New England League

The league was inactive in 1889–1890, then resumed play from 1891 to 1915 (with the exception of 1900) under the presidency of Tim Murnane, the Boston Globe sportswriter.

Football Hall of Famer, Major League umpire and NBA coach Hank Soar sometimes played for Pawtucket.

[citation needed] The teams in 1941 were the New Bedford Whalers (which relocated to Cranston, Rhode Island on July 31), Pawtucket Slaters, Lynn Frasers, Worcester Nortons, Woonsocket Marquettes, Quincy Shipbuilders, Fall River, and Manchester (New Hampshire) Dexters.

In the middle of the championship series the Slaters hosted a game against the Boston Red Sox in front of over 9,000 fans.

Its most notable member, the Nashua Dodgers, was a Brooklyn farm club where, in 1946, African-American players and future Dodger greats Don Newcombe and Roy Campanella made their debuts as part of the handful of men who broke the baseball color line.

In 1947 the Cranston Chiefs had a working agreement with the Cincinnati Reds, and the Fall River Indians had the same arrangement with the Chicago White Sox.

In mid-July the New York Yankees announced they were withdrawing their support of the Manchester team, forcing the franchise to suspend operations.

The "second half" season of 38 games resumed with the four remaining teams and concluded with Pawtucket in first place, followed by Portland, Springfield and Nashua.

The Brooklyn Dodgers refused to allow Nashua to participate in any playoffs, wanting to pull the plug on the Nashua operation immediately, thus giving the Portland team a first-round bye in the playoffs, which saw Springfield defeat Pawtucket, 2 games to 0, then Portland taking Springfield in seven games.

The league's final regular-season champ was the Pawtucket Slaters, a farm club of the Boston Braves, but the Portland Pilots, a Phillies affiliate, won the playoffs, thus bookending the championship earned by the Maine city's entry in the NEL's maiden season 63 years earlier.

[8] [9] 1886 New England League - schedule President: Jacob C. Morse Newburyport (35-34) moved to Lynn August 14.