The Wytheville Cubs was the final name of the minor league baseball teams located in

Wytheville, Virginia Wytheville is a town in, and the county seat of, Wythe County, in southwestern Virginia, United States. It is named after George Wythe, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, and mentor to Thomas Jefferson. Wytheville's populat ...

between 1948 and 1989. An affiliate of the Chicago Cubs from 1985 to 1989, the Wytheville Cubs were a member of the Rookie level Appalachian League. Previous Wytheville teams played as members of the

Blue Ridge League The Blue Ridge League was the name of two minor league baseball organizations that operated in the first half of the twentieth century in the United States. History The first league operated for the better part of sixteen years, from 1915 throu ...

(1948-1949) and Appalachian League (1953-1955, 1957–1965, 1967, 1969, 1971–1973).

History

The Wytheville Cubs finished with their best record in their first year, when they went 39–31, finishing third in the 1985 Appalachian League. Previously, Wytheville was home of the Wytheville Braves (1971-1973), Wytheville Senators (1960, 1965, 1969), Wytheville Reds (1967), Wytheville A's (1964), Wytheville Twins (1961-1963), Wytheville Cardinals (1957-1959), Wytheville Statesman (1949, 1953–1955) and Wytheville Pioneers (1948). Wytheville was an affiliate of the Chicago Cubs (1985–1989),

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

(1971-1973), Washington Senators II (1965, 1969), Cincinnati Reds (1967),

Kansas City A's The history of the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans the period from 1901 to the present day, having begun as a charter member franchise in the new American League in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 for 13 seas ...

(1964), Minnesota Twins (1961-1963), Washington Senators I (1960),

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

(1957-1959),

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

(1954), and

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...

(1953). Alumni include

Jerome Walton Jerome O'Terrell Walton (born July 8, 1965) is an American former Major League Baseball center fielder who played for the Chicago Cubs, California Angels, Cincinnati Reds, Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, and Tampa Bay Devil Rays, between 1989 a ...

Tony Oliva Tony Pedro Oliva (born Antonio Oliva Lopez Hernandes Javique; July 20, 1938) is a Cuban former professional baseball player and coach. He played his entire career in Major League Baseball as a right fielder and designated hitter for the Minneso ...

Reggie Smith Carl Reginald Smith (born April 2, 1945) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder and afterwards served as a coach and front office executive. He also played in the Nippon Profe ...

, Joe Rudi, and

Jeff Burroughs Jeffrey Alan Burroughs (born March 7, 1951) is an American former professional baseball player. He played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball from through , for the Washington Senators / Texas Rangers (1970–76), Atlanta Braves (1977– ...

. After the 1989 season, the Wytheville Cubs moved to Huntington, West Virginia to become the

Huntington Cubs The Huntington Cubs was a minor league baseball team located in Huntington, West Virginia. The team played in the Appalachian League, and was affiliated with the Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based i ...

. The 1960 Wytheville Senators captured the Appalachian League Championship.

The ballpark

Wytheville teams played at Withers Field. Constructed in 1948, the ballpark hosted all Wytheville minor league teams during its existence. The ballpark was repurposed in 1993 to become a public park, renamed Withers Park. Its grandstand and brick exterior are still in existence today within the park and a plaque recognizes the home plate location. The address is 300 North 4th Street, Wytheville, Virginia, 24382.

Year-by-year Cubs record

Notable franchise alumni

Alex Arias Alejandro Arias (born November 20, 1967) is an American former professional baseball infielder, who played Major League Baseball from 1992 to 2002. In his career, Arias played for the Chicago Cubs (), Florida Marlins (–), Philadelphia Phillies ...

(1987) *

(1969) 2x MLB All-Star; 1974 AL Most Valuable Player *

Frank Castillo Frank Anthony Castillo (April 1, 1969 – July 28, 2013) was an American Major League Baseball starting pitcher. Castillo played for the Chicago Cubs (1991–1997), Colorado Rockies (1997), Detroit Tigers (1998), Toronto Blue Jays (2000), Bo ...

(1987) * Matt Franco (1987-1988) *

Julio Gotay Julio Enrique Gotay Sánchez (April 9, 1939 – July 4, 2008) was a Puerto Rican professional baseball player, a shortstop and second baseman who played all or parts of ten seasons (1960–69) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates, L ...

(1957) * Jack Hamilton (1957) * Pete Mackanin (1969) * Charlie Manuel (1963) Manager: 2008 World Series Champion- Philadelphia Phillies * Derrick May (1986) *

3x MLB All-Star; 1964 AL Rookie of the Year; 3x AL Batting Title (1964, 1965, 1971) * Biff Pocoroba MLB All-Star * Joe Rudi 3x MLB All-Star * Ellie Rodríguez (1964) 2x MLB All-Star *

7x MLB All-Star *

Dave Tomlin David Allen Tomlin (born June 22, 1949) is a retired American professional baseball player. During his 13-season career in Major League Baseball, he was a relief pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds (1972–73 and 1978–80), San Diego Padres (1974� ...

(1967) *

(1986) 1989 NL Rookie of the Year

References

{{Reflist

External links

The Baseball Cube
Defunct Appalachian League teams Defunct baseball teams in Virginia Professional baseball teams in Virginia Chicago Cubs minor league affiliates Baseball teams established in 1985 1985 establishments in Virginia 1989 disestablishments in Virginia Sports clubs and teams disestablished in 1989