The New England League was a mid-level league in American minor league baseball that played sporadically in five of the six New England states (Vermont excepted) between 1886 and 1949. After 1901, it existed in the shadow of two Major League Baseball clubs in Boston and alongside stronger, higher-classification leagues. Ultimately it could not survive the region's economic problems (and competing sources of entertainment) in the mid-20th century.
In 1946, the NEL, the International League and the Canadian-American League - which all included farm teams of the Brooklyn Dodgers - were the first 20th century leagues (except for the "outside 'organized baseball'" Negro Leagues) to permit African-Americans to play. The following season, Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby would integrate the major leagues.
Read more about New England League: Early History, Semi-pro League During The Early 1940s, Return To Professional Status
Famous quotes containing the words england and/or league:
“So you’ll face me with a court of inquiry, eh, in England. Well, Mr. Christian, we’re a long way from England and what can happen on this ship before we get there may surprise even you.”
—Talbot Jennings (1896–1985)
“He will deliver you from six troubles; in seven no harm shall touch you. In famine he will redeem you from death, and in war from the power of the sword. You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, and shall not fear destruction when it comes. At destruction and famine you shall laugh, and shall not fear the wild animals of the earth. For you shall be in league with the stones of the field, and the wild animals shall be at peace with you.”
—Bible: Hebrew, Job 5:19-23.