Pennington Gap Miners

Minor league baseball began in Pennington Gap, Virginia, when the Pennington Gap Lee Bears joined the four-team 1937 Appalachian League, which was reformed after a 12-year hiatus. The 1937 Pennington Gap Lee Bears finished the regular season with a 49–55 record, 3rd among league members Elizabethton Betsy Red Sox (57–45), Johnson City Soldiers (52–51) and Newport Canners (49–56).[1][2]

The Pennington Gap Lee Bears won the 1937 Appalachian League Championship. In the 1937 playoffs, the Pennington Gap Lee Bears defeated the Elizabethton Betsy Red Sox 3 games to 2 to capture the championship.[1][3][4]

Playing as an affiliate of the St. Louis Browns, the 1938 Pennington Gap Lee Bears finished 46–60 (4th) in the regular season. In the playoffs, the Kingsport Cherokees defeated the Pennington Gap Lee Bears 2 games to 0, as the Appalachian League expanded to six teams.[5][6][4]

The 1939 Pennington Gap Bears remained as a St. Louis Browns affiliate. The team finished the regular season 52-66 (5th) in the Appalachian League, missing the playoffs.[7][8]

In 1940, the renamed Pennington Gap Miners finished 50–64 (7th), missing the playoffs as an affiliate of the St. Louis Browns. The team drew 22,330, an average of 392. Pennington Gap folded following the 1940 season.[9][10]

In 1948, the Mountain States League reformed, having last played in 1912. The Pennington Gap Miners joined the league.[11]

The 1948 Miners finished 59–54 (3rd) in the Mountain States League regular season, with the Harlan Smokies (56–63), Jenkins Cavaliers (35–78), Morristown Red Sox (70–46), Newport Canners (58–59) and Oak Ridge Bombers (65–43).[12]

In the 1948 playoffs, the Hazard Bombers defeated the Pennington Gap Miners 3 games to 0. Pennington Gap's season attendance was 14,988, an average of 265, last in the league.[13][11]

The Pennington Gap Miners finished 62–63 (5th) in 1949 and 44–82 (8th) in 1950, missing the playoffs in both seasons. The 1950 team finished last in attendance, with 11,164.[14][15][11]

The 1951 season was the last for the Pennington Gap Miners. The Miners finished 54–71 (5th) in the regular season and did not qualify for the playoffs. Their season attendance at Leeman Field was 14,994.[16][11]

The Pennington Gap Miners folded from the Mountain States League after the 1951 season, as did the Jenkins Cavaliers. Pennington Gap has not hosted another minor league team.[17][18][11]

Pennington Gap played at Leeman Field. The ballpark site today is called "Leeman Field Park" and still contains baseball fields. The address is 605 Old Zion Road, Pennington Gap, Virginia, 24277.[19][20]

• Lew Flick (1949-1950, MGR)
• Arthur Hauger (1939-1940, MGR)
• Charlie Metro (1938)

• Baseball Reference