Minor League Baseball
In addition to the lowly Senators, the residents of Greenbelt were able to
watch several minor league teams in action if they had the ability to
travel a little bit. At the time their was no major league baseball team
in Baltimore, but there was a good deal of baseball to see. The Baltimore
Orioles competed in the International
League, which was the best minor league in the country at the time. The
league was made up of 12 teams from up and down the east coast. The
dominant
team of this era was the Newark Bears, who were affiliated with the
New York Yankees and helped to groom many of their young prospects. The
Baltimore
Orioles were and independent team, selling their players to major league
teams when they became skilled enough. The Orioles were always one of
the top minor league teams in the country, and during the late thirties
and early forties they never slipped below fourth place in the
standings.(7) The Orioles had an excellent
reputation for producing star
ballplayers, with much of their talent coming from the Maryland-D.C. area.
Their two most famous alumni were Babe Ruth who played his first year for
the Orioles, and Lefty Grove who started with the Orioles and went on to a
Hall of Fame career in the thirties and forties. The Orioles played
their home
games at Municipal Stadium, which was located on 33rd Street. The stadium
burned to the ground in 1946, and a new stadium was built on the site and
renamed Memorial Stadium. It would become the future home for the major
league Baltimore Orioles who arrived in 1954.
Another team competing in Maryland at the time was the Hagerstown Owls.
The Owls played in the Inter-State League, which was made up of teams from
Maryland, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.(7)
With each minor league being
classified as either A,B,C or D in order of level of play, the Inter-State
League was considered Class C ball. It was generally assumed that a
player would progress upwards each year until making the big leagues.
Thus while Hagerstown was not up to the level of the Orioles, it was
nonetheless very entertaining, especially for small town residents. In
general, Hagerstown was too far away to be a convenient stop for Greenbelt
residents, though it is probable that some attended at least a few games
on trips through the area.
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