Virginia–North Carolina League
| Sport | Minor league baseball, Class C, Class D |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1901 |
| Ceased | August 19, 1905 |
| No. of teams | 9 |
| Country |  United States |
| Most titles | 1 Raleigh Senators (1901) Danville Tobacconists (1905) |
The Virginia-North Carolina League was an minor league baseball league that played in the 1901 and 1905 seasons, folding before the end of the season both times. The Virginia-North Carolina League played as a six–team Class C league in 1901 and as a four–team Class D league in the 1905 season. As the name indicates, the league consisted of teams based in Virginia and North Carolina.
History
In 1901, the Virginia League evolved into the Class C Virginia–North Carolina League. The Virginia League cities of New Port News Portsmouth and Richmond franchises continued play in the 1901 Virginia–North Carolina League, joining three new franchises.[1][2][3]
The new Virginia–North Carolina League began forming in January of 1901. The Virginia cities of Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Richmond, Raleigh and Danville, Virginia, were front runners for consideration. Other North Carolina cities of Charlotte, Durham, Greensboro and Wilmington were all also recruited to form teams. Prior to the season, plans for both a ten–team league and an eight–team league were publicly announced. On February 18, 1901, at a meeting at the Monticello Hotel in Norfolk, Virginia, W.H. Cunningham was elected president and E.H. Doran selected as secretary. The league was formed with six teams, four from Virginia and two from North Carolina, with the schedule running from April 15 to September 21. General admission at all sites was set at 25 cents, with grandstands seats at 35 cents. The league employed a single umpire per game, at a salary of $7.00 per game, an amount deemed enough to attract the best umpires.[4][5]
The Virginia–North Carolina League began play on April 16, 1901 with the six league members Newport News-Hampton Shipbuilders, Norfolk Skippers, Portsmouth Browns, Raleigh Senators, Richmond Bluebirds and Wilmington Giants.[6]
Games early in the season were plagued by rain and other bad weather, including a tornado that hit Newport News, Virginia on May 1, 1901. Attendance was diminished in as a result.[4]
On May 2, 1901, the league took over the Portsmouth Browns franchise, which was suffering from poor attendance. The Newport News–Hampton Shipbuilders (32–26) moved to Charlotte, North Carolina and became the Charlotte Hornets on June 21, 1901, the same day the Portsmouth Browns (22–31) moved to Tarboro to become the Tarboro Tartars.[4][1][7][8]
After the Norfolk Skippers and Richmond Grays franchises disbanded in July, the Virginia–North Carolina League continued play as a four–team league. The league then folded on August 17, 1901. After the league folded, an eleven–game 1901 "championship series" between the first–half champion Wilmington Giants and second–half champion Raleigh Senators was scheduled. After four games, the remainder of the series was cancelled due to numerous rain–outs. Raleigh won all four games played and claimed the league championship. With Charlotte and Greensboro as members, the league essentially evolved into the North Carolina League in 1902, before that league also disbanded on July 15, 1902.[4][6][7][9]
The Virginia–North Carolina League formed again in 1905 as a Class D league, with help from Jack Grimm, who then became the manager of the Greensboro franchise. The 1905 teams were the Charlotte Hornets, Danville Tobacconists, Greensboro Farmers and Salisbury–Spencer Twins/Winston–Salem Twins. On July 17, 1905, Salisbury-Spencer (24–28) moved to Winston-Salem and became the Winston–Salem Twins. The Virginia–North Carolina League disbanded before the conclusion of the season, stopping play on August 19, 1905 with Danville in 1st place (48–27), followed by Charlotte (40–42), Greensboro (36–47) and Winston-Salem (34–42).[10][11][4][12][13][14][8][15]
Virginia-North Carolina League teams
| Team name | City represented | Ballpark | Year(s) active |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charlotte Hornets | Charlotte, North Carolina | Latta Park[16] | 1901, 1905 |
| Danville Tobacconists | Danville, Virginia | League Park[17] | 1905 |
| Greensboro Farmers | Greensboro, North Carolina | Cone Park[18] | 1905 |
