Defunct Baseball Teams Pins and Buttons

The Camden Ouachitas were a minor league baseball team based in Camden, Arkansas in 1906. Preceded by the 1894 Camden Yellow Hammers, the Camden teams played as members of the Class D level Arkansas State League in 1894 and Arkansas-Texas League in 1906. Camden hosted home minor league games at Recreation Park.

The Le Mars Blackbirds were a minor league baseball team based in Le Mars, Iowa. In 1902 and 1903, the Blackbirds played as members of the Class D level Iowa-South Dakota League, capturing the 1903 league championship. Baseball Hall of Fame member Branch Rickey played for the 1903 Le Mars Blackbirds.

The Martinsville Manufacturers were a Bi-State League baseball team based in Martinsville, Virginia, United States that played from 1934 to 1941. They were affiliated with the St. Louis Cardinals from 1936 to 1939 Philadelphia Phillies from 1940 to 1941. They won one league championship, in 1940 under manager Harry Daughtry.

Defunct San Jose Missions Baseball 1977-1981

The Shawnee Hawks were a minor league baseball team that played in the Sooner State League. The team began as an unaffiliated team based in Duncan, Oklahoma in 1947. The original team was named the Duncan Cementers. After two seasons, the team name was changed to the Duncan Uttmen in 1949 and then in 1950 the team moved to Shawnee, Oklahoma and became the Hawks. They continued to operate until the Sooner State League folded after the 1957 season. The Hawks were affiliated with the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1953–1957.

The Borger Gassers were a minor league baseball team that operated in the West Texas–New Mexico League 1937 through 1954 with a break from 1943 to 1945 due to World War II. Borger Gassers disbanded on July 16, 1954.

The Olympic Club of Washington, D.C., or Washington Olympics in modern nomenclature, was an early professional baseball team. When the National Association of Base Ball Players permitted openly professional clubs for the 1869 season, the Olympics were one of twelve to go pro. Two years later they were a founding member of the first professional sports league, the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NAPBBP or NA, for short). The Olympics played home games at Olympics Grounds in Washington. They were founded by Nicholas Young, an outfielder who continued as non-playing business and field manager after 1870.

So how, exactly, did the capital of West Virginia end up with a minor league baseball team named for a tropical saltwater sport fish for a few short months in the summer of 1961? At the dawn of the 1960’s, a colorful, corpulent South Florida multi-millionaire named Bill MacDonald bought the forlorn Miami Marlins of the Class AAA International League. The Marlins were the top farm club of the Baltimore Orioles at the time. MacDonald was a sportsman – he owned a stud farm, a share of the Tropical Park race track and he would later promote the first Sonny Liston-Cassius Clay fight in Miami. The Marlins were rather unloved in Miami. A particular sore point for MacDonald was the team’s lack of a profitable local radio deal.

Minor league professional baseball began in Ardmore during the 1904 season. On August 5, 1904, the Texas League member franchise Paris Red Ravens relocated from Paris, Texas to Ardmore and became the Ardmore Territorians to finish the 1904 season. The team finished with a 26–75 overall record. Ardmore teams played as a minor league affiliate of the Cleveland Indians from 1947 to 1948, St. Louis Cardinals from 1953 to 1957 and Baltimore Orioles in 1961. Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Carl Hubbell played for the 1924 Ardmore Bearcats at age 21.

The Wichita Aviators were a professional indoor football team that played in the American Professional Football League (APFL). The Aviators played their home games in Britt Brown Arena at the Kansas Coliseum during the team's first season (2005). In 2006, the Aviators played their home games at the Wichita Ice Center in Wichita, Kansas. The Wichita Aviators and Kansas Koyotes were both owned by APFL founder Ralph Adams. Carl Caldwell was the head coach of the Aviators, and Mike McCoy was the General Manager.

The Anaconda Serpents were a minor league baseball team based in Anaconda, Montana. In 1900, the Anaconda Serpents played the season as members of the Independent level Montana State League. The Anaconda Serpents were the only minor league team hosted in Anaconda and played minor league home games at Mountain View Park.

