North Carolina remains a hotbed for minor league baseball with 11 clubs scattered across the state plus several independent or collegiate summer leagues. Food and drink specials with wacky promotions, contests, fireworks, and running the bases are popular summer entertainment.
Here they are:
Asheville Tourists, High A, affiliated with Houston Astros.
Greensboro Grasshoppers, High A, Pittsburgh Pirates.
Winston-Salem Dash, High A, Chicago White Sox.
Durham Bulls, Triple A, Tampa Bay.
Charlotte Knights, Triple A, Chicago White Sox.
Four teams, Down East Wood Ducks, Kinston (Texas Rangers), Carolina Mudcats, Zebulon (Milwaukee Brewers), Fayetteville Woodpeckers (Houston Astros), Kannapolis Cannonballers (Chicago White Sox), are all Low A /Single A and part of the Carolina League.
Hickory Crawdads, High A, Texas Rangers. Hickory, Winston-Salem and Down East are all owned by Diamond Baseball Holdings, a new powerhouse owner of 32 MiLB teams.
High Point Rockers, Independent, Atlantic League.
Others
Burlington Sock Puppets, Appalachian League, summer collegiate, fourth season. They play 48 games between late May and late July. Home opener is June 7 at 7 at Burlington Athletic Stadium. They host a 5K race July 13.
Burlington is building a rep as a home for amateur baseball with a focus on prep and college games. They also will host a new expansion team in the Old North State League, a summer wood bat league with 20 teams. Home opener is May 24 at 7. They’ll play 12 home games this season. Call 336-222-0223 for tickets for either league.