Minor League Setup and Minor League Players

[Le Grande Orange]

In regards to the real 1971 minor leagues, here's a little something to keep in mind. That year, both the Southern League and Texas League were down to 7 clubs. To get around the scheduling issues that posed, the two leagues basically merged for that one season, forming a combined entity called the Dixie Association.

However, many references (including the Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball and Baseball-Reference) list the standings separately for the two leagues, as if they operated as two individual 7-team leagues but which played some interleague games. I do not think that is an accurate representation.

If one looks at the standings as published in The Sporting News from that time, it is shown as a single consolidated entity. It's a three-division league, with a 6-team East Division (all Southern League clubs), a 4-team Central Division (1 Southern League and 3 Texas League clubs), and a 4-team West Division (all Texas League clubs).

The schedule published for the league (association) is also a consolidated one. The Central Division teams played interdivisional games against both other divisions, but the East and West Division teams did not play each other due to travel considerations. The one thing that was still separate is that each 'league' had its own All-Star Game.

The Dixie Association only lasted one season. In 1972 both the Southern and Texas Leagues were back up to 8 teams, and they returned to being wholly separate entities.

[Le Grande Orange]

By the way, here are the final standings for the Dixie Association, as they were published in The Sporting News:

1971 DIXIE ASSOCIATION - Final Standings

East Division

x-Charlotte          92 50 .648 --
z-Asheville          90 51 .638  1½
  Montgomery         73 69 .514 19
  Jacksonville       63 77 .450 28
  Savannah           57 84 .404 34½
  Columbus           51 91 .359 41

Central Division

x-Arkansas           75 64 .540 --
  Memphis            69 70 .496  6
  Shreveport         69 73 .486  7½
  Birmingham         48 93 .340 28

West Division

x-Amarillo           88 54 .620 --
  Dallas-Fort Worth  82 59 .582  5½
  Albuquerque        67 75 .472 21
  San Antonio        63 77 .450 24

PLAYOFFS

Charlotte defeated Asheville 2 games to 1
Arkansas defeated Amarillo 2 games to 0

Charlotte defeated Arkansas 3 games to 0

[Cryomaniac]

Originally Posted by Le Grande Orange

In regards to the real 1971 minor leagues, here's a little something to keep in mind. That year, both the Southern League and Texas League were down to 7 clubs. To get around the scheduling issues that posed, the two leagues basically merged for that one season, forming a combined entity called the Dixie Association.

However, many references (including the Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball and Baseball-Reference) list the standings separately for the two leagues, as if they operated as two individual 7-team leagues but which played some interleague games. I do not think that is an accurate representation.

If one looks at the standings as published in The Sporting News from that time, it is shown as a single consolidated entity. It's a three-division league, with a 6-team East Division (all Southern League clubs), a 4-team Central Division (1 Southern League and 3 Texas League clubs), and a 4-team West Division (all Texas League clubs).

The schedule published for the league (association) is also a consolidated one. The Central Division teams played interdivisional games against both other divisions, but the East and West Division teams did not play each other due to travel considerations. The one thing that was still separate is that each 'league' had its own All-Star Game.

The Dixie Association only lasted one season. In 1972 both the Southern and Texas Leagues were back up to 8 teams, and they returned to being wholly separate entities.

This would definitely come under one of the things I was talking about which make it difficult to put together an automatic MilB database...

Very cool to hear about never the less.

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by Cryomaniac

This would definitely come under one of the things I was talking about which make it difficult to put together an automatic MilB database...

Here's how things were arranged in 1971:

ML (24 teams): American League (12); National League (12)
AAA (24 teams): American Association (8); International League (8); Pacific Coast League (8)
AA (22 teams): Eastern League (8); Dixie Association (14)
A: (44 teams): California League (8); Carolina League (8); Florida State League (12); Midwest League (10); Western Carolinas League (6)
A-Short Season (18 teams): New York-Penn League (8); Northwest League (6); Northern League (4)
Rookie (21 teams): Appalachian League (8); Pioneer League (6); Gulf Coast League (7)

The Northern League folded after the 1971 season, leaving only two Short Season A leagues. If one simply stays at the 1971 arrangement in the majors then the minors aren't an issue as they can stay the same too. I wonder how someone would handle it when the majors expand to 26 teams in 1977. What do they do exactly with the minors?

[mgom27]

Real Minor League Team Options for the Team Affiliated with like Gwinnett Braves like lets say it's contract is up with Braves they could get purchased by another Team or Braves could decide not to renew deal and hook up with another city for their Triple-A team.