Tomasik: How the Cardinals placed a Marlins team in West Virginia
From SABR member Mark Tomasik at RetroSimba on July 20, 2012:
The city of Charleston, W.Va., is situated where two rivers, the Kanawha and Elk, meet, but its still more than 300 miles from the Atlantic Ocean.
So, as one might imagine, the tale of how the Cardinals fielded a Class AAA team called the Charleston Marlins makes for quite a fish story _ as well as a pretty good baseball yarn.
After the 1960 season, the Cardinals’ Class AAA Rochester, N.Y., team in the International League changed its affiliation to the Orioles. The Miami Marlins had been the Orioles’ Class AAA International League club in 1960.
The Marlins decided to leave Miami and move to San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Cardinals reached an agreement to make the Puerto Rico Marlins their Class AAA International League affiliate in 1961.
Read the full article here: http://retrosimba.com/2012/07/20/how-cardinals-placed-a-team-called-marlins-in-w-va/
Originally published: July 27, 2012. Last Updated: July 27, 2012.