The Eastern Shore Baseball League was a Class D minor league baseball

Minor league baseball

Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...

 league that operated on the Delmarva Peninsula

Delmarva Peninsula

The Delmarva Peninsula is a large peninsula on the East Coast of the United States, occupied by most of Delaware and portions of Maryland and Virginia...

 for parts of three different decades. The league's first season was in 1922 and the last was in 1949, although the years were not consecutive, and featured teams from Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

, Delaware

Delaware

Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...

, and Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

. The first incarnation lasted from 1922 to mid-1928 (disbanded in July), the second from 1937-41, and the third from 1946-49. Though the level of play was competitive and many future major leaguers would gain experience in the ESBL, funding the league remained a constant problem for the rural franchises.

Future major leaguers who played in the ESBL include notables such as: Frank "Home Run" Baker

Frank Baker

John Franklin "Home Run" Baker was an American third baseman in Major League Baseball from 1908 to 1922, and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955. As a member of the famed $100,000 infield, Baker helped the Philadelphia Athletics win the 1910, 1911 and 1913 World Series...

, Mickey Cochrane

Mickey Cochrane

Gordon Stanley "Mickey" Cochrane was a professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Philadelphia Athletics and Detroit Tigers...

, Jimmie Foxx

Jimmie Foxx

James Emory "Jimmie" Foxx , nicknamed "Double X" and "The Beast", was a right-handed American Major League Baseball first baseman and noted power hitter....

, Mickey Vernon

Mickey Vernon

James Barton "Mickey" Vernon was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the Washington Senators for the majority of his career, as well as four other teams: the Cleveland Indians , Boston Red Sox , Milwaukee Braves and Pittsburgh Pirates...

, and Don Zimmer

Don Zimmer

Donald William "Popeye" Zimmer is a former infielder, manager, and coach in Major League Baseball, currently serving as a senior advisor to the Tampa Bay Rays baseball organization...

.

The Eastern Shore Baseball Hall of Fame at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium

Arthur W. Perdue Stadium

The Arthur W. Perdue Stadium is a baseball stadium in Salisbury, Maryland. It is the home of the Baltimore Orioles Class A affiliate Delmarva Shorebirds, and was named for the founder of Perdue Farms, Arthur Perdue. It features the Maryland Eastern Shore Baseball Hall of Fame. The stadium seats...

 in Salisbury, Maryland, pays homage to ESBL players and locals who made the major leagues. Perdue Stadium is the home of the Class A Delmarva Shorebirds

Delmarva Shorebirds

The Delmarva Shorebirds are a minor league baseball team based in Salisbury, Maryland. They are one of three Single-A affiliates of the Baltimore Orioles and a member of the South Atlantic League. The Shorebirds play at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium.The "Shorebirds" name refers to the marine waterfowl...

, an Orioles

Baltimore Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...

 farm team.

