The Eastern New England League was a minor league baseball league that played in the 1885 season. League teams were based in Maine and Massachusetts . The league evolved into the New England League in 1886.
31-608: The Eastern New England League was a minor league baseball league that played one season before changing its name to become the long tenured New England League . In 1885, the Eastern New England league began play with five teams, four based in Massachusetts and one in Maine . The five charter teams were Biddeford Clamdiggers , Haverhill , Lawrence , Newburyport Clamdiggers and Portland , with Lawrence winning
62-614: A major league organization. Four of the six 1945 teams made the crossover: the Pawtucket Slaters (Boston Braves), Lynn Red Sox (Boston Red Sox), Cranston Chiefs (independent) and Lawrence Millionaires (independent). They were joined by the Manchester Giants (New York Giants), Nashua Dodgers (Brooklyn Dodgers) and two other independent teams: the Portland Gulls and Fall River Indians . Its most notable member,
93-542: A second team in Portland ( Portland Blue Sox ) and Waterville, Maine (Waterville). Biddeford continued play as the 1907 Maine State League began games on May 24, 1907. The league lost several franchises before the season concluded. Both Manchester and Waterville folded in June, with Augusta and Lewiston folding after. With a 30–27 record, Biddeford placed second in the final 1907 standings, finishing 6.5 games behind
124-720: The Cincinnati Reds , and the Fall River Indians had the same arrangement with the Chicago White Sox . The still independent Lawrence Millionaires cancelled their home game against Pawtucket on July 14 and became the Lowell "Stars" the following day playing in Pawtucket, wearing the uniforms of a popular semi-pro team of the same name. A name-the-team contest never panned out, and the press began calling
155-540: The Nashua Dodgers , was a Brooklyn farm club where, in 1946, African-American players and future Dodger greats Don Newcombe and Roy Campanella made their debuts as part of the handful of men who broke the baseball color line . The players succeeded on the field and were very complimentary in remarks about their Nashua experience in later years. In 1947 the Cranston Chiefs had a working agreement with
186-674: The Philadelphia Phillies , Boston Braves , New York Black Yankees , and in other years teams such as the Havana All-Stars, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees , Boston Colored Giants, House of David and the Brooklyn Dodgers . In 1946 with the postwar baseball boom, the New England League was restored to an "affiliated" eight–team Class B level circuit, but only half the teams had ties to
217-606: The war , the League operated with just four teams. Pawtucket, Woonsocket and Quincy were back, joined by the Providence Frigates of Cranston. Providence, which defeated Pawtucket for the championship in 1943, changed ballparks in 1944, moving from Cranston Stadium to Municipal Stadium in Central Falls, Rhode Island . Joining them were Pawtucket, Lynn, Woonsocket and Quincy. Lynn bested Pawtucket 3 games to 2 for
248-520: The 1885 Independent level Eastern New England League . The five–team league schedule consisted of an 80–game season, with each team playing 20 games against each of the other four. On July 17, 1885, Biddeford had a record of 13–20 when the franchise disbanded and relocated to Newburyport, Massachusetts to complete the season. Playing under manager Irwin, the Biddeford/Newburyport team had a 25–55 overall record, placing fifth and last in
279-496: The 1885 Haverhill team. 1885 Eastern New England League Biddeford (13–20) disbanded July 17, replaced by Newburyport July 25. Lawrence won playoff over Brockton 2 games to 0 New England League The New England League was a mid-level league in American minor league baseball that played intermittently in five of the six New England states ( Vermont excepted) between 1886 and 1949. After 1901 , it existed in
310-630: The 1885 championship. The league continued play and shortened its name after the 1885 season. The newly named "New England League" played its first game in 1886 , with the same five Eastern New England League clubs in Massachusetts and Maine, plus the addition of the Boston Blues as the sixth team. The first New England League champion was the Portland club. The league was inactive in 1889–1890, then resumed play from 1891 to 1915 (with
341-480: The 1885 championship. The league continued play and shortened its name after the 1885 season. The five–team league schedule consisted of an 80-game season, with each team playing 20 games against each of the other four. On July 17, 1885, the Biddeford Clamdiggers had a record of 13–20 when the franchise disbanded and was replaced by Newburyport, Massachusetts to complete the season. Lawrence ended
SECTION 10
