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The Carolina League is a minor league baseball affiliation which operates in the South Atlantic region of the United States. Before 2002, it was classified as a "High-A" league, indicating its status as a Class A league with the highest level of competition within that classification, and the fifth step between Rookie ball and the major leagues. Although Minor League Baseball, the umbrella organization for minor leagues that are affiliated with Major League Baseball, has eliminated the distinction between High-A and other full-season A leagues, most major-league teams still use such leagues as a standard promotion step. A few draftees, generally those taken in the early rounds of the draft and those with significant college experience, will be assigned to a High-A team upon signing a professional contract, but most players do not reach the High-A level until their third or fourth year of professional play.

The organization that later became the Carolina League formed in 1945, just as World War II was ending, and consisted of only two teams based in southern Virginia. Historically, however, as many as 12 teams in a given year have competed for the Carolina League pennant, and most of the league's teams have represented towns and cities in North Carolina. Today, the league consists of eight teams in a region stretching from Delaware to South Carolina, and is divided into a Northern Division and a Southern Division. The division champions from the first half and second half of each season compete in a playoff for the league championship, the winner of which receives the Mills Cup.

A few of the many Carolina League players who have gone on to star in the Major Leagues are: Johnny Bench (Peninsula, 1966), Wade Boggs (Winston-Salem, 1977), Barry Bonds (Prince William, 1985), Rod Carew (Wilson, 1966), Dwight Evans (Winston-Salem, 1971), Dwight Gooden (Lynchburg, 1983), Andruw Jones (Durham, 1996), Chipper Jones (Durham, 1992), Willie McCovey (Danville, 1956), Joe Morgan (Durham, 1963), Dave Parker (Salem, 1972), Tony Pérez (Rocky Mount, 1962), Jorge Posada (Prince William, 1993), Darryl Strawberry (Lynchburg, 1981), Bernie Williams (Prince William, 1988), and Carl Yastrzemski (Raleigh, 1959).

Director and screenwriter Ron Shelton's 1988 film “Bull Durham,” starring Kevin Costner, Tim Robbins, and Susan Sarandon, depicted a fictionalized account of the Durham Bulls, at that time a Carolina League team (they have since become a Class AAA team in the International League). Before he began making films, Shelton had a five-year minor league career in the Baltimore Orioles' organization, which included a stint in the Carolina League.

Contents 1 Current Member Teams (With Major League Affiliates) 2 Carolina League Champions 3 See also 4 External links

Current Member Teams (With Major League Affiliates)

Northern Division

• Frederick Keys (Baltimore Orioles)
• Lynchburg Hillcats (Pittsburgh Pirates)
• Potomac Nationals (Washington Nationals)
• Wilmington Blue Rocks (Boston Red Sox)

Southern Division

• Kinston Indians (Cleveland Indians)
• Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Atlanta Braves)
• Salem Avalanche (Houston Astros)
• Winston-Salem Warthogs (Chicago White Sox)

Carolina League Champions

1945 Danville
1946 Raleigh
1947 Raleigh
1948 Martinsville
1949 Burlington
1950 Winston-Salem
1951 Winston-Salem
1952 Reidsville
1953 Danville
1954 Fayetteville
1955 Danville
1956 Fayetteville
1957 Durham
1958 Burlington
1959 Wilson
1960 Greensboro
1961 Wilson
1962 Kinston
1963 Wilson
1964 Winston-Salem
1965 Tidewater
1966 Rocky Mount
1967 Durham
1968 High Point-Thomasville
1969 Raleigh-Durham
1970 Winston-Salem
1971 Peninsula
1972 Salem
1973 Winston-Salem
1974 Salem
1975 Rocky Mount
1976 Winston-Salem
1977 Peninsula
1978 Lynchburg
1979 Peninsula
1980 Peninsula
1981 Hagerstown
1982 Alexandria
1983 Lynchburg
1984 Lynchburg
1985 Winston-Salem
1986 Winston-Salem
1987 Salem
1988 Kinston
1989 Prince William
1990 Frederick
1991 Kinston
1992 Peninsula
1993 Winston-Salem
1994 Wilmington
1995 Kinston
1996 Wilmington
1997 Lynchburg
1998 Wilmington
1999 Wilmington and Myrtle Beach
2000 Myrtle Beach
2001 Salem
2002 Lynchburg
2003 Winston-Salem
2004 Kinston
2005 Frederick

See also

• Sports league attendances

External links

• Carolina League History
• Carolinal League Champions

Carolina League
Northern Division		Southern Division
Frederick Keys | Lynchburg Hillcats | Potomac Nationals | Wilmington Blue Rocks		Kinston Indians | Myrtle Beach Pelicans | Salem Avalanche | Winston-Salem Warthogs

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