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 New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to

High-A High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...

as part 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), ...

's 2021 reorganization of the minor leagues. The league temporarily operated for the 2021 season as the High-A East before reassuming its original moniker in 2022. A number of different leagues known as the South Atlantic League (SAL) have existed since 1904. The most recent SAL adopted the moniker in 1980, having previously been the Western Carolinas League, founded in 1963. All of these have been nicknamed "Sally League".

History

There have been several South Atlantic Leagues in the history of minor league baseball, spanning from 1904 to the present with a few breaks. The league ran from 1904 to 1917 as a class C league, then started up again in 1919, also class C. This time it ran from 1919 to 1930, moving up to class B beginning in 1921.

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 ...

became league president in mid-1924 and served until 1930. The league was restarted again as a class B from 1936 to 1942, shut down as a result of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and returned in 1946 as a class A league. The AA Southern Association (which never integrated) died after the 1961 season and so the SAL was promoted to AA in 1963 to take its place; a year later the name was changed to the Southern League. Out of the 51 seasons of operation,

Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navig ...

competed in 46,

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Situated near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is located southeast of Atlanta and lies near the geographic center of the state of Geo ...

was around for 46, and

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the city ...

was in 45.

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

;

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

;

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

; and

Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee County, with which it ...

; each competed for at least 29 years also, making for a relatively stable lineup. The South Atlantic League name went unused for 16 years, but in 1980 the Western Carolinas League brought back the name when it sought to change its identity. For nearly 60 years, 1948 through 2007, the dominant figure in the WCL/SAL was league founder and president

John Henry Moss John Henry Moss (November 10, 1918 – July 1, 2009) was a baseball executive and politician. Well known for his strong leadership and organizational skills, Moss was a key contributor to the development of Minor League Baseball during more than ...

, who started the WCL as a young man in 1948, refounded it in 1960 and then led it into the new century. Moss retired at the close of the 2007 South Atlantic League season. He died at age 90 on July 1, 2009, at Kings Mountain, North Carolina—a town where he had also been mayor for 23 years. In 2005, the SAL had the highest attendance in 101 years with over 3,541,992 fans (while minor league baseball set a second straight record with 41,333,279 attendees). When the league last played a season, in 2019, it had 14 teams, divided into two divisions of seven clubs. 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. As part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganization of the minor leagues, the South Atlantic League was promoted to High-A and temporarily renamed the "High-A East" for the 2021 season. Following MLB's acquisition of the rights to the names of the historical minor leagues, the High-A East was renamed the South Atlantic League effective with the 2022 season.

Current teams

South Atlantic League teams (1980–present)

Notes: • An "^" indicates that team's article redirects to an article of an active team in a different league * Aberdeen IronBirds *

Albany Polecats The Albany Polecats were a minor league baseball team in Albany, Georgia. They were a low-A-class team that played in the South Atlantic League and were a farm team affiliated with both the Montreal Expos and the Baltimore Orioles during the fr ...

Anderson Braves The Anderson Braves were a minor league baseball team located in Anderson, South Carolina. The team played in the South Atlantic League, and were affiliated with and owned by the Atlanta Braves. Their home stadium was the Anderson Memorial Stadi ...

* Asheville Tourists * Augusta GreenJackets^ * Augusta Reds *

Bowling Green Hot Rods The Bowling Green Hot Rods are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. They are located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and play their home games at Bowling Green Ballpark, which open ...

Brooklyn Cyclones The Brooklyn Cyclones are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They are based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, and play at Maimonides Park, just off the Coney Island Boar ...

Cape Fear Crocs The Cape Fear Crocs were a minor league baseball team in Fayetteville, North Carolina. They were a low Class-A baseball team which played in the South Atlantic League, and were a farm team of the Montreal Expos for the franchise's entire tenu ...

Capital City Bombers Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

Charleston Alley Cats Charleston most commonly refers to: * Charleston, South Carolina * Charleston, West Virginia, the state capital * Charleston (dance) Charleston may also refer to: Places Australia * Charleston, South Australia Canada * Charleston, Newfoundlan ...