In 1894, the Jacksonville Jacks joined the reformed Western Association. The Des Moines Prohibitionists, Lincoln Treeplanters, Omaha Omahogs, Peoria Distillers, Quincy Ravens, Rock Island-Moline Islanders and St. Joseph Saints joined Jacksonville in league play. Jacksonville finished with a 67–57 record in 1894, placing fourth in the standings, finishing 6.0 games behind the first place Rock Island-Moline Islanders, playing the season under manager Con Strothers. Joe Strauss of Jacksonville led the league with 33 home runs. The Jacksonville Jacks continued play in 1895 and had a record of 33–36 on August 8, 1895, when the franchise moved to nearby Springfield, Illinois.

Defunct Memphis Chicks Baseball 1978-1997

The Lancaster Red Roses baseball team, originally known as the Maroons, changed its name at the start of the 1906 season during a bitter match with the York, Pennsylvania-based White Roses. Some sources indicate that the rival teams were named for the opposing factions in England's historic Wars of the Roses. The Lancaster Red Roses played at Stumpf Field in Manheim Township, Pennsylvania, which is still used today by local baseball and softball leagues.

The Zanesville "Flood Sufferers" became members of the Class B level Interstate League and played a partial season under returning manager Marty Hogan. The team disbanded on July 13, 1913, with a 27–46 record. The team nickname referred to a flood of the Muskingum River in March 1913, part of the Great Flood of 1913.

The Indianapolis Blues were a baseball team in the National League for one season (1878), in which they finished fifth in the six-team league with a 24–36 record. They were managed by outfielder/first baseman/catcher John Clapp, and played their home games at South Street Park. They had been brought into the League from the League Alliance following their 1877 season. Their top-hitting regular was right fielder Orator Shafer, who batted .338 with a slugging percentage of .455. Their most successful pitcher was The Only Nolan (13–22, 2.57), but had two other starters with better ERAs: Jim McCormick (5–8, 1.69) and Tom Healey (6–4, 2.22).

The Sanford Spinners are a minor league baseball team based in Sanford, North Carolina. The Spinners played as members of the Class D level Bi-State League in 1941 and 1942, Tobacco State League from 1946 to 1950, winning league championships in 1942 and 1946, and Old North State League from 2021 to Present. The Spinners hosted minor league home games at Temple Park.

The Bassett Furnituremakers were a minor league baseball team based in Bassett, Virginia, USA that played from 1935 to 1940. They were one of only two baseball teams to ever play professionally in Bassett. They were followed in 1950 by the Bassett Statesman, who played a partial 1950 season in the Class D Blue Ridge League. The Wytheville Statesman moved to Bassett on July 27, 1950 due to the polio epidemic.

The Centralia Zeroes were a Mississippi–Ohio Valley League baseball team based in Centralia, Illinois, USA that played from 1951 to 1952. They played their home games at Fan's Field.

The Muskogee Navigators were a Western Association baseball team based in Muskogee, Oklahoma, United States that played from 1909 to 1910. Multiple major league baseball players played for them, including Pug Cavet, Dick Crutcher, Bert Graham and Paddy Mayes. They were managed by George Dalrymple in 1909 and Peck Harrington and Ed Nichols in 1910.

Rockford Forest Citys (officially the Forest City Club), from Rockford, Illinois was one of the first professional baseball clubs. Rockford played for one season during the National Association inaugural year of 1871. They are not to be confused with the Cleveland Forest Citys, who played in the same league.

The Brookhaven Truckers were a minor league baseball team based in Brookhaven, Mississippi. After the Brookhaven team played as a member of the 1904 Class D level Delta League, the Truckers were a member of the Class D level Cotton States League in 1924 and 1925, hosting home games at the High School Park.

The Pueblo Braves were a minor league baseball team that was located in Pueblo, Colorado and played in the Western League from 1928 to 1932. They were known as the Pueblo Steelworkers for their first two seasons.pueblo baseball,

The Murray Infants were a minor league baseball team based in Murray, Utah. In 1914, the Murray Infants played briefly as members of the Union Association before folding during the season. The Infants hosted home minor league games at Murray Park. Before beginning minor league play, Murray first hosted semi–pro baseball teams, who played as members of the integrated Utah State Baseball League. On March 30, 1910, the Murray team played an exhibition game at home against the Chicago White Sox.

