The Red Springs Twins

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

club was an American minor league baseball franchise representing

Red Springs, North Carolina Red Springs is a town in Hoke and Robeson counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 3,428 at the 2010 census. Geography Red Springs is located in northern Robeson County at (34.814363, -79.184281). North Carolina Highwa ...

, in the Class A

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 ...

. Affiliated with the namesake Minnesota Twins of

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 Red Springs team existed for only season — — with the city billing itself as the "world's smallest baseball town."Carry, Peter, "A Bonanza in Red Springs," ''Sports Illustrated,'' July 28, 1969
/ref> Red Springs, in

Robeson County, North Carolina Robeson County is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of North Carolina and is its largest county by land area. Its county seat is and largest city is Lumberton. The county was formed in 1787 from part of Bladen County and named in ...

, then boasted a population of 4,040. (The 2000 census lists its population at 3,493 inhabitants.)

Tiny community outdrew larger city

The team, which played at Robbins Park, was created when the

Wilson Tobs The Wilson Tobs are an amateur baseball team playing in the Coastal Plain League, an NCAA-sanctioned collegiate summer baseball league. The team plays its home games at Fleming Stadium in Wilson, North Carolina Wilson is a city in and the ...

relocated after a 1968 season during which they drew 22,811 fans. In moving from Wilson (then a city of about 35,000) to Red Springs, the team was entering a market about one-ninth the size of its predecessor. Red Springs had previously hosted a professional team, the

Red Springs Red Robins The Red Springs Red Robins were a minor league baseball team based in Red Springs, North Carolina. From 1947 to 1950, the Red Springs Red Robins played exclusively as members of the Class D level Tobacco State League, hosting home games at Robbi ...

, in the Class D level

Tobacco State League The Tobacco State League was a Class D level American minor baseball league that played for five seasons (1946–1950) in Organized Baseball in the state of North Carolina. The Red Springs Red Robins won two league championships. History The T ...

, from 1947 to 1950. Nonetheless, the Class A Twins were received enthusiastically in Red Springs in 1969 and drew 40,332Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., ''The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition''. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007 fans — almost doubling the Tobs' numbers from 1968. Owned by construction executive Matt Boykin, the Red Springs Twins were managed by former Major League

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

Tom Umphlett Thomas Mullen Umphlett (May 12, 1930 – September 21, 2012) was a center and right fielder in Major League Baseball who played from to with the Boston Red Sox and Washington Senators. His 21-year professional baseball career as a player and m ...

, a native

North Carolinian 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 So ...

. They struggled in the standings, compiling the poorest

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

(.404) in the Carolina League among its ten member clubs. However, six future Major Leaguers were on the Red Springs roster. At the end of the year, the Carolina League contracted to eight teams, and the Red Springs franchise disappeared from the organized baseball map. The Twins moved their Carolina League affiliate to Lynchburg, Virginia, for 1970.

Notable alumni

* Steve Brye *

Ray Corbin Alton Ray Corbin (born February 12, 1949) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher who appeared in 181 games for the Minnesota Twins from 1971 to 1975. The right-hander was listed as tall and . Born in Live Oak, Florida, Corbin si ...

* Pete Hamm *

Dan Monzon Daniel Francisco Monzon (May 17, 1946 – January 21, 1996) was an American professional baseball infielder, manager and scout. A third baseman, primarily in minor league baseball, he appeared in 94 games for the Minnesota Twins of Major League B ...

Eric Soderholm Eric Thane Soderholm (born September 24, 1948) is a former Major League Baseball third baseman who played for the Minnesota Twins, Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers, and New York Yankees from 1971 to 1980. Soderholm was selected with the 1st overa ...

* Bill Zepp

References

{{reflist

External links

Red Springs Twins' page
in

Baseball Reference Baseball-Reference is a website providing baseball statistics for every player in Major League Baseball history. The site is often used by major media organizations and baseball broadcasters as a source for statistics. It offers a variety of advan ...

Carry, Peter, "A Bonanza in Red Springs," ''Sports Illustrated,'' July 28, 1969
1969 disestablishments in North Carolina 1969 establishments in North Carolina Baseball teams disestablished in 1969 Baseball teams established in 1969 Carolina League teams Defunct baseball teams in North Carolina Defunct Carolina League teams Defunct minor league baseball teams Minnesota Twins minor league affiliates Professional baseball teams in North Carolina

Twins Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

Sports clubs and teams disestablished in 1969

Tiny community outdrew larger city

Notable alumni

See also

References

External links