Editing South Atlantic League (section)

==History==

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 of [[World War II]], and returned in 1946 as a class A league. The AA [[Southern Association]] (which never [[Baseball color line|integrated]]) 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 the [[Southern League (1964–2020)|Southern League]]. Out of the 51 seasons of operation, [[Augusta, Georgia]] competed in 46, [[Macon, Georgia]] was around for 46, and [[Columbia, South Carolina]] was in 45. [[Charleston, South Carolina]]; [[Jacksonville, Florida]]; [[Savannah, Georgia]]; and [[Columbus, 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 the [[Western 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 president [[John 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<ref>''Baseball America'', December 15, 2007</ref> South Atlantic League season. He died at age 90 on July 1, 2009, at [[Kings Mountain, North Carolina]]—a town where he had also been mayor for 23 years.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/14/sports/baseball/14moss.html|title=John Henry Moss, 90, Head of South Atlantic League for 50 Years, Dies|first=Bruce|last=Weber|work=The New York Times |date=13 July 2009|access-date=20 March 2018|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref>

In 2005, the SAL had the highest [[sports league attendances|attendance]] 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 the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] before ultimately being cancelled on June 30.<ref>{{cite news |title=A Message From Pat O'Conner|url=https://www.milb.com/milb/news/message-from-minor-league-baseball-president-ceo-pat-o-conner-313052288|website=Minor League Baseball|date=March 13, 2020|access-date=May 5, 2020}}</ref><ref name=2020can>{{cite news |title=2020 Minor League Baseball Season Shelved|url=https://www.milb.com/news/2020-minor-league-baseball-season-shelved|website=Minor League Baseball|date=June 30, 2020|access-date=July 1, 2020}}</ref> 

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.<ref name=JMayo2-12-2021>{{cite web|last=Mayo|first=Jonathan|title=MLB Announces New Minors Teams, Leagues|url=https://www.mlb.com/news/new-minor-league-baseball-structure|website=Major League Baseball|date=February 12, 2021|access-date=February 12, 2021}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.milb.com/news/minor-league-baseball-historical-league-names-to-return-in-2022|title=Historical League Names to Return in 2022|website=Minor League Baseball|date=March 16, 2022|access-date=March 16, 2022}}</ref>

In July 2024, MiLB announced that the [[Hub City Spartanburgers]] will join the South Atlantic League in 2025, replacing the [[Hickory Crawdads]].<ref>{{cite press release |date=July 23, 2024 |title=South Atlantic, Carolina Leagues to realign in 2025 |url=https://www.milb.com/news/minor-league-baseball-announces-realignment-of-south-atlantic-and-carolina-leagues |work=Minor League Baseball |access-date=July 25, 2024}}</ref>