The Southern Association was a higher-level
minor league in
American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the
Major Leagues; it was graded Class A (1902–1935), Class A1 (1936–1945) and
Class AA
Double-A (officially Class AA) is the second-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946, below only Triple-A. There are currently 30 teams classified at the Double-A level, one for each team in Major League ...
(1946–1961). Although the SA was known as the Southern League through 1919, the later
Double-A Southern League was not descended from the Southern Association; the modern SL came into existence in 1964 as the successor to the original ''South Atlantic'' ("Sally") League.
A stable, eight-team loop, the Southern Association's member teams typically included the
Atlanta Crackers,
Birmingham Barons
The Birmingham Barons are a Minor League Baseball team based in Birmingham, Alabama. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox and plays at Regions Field in downtown Birmingham. The current ...
,
Chattanooga Lookouts,
Little Rock Travelers,
Memphis Chicks,
Nashville Vols and
New Orleans Pelicans. The eighth club was usually either the
Knoxville Smokies
Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state ...
,
Mobile Bears or
Shreveport Sports
The Shreveport Sports were a professional Minor League Baseball team based in Shreveport, Louisiana, in the United States. The Sports fielded a team from 1925 to 1935, 1938 to 1942, 1946 to 1957, and 1959 to 1961. They were affiliated with the ...
.
The Association was formed from the remnants of the 1885–1899
Southern League by
Abner Powell,
Newt Fisher
Isaac Newton "Ike" "Newt" Fisher (June 28, 1871 – February 28, 1947) was an American Major League Baseball catcher. He played for the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League in . Fisher helped organize the Southern Association, a high ...
, and Charley Frank.
Resisted integration
After
Jackie Robinson broke the
color barrier in
1946 with the
Montreal Royals of the
International League, the Southern Association continued to adhere to the
Jim Crow
The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...
segregation laws of the time. Only one
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
ever played a meaningful game during this time:
Nat Peeples of the 1954 Atlanta Crackers, the only black player in the league's history. On April 9–10, 1954, Peeples played in two road games in Mobile, and went
hitless in four
at bats. He was demoted to the already-integrated, Single-A
Jacksonville Braves of the Sally League before the Crackers played a home game.
The Southern Association then played the rest of its history, through the end of 1961, as a racially segregated league.
Fenster, Kenneth, "Earl Mann, Nat Peeples, and the Failed Attempt of Integration in the Southern Association," ''NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture,'' Vol. 12, No. 2, Spring 2004
/ref> Partly due to this, its Major-League parent clubs were among the last to integrate during the 1950s, a period when African-Americans and Latin-American players of African descent were beginning to dominate Major League Baseball. By the end of the 1950s, the SA was the target of a boycott by activists of the Civil Rights Movement
The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...
.
Disbanded in 1961
In its last three years, the Southern Association was plagued by frequent franchise shifts. Little Rock moved to Shreveport after the 1958 season, and New Orleans moved to Little Rock after the 1959 season. Memphis' park burned down just before the 1960 season, forcing the Chicks to play in several temporary facilities before moving to Macon, Georgia for 1961. The league finally ceased operation after the 1961 season.
Member cities slowly began to join remaining leagues, which were racially integrated. The Atlanta club moved up to the Triple-A International League in 1962. Little Rock followed suit (as the renamed Arkansas Travelers
The Arkansas Travelers, also known informally as The Travs, are a Minor League Baseball team based in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The Travelers are affiliated with the Seattle Mariners as members of the Texas League.
History
The team succeed ...
), moving to the International circuit in 1963 and the Pacific Coast League
The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Bas ...
in 1964–1965, before making a permanent home in the Double-A Texas League
The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...
in 1966. Macon, a longtime member of the Sally League, returned to that circuit in 1962. After a one-year hiatus, Nashville and Chattanooga joined the Sally League in 1963. Later in the decade, Birmingham (1964) and Mobile (1966) joined the Southern League, and Memphis and Shreveport (both in 1968) would enter the Texas circuit.
