Kinston was represented by many amateur clubs since the late nineteenth century, but it was unable to sustain a viable professional team until the mid-1920s.

The latter was notable for being managed by former major league pitcher George Suggs and College Football Hall of Fame member Ira Rodgers.

[3] Due to the efforts of the city's business leaders, former local amateur star Elisha Lewis, and George Suggs, the town secured a professional team in the Virginia League for the 1925 season[4] named the "Eagles".

[5] The Eagles were a Class B team playing out of a then newly renovated stadium designed by Suggs known as West End Park.

[8] Another player, Frank Armstrong, gave up baseball for a career in the armed services and became one of the most decorated generals in the history of the Air Force.

[10] Like most, Kinston sat out the first few years of the Great Depression but reentered play for the 1934 season in the semi-professional Coastal Plain League.

[14] The team, calling itself the Kinston Eagles, were a Pittsburgh Pirates affiliate and featured the city's first African American ball players.

In these early days of the Civil Rights Movement, the black players in the Carolina League received much verbal and psychological abuse from the largely white, Southern fan base.

The Eagles failed to win any championships during this second era of Carolina League play, but they managed to make the playoffs in six of thirteen seasons.

[23] From 1968 through 1973 the Eagles were affiliation with the New York Yankees; the fans saw a lot of future all-stars pass through the city including a young Ron Guidry who would soon establish himself as one of the best pitchers in the American League.

[24] During the 1970s the popularity of minor league baseball reached its lowest point and the attendance in Kinston fell to only 30,000 for the 1973 season.

Another fan attraction was a collection of future major league stars including Pat Borders, Tony Fernández, Cecil Fielder, Nelson Liriano, Fred McGriff and David Wells.

There was talk of moving the franchise to Charles County, Maryland, but the city remained in the Carolina League with an independent ball club that took on the Eagles name.

1986 proved to be disappointing in the standings and at the gate, and talk of a move was renewed, but ownership secured an affiliation with the Cleveland Indians during the off season.

[27] For twenty-five years, Cleveland and the KTribe, as they came to be known, enjoyed a successful partnership which produced seventeen playoff appearances and five Carolina League championships (1988, 1991, 1995, 2004 and 2006).

[30] Dedicated to increasing season ticket sales and promoting ties with businesses, the committee accomplished much in a short span of time.

Although a new ownership group purchased the franchise in 1994, continuity in day-to-day operations was maintained through general manager North Johnson, and front office mainstay Shari Massengill who took over the reins in 2006.

[35] In 2007, the Indians won the Southern Division crown for both halves of the year, but they lost in the first round of the playoffs to the wild card team, the Salem Avalanche.

On August 22, 2016, the Texas Rangers announced plans to bring a minor league team back to Kinston.

[40] Recent ownership referred to it as "Historic Grainger Stadium" due to its age relative to other fields in the Carolina League.

Crawford was a longtime Kinston resident who made it to the major leagues with the St. Louis Cardinals during the Gashouse Gang era.

The club president, Gary Fitzpatrick, arranged for Drake to work as a batboy for the last three home games of the Toronto Blue Jays season.

In honor of his accomplishments, the team established an award in his name to be given to the individual who has done the most to "preserve and enhance" professional baseball in Kinston.

Scout was usually found in an Indians jersey and baseball cap, but was also known to don a Superman t-shirt or an aloha shirt depending on the antics he was performing.

[46] After the introduction of Scout, Tom E. Hawk no longer greeted fans in person at the ballpark, but he was still seen in several of the official logos on much of the team merchandise through the 2010 season.

[48] 1980 manager Dennis Holmberg once resorted to dressing up in the mascot's costume so that he could return to the dugout undetected after being ejected from a game.