Defunct Team Socks
Description: The Denver Grizzlies hockey teams is an anomaly in our One-Year Wonders category, a special fraternity of defunct teams typically characterized by chaos, dysfunction and insolvency. But the Grizzlies, an International Hockey League club owned by veteran minor league baseball operator David Elmore along with Donna Tuttle, were a roaring success both on the ice and at the box office. Prior to the Grizzlies arrival in 1993, Denver had a miserable history with pro hockey. Seven clubs set up shop in Denver between 1950 and 1990, including a short-lived and unloved National Hockey League franchise, the Colorado Rockies, that departed for New Jersey in 1982 after six losing seasons.
Description: The Erie Sailors was the primary name of several minor league baseball teams that played in Erie, Pennsylvania between 1906 and 1994. Several unrelated teams used the Erie Sailors name in the Interstate League (1906–1907, 1913, 1916), the Ohio–Pennsylvania League (1908–1911), and the Central League (1912, 1915, 1928–30, 1932).
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 Cleveland Bearcats were an American professional Minor League Baseball team that played in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1914 and 1915 as members of the American Association. They shared League Park with the American League's Cleveland Naps. After the 1913 season, Charles Somers, owner of the Toledo Mud Hens and Cleveland Naps, relocated the Toledo team to Cleveland. The team played the 1914 season as the Cleveland Bearcats but became the Cleveland Spiders in 1915. The team moved back to Toledo in 1916.
Description: The Jersey City Skeeters were a minor league baseball team based in Jersey City, New Jersey, with a history that dates back to the 1860s. They were officially established in 1870 and became a part of the National Association of Base Ball Players. Over the decades, the Skeeters played in various leagues, including the Eastern League and the International League.
Description: The Enterprise Boll Weevils were a minor league baseball team based in Enterprise, Alabama. Preceded by the 1936 Enterprise Browns of the Class D level Alabama-Florida League, the Boll Weevils played as members Alabama State League from 1947 to 1950 and the Alabama-Florida League in 1951 and 1952, winning the 1950 league pennant. The Boll Weevils hosted home minor league games at Peanut Stadium.
Description: The Montpelier Goldfish, a minor league baseball team, played in the Quebec-Ontario-Vermont League between 1924 and 1924. Montpelier briefly hosted the 1924 Montpelier Goldfish of the Class B level Ontario–Quebec–Vermont League. The team folded on July 16, 1924, finishing with a 16–37 record under manager Bill McCorry. Barre, Vermont has not hosted another minor league team.
Description: The Aberdeen Pheasants was the primary moniker minor league baseball teams located in Aberdeen, South Dakota between 1920 and 1997. The Pheasants played in the Northern League from 1946 until the league folded in 1971. Aberdeen was the Class C affiliate of the St. Louis Browns until 1953, continuing with the franchise when the Browns moved to Baltimore in 1954, with the Pheasants remaining in the Oriole farm system. Aberdeen had a team in the Independent Prairie League from 1995 to 1997, also called the Pheasants.
Description: The Iola Gasbags were a minor league baseball team based in Iola, Kansas. Between 1902 and 1906, Iola teams played as a member of the Missouri Valley League from 1902 to 1904 and the 1906 Kansas State League. The Iola Gasbags won the 1904 Missouri State League championship, before adopting the Iola "Grays" nickname for the 1906 Kansas State League season. The Iola teams hosted home minor league games at Riverside Park.