Member teams
* Atlanta Crackers 1902–1961 - at times known as the ''Firemen'', amongst various other names depending on which newspaper was reporting on them
* Birmingham Barons
The Birmingham Barons are a Minor League Baseball team based in Birmingham, Alabama. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox and plays at Regions Field in downtown Birmingham. The current ...
1901–1961 — at times known as the ''Iron Barons''
* Chattanooga Lookouts 1901–1902; 1910–1943; 1944–1961
* Knoxville Smokies
Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state ...
1931–1944
* Little Rock Travelers 1901–1909; 1915–1958; 1960–1961
* Macon Peaches 1961
* Memphis Chicks 1901–1960 — at times known as the ''Chickasaws'' or ''Egyptians''
* Mobile Bears 1908–1931; 1944–1961 — known as ''Marines'' (1931)
* Montgomery Rebels 1903–1914; 1943; 1956 — at times known as the ''Black Sox, Senators, Climbers'' and ''Billikens''
* Nashville Vols 1901–1961
* New Orleans Pelicans 1901–1959
* Selma Christians
Selma may refer to:
Places
*Selma, Algeria
*Selma, Nova Scotia, Canada
*Selma, Switzerland, village in the Grisons
United States:
*Selma, Alabama, city in Dallas County, best known for the Selma to Montgomery marches
*Selma, Arkansas
*Selma, Cali ...
1901
* Shreveport Sports
The Shreveport Sports were a professional Minor League Baseball team based in Shreveport, Louisiana, in the United States. The Sports fielded a team from 1925 to 1935, 1938 to 1942, 1946 to 1957, and 1959 to 1961. They were affiliated with the ...
1901–1907; 1959–1961 — at times known as the ''Giants'' and ''Pirates''
Champions
While a league pennant winner was crowned each season, some seasons (1928 and 1932–61) also concluded with either the top two or four teams in the league competing in playoffs to determine a league champion. These playoffs varied between being best-of-five and best-of-seven contests. The Atlanta Crackers, termed by some the "New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one o ...
of the minors," won the Southern Association pennant 13 times, the most among all teams. They are followed by the New Orleans Pelicans, with nine pennants.[ As far as playoff championships are concerned, the Nashville Vols captured the most, with nine—dominating the league with six straight championships from 1939 to 1944.] They are followed by Atlanta, with six playoff titles.[ Combining both pennants and playoffs, the Crackers won the most (21), with the Vols trailing them with 17. On the other hand, the Chattanooga Lookouts, charter members of the association, won only one title during their 54 years in the league—with that coming during the Southern Association's final, 1961 campaign.][
]
Most Valuable Player Award
The Southern Association gave a most valuable player award to the most outstanding player in the league from 1937 to 1957. In 1937, Coaker Triplett
Herman Coaker Triplett (December 18, 1911 – January 30, 1992) was an American professional baseball player. In Major League Baseball, he was a backup outfielder, playing mainly as a left fielder for three different teams between the and seas ...
won the first ever Southern Association Most Valuable Player Award
The Southern Association Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) was an annual award given to the best player in Minor League Baseball's Southern Association based on their regular season performance. Though the league was established in 1901, the award ...
. Stan Palys
Stanley Francis Palys (May 1, 1930 – February 8, 2021) was an American Major League Baseball outfielder. He was born in Blakely, Pennsylvania. He appeared in 138 games over all or parts of four seasons in the majors, from 1953 through 1956, for ...
won the final award in 1957.
References
;General
*
;Specific
{{Authority control
Southern Association
Baseball leagues in Alabama
Baseball leagues in Arkansas
Baseball leagues in Georgia (U.S. state)
Baseball leagues in Louisiana
Baseball leagues in Tennessee
Sports leagues established in 1901
Sports leagues disestablished in 1961
1901 establishments in the United States
1961 disestablishments in the United States