Elizabethton Phils

Paul Minner led the 1942 Elizabethton Red Sox with 18 wins and a 1.41 ERA.[1]

The Red Sox became the first professional baseball team to hail from Elizabethton, Tennessee, when they joined the Class D Appalachian League in 1937.[2] The team's moniker was a combination of the city's nickname, "Betsy Town",[3] and that of their Major League Baseball affiliate, the Boston Red Sox.[4] Elizabethton won its opening game on the road, defeating the Johnson City Soldiers, 10–7, on May 21.[5] They played their first home game at Cherokee Park before a crowd of around 1,000 people on May 27, defeating Johnson City, 9–5.[6] They went on to win the first half of the season and finish their inaugural campaign with a league-best 57–45 (.559) record.[7] In the playoffs for the Appalachian League championship, Elizabethton was defeated by the Pennington Gap Lee Bears, 3–2, in the best-of-five series.[7] The 1938 team again paced the league with a first-place 65–36 (.644) record, but were eliminated in the semifinals by the Greeneville Burley Cubs, 2–0.[8]

The 1939 Red Sox finished atop the standings having posted a 71–48 (.597) season.[9] They defeated Greeneville in the semifinals, 2–1, before winning their first Appalachian League championship over the Kingsport Cherokees, 3–1.[9] In 1940, Elizabethton returned to the playoffs with a second-half title and a first-place 84–33 (.718) mark.[10] They beat Kingsport in the opening round, 2–0, but lost the finals to the Johnson City Cardinals, 3–0.[10]

Elizabethon's affiliation with the Boston Red Sox ended after the 1940 season, but they retained the Red Sox nickname after affiliating with the Brooklyn Dodgers for 1941.[11] They repeated with a second-half title and a 73–45 (.619) record, the league's best.[12] After defeating the Newport Canners, 3–2, in the semifinals, the Red Sox won their second AL championship by sweeping Johnson City, 3–0.[12]

The Brooklyn affiliation ended after the 1941 season, and the Red Sox were unaffiliated with a Major League Baseball team in 1942.[13] On June 9, Pat McGlothin pitched a no-hitter against Newport in a 2–0 win at Cherokee Park.[14] They ended the season in second place at 60–47 (.561), 11 games out of first.[15] They best Johnson City, 2–1, in the semifinals, but lost the AL championship to the Bristol Twins, 2–0.[15]

Over six years of competition in the Appalachian League, the Red Sox accumulated a 410–254 (.617) record. The city did not field a team from 1943 to 1944.[2]

Don Elston of the 1948 team went on to be selected as an MLB All-Star in 1959.[16]

The Elizabethton Appalachian League franchise was revived in 1945 as the Elizabethton Betsy Cubs, an affiliate of the Chicago Cubs.[17] Though they finished last of four teams with a 38–68 (.358) record, every team participated in the postseason playoffs.[18] The Cubs lost to the Bristol Twins, 3–1, in the semifinals.[18] Elizabethton improved to third of eight clubs in 1946 with a 68–57 (.544) mark.[19] They swept Bristol in the semifinals, 3–0, but lost the AL title to the New River Rebels, 4–2, in the finals.[19]

On May 25, 1947, Robert Knaub and Jack Bunger pitched a combined no-hitter against the Kingsport Indians. Kingsport managed to score three runs in the first inning, which were charged to Bunger, who started the game and walked five batters before being relieved by Knaub in the first. Knaub held the Indians hitless until the game was called on account of rain after six innings with the Cubs ahead, 5–3.[20] Elizabethton just missed the playoffs in 1947 (62–64; .492) and 1948 (64–61; .512) with fifth-place finishes.[21][22]

The Chicago Cubs withdrew from the Appalachian League after 1948, so Elizabethton continued as an unaffiliated team in 1949.[23] Competing as the Elizabethton Betsy Local,[2] the team finished seventh of eight clubs at 40–76 (.345).[24] They missed a contracted two-team playoff championship in 1950, finishing fourth at 72–52 (.581).[25]

After two seasons as an independent club, the team affiliated with the Philadelphia Phillies for 1951, becoming the Elizabethton Phils.[26] They qualified for the playoffs with a 57–70 (.449) season, but were eliminated in the semifinals by the Kingsport Cherokees, 2–0.[27] The Phils lost their final game before their home crown, 7–1, on September 8.[28] Over their second stretch in the Appalachian League, Elizabethton accumulated a record of 401–448 (.472). Over all 13 seasons, their all-time record was 811–702 (.536).

The city went without a team for 36 years until the Minnesota Twins placed the Elizabethton Twins in the Appalachian League as a Rookie-level affiliate in 1974.[2][29]