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Baseball

Charleston, West Virginia went without pro baseball for three summers after the Charleston Charlies pulled up stakes for Maine in late 1983. The Charlies were a triple-A club just one step removed from the Major Leagues. But by 1983, Charleston was the smallest Class AAA city in America by population. So it was little surprise that when pro ball returned with the formation of the Charleston Wheelers in the spring of 1987, local hardball fans had to accept a two-level demotion to the Class A South Atlantic League.

Defunct Traverse City Beach Bums Baseball Team

The Pittsburgh Shamrocks were a professional ice hockey team, based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that played in the International Hockey League in 1935–36.

The Tallahassee Tiger Sharks were a minor league professional ice hockey team that played in Tallahassee, Florida, from 1994 to 2001 as members of the East Coast Hockey League. The franchise started in 1981 as the Nashville South Stars in Nashville, Tennessee, in the Central Hockey League and later moved to Huntsville, Alabama. The team was affiliated with the NHL's New York Islanders, Florida Panthers, and Montreal Canadiens.

The city of Mansfield, Ohio, was home to minor league baseball teams, known by various nicknames, which played periodically between 1887 and 1912, and between 1935 and 1941. The team first began play in the Ohio State League in 1887 as simply Mansfield. The following season, the club moved to the Tri-State League until 1890. After a three-year hiatus, Mansfield once again fielded a new team, the Mansfield Electricians and played the 1893 season in the short-lived Ohio–Michigan League. No team was then fielded until 1897, when the city fielded the Mansfield Haymakers in the Interstate League.

Bakersfield Dodgers

Negan's bat from the comic/television series The Walking Dead

Defunct Nashville Vols Baseball 1901-1963

Local enthusiasts in 1942 brought a professional team to Burlington. The Burlington Bees played in Burlington in 1942, and from 1945-1951. The Bees played in the Bi-State League and the Carolina League. Following the departure of the Bees, the Burlington-Graham Pirates came to the area in 1952. This team played four seasons at Graham High School, now known as Tom Zachary field. Jack McKeon was of the most famous to play for them. McKeon went on to manage several teams including the 2003 Florida Marlins who won the World Series.

The Pottstown Legionaires were a short lived minor league baseball team based in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. In 1932, the Legionaires played as members of the six–team, Class D level Interstate League. The Interstate League folded during the 1932 season, with Pottstown in second place.

The Nacogdoches Cogs were a minor league baseball team that played in the East Texas League in 1916. The team was the first, and only, known professional baseball team to be based is Nacogdoches, Texas, United States. The team was managed by Tom Cherry.

The Denver Zephyrs (formerly the Denver Bears) were a Minor League Baseball team based in Denver, Colorado, United States. They were a Triple-A team that played in the American Association from 1955 to 1962, the Pacific Coast League from 1963 to 1968, and the American Association again from 1969 to 1992. They played their home games at Mile High Stadium. The Zephyrs won the American Association championship on seven occasions: 1957, 1971, 1976, 1977, 1981, 1983, and 1991. They also won the 1957 Junior World Series and the 1991 Triple-A Classic.

A team known as the Jacksonville Suns competed in the Triple-A International League from 1962 to 1968. The franchise was relocated to Norfolk, Virginia, as the Tidewater Tides in 1969. After one season without professional baseball, a different Suns team came to the city in 1970 as members of the Double-A Southern League (SL). From 1985 to 1990, the team was known as the Jacksonville Expos during an affiliation with the Montreal Expos, but they returned to the Suns moniker in 1991. The club rebranded as the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp before the 2017 season.

Cordele played in the Class-D Georgia–Florida League from 1936–1942 and 1946–1955. The city was originally represented by a team in the Georgia State League in 1906, with a team simply noted as Cordele. In 1913, the city was represented in the Empire State League with the Cordele Babies. The following season, the team moved into the Georgia–Florida League, as the Cordele Ramblers. After 22-year hiatus, a team reemerged in the Georgia–Florida League was the Reds, as an affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds in 1937. The team became briefly known as the Cordele Bees from 1939–1940. They had affiliation an agreement with the Atlanta Crackers in 1938.

