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IL

The International League (IL) is a minor league baseball league which operates in the eastern United States and Canada. Like the Pacific Coast League, it plays at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball. The league was created from the mergers of member teams from three precursor leagues, the Eastern League, founded in 1884, the New York State League, formed in 1885, and the Ontario League, also organized in 1885. The New York State and Ontario Leagues merged in 1886 to form the International League, and in 1887 when the Eastern League was absorbed to create a 10-club league.

The league collapsed soon afterwards, when the northern teams claimed that it was too onerous to travel to the south, and formed the International Association. Teams and league names came and went over the years. In 1954, a franchise was awarded to Havana, Cuba, but it had to be moved in the middle of the 1960 season because of political upheaval in that country. It was moved to Jersey City, New Jersey. Another foray into the Caribbean failed when the newly-created team in San Juan, Puerto Rico, added in 1961, had to be moved to Charleston, West Virginia in mid-season.

In 1971, an International League all-star team beat the New York Yankees in an exhibition game in Rochester, New York, before 11,000 people. In 1984, the all-stars lost to the Cleveland Indians in 11 innings before 11,032 fans in Columbus, Ohio to commemorate the league's 100th Anniversary.

In 1988, the International League and the American Association, another Triple-A league which operated in the Midwest, voted to play interleague games. The league also split into two divisions in the same year. The interleague concept ended in 1992, but the two league divisions remained.

In 1998, with the addition of three new teams from the disbanded American Association and the Durham Bulls moving up to Triple-A from Class-A, the league reorganized into three divisions, the North Division, South Division, and West Division.

At the end of each season, the three divisional leaders and a wild card team square-off in best-of-5 playoffs, with the winning team of the finals awarded the Governors' Cup, the league's championship trophy.

Current Member Teams and Stadiums[]

Current teams[[[International League|edit]]] as of July 8, 2022[]

Current teams[edit][]

Division Team Founded MLB Affiliation Affiliated Since City Stadium Capacity
East Buffalo Bisons 1979 Toronto Blue Jays 2013 Buffalo, New York Sahlen Field 16,600
Charlotte Knights 1976 Chicago White Sox 1999 Charlotte, North Carolina Truist Field 10,200
Durham Bulls 1902 Tampa Bay Rays 1998 Durham, North Carolina Durham Bulls Athletic Park 10,000
Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 1962 Miami Marlins 2021 Jacksonville, Florida 121 Financial Ballpark 11,000
Lehigh Valley IronPigs 2008 Philadelphia Phillies 2007 Allentown, Pennsylvania Coca-Cola Park 10,100
Norfolk Tides 1961 Baltimore Orioles 2007 Norfolk, Virginia Harbor Park 11,856
Rochester Red Wings 1899 Washington Nationals 2021 Rochester, New York Innovative Field 10,840
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders 1989 New York Yankees 2007 Moosic, Pennsylvania PNC Field 10,000
Syracuse Mets 1934 New York Mets 2019 Syracuse, New York NBT Bank Stadium 10,815
Worcester Red Sox 2021 Boston Red Sox 2021 Worcester, Massachusetts Polar Park 9,508
West Columbus Clippers 1977 Cleveland Guardians 2009 Columbus, Ohio Huntington Park 10,100
Gwinnett Stripers 2009 Atlanta Braves 2009 Lawrenceville, Georgia Coolray Field 10,427
Indianapolis Indians 1902 Pittsburgh Pirates 2005 Indianapolis, Indiana Victory Field 13,750
Iowa Cubs 1969 Chicago Cubs 1981 Des Moines, Iowa Principal Park 11,500
Louisville Bats 1982 Cincinnati Reds 2000 Louisville, Kentucky Louisville Slugger Field 13,131
Memphis Redbirds 1998 St. Louis Cardinals 1998 Memphis, Tennessee AutoZone Park 10,000
Nashville Sounds 1978 Milwaukee Brewers 2021 Nashville, Tennessee First Horizon Park 10,000
Omaha Storm Chasers 1969 Kansas City Royals 1969 Papillion, Nebraska Werner Park 9,023
St. Paul Saints 1993 Minnesota Twins 2021 Saint Paul, Minnesota CHS Field 7,210
Toledo Mud Hens 1965 Detroit Tigers 1987 Toledo, Ohio Fifth Third Field 10,300

See also[]

  • List of International League champions
  • Sports league attendances
  • Triple-A World Series
  • Governors' Cup
  • List of defunct International League teams (1912-)
  • A list of defunct team from International, Eastern, New York State, International Assn and

Eastern Assn teams from 1884 to the present day. (Some data be may be out of date.)