Host cities/Teams/Years

Cities represented	Teams	Year(s)
Cambridge, Maryland Cambridge, Maryland Cambridge is a city in Dorchester County, Maryland, United States. The population was 12,326 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Dorchester County and the county's largest municipality...	Cambridge Canners	1922-1928,  1940-1941
	Cambridge Cardinals	1937-1939
	Cambridge Dodgers Cambridge Dodgers The Cambridge Dodgers were a "Class D" Minor League Baseball team, based in Cambridge, Maryland that played in the Eastern Shore League from 1946-1949 as an affiliate of the Brooklyn Dodgers.-External links:*...	1946-1949
Centreville, Maryland Centreville, Maryland Centreville is an incorporated town in Queen Anne's County, Maryland, United States. Incorporated in 1794, it is the county seat of Queen Anne's County. The population was 1,970 at the 2000 census. The ZIP code is 21617 and the area code is 410. The local telephone exchange is 758...	Centreville Colts	1937-1939
	Centreville Red Sox	1940-1941
	Centreville Orioles	1946
Crisfield, Maryland Crisfield, Maryland Crisfield is a city in Somerset County, Maryland, United States, located on the Tangier Sound, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. The population was 2,723 at the 2000 census. It is included in the Salisbury, Maryland Metropolitan Statistical Area...	Crisfield Crabbers	1922-1928, 1937
Dover, Delaware Dover, Delaware The city of Dover is the capital and second largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County, and the principal city of the Dover, Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Kent County. It is located on the St. Jones River in the Delaware...	Dover Senators	1923-1924, 1926
	Dover Dobbins	1925
	Dover Orioles	1937-1940
	Dover Phillies	1946-1948
Easton, Maryland Easton, Maryland Easton, founded 1710, is a town within the Easton District of Talbot County, Maryland, United States. The population was 11,708 at the 2000 census, and 14,677 according to current July 2008 census estimates. It is the county seat of Talbot County. The primary ZIP Code is 21601, and the...	Easton Farmers	1924-1928
	Easton Browns	1937
	Easton Cubs	1938
	Easton Yankees	1939-1941, 1946-1949
Federalsburg, Maryland Federalsburg, Maryland Federalsburg is a town in Caroline County, Maryland, United States. The population was 2,642 at the 2009 census. The ZIP code is 21632. The primary phone exchange is 754 and the area code is 410.-Town features:...	Federalsburg Little A's	1937-1941
	Federalsburg A's	1946-1948
	Federalsburg Feds	1949
Laurel, Delaware Laurel, Delaware As of the census of 2000, there were 3,668 people, 1,389 households, and 957 families residing in the town. The population density was 2,215.9 people per square mile . There were 1,561 housing units at an average density of 943.0 per square mile...	Laurel Blue Hens	1922-1923
Milford, Delaware Milford, Delaware Milford is a city in Kent and Sussex counties in the U.S. state of Delaware. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 9,559....	Milford Sandpipers	1923
	Milford Giants	1938-1941
	Milford Red Sox	1946-1948
Northampton, Virginia	Northampton Red Sox	1927-1928
Parksley, Virginia Parksley, Virginia Parksley is a town in Accomack County, Virginia, United States. The population was 837 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Parksley is located at ....	Parksley Spuds	1922-1928
Pocomoke City, Maryland Pocomoke City, Maryland Pocomoke City, dubbed "the friendliest town on the Eastern Shore", is a city in Worcester County, Maryland, United States. Although renamed in a burst of civic enthusiasm in 1878, the city is regularly referred to by its inhabitants simply as Pocomoke...	Pocomoke City Salamanders	1922-1923
	Pocomoke City Red Sox	1937-1939
	Pocomoke City Chicks	1940
Rehoboth Beach, Delaware Rehoboth Beach, Delaware Rehoboth Beach is a city in Sussex County, Delaware, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population is 1,327, a decrease of 11.2% from 2000...	Rehoboth Beach Pirates	1947-1948
	Rehoboth Beach Sea Hawks	1949
Salisbury, Maryland Salisbury, Maryland -Demographics:Salisbury is the principal city of the Salisbury-Ocean Pines CSA, a Combined Statistical Area that includes the Salisbury metropolitan area and the Ocean Pines micropolitan area , which had a combined population of 176,657 at the 2010 census.As of the census of 2000, there were...	Salisbury Indians Salisbury Indians The Salisbury Indians were a United States minor league baseball team which played in Salisbury, Maryland. The team began operation in 1922 as a founding member of the Eastern Shore Baseball League, which operated out of cities on the Delmarva Peninsula....	1922-1928, 1937-1938
	Salisbury (MD) Senators	1939
	Salisbury Cardinals	1940-1941, 1946-1949
Seaford, Delaware Seaford, Delaware Seaford is a city located along the Nanticoke River in Sussex County, Delaware. According to the 2010 Census Bureau figures, the population of the city is 6,928, an increase of 3.4% from the 2000 census...	Seaford Eagles	1946-1949

Selected bibliography

• The Eastern Shore Baseball League by William Mowbray (1989) remains the most comprehensive source for ESBL history.
• Mike Lambert has published the Eastern Shore League with Arcadia Publishing in April 2010.

Sources

• Baseball Reference – Eastern Shore League (D) Encyclopedia and History