The Interstate League was the name of five different American minor baseball leagues that played intermittently from 1896 through 1952.
Earlier versions of the Interstate League, with years active:
In addition, a Class C Interstate Association existed for one season, 1906, in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio.
Sport | Baseball |
---|---|
Founded | 1939 |
Inaugural season | 1939 |
Ceased | 1952 |
No. of teams | 4 (1939) 8 (1940–1941) (1946–1952) 6 (1942–1945) |
Country | ![]() |
Last champion(s) | Hagerstown Braves |
Most titles | Wilmington Blue Rocks (4) Lancaster Red Roses (4) |
Official website | None |
The longest tenured version of the Interstate League was the last incarnation, which played in the Middle Atlantic States from 1939 through 1952, and was one of the few mid-level minor leagues to operate continuously during the World War II period.
This circuit, which began as Class C and was upgraded to Class B in 1940, typically had teams in Allentown, Harrisburg, Lancaster and Sunbury, all in Pennsylvania; Hagerstown, Maryland; Trenton, New Jersey; and Wilmington, Delaware. Its final champion was the Hagerstown Braves, a Boston Braves affiliate. That season, the York White Roses led the league in attendance, attracting over 78,000 fans.
Cities represented | Teams | Major League Affiliate | Year(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Allentown, Pennsylvania | Allentown Dukes | Boston Braves | 1939 |
Allentown Fleetwings | St. Louis Cardinals | 1940 | |
Allentown Wings | Philadelphia Phillies (1941) St. Louis Cardinals (1942–43) |
1941–43 | |
Allentown Cardinals | St. Louis Cardinals | 1944–52 | |
Bridgeport, Connecticut | Bridgeport Bees | Boston Braves | 1941 |
Hagerstown, Maryland | Hagerstown Owls | Detroit Tigers (1941–44) (1947–48) Chicago Cubs (1945–46) Washington Senators (1949) |
1941–49 |
Hagerstown Braves | Boston Braves | 1950–52 | |
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania | Harrisburg Senators | Pittsburgh Pirates (1941–42) Cleveland Indians (1946–51) Philadelphia Athletics (1952) |
1940–42, 1946–52 |
Hazleton, Pennsylvania | Hazleton Mountaineers | Unaffiliated | 1939–40 |
Lancaster, Pennsylvania | Lancaster Red Roses | Philadelphia Athletics (1944–47) Brooklyn Dodgers (1948–52) |
1940–52 |
Reading, Pennsylvania | Reading Chicks | Unaffiliated | 1940 |
Reading Brooks | Brooklyn Dodgers | 1941 | |
Salisbury, Maryland | Salisbury Athletics | Philadelphia Athletics | 1951 |
Salisbury Reds | Cincinnati Reds | 1952 | |
Sunbury, Pennsylvania | Sunbury Senators | Unaffiliated | 1939 |
Sunbury Indians | Unaffiliated | 1940 | |
Sunbury Yankees[1] | New York Yankees | 1946–47 | |
Sunbury Reds | Cincinnati Reds | 1948–49 | |
Sunbury Athletics | Philadelphia Athletics | 1950 | |
Sunbury Giants | New York Giants | 1951–52 | |
Trenton, New Jersey | Trenton Senators | Unaffiliated | 1939–41 |
Trenton Packers | Philadelphia Phillies (1942–43) Brooklyn Dodgers (1944) |
1942–44 | |
Trenton Spartans | Brooklyn Dodgers | 1945 | |
Trenton Giants | New York Giants | 1946–50 | |
Wilmington, Delaware | Wilmington Blue Rocks | Philadelphia Athletics (1940–43) Philadelphia Phillies (1944–52) |
1940–52 |
York, Pennsylvania | York Bees | Boston Braves | 1940 |
York White Roses | Pittsburgh Pirates (1943–50) St. Louis Browns (1952) |
1943–52 |
Season | Interstate League champion | Interstate League runner-up | Other postseason participants |
---|---|---|---|
1939 | Allentown Dukes | Sunbury Senators | Trenton Senators |
1940 | Lancaster Red Roses | Reading Chicks | Trenton Senators; Wilmington Blue Rocks |
1941 | Harrisburg Senators | Trenton Senators | Hagerstown Owls; Reading Brooks |
1942 | Wilmington Blue Rocks | Hagerstown Owls | Harrisburg Senators; Allentown Wings |
1943 | Lancaster Red Roses | York White Roses | Hagerstown Owls; Wilmington Blue Rocks |
1944 | Lancaster Red Roses | Allentown Cardinals | Wilmington Blue Rocks; York White Roses |
1945 | Lancaster Red Roses | Allentown Cardinals | Trenton Spartans; Wilmington Blue Rocks |
1946 | Harrisburg Senators | Wilmington Blue Rocks | Hagerstown Owls; Allentown Cardinals |
1947 | Wilmington Blue Rocks | Allentown Cardinals | Trenton Giants; Harrisburg Senators |
1948 | Trenton Giants | York White Roses | Wilmington Blue Rocks, Sunbury Reds |
1949 | Trenton Giants | Harrisburg Senators | Allentown Cardinals; Wilmington Blue Rocks |
1950 | Wilmington Blue Rocks | Hagerstown Braves | Harrisburg Senators; Trenton Giants |
1951 | Wilmington Blue Rocks | Sunbury Giants | Hagerstown Braves; Allentown Cardinals |
1952 | Hagerstown Braves | Lancaster Red Roses | York White Roses, Allentown Cardinals |
Year | Date | Pitcher | Team | Opposition | Score | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1940 | July 2 | Don Kepler | Sunbury | York | 6-0 | 7 innings |
1942 | August 24 | Jack Casey | Trenton | Hagerstown | 2-3 | lost game |
1943 | July 1 | Steve Gerkin | Lancaster | Trenton | 4-0 | 7 innings |
1944 | June 25 | Hal Kelleher | Trenton | York | 6-0 | 7 innings |
1946 | June 10 | Whitey Konikowski | Trenton | Harrisburg | 4-0 | 7 innings |
1949 | May 7 | Tony West | Trenton | Westbury | 11-0 | |
1950 | June 11 | Joe Micciche | Trenton | Harrisburg | 9-0 | |
1950 | August 25 | Tony Segzda | York | Sunbury | 6-0 | |
1951 | April 28 | Keith Kelley | Lancaster | Wilmington | 10-0 | |
1951 | June 14 | William Minton | Salisbury | Harrisburg | 0-2 | lost game |
1951 | July 18 | Tom Casagrande | Wilimington | York | 0-1 | 11 innings; lost game |
1951 | July 28 | Ernest Nichols | Lancaster | Salisbury | 6-2 | |
1951 | August 20 | Tom Casagrande | Wilmington | Harrisburg | 4-0 | 7 innings |
1952 | June 5 | Bob Berresford | Harrisburg | Wilmington | 1-0 | |
1952 | August 6 | Doug Gostlin | Lancaster | Sunbury | 1-0 |