Carolina Association

{{Short description|Minor league baseball league}} {{Infobox sports league | title =Carolina Association | current_season =  | current_season2 =  | last_season =  | upcoming_season =  | logo = | pixels =  | caption = | formerly = | sport =Minor League Baseball | replaced =North Carolina State League | owner = | ceo = | chief operating officer = | director = | president = George L. Hammond (1908) Joseph H. Wearn (1909–1912) | commissioner = | fame =  | motto = | inaugural =1908 | teams =6 | singles = | country =United States of America | venue = | confed =  | folded =1912 | champion = | most_champs ='''2''' Greensboro Champs (1908) / Patriots (1909) | classification =Class D (1908–1912) | qualification = | tv = | sponsor = | related_comps = | founder = | levels = | promotion = | relegation = | domestic_cup = | website = }}

The '''Carolina Association''' was a minor league baseball league that played from 1908 to 1912. The Carolina Association played as a six–team Class D level league. The league consisted of teams based in North Carolina and South Carolina, with the same six franchises playing for the duration of the league.

==History== The Carolina Association began play as a six–team Class D level league in the 1908 season. The league president was George L. Hammond.<ref name="encyc">{{cite book |title=The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball |editor-first1=Lloyd |editor-last1=Johnson |editor-first2=Miles |editor-last2=Wolff |edition=Third |publisher=Baseball America |date=2007 |isbn=978-1932391176}}</ref> The charter members were the Anderson Electricians of Anderson, South Carolina, Charlotte Hornets of Charlotte, North Carolina, Greensboro Champs of Greenville, South Carolina, Greenville Spinners of Greenville, South Carolina, Spartanburg Spartans of Spartanburg, South Carolina and Winston-Salem Twins of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The same six franchises played for the duration of the league history. The Anderson Electrics name derived from a recently built hydro electric plant in Anderson.<ref name="auto3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/l-NCSL1/y-1908|title=1908 Carolina Association (CA) on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?id=89cf2b58|title=1908 Carolina Association|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://encyclopedia.sabr.org/wiki/1908_Carolina_Association|title=1908 Carolina Association - SABR Encyclopedia|website=encyclopedia.sabr.org}}</ref>

In their first season of play, the 1908 Carolina Association played a regular season without playoffs, which continued throughout their existence.<ref name="encyc"/> The 1908 final standings featured the Greensboro Champs (51–38), Spartanburg Spartans (49–39), Greenville Spinners (48–36), Winston-Salem Twins (41–48), Charlotte Hornets (40–47) and Anderson Electricians (32–53).<ref name="auto3"/><ref name="auto"/><ref name="encyc"/>

On May 9, 1908, Spartanburg turned a triple play against the Greensboro Champs.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2648147/1908-05-09-carolina-association-triple/|title=1908-05-09 Carolina Association triple play|newspaper=Greensboro Daily News|date=May 10, 1908|pages=6|via=newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="encyc"/>

A native of the Greenville, South Carolina area, Shoeless Joe Jackson played for the 1908 Greenville Spinners, hitting .346 to lead the Carolina Association. While earning a salary of $75.00 a month, Jackson also led the Carolina Association in hits (120) and RBI (72). In August, 1908, Jackson's contract was purchased by the Philadelphia Athletics for $900.00 and Jackson immediately made his major league debut. Today, there is a museum and monuments honoring Jackson in Greenville.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.shoelessjoejackson.org/|title=Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum|website=Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://greenvillerec.com/parks/shoeless-joe-jackson-memorial-park/|title=Shoeless Joe Jackson Memorial Park}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/shoeless-joe-jackson/|title = Shoeless Joe Jackson – Society for American Baseball Research}}</ref>

In 1909, Joseph H. Wearn became the Carolina Association president, a position he would hold for the remaining duration of the league.<ref name="encyc"/> The 1909 Carolina Association final standings were won by for the second consecutive season by Greensboro. The Greensboro Patriots (65–44) were followed by the Anderson Electricians (63–48), Winston-Salem Twins (54–52), Greenville Spinners (61–51), Winston-Salem Twins (54–52) and Spartanburg Spartans (40–71).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/l-NCSL1/y-1909|title=1909 Carolina Association (CA) on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?id=d7da78b7|title=1909 Carolina Association|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref><ref name="encyc"/>

The Greenville Spinners (63–40) were the 1910 Carolina Association Champions. Following Greenville in the standings were the Charlotte Hornets (56–50), Anderson Electricians (56–54), Winston-Salem Twins (51–57), Spartanburg Spartans (50–57) and Greensboro Champs (46–64).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/l-NCSL1/y-1910|title=1910 Carolina Association (CA) on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?id=5e1b35f9|title=1910 Carolina Association|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref><ref name="encyc"/>

