Kinston Eagles (Coastal Plain League) Explained

The Kinston Eagles were a Minor League Baseball team of the Coastal Plain League. They were located in Kinston, North Carolina. The team played its home games at Grainger Stadium, which opened in 1949 and holds 4,100 fans. Prior to that they played in Grainger Park.

The Eagles won the CPL Championship in 1947 as an affiliate of the Atlanta Crackers.

History

Coastal Plain League

The Great Depression took a great toll on the minor leagues, with only thirteen teams operating across the U.S. at a 1933 low point.^[1] Like most, Kinston sat out the first few years of the Great Depression but reentered play for the season in the semi-professional Coastal Plain League. By the circuit had become a fully professional, Class D league as ranked by the National Association.^[2] The city remained in the Coastal Plain League continuously until it was disbanded after . As a member of this affiliation, Kinston saw many playoff appearances and won league championships in and . Among the superior talent during this period was a young player named Charlie "King Kong" Keller who is listed as among the top forty major league players of all-time in terms of on-base percentage (.410).^{[3] [4]}

Grainger Stadium

See main article: Grainger Stadium. From 1949 on, the Kinston Eagles played their home games at Grainger Stadium located at 400 East Grainger Avenue in Kinston. The original structure was built by architect John J. Rowland in 1949 at a cost of $170,000 inclusive of everything except the land. $150,000 of the money was raised by bond issue.^[5] A dedicatory plaque identifies the structure as "Municipal Stadium", but it has been called Grainger Stadium since it was first built.^[6]

Season by season results

Year	Name	League	Level	Affiliation	Record	Manager	Playoffs
	Eagles				36–24		Lost League Finals
	Eagles	Coastal Plain	semipro		41–26	Bunn Hearn	League Champs
	Eagles	Coastal Plain	semipro		40–32		Lost League Finals
	Eagles		D		32–65
	Eagles	Coastal Plain	D	St. Louis Cardinals	60–50		Lost in 1st round
	Eagles	Coastal Plain	D	St. Louis Cardinals	65–59		Lost League Finals
	Eagles	Coastal Plain	D		63–60		Lost League Finals
	Eagles	Coastal Plain	D		42–77
	Eagles	Coastal Plain	D		67–56		Lost League Finals
	Eagles	Coastal Plain	D		74–65		League Champs
	Eagles	Coastal Plain	D		80–59	Steve Collins	Lost League Finals
	Eagles	Coastal Plain	D		74–64	Steve Collins	Lost League Finals
	Eagles	Coastal Plain	D		70–68		Lost League Finals
	Eagles	Coastal Plain	D		79–47		Lost in 1st round
	Eagles	Coastal Plain	D		76–47		Lost in 1st round

TABLE NOTES:

• The record for the 1938 team above were the actual wins and losses for that team. An ineligible player scandal caused the league office to award or take away wins and losses from teams based on their violations of the rules. The "official" adjusted record at the end of the season was 64–45.

No Hitters

• Eddie Nowak (7/31/1939) vs the New Bern Bears^[7]

League histories

• Book: Gaunt, Robert. We Would Have Played Forever: The Story of the Coastal Plain Baseball League . Baseball America, Inc. . 1997 . 0-945164-02-5 .
• Book: Holaday, J. Chris. Professional Baseball in North Carolina: An Illustrated City-by-City History, 1901–1996 . McFarland & Company, Inc. . 1998 . 0-7864-0532-5 .
• Book: Johnson . Lloyd . Miles Wolff . The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, third ed. . Baseball America, Inc. . 2007 . 978-1-932391-17-6 .

Newspapers

• News: The Kinston Daily Free Press . 1882–2011. – Issues for all seasons are available on microfilm at Lenoir Community College.

Notes and References

1. Book: Voigt, David Quentin. Baseball: An Illustrated History. Penn State Press. 1995. 97. 978-0-271-01448-7.
2. Book: Johnson, Lloyd . Miles Wolff . The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, second ed. . Baseball America, Inc. . 1997 . Durham, North Carolina . 0-9637189-8-3 . 295 .
3. Book: Gaunt, Robert . We Would Have Played Forever: The Story of the Coastal Plain Baseball League . Baseball America, Inc. . 1997 . Durham, North Carolina . 0-945164-02-5 .
4. Web site: Baseball-Reference.com . Charlie Keller Statistics . 2010-12-18 .
5. Mock, Jr. . Frank L. . Kinston's New Stadium . Athletic Journal . XXX . 10 . 14 . June 1950.
6. Rowland . John J. . Simpson . James M. . Stadium for All Municipal Functions, Kinston, N. C. . Architectural Record . 106 . 1 . 121–123 . July 1949.
7. Book: Gaunt, Robert H. . We Would Have Played Forever: The Story of the Coastal Plain Baseball League . Baseball America, Inc. . 1997 . Durham, North Carolina . 0-9637189-8-3 . 97 .