 | |
| Classification | High-A (2021–present) Class A (1946–2020) |
|---|---|
| Sport | Baseball |
| Founded | 1963 (62 years ago) (1963) |
| No. of teams | 12 |
| Country | United States |
| Most recent champion(s) | Bowling Green Hot Rods (2024) |
| Most titles | Greenville Drive (5) |
TheSouth Atlantic League, often informally called theSally League, is aMinor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States fromNew York toGeorgia. AClass A league for most of its history, the league was promoted toHigh-A as part ofMajor League Baseball's 2021 reorganization of the minor leagues. The league temporarily operated for the 2021 season as theHigh-A East before reassuming its original moniker in 2022.
A number of different leagues known as the South Atlantic League (SAL) have existed since 1904. The most recent SAL adopted the moniker in 1980, having previously been theWestern Carolinas League, founded in 1963. All of these have been nicknamed "Sally League".
There have been several South Atlantic Leagues in the history of minor league baseball, spanning from 1904 to the present with a few breaks. The league ran from 1904 to 1917 as a class C league, then started up again in 1919, also class C. This time it ran from 1919 to 1930, moving up to class B beginning in 1921.William G. Bramham became league president in mid-1924 and served until 1930. The league was restarted again as a class B from 1936 to 1942, shut down as a result ofWorld War II, and returned in 1946 as a class A league. The AASouthern Association (which neverintegrated) died after the 1961 season and so the SAL was promoted to AA in 1963 to take its place; a year later the name was changed to theSouthern League. Out of the 51 seasons of operation,Augusta, Georgia competed in 46,Macon, Georgia was around for 46, andColumbia, South Carolina was in 45.Charleston, South Carolina;Jacksonville, Florida;Savannah, Georgia; andColumbus, Georgia; each competed for at least 29 years also, making for a relatively stable lineup.
The South Atlantic League name went unused for 16 years, but in 1980 theWestern Carolinas League brought back the name when it sought to change its identity. For nearly 60 years, 1948 through 2007, the dominant figure in the WCL/SAL was league founder and presidentJohn Henry Moss, who started the WCL as a young man in 1948, refounded it in 1960 and then led it into the new century. Moss retired at the close of the 2007[1] South Atlantic League season. He died at age 90 on July 1, 2009, atKings Mountain, North Carolina—a town where he had also been mayor for 23 years.[2]
In 2005, the SAL had the highestattendance in 101 years with over 3,541,992 fans (while minor league baseball set a second straight record with 41,333,279 attendees). When the league last played a season, in 2019, it had 14 teams, divided into two divisions of seven clubs.
The start of the 2020 season was postponed due to theCOVID-19 pandemic before ultimately being cancelled on June 30.[3][4]
As part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganization of the minor leagues, the South Atlantic League was promoted to High-A and temporarily renamed the "High-A East" for the 2021 season.[5] Following MLB's acquisition of the rights to the names of the historical minor leagues, the High-A East was renamed the South Atlantic League effective with the 2022 season.[6]
In July 2024, MiLB announced that theHub City Spartanburgers will join the South Atlantic League in 2025, replacing theHickory Crawdads.[7]
Notes: • An "^" indicates that team's article redirects to an article of an active team in a different league
2021-2022 teamEarlier team
The South Atlantic League Hall of Fame was started in 1994.