The Catskill Cougars were a minor-league baseball team based in Mountaindale, New York in the state's Catskill Mountains region. The Cougars played in the North Atlantic League in 1996 and the Northeast League (later known as the Can-Am League), from 1997-1998 and 2000. The North Atlantic and Northeast leagues were independent leagues that were not affiliated with Major League Baseball or Minor League Baseball. The Cougars played their home games at Baxter Stadium, and were part-owned by comedian Bill Murray.

The team originally played in the South Atlantic League from 1909 to 1917, then reformed in the Southeastern League from 1926 to 1932. It resurfaced as a St. Louis Cardinals' affiliate known first as the Columbus Red Birds and then the Columbus Cardinals from 1936 to 1955 in the South Atlantic League. As the Red Birds, it won two league championships, first in 1936 under manager Eddie Dyer, and second in 1940 under manager Clay Hopper. The team name returned to the Foxes after the Cardinals left in 1956 and became affiliated with the Baltimore Orioles in 1956, the Cardinals again in 1957, and the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1958. The team played in the Alabama–Florida League in 1958.

The Ballard Pippins were a minor league baseball team briefly based in Ballard, Washington. In 1914, the Pippins played a partial season as members of the Class B level Northwestern League in their only season of play. Ballard hosted minor league home games at Dugdale Field.

The Cleveland Bearcats were an American professional Minor League Baseball team that played in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1914 and 1915 as members of the American Association. They shared League Park with the American League's Cleveland Naps. After the 1913 season, Charles Somers, owner of the Toledo Mud Hens and Cleveland Naps, relocated the Toledo team to Cleveland. The team played the 1914 season as the Cleveland Bearcats but became the Cleveland Spiders in 1915. The team moved back to Toledo in 1916.

Defunct Tacoma Tugs Baseball 1979

Defunct San Francisco Seals Baseball 1903-1957

The Providence Chiefs were one of eight founding members of the New England League, a Class B minor league baseball circuit that sprang up in 1946 as Minor League Baseball enjoyed a nationwide post-WWII resurgence. The team actually played in nearby Cranston, Rhode Island and during the Chiefs’ first season, the press used the names ‘Providence Chiefs’ and ‘Cranston Chiefs’ inter-changeably. You can see the Chiefs’ charmingly illustrated game program from the 1946 season (above) used ‘Cranston’ also. But by the 1947 season, all references to the team as the Cranston Chiefs in the press disappeared.

The Montgomery Rebels was the name of several American minor league baseball franchises representing Montgomery, Alabama, playing in various leagues between 1912 and 1980. Rebels was the predominant nickname of the Montgomery teams, but it was not the original moniker, and it was one of several used by the city's 20th century professional baseball teams, which began play in organized baseball in 1903.[1] Others included the Billikens, Bombers, Capitals, Climbers, Grays, Lambs, Lions and Senators.

The Americus Pallbearers became a founding member of the original Georgia State League in 1906. The Pallbearers finished dead-last in the six-team league, with a record of 13–32, a full 22 games behind the first place Waycross Machinists. The league folded at the end of the season, and Americus was without a professional team in 1907.

The Fort Pierce Bombers were a professional minor league baseball team based in Fort Pierce, Florida from 1940 until 1942. The clubs played in the Class-D Florida East Coast League. The league and the team both shut their doors, along with many other minor leagues, a few months after the United States entered World War II, and, despite the postwar baseball boom, they were not revived.

The Austin Ice Bats were a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Austin, Texas, from 1996 to 2008. The were originally members of the Western Professional Hockey League (WPHL) and later the Central Hockey League (CHL). The team was named for the Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) that nest under the Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge in the city.

When the team was founded, they turned to the community for financial support. The response was so great that they were able to not only buy their uniforms but also construct their own ball field. The team got its name from the bright green uniforms and dark green stockings worn by the players. Originally, the team uniform boasted a large S.B. (for South Bend) on the front of their jerseys. In the first game they played, over 1,500 spectators came to watch the Greenstockings go up against a Valparaiso team. The visitors taunted the South Bend players by yelling that the S.B. stood for “silly boys,” and as a result, the team changed their uniforms to say South Bend.