* Charleston Bombers *

Charleston Pirates The Charleston Pirates were a minor league baseball club based in Charleston, South Carolina. The played at College Park as an affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, in the class-A Western Carolinas League file:John Henry Moss.png, Portion of pl ...

Charleston Rainbows Charleston most commonly refers to: * Charleston, South Carolina * Charleston, West Virginia, the state capital * Charleston (dance) Charleston may also refer to: Places Australia * Charleston, South Australia Canada * Charleston, Newfoundlan ...

* Charleston RiverDogs^ *

Charleston Royals Charleston most commonly refers to: * Charleston, South Carolina * Charleston, West Virginia, the state capital * Charleston (dance) Charleston may also refer to: Places Australia * Charleston, South Australia Canada * Charleston, Newfoundlan ...

Charleston Wheelers Charleston most commonly refers to: * Charleston, South Carolina * Charleston, West Virginia, the state capital * Charleston (dance) Charleston may also refer to: Places Australia * Charleston, South Australia Canada * Charleston, Newfound ...

* Charleston Yankees * Columbia Fireflies^ *

Columbia Mets Located in Columbia, South Carolina, the Columbia Mets were affiliated with the New York Mets from 1983 to 1992. A member of the South Atlantic League, they became the Capital City Bombers in 1993. They played in Capital City Stadium. Year by yea ...

* Columbus Catfish *

Columbus Indians Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

Columbus RedStixx The Columbus RedStixx were a minor league baseball team in Columbus, Georgia. They were a Class A team in the South Atlantic League, and a farm team of the Cleveland Indians. The RedStixx played home games at Golden Park, except during 1996. The ...

* Delmarva Shorebirds^ * Fayetteville Generals *

Florence Blue Jays The Florence Blue Jays Baseball Club was a minor league baseball team based in Florence, South Carolina. They began play in the South Atlantic League in 1981 where they eventually captured the league title in 1985. After the 1986 season the ...

* Gastonia Cardinals *

Gastonia Expos Gastonia may refer to: * ''Gastonia'' (plant), a genus in the ivy or ginseng family * ''Gastonia'' (dinosaur), a genus of ankylosaur *Gastonia, North Carolina, United States *Gastonia, Texas, an unincorporated community *Gastonia novels The Loray ...

Gastonia Jets Gastonia may refer to: * ''Gastonia'' (plant), a genus in the ivy or ginseng family * ''Gastonia'' (dinosaur), a genus of ankylosaur *Gastonia, North Carolina Gastonia is the largest city in and county seat of Gaston County, North Carolina, Un ...

* Gastonia Rangers *

Gastonia Tigers Gastonia may refer to: * ''Gastonia'' (plant), a genus in the ivy or ginseng family * ''Gastonia'' (dinosaur), a genus of ankylosaur *Gastonia, North Carolina, United States *Gastonia, Texas, an unincorporated community *Gastonia novels The Loray ...

Greensboro Bats Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte and Raleigh, the 69th-most populous city in the Un ...

* Greensboro Grasshoppers *

Greensboro Hornets Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte and Raleigh, the 69th-most populous city in the Un ...

Greenwood Pirates The Greenwood Pirates were a minor league baseball team in Greenwood, South Carolina, from 1981 to 1983. The team was an affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the South Atlantic League. The club lasted three seasons before moving to Savannah, Geo ...

* Greenville Drive * Hagerstown Suns * Hickory Crawdads * Hudson Valley Renegades *

Jersey Shore BlueClaws The Jersey Shore BlueClaws (formerly Lakewood BlueClaws) are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. They are located in Lakewood, New Jersey, and are named for their locati ...

* Kannapolis Cannon Ballers^ * Kannapolis Intimidators *

Lake County Captains The Lake County Captains are a Minor League Baseball team in Eastlake, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, that plays in the Midwest League as the High-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. The Captains joined the Class A Midwest League following t ...

* Lakewood BlueClaws *

Lexington Legends The Lexington Legends are an American professional baseball team based in Lexington, Kentucky. They are a member of the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a "partner league" of Major League Baseball. The Legends have ...

