Western Carolinas League

The Western Carolinas League was a Class D (1948-52, 1960-62) and a low Class A (1963-79) full-season league in American minor league baseball. The WCL changed its name prior to the 1980 season and has been known since as the South Atlantic League, a highly successful low Class A circuit with teams up the Eastern Seaboard from Georgia to New Jersey.

Originally called the "Western "Carolina" League," the 1948-52 WCL was composed exclusively of teams located in the Piedmont and Blue Ridge sections of western North Carolina. It merged with the North Carolina State League to form the short-lived Class D Tar Heel League, which lasted only two seasons (1953-54) before folding.

In 1960, the WCL was revived as a Class D circuit intended for farm teams of member clubs of a planned third major league, the Continental League. It featured teams in eight North Carolina locales: Gastonia, Hickory, Lexington, Newton-Conover, Rutherford County, Salisbury, Shelby and Statesville, but soon expanded to sites in South Carolina.

When the CL was torpedoed by the Major League Baseball expansion in 1961-62, the members of the Western Carolinas League became affiliates of American and National League clubs. It was upgraded to Class A in the 1963 reorganization of the minor leagues.

For nearly 60 years, 1948 through 2007, the dominant figure in the WCL/SAL was league founder and president John Henry Moss, who started the WCL as a young man in 1948, refounded it in 1960 and then led it into the new century. Moss, who keeps his age a private matter, retired at the close of the 2007 [Baseball America, December 15, 2007] Sally League season.

Member teams

Western Carolina League (1948-52)

* Forest City Owls
* Gastonia Browns
* Granite Falls Graniteers
* Hendersonville Skylarks
* Hickory Rebels
* Lenoir Red Sox
* Lincolnton Cardinals
* Marion Marauders
* Morganton Aggies
* Newton-Conover Twins
* Rutherford County Owls
* Shelby Farmers

Western Carolinas League (1960-79)

* Anderson Giants
* Anderson Mets
* Anderson Senators
* Anderson Tigers
* Asheville Tourists
* Belmont Chiefs
* Charleston Patriots
* Charleston Pirates
* Charlotte Twins
* Gastonia Cardinals
* Gastonia Pirates
* Gastonia Rangers
* Gastonia Rippers
* Greensboro Hornets
* Greenville Braves
* Greenville Mets
* Greenville Rangers
* Greenville Red Sox
* Greenwood Braves
* Hickory Rebels
* Lexington Giants
* Lexington Indians
* Monroe Indians
* Monroe Pirates
* Newton-Conover Twins
* Orangeburg Cards
* Orangeburg Dodgers
* Rock Hill Cardinals
* Rock Hill Indians
* Rock Hill Wrens
* Rutherford County Owls
* Salisbury Astros
* Salisbury Braves
* Salisbury Dodgers
* Salisbury Senators
* Shelby Colonels
* Shelby Pirates
* Shelby Rebels
* Shelby Reds
* Shelby Senators
* Shelby Yankees
* Spartanburg Phillies
* Statesville Colts
* Statesville Owls
* Statesville Tigers
* Sumter Astros
* Sumter Indians
* Thomasville Hi-Toms

References