History
Baseball has been a staple in Hagerstown for the better part of the past century. In 1915, the Hagerstown Blues joined the Class D Blue Ridge League, where they remained for the next 16 seasons. Throughout this time, they won five pennants and donned four different names: the Blues, the Terriers, the Champs and the Hubs. One month into the 1931 season, the league disbanded and the Hubs moved to Parkersburg, West Virginia
Professional baseball returned to Hagerstown in 1941 when Owen Sterling moved his Detroit Tigers affiliate to town. The newly-named Hagerstown Owls (Owen, Win, Luck and Sterl ing) joined the Class B Interstate League. Gene Raney purchased the team from Sterling in 1950, and the renamed Hagerstown Braves became an affiliate of the Boston Braves.
The team moved to the Piedmont League in 1953 and once again had a name and affiliation change. The new Washington Senators affiliate, the Hagerstown Packets, competed until the league disbanded after the 1955 season.
Hagerstown was without a professional team until 1981 when Lou Eliopulos purchased the Rocky Mount Pines Class A Carolina League franchise, moved them north and signed an affiliation deal with the Baltimore Orioles. The newly named Hagerstown Suns proceeded to win the Carolina League championship in their inaugural season.
In 1989, Hagerstown moved up to the Double-A Eastern League, taking over the Pittsfield Cubs franchise and again affiliating with the Orioles. (The Carolina League franchise would relocate just down Interstate 70 as the Frederick Keys, maintaining the Orioles' Class A affiliation.) Hagerstown would not be able to maintain AA standing, though; after the Suns' and Keys' owners failed to claim an Eastern League expansion franchise for Bowie in 1993 (coinciding with the Florida Marlins' and Colorado Rockies' addition to the majors), they instead chose to move their existing franchise there as the Bowie BaySox.
Hagerstown would not go without, though; Winston Blenckstone immediately relocated his Myrtle Beach Hurricanes franchise in the South Atlantic League to Hagerstown after the 1992 season and promptly renamed them the Suns. The SAL Suns would be a Toronto Blue Jays affiliate until 2000, when a four-year partnership with the San Francisco Giants began under the new ownership of Andy Rayburn. Mandalay Entertainment Group purchased the team in 2002. Hagerstown once again changed affiliates in the 2005, having a two-year stint with the New York Mets before becoming a member of the Washington Nationals farm system in 2007.
A new ownership group with local ties, Hagerstown Baseball, LLC, purchased the Suns in September 2010. The group is led by Florida businessman and general manager of Polo Trace Country Club Bruce Quinn. Tony Dahbura, corporate vice president of Hub Labels in Hagerstown, Dr. Mitesh Kothari of Hagerstown, and Quinn's sister, Sheri, complete the group. Following the announcement of the new ownership, the Nationals renewed their affiliation with the Suns through 2012.
Read more about this topic: Hagerstown Suns
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