The Salisbury Indians were a United States minor league baseball team which played in

Salisbury, Maryland Salisbury () is a city in and the county seat of Wicomico County, Maryland, Wicomico County, Maryland, United States, and the largest city in Eastern Shore of Maryland, the state's Eastern Shore region. The population was 33,050 at the 2020 United ...

. The team began operation in 1922 as a founding member of the

Eastern Shore League The Eastern Shore Baseball League was a class D minor league baseball league that operated on the Delmarva Peninsula for parts of three different decades. The league's first season was in 1922 and the last was in 1949, although the years were no ...

, which operated out of cities on the

Delmarva Peninsula The Delmarva Peninsula, or simply Delmarva, is a large peninsula and proposed state on the East Coast of the United States, occupied by the vast majority of the state of Delaware and parts of the Eastern Shore regions of Maryland and Virginia ...

. The Indians did not field a particularly competitive team in the first year of its existence, but from 1923 through 1927 they finished second or third every year. Because of economic hard times, however, the league ceased operations before the 1928 season.

1937 season

The Eastern Shore League was revived in 1936 with the original six teams and the addition of two more. Seven of the eight teams were affiliates of Major league teams. The Salisbury team was affiliated with the Washington Senators. Under the rules of play then in existence, teams in the Class D division of baseball, which included all of the teams in the Eastern Shore League, were only allowed to field three players who had ever played in a higher level league. In 1937, Eastern Shore League commissioner Colonel J. Thomas Kibler ruled that Salisbury was fielding four players with higher level experience because one of their players had signed with a Class C team, even though he had never played for them. Kibler ruled that Salisbury had to forfeit all of its games, meaning that, although they had a record of 21-5 at the time, they dropped to 0-26. The team appealed, first to

William G. Bramham William Gibbons Bramham (July 13, 1874 – July 8, 1947) was an American baseball executive, lawyer and politician, whose most significant role was as president of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues from 1933 through 1946 ...

, president of the National Association, then to

Kenesaw Mountain Landis Kenesaw Mountain Landis (; November 20, 1866 – November 25, 1944) was an American jurist who served as a United States federal judge from 1905 to 1922 and the first Commissioner of Baseball from 1920 until his death. He is remembered for his h ...

Commissioner of Baseball The Commissioner of Baseball is the chief executive officer of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the associated Minor League Baseball (MiLB) – a constellation of leagues and clubs known as "organized baseball". Under the direction of the Commiss ...

, but the ruling stood. The team decided that they would recuperate by being competitive on the field. They did so by finishing the season with 59 wins and 11 losses, and winning the league pennant. Counting the wins they had forfeited, Salisbury had a record of 80-16 for the season. Prior to the beginning of the Eastern Shore League playoffs, Salisbury played the Trenton team, which was the Senators' Class A team. The Indians won, 72–. They then went on to win the league playoffs. The Indians' manager,

Jake Flowers D'Arcy Raymond "Jake" Flowers (March 16, 1902 – December 27, 1962) was an American professional baseball player, coach and manager. A reserve infielder, primarily a second baseman and shortstop, he appeared in 583 Major League games over ten ...

, was named

Minor League Manager of the Year Minor may refer to: * Minor (law), a person under the age of certain legal activities. ** A person who has not reached the age of majority * Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education Music theory *Minor chord ** Bar ...

by ''

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

''. The 1937 Indians were recognized as one of the 100 greatest minor league teams of all time.

Later years

In 1938, with many of the same players as the year before, Salisbury went 65-47 to repeat as champions. The Indians and the league continued in operation until 1941, when the league closed for the duration of World War II, then reformed from 1946 through 1949. The Indians won the league two more times, and won the regular season pennant but lost in the playoffs one time. In 1951, a reconstituted Salisbury Indians team joined the Class B

Interstate League The Interstate League was the name of five different American minor baseball leagues that played intermittently from 1896 through 1952. Early leagues Earlier versions of the Interstate League, with years active: *1896–1901: an unclassified ...

, but that team only existed for two years. Salisbury had no further minor league baseball participation until 1996, when the

Delmarva Shorebirds The Delmarva Shorebirds are a Minor League Baseball team based in Salisbury, Maryland. They are members of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. Their home games are played at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium. The Shore ...

joined the

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

References

1937 Salisbury Indians
at MinorLeagueBaseball.com * James, Bill. ''

The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract ''The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract'' is a reference book written by Bill James featuring an overview of professional baseball decade by decade, along with rankings of the top 100 players at each position. The original edition was publi ...

'' (2001), pp. 162–165. {{reflist Defunct minor league baseball teams Salisbury, Maryland Defunct baseball teams in Maryland Professional baseball teams in Maryland Washington Senators minor league affiliates Defunct Eastern Shore League teams