'International (1886, 1890)(A 1887)(AA 1913-45)'(AAA 1946+)


Eastern (1884)(A 1892-1908) (AA 1909-11)


New York' 'State' (1885)


International Assn (A 1888-89)


'Eastern Assn' (A 1891)




Akron, OH: 1920


Albany, NY: 1885, 1888, 1891-93, 1932-36


Allentown, PA: 1884


Little Rock "Arkansas": 1963


Atlanta, GA: 1962-65


Baltimore, MD: 1903-14, 1916-53


Baltimore/Lancaster, MD/PA: 1884


Baltimore/Harrisburg, MD/PA: 1915


Binghamton, NY: 1885-87, 1892-94, 1918-19


Binghamton/Allentown, NY/PA: 1894


Brooklyn, NY: 1884


Buffalo, NY: 1886-89, 1891-98, 1901-69


Buffalo/Montreal/Grand Rapids, NY/Que/MI: 1890


Buffalo/Winnipeg, NY/Man: 1970


Charleston, WV: 1971-83


Charlotte, NC: 1993+


Columbus, OH: 1955-70, 1977+


Detroit, MI: 1889-90


Elmira, NY: 1885, 1892


Erie, PA: 1893-94


Lawrenceville "Gwinnett County”: 2009


Hamilton, Ont: 1886-89, 1918


Hamilton/Montreal/Grand Rapids, Ont/Que/MI: 1890


Harrisburg, PA: 1884


Harrisburg/York, PA: 1884


Hartford, CT: 1899-1901


Havana, Cuba: 1954-59


Havana/Jersey City, Cuba/NJ: 1960


Indianapolis, IN: 1963


Jacksonville, FL: 1962-68


Jersey City, NJ: 1887, 1902-15, 1918-33, 1937-50, 1961


Lebanon, PA: 1891


Allentown “Lehigh Valley”: 2008-Present


London, Ont: 1888-90


Louisville, KY: 1968-72


Portland "Maine": 1984-88


Memphis, TN: 1974-76


Miami, FL: 1956-60


Montreal, Que: 1898-1902, 1904-17, 1928-60


Newark, NJ: 1884, 1887, 1916-19, 1921-49


Newark/Harrisburg, NJ/PA: 1915


Newark/Providence, NJ/RI: 1925


New Haven, CT: 1891-92


Norfolk, VA: 1993+


Oswego, NY: 1885-87


Oswego/Scranton, NY/PA: 1887


Ottawa, Ont: 1951-54, 1993-2007
Pawtucket, RI: 1973-75, 1978+


Hampton "Peninsula": 1972-73


Philadelphia, PA: 1892


Providence, RI: 1891-1917


Reading, PA: 1919-20


Reading/Albany, PA/NY: 1932


Providence “Rhode Island”: 1976


Richmond, VA: 1884, 1915-17, 1954-64, 1966+


Rochester, NY: 1885-89, 1891-92, 1895-96, 1898-Present


Rochester/Montreal, NY/Que: 1897


Saginaw, MI: 1890


San Juan/Charleston, P.R./WVA: 1961


Scranton, PA: 1895-97


“Scranton-Wilkes Barre”, PA: 1989+


Springfield, MA: 1893-1900, 1950-53


Syracuse, NY: 1885-89, 1891-92, 1894-1900, 1920-27, 1935-55, 1961-Present


Syracuse/Brockton: NY/MA: 1901


Syracuse/Hamilton: NY/Ont: 1918


Syracuse/Utica, NY: 1894


Norfolk “Tidewater”: 1969-92


Toledo, OH: 1889, 1965-Present


Toronto, Ont: 1886-90, 1895, 1897-1922, 1924-67


Toronto/Albany, Ont/NY: 1896


Trenton, NJ: 1884


Troy, NY: 1888, 1891-94


Troy/Scranton, NY/PA: 1894


Utica, NY: 1885-87


Wilkes-Barre, PA: 1893-98


Wilmington, DE: 1884


Winnipeg, Man: 1971


Worcester, MA: 1899-1900, 1902


Worcester/Montreal, MA/Que: 1902

External links[]

International League
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