The Mountain States League was a Class D and Class C

minor league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

league which operated in the United States from 1948 to 1954. The league was a Class D level league, becoming a Class C league during its final season in 1954. The league disbanded on July 20, 1954. The cities of

Harlan, Kentucky Harlan is a List of cities in Kentucky, home rule-class city in and the county seat of Harlan County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 1,745 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, down from 2,081 at the 2000 census. Harlan is ...

, and

Morristown, Tennessee Morristown is a city in and the county seat of Hamblen County, Tennessee, United States. Morristown also extends into Jefferson County on the western and southern ends. The city lies within the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, Ridge and Valley regi ...

, were represented for the full seven–year existence of the circuit.

History

A total of 16 teams competed in the Mountain States League. In 1954, the

Morristown Red Sox The Morristown Red Sox were a Minor League Baseball team that played in the Class D/ Class C Mountain States League (MSL) from 1948 to 1954. They were located in Morristown, Tennessee, and played their home games at Sherwood Park. They won the ...

team disbanded on May 15, and was replaced when the Maryville-Alcoa Twins moved to Morristown on June 19. Both the Morristown Twins and

Lexington Colts The Lexington Colts were a baseball team competing in the Blue Grass League, 1908–1912, the Ohio State League, 1913–1916, and the Mountain States League, 1954. The 1908 Lexington team was also called the "Thoroughbreds," Neither the team nor ...

disbanded on July 7. Virgil Q. Wacks served as president for the duration of the league.

Cities represented

* Big Stone Gap, VA: Big Stone Gap Rebels 1949–1953 * Harlan, KY:

Harlan Smokies Harlan Smokies was the primary name of a minor league baseball team based in Harlan, Kentucky. The team complete for a total of 11 seasons during 1948–1965, first in the Mountain States League (1948–1954), Mountain States League and later in ...

1948–1954 * Hazard, KY: Hazard Bombers 1948–1952 * Jenkins, KY: Jenkins Cavaliers 1948–1951 *

Kingsport, TN Kingsport is a city in Sullivan and Hawkins counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It lies along the Holston River and had a population of 55,442 at the 2020 census. It is the largest city in the Kingsport–Bristol metropolitan area, w ...

Kingsport Cherokees Kingsport is a city in Sullivan and Hawkins counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It lies along the Holston River and had a population of 55,442 at the 2020 census. It is the largest city in the Kingsport–Bristol metropolitan area, wh ...

1953–1954 * Knoxville, TN:

Knoxville Smokies The Knoxville Smokies are a Minor League Baseball team based in Knoxville, Tennessee. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. The team was based in Kodak, Tennessee, a Knoxville suburb, fr ...

1953 *

Lexington, KY Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

1954 * Maryville, TN &

Alcoa, TN Alcoa is a city in Blount County, Tennessee, United States. Its population was 10,978 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Knoxville, TN Metropolitan Statistical Area. As its name suggests, Alcoa was the site of a lar ...

: Maryville-Alcoa Twins 1953–1954 * Middlesboro, KY:

Middlesboro Athletics Middlesbrough is a large town, in the north east of England. Middlesbrough and its variants Middlesborough, Middlesboro and Middlesbro may also refer to: Places * Middlesboro, Kentucky, US, former spelling was Middlesborough * Borough of Middl ...

1949–1954 *

Morristown, TN Morristown is a city in and the county seat of Hamblen County, Tennessee, United States. Morristown also extends into Jefferson County on the western and southern ends. The city lies within the Ridge and Valley region of the Appalachians, along ...

1948–1954; Morristown Twins 1954 * Newport, TN: Newport Canners 1948–1950 * Norton, VA: Norton Braves 1951–1953 * Oak Ridge, TN: Oak Ridge Bombers 1948; Oak Ridge Pioneers 1954 * Pennington Gap, VA: Pennington Gap Miners 1948–1951

Standings & statistics

1948 Mountain States League
schedule
Oak Ridge moved to Hazard June 10
Playoffs: Morristown 3 games, Newport 2; Hazard 3 games, Pennington Gap 0.
Finals: Morristown 3 games, Hazard 2. 1949 Mountain States League
schedule
Playoffs: Harlan 3 games, Middlesboro 1; Morristown 3 games, Jenkins 2.
Finals: Harlan 3 games, Morristown 2. 1950 Mountain States League
schedule
Playoffs: Harlan 3 games, Big Stone Gap 1; Middlesboro 3 games, Hazard 0.
Finals: Harlan 3 games, Middlesboro 0. 1951 Mountain States League
schedule
Playoffs: Hazard 3 games, Harlan 0; Morristown 3 games, Middlesboro 0.
Finals: Hazard 3 games, Morristown 0. 1952 Mountain States League
schedule
Playoffs: Morristown 3 games, Hazard 1; Harlan 3 games, Big Stone Gap 2.
Finals: Harlan 3 games, Morristown 0. 1953 Mountain States League
schedule
Playoffs: Maryville-Alcoa 3 games, Kingsport 2; Knoxville 3 games, Morristown 1.
Finals: Knoxville 3 games, Maryville-Alcoa 1. 1954 Mountain States League
schedule
Morristown disbanded May 15; Maryville–Alcoa moved to Morristown June 19, then disbanded July 7; Lexington disbanded July 20.
The league disbanded July 20.

References

* *Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, eds., ''The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball'', 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina:

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' (BA) is a sports publication company that covers baseball at every level, including Major League Baseball (MLB), with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) college, high school, and inte ...

, 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mountain States League (1948-54) Defunct minor baseball leagues in the United States Baseball leagues in Kentucky Baseball leagues in Tennessee Defunct professional sports leagues in the United States 1948 establishments in the United States 1954 disestablishments in the United States Sports leagues established in 1948 Sports leagues disestablished in 1954 Baseball leagues in Virginia