Virginia League (1894–1896)
The Virginia League (1894–1896) was a minor league baseball organization active in central Virginia.
| Classification | Independent (1894) Class B (1895–1896) |
|---|---|
| Sport | Minor League Baseball |
| Inaugural season | 1894 |
| Ceased | 1896 |
| Replaced by | Virginia League (1900) |
| President | Camden Sommers (1894) Judge Samuel B. Witt,Jr. (1895) James McLaughlin (1896) |
| No. of teams | 8 |
| Country |  United States |
| Most titles | 2 Richmond Bluebirds (1895–1896) |
History
In 1894, the Virginia League began play as an Independent level league and fielded six teams: the Lynchburg, Virginia based Lynchburg Hill Climbers, the Norfolk, Virginia based Norfolk Clam Eaters, the Petersburg Farmers, the Richmond Bluebirds, the Roanoke, Virginia based Roanoke Magicians, and the Staunton, Virginia based Staunton Hayseeds / Newport News, Virginia-Hampton, Virginia based Newport News-Hampton Deck Hands (the Staunton team relocated in the middle of the 1894 season).[1]
In 1895, the league was upgraded to a Class B level league. The teams during the 1895 season were the Lynchburg Hill Climbers, the Norfolk Clams/Crows, the Petersburg Farmers, the Portsmouth Truckers, the Richmond Blue Birds, and the Roanoke Magicians.[2]
In 1896, the Norfolk team became the Norfolk Braves, the Portsmouth team became the Portsmouth Browns and then moved to Hampton and became the Hampton-Newport News Clamdiggers.[3]
1894–1896 cities represented
- Lynchburg, VA: Lynchburg Hill Climbers 1894; Lynchburg Tobacconists 1895–1896
- Newport News, VA & Hampton, VA: Newport News-Hampton Deck Hands 1894; Hampton-Newport News Clamdiggers 1896
- Norfolk, VA: Norfolk Clam Eaters 1894; Norfolk Clams/Norfolk Crows 1895; Norfolk Braves 1896
- Petersburg, VA: Petersburg Farmers 1894–1896
- Portsmouth, VA: Portsmouth Truckers 1895; Portsmouth Browns 1896
- Richmond, VA: Richmond Crows/Richmond Colts 1894; Richmond Bluebirds 1895-1896
- Roanoke, VA: Roanoke Magicians 1894–1896
- Staunton, VA: Staunton Hayseeds 1894
1894–1896 standings and statistics
1894 Virginia State League
| Team standings | W | L | PCT | GB | Managers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petersburg Farmers | 72 | 44 | .621 | - | H.P. Harrison |
| Norfolk Clam Eaters | 66 | 45 | .595 | 3.5 | Camden Sommers |
| Richmond Crows / Richmond Colts | 67 | 48 | .583 | 4.5 | Timothy West |
| Staunton Hayseeds / Newport News-Hampton Deck Hands | 50 | 64 | .439 | 21.0 | Pat Ziegler C.A. Gaussen / William Donovan |
| Roanoke Magicians | 45 | 71 | .338 | 27.0 | George Houston / Hal O'Hagan / Shadrack McHooveter / Bill Stephenson |
| Lynchburg Hill Climbers | 43 | 71 | .377 | 28.0 | E.J. Kerry / Samuel Shaw J. Hofford / S. Moran |
Staunton (36-53) moved to Newport News-Hampton August 14.
| Player | Team | Stat | Tot | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stuart Sanford | Petersburg | Hits | 121 |
1895 Virginia State League
| Team standings | W | L | PCT | GB | Managers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richmond Bluebirds | 78 | 45 | .634 | - | Jake Wells |
| Lynchburg Tobacconists | 67 | 52 | .563 | 9.0 | Bill Smith |
| Norfolk Clams/Crows | 56 | 61 | .479 | 19.0 | Camden Sommers Bill Hoggins / Pop Tate |
| Portsmouth Truckers | 57 | 68 | .456 | 22.0 | John Brady Charles Bland / George Reed |
| Petersburg Farmers | 55 | 69 | .444 | 23.5 | Bob Pender |
| Roanoke Magicians | 52 | 70 | .431 | 25.5 | Jim Breen / Dick Padden |
No Playoffs Scheduled.
| Player | Team | Stat | Tot | Player | Team | Stat | Tot | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pop Tate | Portsmouth/Norfolk | BA | .412 | Carney Flynn | Richmond | W | 25 | |
| Hal O'Hagan | Norfolk | Runs | 125 | Carney Flynn | Richmond | SO | 203 | |
| Pop Tate | Portsmouth/Norfolk | Hits | 194 | Al Orth | Lynchburg | PCT | .774 24-7 | |
| Bob Berryhill | Lynchburg | HR | 19 | |||||
| Charles McIntyre | Lynchburg | HR | 19 | |||||
| Louis Lippert | Petersburg | SB | 77 |
1896 Virginia State League
| Team standings | W | L | PCT | GB | Managers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richmond Bluebirds | 71 | 55 | .563 | - | Jake Wells |
| Norfolk Braves | 70 | 60 | .538 | 3.0 | Claude McFarland |
| Portsmouth Browns | 65 | 64 | .504 | 7.5 | Lefty Marr / Bill Hall |
| Petersburg Farmers / Hampton-Newport News Clamdiggers | 39 | 90 | .302 | 33.5 | James Breen George Kelly / Charles Boyer |
| Lynchburg Tobacconists | 68 | 37 | .648 | NA | Bill Smith |
| Roanoke Magicians | 49 | 56 | .467 | NA | Charles Boyer / Pop Tate |
Petersburg (32–60) moved to Hampton August 13.
Roanoke disbanded August 20; Lynchburg disbanded August 22.
The league played a three part split season.
| Player | Team | Stat | Tot | Player | Team | Stat | Tot | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pop Tate | Roanoke | BA | .384 | Jesse Tannehill | Richmond | W | 27 | |
| Claude McFarland | Norfolk | Runs | 123 | Cy Malarkey | Richmond | SO | 208 | |
| Claude McFarland | Norfolk | Hits | 194 | W.F. McFarland | Lynchburg | PCT | .741 20-7 | |
| Zeke Wrigley | Roanoke | HR | 16 | |||||
| Joe Dolan | Lynchburg | HR | 16 | |||||
| Dummy Stephenson | Norfolk/Portsmouth/Petersburg | HR | 16 | |||||
| Barley Kain | Richmond | SB | 94 |
References
- "1894 Virginia League". Retrieved 3 August 2011.
- "1895 Virginia League". Retrieved 3 August 2011.
- "1896 Virginia League". Retrieved 3 August 2011.
- The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. Lloyd Johnson & Miles Wolff, editors (Third ed.). Baseball America. 2007. ISBN 978-1932391176.
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