In the 1911 Carolina Association, the Winston-Salem Twins (72–37) won the championship. The Greensboro Patriots (66–43), Charlotte Hornets (52–58), Anderson Electricians (48–59), Spartanburg Spartans (44–63) and Greenville Spinners (42–64) rounded out the 1911 final standings.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/l-NCSL1/y-1911|title=1911 Carolina Association (CA) on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?id=c50820b6|title=1911 Carolina Association|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref><ref name="encyc"/>

In their final season of play, the 1912 Carolina Association champions were the Anderson Electricians (66–44). Anderson was followed by the Winston-Salem Twins (63–47), Charlotte Hornets (61–46), Spartanburg Red Sox (54–55), Greensboro Patriots (51–59) and Greenville Spinners (34–78).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/l-NCSL1/y-1912|title=1912 Carolina Association (CA) on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?id=2f69c3fd|title=1912 Carolina Association|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref><ref name="encyc"/>

After the 1912 season, the Carolina Association evolved into the 1913 Class D level North Carolina State League. Joseph H. Wearn continued as president of the newly named league. The three North Carolina franchises continued play in the North Carolina State League without the three South Carolina franchises.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/l-NCSL1|title=North Carolina State League (NCSL) on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/l-NCSL1/y-1913|title=1913 North Carolina State League (NCSL) on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://minorleaguesource.com/northcarolinastate0817.htm|title=North Carolina State League (1913-1917), Carolina Association (1908-1912)|website=minorleaguesource.com}}</ref><ref name="encyc"/>

==Carolina Association teams== {| class="wikitable" |- !Team name(s) !City represented !Ballpark !Year(s) active |- |'''Anderson Electricians''' |Anderson, South Carolina |Unknown<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/venues/v-90|title=Unknown in Anderson, SC history and teams on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref> |{{by|1908}} to {{by|1912}} |- |'''Charlotte Hornets''' |Charlotte, North Carolina |Latta Park Baseball Field<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/venues/v-477|title=Latta Park in Charlotte, NC history and teams on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref> |{{by|1908}} to {{by|1912}} |- |'''Greensboro Champs (1908)/ Greensboro Patriots (1909–1912)''' |Greensboro, North Carolina |Cone Park<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/venues/v-1026|title=Cone Park in Greensboro, NC history and teams on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref> |{{by|1908}} to {{by|1912}} |- |'''Greenville Spinners''' |Greenville, South Carolina |Furman Park<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/venues/v-1043|title=Furman Park in Greenville, SC history and teams on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref> |{{by|1908}} to {{by|1912}} |- |'''Spartanburg Spartans (1908–1911)/ Spartanburg Red Sox (1912)''' |Spartanburg, South Carolina |Unknown<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/venues/v-2567|title=Unknown in Spartanburg, SC history and teams on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref> |{{by|1908}} to {{by|1912}} |- |'''Winston-Salem Twins''' |Winston-Salem, North Carolina |Prince Albert Park<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/venues/v-2954|title=Prince Albert Park in Winston-Salem, NC history and teams on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref> |{{by|1908}} to {{by|1912}} |- |}

== Standings & statistics== The Carolina Association had no playoffs. The regular season first place team was the league champion.

===1908 Carolina Association=== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" !Team name!!W!!L!!PCT!!GB!!Managers |- |Greensboro Champs||51||38||.573 ||–|| James McKevitt |- |Greenville Spinners||48||36||.571||½||Tom Stouch |- |Spartanburg Spartans||49||39||.557||1½|| Carlton Buesse |- |Winston-Salem Twins||41||48||.461||10|| Robert Carter |- |Charlotte Hornets||40||47||.460||10||Jess Reynolds / Philip Hinton / Danny Collins |- |Anderson Electricians||32||53||.376||17||Elmer Hines / Sam Woodward |}No Playoffs.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+Player statistics !Player!! Team!!Stat!! Tot!!!!Player!!Team!!Stat!!Tot |- |Shoeless Joe Jackson||Greenville ||BA||.346||||Walt Hammersley||Greensboro||W||22 |- |Shoeless Joe Jackson||Greenville ||Hits||120|||| Phifer Fullenwider ||Charlotte||Pct||.765; 13–4 |- |Shoeless Joe Jackson||Greenville||RBI||72|||| Alvin Barre ||Greenville||Runs||62 |}<ref name="encyc"/>