#1732787371167372-415: The 1885 season with a 50–31 record, finishing 2.0 games ahead of second place Brockton . The Brockton and Lawrence teams were the top two teams competing for the 1885 Eastern New England League championship throughout the season. As the season was nearing its end, two games between the two teams were disputed. The Eastern New England League heard the appeals and ruled that the two games were to be made up at
403-510: The 1940 baseball season. The New England League was revived in May 1941 as a semi–pro league with eight franchises. Many players were in the military assigned to nearby bases, including some major league players (often playing under an assumed name). Football Hall of Famer, Major League umpire and NBA coach Hank Soar sometimes played for Pawtucket. Pawtucket's best pitcher in 1945 was once and future major league pitcher Randy Gumpert , pitching under
434-894: The 1944 championship. In 1945, Cranston returned to the fold joining Pawtucket and Lynn, the return of the Worcester Nortons and two new teams: the New London Diesels and the Lawrence, Massachusetts based Lawrence Millionaires . The Cranston Firesafes defeated Pawtucket for the championship, 4 games to 1. From 1941 to 1945 the member teams regularly played exhibition matches against teams from other leagues. Major league teams, Negro league teams, famous barnstorming teams and military teams all found their way into New England League ballparks. For example, Pawtucket, with once and future major league players such as Danny MacFayden , Bob Whitcher , Ted Olson and Ed Murphy, hosted
465-656: The NEL's most long-lived period of operation. The league attempted to revive in 1919 , then closed down in early August. Seven years later, the NEL returned in 1926 with eight clubs in the region's mill towns, but the Great Depression devastated the minor leagues, and the NEL was no exception: it disbanded June 22, 1930 . A 1933 revival was followed the next season by a name change to the Northeastern League – and another shutdown that would last through
496-561: The alias "Ralph Wilson". The teams in 1941 were the New Bedford Whalers (which relocated to Cranston, Rhode Island on July 31), Pawtucket Slaters, Lynn Frasers, Worcester Nortons, Woonsocket Marquettes, Quincy Shipbuilders, Fall River , and Manchester (New Hampshire) Dexters. Pawtucket won the championship. 1942 saw seven teams take the field but one, the Fitchburg Blue Sox, dropped out early in
527-455: The best team some 10½ games above second-place Nashua. The Brooklyn Dodgers refused to allow Nashua to participate in any playoffs, wanting to pull the plug on the Nashua operation immediately, thus giving the Portland team a first-round bye in the playoffs, which saw Springfield defeat Pawtucket, 2 games to 0, then Portland taking Springfield in seven games. The league's final regular-season champ
558-608: The end of the scheduled regular season. However, the Brockton team refused to play the two games and didn't show up to the first game with fans in the stands in Brockton. After a league meeting was held on October 6, 1895, the two teams were in agreement to play a three-game series for the championship, The games were scheduled to be played on October 10 in Brockton, October 13 in Lawrence, and October 15 in Boston, if necessary. Lawrence
589-544: The exception of 1900) under the presidency of Tim Murnane , the Boston Globe sportswriter. When the minor leagues were assigned classifications in 1902, the NEL was graded Class B, at that time two levels below major league status, equivalent to Class AA today. Disruption caused by the outlaw Federal League and the coming of World War I caused the loop to reorganize in 1916 as the Eastern League , ending
620-588: The first place Bangor Cubs, playing the season under managers Charlie Allen and John Guiney. Bangor had a 47–31 final record, followed by the Biddeford Orphans, Portland Blue Sox (39–41) and Pine Tree Capers (27–32) in the 1907 final standings. The Augusta Senators (27–28), Lewiston (24–23), Manchester (1–7) and Waterville (8–14) all folded before the completion of the season. In 1908, Biddeford continued play under new manager Bernie McGraw as Maine State League games began play on June 10, 1908. During
651-580: The franchise to suspend operations. The unaffiliated teams in Lynn and Fall River then also announced they were suspending operations, and on July 20, 1949, the New England League closed out their "first half" with Nashua in first place, followed in order by the other surviving teams: Pawtucket, Portland and Springfield. The "second half" season of 38 games resumed with the four remaining teams and concluded with Pawtucket in first place, followed by Portland, Springfield and Nashua. Both halves combined shows Pawtucket as
SECTION 20
