The Blue Ridge League

Download or read book The Blue Ridge League written by Robert P. Savitt and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2011 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Between 1915 and 1930, nine towns in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia hosted teams in one of the most successful Class D minor leagues in professional baseball. The Blue Ridge League launched the careers of legendary Hall of Famers Lefty Grove and Hack Wilson and served as a training ground or final stop for over 100 major-league players. This feisty league challenged laws prohibiting Sabbath baseball games (resulting in mass arrests of players and management), pioneered night baseball, served as a laboratory for the establishment of baseball's farm system, and helped develop a postseason five-state championship series.