Eastern League
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League Information
The Eastern League is a Minor League Baseball league which operates primarily in the northeastern United States, although it has had a team in Ohio since 1989. It plays at the 'AA' (double-A) level. The league was founded in 1923 as the New York-Pennsylvania League. In 1936 the first team outside of the two original states was created, when the York, Pennsylvania team moved to Trenton, New Jersey. When, in 1938, the Scranton, Pennsylvania team moved to Hartford, Connecticut, the league was renamed as the Eastern League.
Since 1923, there have been Eastern League teams in 51 different cities located in 12 different states and two Canadian provinces. In 1999, the league expanded to twelve teams, and split into two divisions, the Northern Division and the Southern Division.
The Eastern League currently consists of 12 teams, in 2 divisions (MLB affiliate in parenthesis):
Northern Division
- Binghamton Mets (New York Mets)
- Connecticut Defenders (San Francisco Giants)
- New Britain Rock Cats (Minnesota Twins)
- New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Toronto Blue Jays)
- Portland Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox)
- Trenton Thunder (New York Yankees)
Southern Division
- Akron Aeros (Cleveland Indians)
- Altoona Curve (Pittsburgh Pirates)
- Bowie Baysox (Baltimore Orioles)
- Erie SeaWolves (Detroit Tigers)
- Harrisburg Senators (Washington Nationals)
- Reading Phillies (Philadelphia Phillies)
Red Sox Affiliate
The Red Sox first fielded an affiliated AA team in 1932, when manager Jake Pitler led the Hazelton Mountaineers to a 67-72 finish. All Boston AA teams have competed in the Eastern League, which began in 1923. The longest stint for any Red Sox affiliate in one city was the 13 seasons spent in Scranton, Pennsylvania from 1939-51. The team was known simply as the Red Sox the bulk of those years, but changed their name to the Minors for the 1944, 1945, and 1950 seasons.