#1732787371167682-699: The league standings, finishing 23.5 games behind first place Lawrence. The 1907 Biddeford Orphans resumed play as members of the Maine State League , which reformed as an eight–team Class D level league. The "Orphans" moniker corresponds to Biddeford being home in the era to the Sisters of Mercy Orphanage. Biddeford began play in the 1907 season alongside fellow members from Augusta, Maine ( Augusta Senators ), Bangor, Maine ( Bangor Cubs ), Lewiston, Maine (Lewiston), Manchester, New Hampshire (Manchester), Portland, Maine ( Pine Tree Capers ),
713-654: The major leagues. In 1877 a non–classified league first called the "New England League" played with the Fall River Casscades , Lowell Ladies Men , Lynn Live Oaks , Manchester Reds and Rhode Islands as members. The New England League was next called the Eastern New England League beginning play in 1885 with five teams in Massachusetts and Maine . The five teams, playing an 80 game season were, Lawrence, Haverhill, Biddleford /Newburyport, Portland and Brockton, with Lawrence winning
744-676: The season, Pine Tree and York Beach both disbanded on July 19, 1908, and when the Portland Blue Sox disbanded on August 28, 1908, the Maine State League permanently folded. The Portland Blue Sox were in 1st place with a 32–20 record, followed the Bangor White Sox (31–22), Lewiston/Augusta (20–26) and Biddeford (18–30) in the standings. However, since Portland folded, the Bangor White Sox were awarded
775-701: The season. Pawtucket, Lynn, Manchester, Worcester, Quincy and Woonsocket all returned and Pawtucket again won the championship in October when the best-of-7 series against Manchester was halted after five games due to poor weather. In the middle of the championship series the Slaters hosted a game against the Boston Red Sox in front of over 9,000 fans. Pawtucket played their first game at the new Pawtucket Stadium (present-day McCoy Stadium ) on July 5 against Lynn with over 6,000 fans in attendance. By 1943, with
806-681: The shadow of two Major League Baseball clubs in Boston and alongside stronger, higher-classification leagues. In 1946 , the NEL, the International League and the Canadian–American League – which all included farm teams of the Brooklyn Dodgers – were the first 20th century leagues (other than the Negro leagues ) to permit African-Americans to play. The following season, Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby would integrate
837-664: The team the Lowell Orphans; after August 18 they became a "road" team. Following the 1947 season the franchise was moved to Springfield as a farm team of the Chicago Cubs , and the Springfield Cubs became the only New England League team to survive the 1949 season, as one of the Cubs' two Class AAA team from 1950–1953. Dewacasino168 the most trusted england league match join us now before it's too late. Nashua
868-788: Was replaced by Portsmouth July 20; Lynn disbanded July 20; Salem disbanded August 3. Biddeford Orphans The Biddeford Orphans were a minor league baseball team based in Biddeford, Maine . Preceded in minor league play by the 1885 Biddeford "Clamdiggers," who played as members of the 1885 Eastern New England League , the Orphans were members of the Class D level Maine State League in 1907 and 1908, hosting home games at St. Louis Park. Minor league baseball began in Biddeford, Maine in 1885. The Biddeford Clamdiggers became members of
899-962: Was the Pawtucket Slaters , a farm club of the Boston Braves , but the Portland Pilots, a Phillies affiliate, won the playoffs, thus bookending the championship earned by the Maine city's entry in the NEL's maiden season 63 years earlier. 1886 New England League - schedule President: Jacob C. Morse Newburyport (35-34) moved to Lynn August 14. 1887 New England League - schedule President: Jacob C. Morse Salem disbanded July 9; Haverhill disbanded July 11; Boston (35-18) moved to Haverhill July 11; Lawrence (29-34) moved to Salem July 26. 1888 New England League - schedule President: Edward Chesney Portland disbanded June 9 and
930-603: Was the most successful member of the postwar league, winning three consecutive playoff championships from 1946-48. But by the middle of 1949 , it became clear that the New England League was not viable. The league began the season with eight teams, but the Providence Grays dropped out on June 20. In mid-July the New York Yankees announced they were withdrawing their support of the Manchester team, forcing
961-457: Was victorious in the playoff and won the league championship. The Eastern New England League continued play but shortened its name. The league became the newly named " New England League " and played its first game in 1886 , with the same five Eastern New England League clubs plus the addition of the Boston Blues as the sixth team. The first New England League champion was the Portland team. Baseball Hall of Fame member Frank Selee managed