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| Macon Peaches | |
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| Minor league affiliations | |
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| League | Southeastern League (2003) |
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| Major league affiliations | |
| Previous teams |
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| Minor league titles | |
| League titles(9) |
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| Pennants(1) | 1893 (2nd half) |
| Team data | |
Previous names |
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Previous parks |
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TheMacon Peaches was the predominant name of the Americanminor league baseball franchise representingMacon, Georgia, during the 20th century.
Although Macon did not field teams during and immediately after World War I, the height of theGreat Depression and World War II, the namePeaches was used continuously between1907 and1955, except for 1916–1917. The Peaches nickname was also used from 1961–1964, 1966–1967, and 1980–1982.[1] Much of that time, the Peaches played in theoriginal South Atlantic "Sally" League, although they made brief appearances in theSoutheastern League and theSouthern Association. During the 1980s, the Peaches were members of the modernSouth Atlantic League. After 1929, the team played atLuther Williams Field.
Macon was represented byprofessional baseball teams in the 19th century and joined the Sally League in 1904 as theHighlanders. From 1956–1960, Macon's team was known as theMacon Dodgers, adopting the name of their parent club.
In 1980, a new Macon Peaches team formed and after 1982, this franchise adopted the name Redbirds and then Pirates.[2] This team relocated toAugusta, Georgia and became theAugusta Pirates and were renamed again toAugusta GreenJackets.
After the 1990 season, the South Atlantic League returned to Macon with the relocation of theSumter Braves and the Sumter Braves became theMacon Braves, Macon's last affiliated team and last South Atlantic League team. The Macon Braves relocated toRome, Georgia and were renamedRome Braves.
From 1962–1964, the Peaches were an important upper-level affiliate (Double-A after 1962) of theCincinnati Reds, producingPete Rose,Tony Pérez,Lee May andTommy Helms. All four were members of Cincinnati's first "Big Red Machine" team, the1970National League champions. Rose and Pérez would be cornerstones of the dynasty, while May and Helms would be traded to theHouston Astros after 1971 to obtainBaseball Hall of Famesecond basemanJoe Morgan, who would help lead the Reds to the NL pennant in1972 andWorld Series titles in1975 and1976.
Macon was Rose's last minor league address before he launched his Major League career as the1963National League Rookie of the Year. He hadbatted .330 for the 1962 Peaches.[3]
The Macon Braves were a class-Aminor league baseball team associated with theAtlanta Braves and was the transplantedSumter Braves. The team was known as the Macon Braves from 1991 to 2002.[4] In 2003, the Macon Braves were moved toRome, Georgia. The team is now known as theRome Emperors.Luther Williams Field was the home stadium for the Macon Braves. After losing the Macon Braves, Macon was home to an Independent professional team, the Macon Music in theSouth Coast League, for one season (2007) as well as a differentindependent league baseball team known as the Macon Pinetoppers (2010) that calledLuther Williams Field "home". Many well known major league players came from the Macon Braves, such asChipper Jones,Andruw Jones,Rafael Furcal,Tony Graffanino,John Rocker,John Smoltz, andMarcus Giles.[5]
Anindependent league baseball team called the Macon Peaches played in the 21st centurySoutheastern League in 2003.
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