom James Donald Ollom (born July 8, 1945) is a former Major League Baseball player from Snohomish, Washington who pitched for the Minnesota Twins in 1966-1967. Ollom was originally signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent prior to the ...

Fritz Peterson Fred Ingels Peterson (born February 8, 1942) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) player who played for the New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, and Texas Rangers from 1966 to 1976. Peterson was a southpaw starting pitcher who enjoy ...

, Dale Roberts,

Charlie Vinson Charles Anthony Vinson (born January 5, 1944 in Washington, D.C.) is a retired American professional baseball player. A first baseman, he had an 11-year professional career, although his tenure in Major League Baseball consisted of 13 games for ...

* 1965: Ray Jarvis,

Bobby Mitchell Robert Cornelius Mitchell (June 6, 1935 – April 5, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a halfback and flanker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Cleveland Browns and the Washington Redskins. Mitchell becam ...

Amos Otis Amos Joseph Otis (born April 26, 1947) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a center fielder from to , most prominently as an integral member of the Kansas City Royals team that won t ...

Results by season

In 1954, the Mountain States League disbanded in July, thus no playoffs were held.

References

External links

Harlan Smokies history
at harlancountysports.com Baseball teams established in 1948 Baseball teams disestablished in 1965 1948 establishments in Kentucky 1965 disestablishments in Kentucky Defunct minor league baseball teams Defunct baseball teams in Kentucky Defunct Mountain States League (1948–1954) teams Boston Braves minor league affiliates Chicago White Sox minor league affiliates New York Yankees minor league affiliates Smokies

Notable players

Results by season

References

Further reading

External links