International_League

International League

The International League (IL) is a minor league baseball league which operates in the eastern United States. Like the Pacific Coast League, it plays at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball. It was so-named because it had teams in both the United States and Canada (and for several years in the 1950s, in Cuba as well.) Its name is currently a misnomer: since the Ottawa Lynx relocated to Allentown, Pennsylvania at the end of the 2007 season, the league now has teams only in the United States.

History

The International League was created from the mergers of member teams from three precursor leagues: the Eastern League, founded in ; the New York State League, formed in ; and the Ontario League, also organized in 1885. The New York State and Ontario leagues merged in to form the International League, and in the Eastern League was absorbed to create a 10-club league.

The league collapsed soon afterwards, when the Northern teams claimed that it was too onerous to travel to the South and formed the International Association. Teams and league names came and went over the years. In , a franchise was awarded to Havana, Cuba, but due to political upheaval in that country it had to be moved — to Jersey City, New Jersey — in the middle of the season. Another foray into the Caribbean failed when the newly-created team in San Juan, Puerto Rico, added in , had to be moved to Charleston, West Virginia in mid-season.

In , an International League all-star team beat the New York Yankees in an exhibition game in Rochester, New York, before 11,000 people. In , the all-stars lost to the Cleveland Indians in 11 innings before 11,032 fans in Columbus, Ohio, to commemorate the league's 100th anniversary.

The International League and the American Association, another Triple-A league that operated in the Midwest, voted in to play interleague games. The league also split into two divisions that year. The interleague concept ended in , but the two league divisions remained.

In further interleague play, in 1988, the three Triple-A leagues, the other being the Pacific Coast League, met to play the first Triple-A All-Star Game. One team was made up of All-Stars from American League affiliates and the other of National League affiliates. Beginning in , a team of IL All-Stars faced off against a team of PCL All-Stars.

Also in 1998, with the addition of three new teams from the disbanded American Association and the new Durham Bulls expansion team, the league reorganized into three divisions: the North Division, South Division, and West Division.

At the end of each season, the three divisional leaders and a wild card team square off in best-of-5 playoffs, with the winning team of the finals awarded the Governors' Cup, the league's championship trophy.

Since the league champion has met to play the PCL champion in the Bricktown Showdown, a single Triple-A Championship game. Previous class championship series included the Junior World Series and the Triple-A World Series.

Current teams

Division	Team	MLB Affiliation	City	Stadium	Capacity
North	Buffalo Bisons	New York Mets	Buffalo, New York	Dunn Tire Park	19,500
	Lehigh Valley IronPigs	Philadelphia Phillies	Allentown, Pennsylvania	Coca-Cola Park	10,000
	Pawtucket Red Sox	Boston Red Sox	Pawtucket, Rhode Island	McCoy Stadium	10,031
	Rochester Red Wings	Minnesota Twins	Rochester, New York	Frontier Field	10,868
	Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees	New York Yankees	Moosic, Pennsylvania	PNC Field	10,310
	Syracuse Chiefs	Washington Nationals	Syracuse, New York	Alliance Bank Stadium	11,117
South	Charlotte Knights	Chicago White Sox	Fort Mill, South Carolina	Knights Stadium	10,002
	Durham Bulls	Tampa Bay Rays	Durham, North Carolina	Durham Bulls Athletic Park	10,000
	Gwinnett Braves	Atlanta Braves	Lawrenceville, Georgia	Gwinnett County Ballpark	10,099
	Norfolk Tides	Baltimore Orioles	Norfolk, Virginia	Harbor Park	12,067
West	Columbus Clippers	Cleveland Indians	Columbus, Ohio	Huntington Park	15,000
	Indianapolis Indians	Pittsburgh Pirates	Indianapolis, Indiana	Victory Field	15,500
	Louisville Bats	Cincinnati Reds	Louisville, Kentucky	Louisville Slugger Field	13,131
	Toledo Mud Hens	Detroit Tigers	Toledo, Ohio	Fifth Third Field	10,300

Current team rosters

Final 2008 season standings

North Division

North Division	W	L	Pct.	GB
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees	88	56	.611	—
w-Pawtucket Red Sox	85	58	.594	2½
Rochester Red Wings	74	70	.514	14
Syracuse Chiefs	69	73	.486	18
Buffalo Bisons	66	77	.462	21½
Lehigh Valley IronPigs	55	89	.382	33