===1909 Carolina Association=== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" !Team name!!W!!L!!PCT!!GB!!Managers |- |Greensboro Patriots||65||44||.596 ||–|| James McKevitt |- |Anderson Electricians||63||48||.568||3||James Kelly |- |Greenville Spinners||61||51||.545||5½||Tom Stouch |- |Winston-Salem Twins ||54||52||.509||9½|| Robert Carter |- |Charlotte Hornets||46||63||.422||19||Dan Collins / Lave Cross |- |Spartanburg Spartans||40||71||.360||26|| Carlton Beusse |}No Playoffs.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+Player statistics !Player!! Team!!Stat!! Tot!!!!Player!!Team!!Stat!!Tot |- |Al Humphrey||Charlotte ||BA||.296||||Roxy Walters||Greensboro||W||25 |- |James Kelly||Anderson ||Hits||117|||| Roxy Walters ||Greensboro||SO||148 |- |James Kelly||Anderson||RBI||71|||| George Schmick ||Anderson||Pct||.789: 15–4 |- | Harvey Ritter ||Spartanburg||HR||11|||| Charles Sisson ||Greensboro ||Runs||81 |}<ref name="encyc"/>

===1910 Carolina Association=== [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/619808/1910_carolina_association_schedule/? schedule] {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" !Team name!!W!!L!!PCT!!GB!!Managers |- |Greenville Spinners||63||40||.612 ||–||Tom Stouch |- |Charlotte Hornets||56||50||.528||8½||Lave Cross |- |Anderson Electricians||56||54||.509||10½|| James Kelly |- |Winston-Salem Twins ||51||57||.472||14½|| James McKivettt |- |Spartanburg Spartans||50||57||.467||15|| Andy Roth / Bob Wood |- |Greensboro Champs||46||64||.418||20½|| Carlton Beusse / Pug Hicks |}No Playoffs:

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" !Player!! Team!!Stat!! Tot!!!!Player!!Team!!Stat!!Tot |+Player statistics |- |James Kelly||Anderson ||BA||.325||||Jim Redfern||Spartanburg||W||21 |- |James Kelly||Anderson ||Hits||132|||| O.W. Brazille ||Charlotte||W||21 |- |James Kelly||Anderson||RBI||66|||| Bert Gardin ||Spartanburg||Pct||.750: 15–5 |- |Red Smith||Anderson||HR||4||||George Bausewine ||Charlotte ||SO||192 |}<ref name="encyc"/>

===1911 Carolina Association=== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" !Team name!!W!!L!!PCT!!GB!!Managers |- |Winston-Salem Twins||72||37||.661 ||–|| Charles Clancy |- |Greensboro Patriots||66||43||.581||6|| Frank Doyle |- |Charlotte Hornets||52||58||.473||20½||Lave Cross / Jack Agnew |- |Anderson Electricians||48||59||.449||23|| James Kelly |- |Spartanburg Spartans||44||63||.411||27||Bill Laval |- |Greenville Spinners||42||64||.396||28½||Tom Stouch |}No Playoffs.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+Player statistics !Player!! Team!!Stat!! Tot!!!!Player!!Team!!Stat!!Tot |- | F.P. Wofford ||Charlotte ||BA||.392||||Josh Swindell||Winston–Salem||W||29 |- | Bill Schumaker ||WWinston–Salem ||Hits||145|||| Josh Swindell||Winston–Salem||Pct||.784; 29–8 |- | Bill Schumaker ||Winston–Salem||RBI||91|||| Walt Rickard ||Greensboro||Runs||105 |- |Red Smith||Greenville||HR||17|| |}<ref name="encyc"/>

===1912 Carolina Association=== [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14391302/1912_carolina_league_schedule/ schedule] {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" !Team name!!W!!L!!PCT!!GB!!Managers |- |Anderson Electricians||66||44||.600 ||–|| George Ramsey |- |Winston-Salem Twins||63||47||.573||3|| Charles Clancy |- |Charlotte Hornets||61||46||.570||3½||Champ Osteen |- |Spartanburg Red Sox||54||55||.495||11½|| Bill Laval |- |Greensboro Patriots||51||59||.464||15|| Frank Doyle |- |Greenville Spinners||34||78||.304||33||Tom Stouch / Glenn Colby |}No Playoffs:

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+Player statistics !Player!! Team!!Stat!! Tot!!!!Player!!Team!!Stat!!Tot |- |Ralph Young||Greensboro ||BA||.326|||| Pete Boyle ||Winston–Salem||W||16 |- |Bill Schumaker|||Winston–Salem ||Hits||125|||| Pete Boyle ||Winston–Salem||Pct||.762; 16–5 |- |Bill Schumaker|||Winston–Salem||RBI||106||||Paul Fittery||Anderson||SO||191 |- |Bill Schumaker|||Winston–Salem||HR||16||||Bill Schumaker||Winston–Salem||Runs||73 |}<ref name="encyc"/>

==References== {{Reflist}} {{Professional Baseball}}

Category:Defunct minor baseball leagues in the United States Category:Baseball leagues in North Carolina Category:Defunct professional sports leagues in the United States Category:Sports leagues established in 1908 Category:Sports leagues disestablished in 1912 Category:Baseball leagues in South Carolina Category:1908 establishments in the United States Category:1912 disestablishments in the United States