^ *

Macon Braves Macon may refer to: Places Belgium *Macon, Belgium France *Mâcon ** Ancient Diocese of Mâcon **Mâcon, another name for the Mâconnais wine from that region United States of America * Macon, Alabama * Macon, Georgia * Macon, Illinois *Macon ...

* Macon Peaches *

Macon Pirates Macon may refer to: Places Belgium *Macon, Belgium France *Mâcon ** Ancient Diocese of Mâcon **Mâcon, another name for the Mâconnais wine from that region United States of America * Macon, Alabama * Macon, Georgia *Macon, Illinois *Macon, ...

Macon Redbirds Macon may refer to: Places Belgium *Macon, Belgium France *Mâcon **Ancient Diocese of Mâcon **Mâcon, another name for the Mâconnais wine from that region United States of America *Macon, Alabama *Macon, Georgia *Macon, Illinois *Macon, Mis ...

* Myrtle Beach Blue Jays *

Myrtle Beach Hurricanes Myrtle may refer to: Plants *Myrtaceae, the myrtle family **''Myrtus'', the myrtle genus * List of plants known as myrtle, including a list of trees and plants known as myrtle In geography Canada * Myrtle, Ontario, a community United States * ...

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

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

Rome Braves The Rome Braves are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. They are located in Rome, Georgia, and play their home games at AdventHealth Stadium. From 2003 to 2020, the team served ...

* Santee Indians * Santee Pirates *

Savannah Cardinals A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

* Savannah Sand Gnats *

Shelby Mets Shelby may refer to: Places United States * Shelby, Alabama, a census-designated place and unincorporated community * Shelby, Idaho * Shelby, Indiana, an unincorporated town * Shelby, Iowa, a city * Shelby, Oceana County, Michigan, a village * ...

Shelby Pirates Shelby may refer to: Places United States * Shelby, Alabama, a census-designated place and unincorporated community * Shelby, Idaho * Shelby, Indiana, an unincorporated town * Shelby, Iowa, a city * Shelby, Oceana County, Michigan, a village * ...

South Georgia Waves The South Georgia Waves were a Low-A class minor league baseball team in Albany, Georgia for one season before relocating to Columbus, Georgia where they operated under the same name for the 2003 season before being rebranded the Columbus Catfi ...

* Spartanburg Traders * Spartanburg Phillies * Spartanburg Spinners * Spartanburg Suns * Sumter Braves *

Sumter Flyers Sumter may refer to: People Given name * Sumter S. Arnim (1904–1990), American dentist * Sumter de Leon Lowry Jr. (1893–1985), United States Army general Surname * Rowendy Sumter (born 1988), Curaçaoan footballer * Shavonda E. Sumter ...

West Virginia Power The Charleston Dirty Birds are an American professional baseball team based in Charleston, West Virginia. They are a member of the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a partner league of Major League Baseball. The Dir ...

^ *

Wilmington Blue Rocks The Wilmington Blue Rocks are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Wilmington, Delaware, and play their home games at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium. ...

Wilmington Waves The Wilmington Waves were a minor league baseball team in Wilmington, North Carolina in the 2001 baseball season. They were a Low-A class team that played in the South Atlantic League, and were a farm team of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the fra ...

* Winston-Salem Dash

League timeline

DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy ImageSize = width:1600 height:auto barincrement:25 Period = from:01/01/1980 till:12/31/2024 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:20 left:20 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<# Colors = id:barcolor id:line value:pink id:bg value:white id:Full value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a team that is a current league member id:Past value:rgb(0.4,0.80,0.67) # Use to indicate a former team id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another current league PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:Past from:01/01/1980 till:12/31/1984 text:

(1980–1984) bar:2 color:Full from:01/01/1980 till:end text: Asheville Tourists (1980–2020) bar:3 color:Past from:01/01/1980 till:12/31/2020 text: Charleston Royals / Rainbows / RiverDogs (1980–2020) bar:4 color:Past from:01/01/1980 till:12/31/1992 text: Gastonia Cardinals / Expos / Jets / Tigers / Rangers (1980–1992) bar:5 color:Full from:01/01/1980 till:end text: Greensboro Hornets / Bats / Grasshoppers (1980–2020) bar:6 color:Past from:01/01/1980 till:12/31/1987 text: Macon Peaches / Redbirds / Pirates (1980–1987, 1991–2002) bar:6 color:Past from:01/01/1991 till:12/31/2002 text:

(1991–2002) bar:7 color:Past from:01/01/1980 till:12/31/1982 text: Shelby Pirates / Mets (1980–1982) bar:8 color:Past from:01/01/1980 till:12/31/1994 text: Spartanburg Phillies / Traders / Spinners / Suns / Phillies (1980–1994) bar:9 color:Past from:01/01/1981 till:12/31/1986 text:

(1981–1986) bar:10 color:Past from:01/01/1981 till:12/31/1983 text:

(1981–1983) bar:11 color:Past from:01/01/1983 till:12/31/2004 text: Columbia Mets / Capital City Bombers (1983–2004) bar:11 color:Past from:01/01/2016 till:12/31/2020 text: Columbia Fireflies (2016–2020) bar:12 color:Past from:01/01/1984 till:12/31/2015 text: Savannah Cardinals / Sand Gnats (1984–2015) bar:13 color:Past from:01/01/1985 till:12/31/1991 text: Sumter Braves (1985–1991) bar:14 color:Past from:01/01/1987 till:12/31/2020 text: Charleston Wheelers / AlleyCats / West Virginia Power (1987–2020) bar:15 color:Past from:01/01/1987 till:12/31/2000 text: Fayetteville Generals / Cape Fear Crocs (1987–2000) bar:16 color:Past from:01/01/1987 till:12/31/1992 text: Myrtle Beach Blue Jays / Hurricanes (1987–1992) bar:17 color:Past from:01/01/1988 till:12/31/2020 text: Augusta Pirates / GreenJackets (1988–2020) bar:18 color:Past from:01/01/1991 till:12/31/2008 text: Columbus Indians / Red Stixx / Catfish (1991–2008) bar:19 color:Past from:01/01/1992 till:12/31/1995 text:

(1992–1995) bar:20 color:Past from:01/01/1993 till:12/31/2020 text: Hagerstown Suns (1993–2020) bar:21 color:Full from:01/01/1993 till:end text: Hickory Crawdads (1993–2020) bar:22 color:Past from:01/01/1995 till:12/31/2020 text: Piedmont Phillies / Boll Weevils / Kannapolis Intimidators / Cannon Ballers (1995–2020) bar:23 color:Past from:01/01/1996 till:12/31/2020 text: Delmarva Shorebirds (1996–2020) bar:24 color:Full from:01/01/2001 till:end text: Lakewood/Jersey Shore BlueClaws (2001–2020) bar:25 color:Past from:01/01/2001 till:12/31/2020 text:

(2001–2020) bar:26 color:Past from:01/01/2001 till:12/31/2003 text: Wilmington Waves / South Georgia Waves (2001) bar:27 color:Past from:01/01/2003 till:12/31/2009 text:

(2003–2009) bar:28 color:Full from:01/01/2003 till:end text:

(2003–2020) bar:29 color:Full from:01/01/2005 till:end text: Greenville Bombers / Drive (2005–2020) bar:30 color:Past from:01/01/2009 till:12/31/2009 text:

(2009) bar:30 color:Full from:01/01/2021 till:end text:

bar:31 color:Full from:01/01/2021 till:end text: Aberdeen Ironbirds bar:32 color:Full from:01/01/2021 till:end text:

bar:33 color:Full from:01/01/2021 till:end text: Hudson Valley Renegades bar:34 color:Full from:01/01/2021 till:end text:

bar:35 color:Full from:01/01/2021 till:end text: Winston-Salem Dash ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:01/01/1980 TextData = fontsize:L textcolor:black pos:(0,30) tabs:(400-center) text:^"South Atlantic League Timeline" #> If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following three options (use only the colors that are used in the graphic.) Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space. <#

League champions

South Atlantic League Hall of Fame

The South Atlantic League Hall of Fame was started in 1994.

References

External links

*
Obituary of John Henry Moss
{{Professional Baseball Sports leagues established in 1980 Professional sports leagues in the United States Minor baseball leagues in the United States