Courtesy photo
Salem Sox
WHAT TO EXPECT IN BASEBALL 2021 By Doug Doughty
The (sort of) post-COVID local baseball world will look a lot different as the season gets underway. Southwest Virginia baseball fans would be surprised to hear that realignment of the Carolina League had nothing to do with COVID-19. The 2020 schedule was postponed by the coronavirus but plans already were in place, part of a plan by Major League Baseball to shrink and realign the minor league development system.
playing teams in the north." That would be Lynchburg, Fredericksburg and Delmarva.
Salem previously had played a High-A schedule, a notch above what the Red Sox will be playing this year, but it will be difficult to tell the difference. "Some people have looked at it as a demotion when we moved from High-A to Low-A," Lawrence said in an interview at "We're in what's now referred to as the Low his Salem Memorial Ballpark office. "That A East League," said Allen Lawrence, general couldn't be further from the case. "Yes, we manager of the Boston Red Sox affiliate in went down a level, but in terms of the players Salem. "It's kind of a combination of the old and the talent we'll see come through here, Carolina League and the old South Atlantic look at the great players we've had come League." through here already that are playing in the big leagues.” At the time of an April 5 interview, Lawrence's impression was that there will be 12 teams After all notes Lawrence, “they also played split into three divisions—north, central and at Low-A. We're just a [different] rung on the south—with the season beginning May 11. ladder - now we're the first rung instead of "There's going to be limited travel between the second rung. In many cases with some the three divisions," he noted. "We're primarily of the great names we've had come through
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