Kinston Eagles (Coastal Plain League)

The Kinston Eagles were a Minor League Baseball team of the Coastal Plain League. They were located in Kinston, North Carolina. The team played its home games at Grainger Stadium, which opened in 1949 and holds 4,100 fans. Prior to that they played in Grainger Park.

Kinston Eagles
19371952
Kinston, North Carolina
Minor league affiliations
Previous classes
  • D (1937–1941, 1946–1952)
  • semipro (1934–1936)
Previous leagues
  • Coastal Plain League (1934–1941, 1946–1952)
Major league affiliations
Previous teams
Minor league titles
League titles 1935, 1947
Team data
Name
  • Kinston Eagles
Ballpark

The Eagles won the CPL Championship in 1947 as an affiliate of the Atlanta Crackers.

History

Coastal Plain League

The Great Depression took a great toll on the minor leagues, with only thirteen teams operating across the U.S. at a 1933 low point.[1] Like most, Kinston sat out the first few years of the Great Depression but reentered play for the 1934 season in the semi-professional Coastal Plain League. By 1937 the circuit had become a fully professional, Class D league as ranked by the National Association.[2] The city remained in the Coastal Plain League continuously until it was disbanded after 1952. As a member of this affiliation, Kinston saw many playoff appearances and won league championships in 1935 and 1947. Among the superior talent during this period was a young player named Charlie "King Kong" Keller who is listed as among the top forty major league players of all-time in terms of on-base percentage (.410).[3][4]

Grainger Stadium

Grainger Grandstand, 2006.

From 1949 on, the Kinston Eagles played their home games at Grainger Stadium located at 400 East Grainger Avenue in Kinston. The original structure was built by architect John J. Rowland in 1949 at a cost of $170,000 inclusive of everything except the land. $150,000 of the money was raised by bond issue.[5] A dedicatory plaque identifies the structure as "Municipal Stadium", but it has been called Grainger Stadium since it was first built.[6]

Season by season results

YearNameLeagueLevelAffiliationRecordManagerPlayoffs
1934EaglesCoastal Plainsemipro36–24Bunn HearnLost League Finals
1935EaglesCoastal Plainsemipro41–26Bunn HearnLeague Champs
1936EaglesCoastal Plainsemipro40–32Herschel CaldwellLost League Finals
1937EaglesCoastal PlainDSt. Louis Cardinals32–65Bess/Taylor
1938EaglesCoastal PlainDSt. Louis Cardinals60–50Tommy WestLost in 1st round
1939EaglesCoastal PlainDSt. Louis Cardinals65–59Henry/Lucas/HerringLost League Finals
1940EaglesCoastal PlainD63–60Sothern/AeretteLost League Finals
1941EaglesCoastal PlainD42–77McHenry/DeMasi
1946EaglesCoastal PlainD67–56Frank RodgersLost League Finals
1947EaglesCoastal PlainDAtlanta Crackers74–65Steve CollinsLeague Champs
1948EaglesCoastal PlainD80–59Steve CollinsLost League Finals
1949EaglesCoastal PlainD74–64Steve CollinsLost League Finals
1950EaglesCoastal PlainDBoston Red Sox70–68Wally MilliesLost League Finals
1951EaglesCoastal PlainD79–47Wes LivengoodLost in 1st round
1952EaglesCoastal PlainDDetroit Tigers76–47Wayne BlackburnLost in 1st round

TABLE NOTES:

  • The record for the 1938 team above were the actual wins and losses for that team. An ineligible player scandal caused the league office to award or take away wins and losses from teams based on their violations of the rules. The "official" adjusted record at the end of the season was 64–45.

No Hitters

  • Eddie Nowak (7/31/1939) vs the New Bern Bears[7]

League histories

  • Gaunt, Robert (1997). We Would Have Played Forever: The Story of the Coastal Plain Baseball League. Baseball America, Inc. ISBN 0-945164-02-5.
  • Holaday, J. Chris (1998). Professional Baseball in North Carolina: An Illustrated City-by-City History, 1901–1996. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 0-7864-0532-5.
  • Lloyd, Johnson; Miles Wolff, eds. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, third ed. Baseball America, Inc. ISBN 1-932391-17-7.

Newspapers

  • "The Kinston Daily Free Press". 1882–2011. – Issues for all seasons are available on microfilm at Lenoir Community College.

Footnotes

  1. Voigt, David Quentin (1995). Baseball: An Illustrated History. Penn State Press. p. 97. ISBN 978-0-271-01448-7.
  2. Johnson, Lloyd; Miles Wolff (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, second ed. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, Inc. p. 295. ISBN 0-9637189-8-3.
  3. Gaunt, Robert (1997). We Would Have Played Forever: The Story of the Coastal Plain Baseball League. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, Inc. ISBN 0-945164-02-5.
  4. Baseball-Reference.com. "Charlie Keller Statistics". Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  5. Mock, Jr., Frank L. (June 1950). "Kinston's New Stadium". Athletic Journal. XXX (10): 14.
  6. Rowland, John J.; Simpson, James M. (July 1949). "Stadium for All Municipal Functions, Kinston, N. C.". Architectural Record. 106 (1): 121–123.
  7. Gaunt, Robert H. (1997). We Would Have Played Forever: The Story of the Coastal Plain Baseball League. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, Inc. p. 97. ISBN 0-9637189-8-3.
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