Defunct Sports Socks
Description: The Charlotte Orioles were the long-time Class AA Southern League farm club of the Baltimore Orioles. Promoted locally as “The O’s”, the ball club was owned by famed Southern wrestling promoter Jim Crockett Jr. The Crocketts ran the O’s in true mom & pop style. Charlotte’s ballpark, formerly known as Clark Griffith Park, was renamed Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Park in 1976 in honor of the family patriarch, “Big Jim” Crockett, who passed away in 1973. While Jim Jr. and his brothers focused on the wrestling promotion inherited from their late father, sister Frances Crockett managed the O’s business operations as one of the rare female General Managers of the era. A retired wrestler named Klondike Bill handled the groundskeeping duties.
Description: The Cape Breton Oilers were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. The team was the top minor league affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Oilers' organization relocated the team from Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1988 and renamed it for Cape Breton Island. Home games were played at Centre 200 in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. The Oilers' organization relocated the team to Ontario in 1996 to become the Hamilton Bulldogs.
Description: The Colorado Rockies were an American professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) that played in Denver from 1976 to 1982. They were founded as the Kansas City Scouts, an expansion team that began play in the NHL in the 1974–75 season. The Scouts moved from Kansas City, Missouri, to Denver for the 1976–77 season. The franchise moved to East Rutherford, New Jersey, for the 1982–83 season and was renamed as the New Jersey Devils. Denver went without an NHL team until the Quebec Nordiques relocated to become the Colorado Avalanche following the 1994–95 season. The Rockies name itself would be applied to the Major League Baseball expansion team that began play in 1993.
Description: The Columbus Jets were a Minor League baseball team that played in Columbus, Ohio, from 1955 to 1970. The team moved from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada where they were known as the Ottawa Athletics. The Jets were a member of the Triple-A International League. The Jets' name came from Columbus' role in manufacturing aircraft by North American Aviation for World War II. They were the Triple-A affiliate of the Kansas City Athletics (1955–56) and Pittsburgh Pirates (1957–70). The Jets played their home games at Jets Stadium.
Description: The Class A Columbia Reds of 1960-1961 marked a brief return to South Carolina’s capital city by the Cincinnati Reds, who previously sponsored a South Atlantic League farm club in Columbia from 1938 to 1955. The Cincinnati Reds owned the Columbia ball club directly. The Columbia Reds won the 1960 South Atlantic League pennant, topping the 8-team loop with an 83-56 record.
Description: The Columbus Jets were a Minor League baseball team that played in Columbus, Ohio, from 1955 to 1970. The team moved from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada where they were known as the Ottawa Athletics. The Jets were a member of the Triple-A International League. The Jets' name came from Columbus' role in manufacturing aircraft by North American Aviation for World War II. They were the Triple-A affiliate of the Kansas City Athletics (1955–56) and Pittsburgh Pirates (1957–70). The Jets played their home games at Jets Stadium.
Description: Minor league baseball’s future in Asheville, North Carolina was cast into some doubt when the Chicago White Sox shifted their Class AA farm club from the mountains of Western North Carolina to Knoxville, Tennessee following the 1971 season. But Asheville’s Southern League franchise was saved when a restless attorney from Cincinnati partnered up with a group of local investors to bring the Baltimore Orioles to Asheville’s McCormick Field in 1972.
Description: Columbia, South Carolina hosted a New York Mets Class A farm club in the South Atlantic League for 22 seasons from 1983 until 2004. The team was initially known as the Columbia Mets (1983-1992). In 1992 the club adopted the Capital City Bombers identity, while maintaining the long-time Mets partnership.
Description: The Canton Crocodiles were an independent minor league baseball team that took up residence in Canton, Ohio’s Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium in 1997. The Crocs replaced the departing Canton-Akron Indians (1989-1996), the Class AA farm club of the Cleveland Indians, who were lured away by neighboring Akron’s development of $31 million Canal Park, which opened in 1997.
Description: The original Carolina Cobras were an Arena Football League franchise that split their time between Raleigh (2000-2002) and Charlotte (2003-2004). Notable players included quarterback Fred McNair (Cobras ’00-’01), the older brother of Tennessee Titans Pro Bowl signal caller Steve McNair, and former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Cory Fleming (Cobras ’02). The Cobras never finished better than .500 in five seasons of competition, but did manage to make the playoffs in 2001 and 2002. The hapless 0-16 Cobras squad of 2003 demands consideration as the worst in the 32-season history of the Arena Football League.
Description: The Cleveland Buckeyes were a Negro league baseball team that played from 1942 to 1950 in the Negro American League. The Buckeyes played in two Negro World Series, defeating the Washington Homestead Grays in 1945, and losing to the New York Cubans in 1947. They were based in Cincinnati for their first season and Louisville for their second-to-last season.
Description: The Camden Riversharks were an American professional baseball team based in Camden, New Jersey, from 2001 to 2015. They were a member of the Liberty Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, which was not at that time affiliated with Major League Baseball. The Riversharks played their home games at Campbell's Field, which was situated at the base of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. Due to its location on the Delaware River, the ballpark offered a clear view of the Philadelphia skyline. The "Riversharks" name referred to the location of Camden on the Delaware River, and the primary logo incorporated the Benjamin Franklin Bridge that links Camden to Philadelphia.
Description: The Charleston Charlies were a colorful (at times, blindingly so) Class AAA ballclub that made their home in West Virginia from 1971 through 1983. From 1971 through 1976, the Charlies were the top farm club for the Pittsburgh Pirates, who were a National League power at the time.
Description: The California Surf were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1978 to 1981. The team was based in Anaheim, California and played their home games at Anaheim Convention Center and the Long Beach Arena during the indoor seasons and Anaheim Stadium for outdoor matches. Originally founded as the St. Louis Stars, the team relocated to Anaheim after the 1977 NASL season. The team disbanded after the 1981 NASL season.
Description: The Feather River Mudcats were a minor league baseball team located in Marysville, California. The team played in the independent Western Baseball League, and was not affiliated with any Major League Baseball team. Their home stadium was Bryant Field. The Mudcats were founded in 2000 and played only two seasons before ceasing operations after the 2001 season. They were replaced in 2002 by the Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox, which played until the league folded after the season.