Defunct Anderson Tigers Baseball 1973

Defunct Maine Mariners Hockey 1977-1992

The New Haven Nutmegs of the Eastern Association ended the 1891 season with a record of 48 wins and 39 lossesNew Haven disbanded August 14. The New Haven Nutmegs represented New Haven, CT in the 1891 Eastern Association. Managed by Walt Burnham, they were 4th at 48-39 when they folded in August. OF Dan Lally (.278, .422 SLG) still led the EA with 5 homers, while 1B Sid Farrar batted .312, stole 40 bases and slugged .414. SS Ed Sales hit .307 but played for two other teams that year. A. Gilliland (9-4, 0.89) led the Association in ERA while Dad Clarkson was 16-12 with a 1.54 ERA.

Pitches Be Crazy

The Brevard County Manatees were a minor league baseball team of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League from 1994 to 2016. They were based in Viera, Florida, and played their home games at Space Coast Stadium. The team left Brevard County after the 2016 season for Kissimmee, Florida, where they began play in 2017 as the Florida Fire Frogs. The team′s mascot was a manatee. From 1994 to 2001, he was named Hugh Manatee (a pun on "humanity"), and from 2002 to 2016 he was known as Manny Manatee.

Defunct Atlanta Crackers Baseball 1903-1965

The Spokane Flyers were a ice hockey team from Spokane, Washington. They played in the Western International Hockey League (WIHL) from 1948-49 to the 1979-80 season. The Flyers were the 1949-50 National Senior Champions. They also twice won the Allan Cup in 1976 and 1980.

Defunct El Paso Diablos Baseball Team

Defunct Anaheim Aces Baseball Team

The Hartfords (more commonly called the Hartford Dark Blues because of their uniform color) were a 19th-century baseball team. The team was based in Hartford, Connecticut. In 1874, baseball in Hartford, CT was being played in a fever pitch. As talk of forming a national professional league was going on, Morgan Bulkeley, Gershon Hubbell and Middletown native Ben Douglas Jr. leased land from Elizabeth Colt to build a base ball field and stadium with a covered grandstand, and set about forming a team, The Hartfords.

The Houston Buffaloes, Houston Buffalos, or Buffs were an American minor league baseball team, and were the first minor league team to be affiliated with a Major League franchise, which was the St. Louis Cardinals. The club was founded in 1888, and played in the Texas League at various levels throughout the majority of its existence. Most recently, from 1959 through 1961, the team played in the Triple-A American Association as the top affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. The Buffaloes derived their nickname from Buffalo Bayou, the principal waterway through Houston to the Houston Ship Channel, outlet to the Gulf of Mexico.

Defunct Kansas City Feds Baseball Team

Defunct El Paso Diablos Baseball

Defunct Feather River Mudcats Baseball 1999-2000

The Paterson Invaders were a minor league baseball team based in Paterson, New Jersey. From 1904 to 1907, Paterson teams played as members of the Class C level Hudson River League, winning the 1906 league championship.

Negan spin on the classic major league baseball logo

The Salt Lake minor league team was renamed the Salt Lake City Gulls in 1975 but remained as the Angels' top affiliate through the 1981 season. In 1982, The Gulls switched to the Seattle Mariners organization. Following the 1984 season, the team was relocated to Calgary, Alberta, and became the Calgary Cannons in 1985.

Charleston, West Virginia went without pro baseball for three summers after the Charleston Charlies pulled up stakes for Maine in late 1983. The Charlies were a triple-A club just one step removed from the Major Leagues. But by 1983, Charleston was the smallest Class AAA city in America by population. So it was little surprise that when pro ball returned with the formation of the Charleston Wheelers in the spring of 1987, local hardball fans had to accept a two-level demotion to the Class A South Atlantic League.

The Sherbrooke Castors (or Beavers in English) was the name of two different junior ice hockey teams in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and another team in the Quebec Eastern Provincial Hockey League. Both later franchises played at the Palais des Sports in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada.The Sherbrooke Castors (1969-1982) moved to Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec in 1982, named the Saint-Jean Castors. In 1989 they were renamed the Saint-Jean Lynx. In 1995 the team moved to Rimouski, Quebec to become the Rimouski Océanic. This original Castors franchise won the President's Cup in 1975, 1977 and 1982.

Defunct San Francisco Seals Baseball Jersey Crest

The Worcester Worcesters were a 19th-century Major League Baseball team from 1880 to 1882 in the National League. The team is referred to, at times, as the Brown Stockings or the Ruby Legs; however, no contemporary sources from the time exist that support the use of either name. The team played their home games at the Worcester Driving Park Grounds in the Worcester Agricultural Fairgrounds, located south of Highland Street between Sever Street and Russell Street in Worcester, Massachusetts.