1951 Carolina League season

Sports season

1951 Carolina League season

League| Carolina League
Sport| Baseball
Duration| April 18 - September 3
Number of games| 140
Number of teams| 8
Regular season
Season MVP| Ray Jablonski, Winston-Salem Cardinals
Playoffs
League champions| Winston-Salem Cardinals
Runners-up| Reidsville Luckies
CL seasons

← 1950

1952 →

The 1951 Carolina League was a Class B baseball season played between April 18 and September 3. Eight teams played a 140-game schedule, with the top four teams qualifying for the post-season.

The Winston-Salem Cardinals won the Carolina League championship, defeating the Reidsville Luckies in the final round of the playoffs.

## Team changes

[edit]

* The Burlington Bees began an affiliation with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
* The Greensboro Patriots began an affiliation with the Chicago Cubs.

## Teams

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1951 Carolina League

Team | City | MLB Affiliate | Stadium
Burlington Bees | Burlington, North Carolina | Pittsburgh Pirates | Elon College Park
Danville Leafs | Danville, Virginia | None  | League Park
Durham Bulls | Durham, North Carolina | Detroit Tigers | Durham Athletic Park
Fayetteville Athletics | Fayetteville, North Carolina | Philadelphia Athletics | Pittman Stadium
Greensboro Patriots | Greensboro, North Carolina | Chicago Cubs | World War Memorial Stadium
Raleigh Capitals | Raleigh, North Carolina | None  | Devereaux Meadow
Reidsville Luckies | Reidsville, North Carolina | None  | Kiker Stadium
Winston-Salem Cardinals | Winston-Salem, North Carolina | St. Louis Cardinals | South Side Park

## Map of teams

[edit]

Burlington

Danville

Durham

Fayetteville

Greensboro

Raleigh

Reidsville

Winston-Salem

Carolina League Teams

## Regular season

[edit]

### Summary

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* The Durham Bulls finished with the best record in the regular season for the first time since in team history.
* The regular season schedule was shortened from 154-games to 140-games.

### Standings

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[1]

Carolina League

Team | Win | Loss | % | GB
Durham Bulls | 84 | 56 | .600 | –
Winston-Salem Cardinals | 81 | 58 | .583 | 2.5
Raleigh Capitals | 78 | 62 | .557 | 6
Reidsville Luckies | 76 | 64 | .543 | 8
Greensboro Patriots | 67 | 73 | .479 | 17
Danville Leafs | 66 | 73 | .475 | 17.5
Fayetteville Athletics | 59 | 79 | .428 | 24
Burlington Bees | 47 | 93 | .336 | 37

## League Leaders

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Ray Jablonski led the league in batting average, hits, doubles, runs batted in and tied for the league lead in home runs as he won the MVP Award.

### Batting leaders

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[2]

Stat  | Player  | Total

|
|

AVG | Ray Jablonski, Winston-Salem Cardinals | .363
H | Ray Jablonski, Winston-Salem Cardinals | 200
R | Hank Navarro, Durham Bulls | 116
2B | Ray Jablonski, Winston-Salem Cardinals | 45
3B | Joe Cunningham, Winston-Salem Cardinals | 11
HR | Ray Jablonski, Winston-Salem Cardinals
Carl Miller, Reidsville Luckies | 28
RBI | Ray Jablonski, Winston-Salem Cardinals | 127
SB | Herb Mancini, Winston-Salem Cardinals | 36

### Pitching leaders

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[3]

Stat  | Player  | Total

|
|

W | Mike Forline, Reidsville Luckies | 21
ERA | Jim Lewey, Winston-Salem Cardinals | 2.65
CG | Mike Forline, Reidsville Luckies | 21
SHO | Jim Lewey, Winston-Salem Cardinals
John McPadden, Durham Bulls | 5
SO | Dennis Reeder, Winston-Salem Cardinals | 155
IP | Mike Forline, Reidsville Luckies | 264.0

## Playoffs

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* The Winston-Salem Cardinals won their second consecutive Carolina League championship, defeating the Reidsville Luckies in five games.
* The league semi-finals were lengthened from a best-of-five series to a best-of-seven.

### Playoff bracket

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| Semi-finals | | | Finals |

|
|
|
|
|

|  |  |  | | |  |  |  |
| 1 | Durham | 1 | |
| 4 | Reidsville | 4 |
| | 4 | Reidsville | 1 |
|  |
| | | 2 | Winston-Salem | 4 |
| 2 | Winston-Salem | 4 |

| 3 | Raleigh | 0 |

## Awards

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Carolina League awards

Award name | Recipient
Most Valuable Player | Ray Jablonski, Winston-Salem Cardinals
Manager of the Year | Ace Parker, Durham Bulls

## See also

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* 1951 Major League Baseball season

## References

[edit]

1. ^ 1951 CL Standings at stats-crew.com, URL accessed December 1, 2024
2. ^ 1951 CL Batting Leaders at baseball-reference.com, URL accessed December 1, 2024
3. ^ 1951 CL Pitching Leaders at baseball-reference.com, URL accessed December 1, 2024

## External links

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* Minor League Baseball official website