| Newport News-Hampton Shipbuilders | Newport News, Virginia & Hampton, Virginia | Lincoln Park[19] | 1901 |
| Norfolk Skippers | Norfolk, Virginia | Unknown | 1901 |
| Portsmouth Browns | Portsmouth, Virginia | High Street Park | 1901 |
| Raleigh Senators | Raleigh, North Carolina | State Fairgrounds[20] | 1901 |
| Richmond Grays/Richmond Bluebirds | Richmond, Virginia | Broad Street Park[21] | 1901 |
| Salisbury-Spencer Twins | Salisbury, North Carolina & Spencer, North Carolina | Unknown | 1905 |
| Tarboro Tartars | Tarboro, North Carolina | Unknown | 1901 |
| Wilmington Giants | Wilmington, North Carolina | Hilton Park[22] | 1901 |
| Winston-Salem Twins | Winston-Salem, North Carolina | Prince Albert Park[23] | 1905 |
League standings and statistics
| 1901 Overall Team Standings | W | L | PCT | GB | Managers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raleigh Senators | 59 | 46 | .562 | - | George "King" Kelly |
| Wilmington Giants | 58 | 46 | .571 | 0.5 | H.B. Peschau |
| Newport News-Hampton Shipbuilders / Charlotte Hornets | 50 | 55 | .476 | 9.0 | Ed Ashenbach |
| Portsmouth Browns / Tarboro Tartars | 42 | 58 | .420 | 24.5 | Win Clark |
| Norfolk Skippers* | 31 | 27 | .534 | NA | Ed Gilligan / William Spratt |
| Richmond Grays/Richmond Bluebirds* | 29 | 35 | .435 | NA | Barley Kain |
| 1905 Team Standings | W | L | PCT | GB | Managers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Danville Tobacconists | 66 | 31 | .680 | - | Ed Ransick |
| Charlotte Hornets | 52 | 39 | .571 | 11.5 | E.L. Keesler |
| Salisbury-Spencer Twins/ Winston-Salem Twins | 49 | 52 | .485 | 14.5 | Con Strothers / Earle Holt |
| Greensboro Farmers | 43 | 51 | .457 | 15.0 | John J. Grim |
| 1901 Player | Team | Stat | Tot | Player | Team | Stat | Tot | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Mullen | Norfolk | BA | .342 | Jesse Dannehower | Norfolk | W | 17 | |
| Stub Smith | Norfolk | Runs | 61 | Jesse Dannehower | Norfolk | SO | 156 | |
| John Mullen | Dubuque | Hits | 93 | Jesse Dannehower | Norfolk | PCT | .708 17-7 | |
| Joe Staley | Raleigh | HR | 10 | |||||
| John Mullen | Norfolk | SB | 35 |
References
- ^ a b c "Virginia-North Carolina League - BR Bullpen". www.baseball-reference.com.
- ^ "Virginia League - BR Bullpen". www.baseball-reference.com.
- ^ "Virginia-North Carolina League (C) Encyclopedia and History". Baseball-Reference.com.
- ^ a b c d e "Virginia-North Carolina League: A Fascinating Failure". research.sabr.org.
- ^ "1901 Virginia-North Carolina League umpires". March 27, 1901. p. 6 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "1901 Virginia-North Carolina League (VNCL) on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
- ^ a b "1901 Virginia-North Carolina League (VNCL) Standings on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
- ^ a b "Charlotte Hornets". qcbaseballhistory.
- ^ "1902 North Carolina League (NCL) on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
- ^ "1905 Virginia-North Carolina League (VNCL) on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
- ^ "1905 Virginia-North Carolina League". Baseball-Reference.com.
- ^ "1905-07-15 Virginia-North Carolina League". July 16, 1905. p. 8 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Virginia-North Carolina League". Baseball History Daily.
- ^ "Top 100 Teams | MiLB.com History | The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". MiLB.com.
- ^ "Here's a snapshot of the other teams in the Carolina League". The Fayetteville Observer.
- ^ "Latta Park in Charlotte, NC history and teams on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
- ^ "League Park in Danville, VA history and teams on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
- ^ "Cone Park in Greensboro, NC history and teams on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
- ^ "Lincoln Park in Newport News, VA history and teams on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
- ^ "State Fairgrounds in Raleigh, NC history and teams on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
- ^ "Broad Street Park in Richmond, VA history and teams on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
- ^ "1901 Wilmington Giants Roster on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
- ^ "Prince Albert Park in Winston-Salem, NC history and teams on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.