| Virginia League (1894–1896) | |
| Sport: | Minor League Baseball |
| President: | Camden Sommers (1894) Judge Samuel B. Witt,Jr. (1895) James McLaughlin (1896) |
| Inaugural: | 1894 |
| Teams: | 8 |
| Continent: | or |
| Continents: | --> |
| Folded: | 1896 |
| Most Champs: | 2 Richmond Bluebirds (1895–1896) |
| Classification: | Independent (1894) Class B (1895–1896) |
The Virginia League (1894–1896) was a minor league baseball organization active in central Virginia.
In 1894, the Virginia League began play as an Independent level league and fielded six teams: the Lynchburg, Virginia based Lynchburg Hill Climbers, the Norfolk, Virginia based Norfolk Clam Eaters, the Petersburg Farmers, the Richmond Bluebirds, the Roanoke, Virginia based Roanoke Magicians, and the Staunton, Virginia based Staunton Hayseeds / Newport News, Virginia-Hampton, Virginia based Newport News-Hampton Deck Hands (the Staunton team relocated in the middle of the 1894 season).[1]
In 1895, the league was upgraded to a Class B level league. The teams during the 1895 season were the Lynchburg Hill Climbers, the Norfolk Clams/Crows, the Petersburg Farmers, the Portsmouth Truckers, the Richmond Blue Birds, and the Roanoke Magicians.[2]
In 1896, the Norfolk team became the Norfolk Braves, the Portsmouth team became the Portsmouth Browns and then moved to Hampton and became the Hampton-Newport News Clamdiggers.[3]
Lynchburg Hill Climbers 1894; Lynchburg Tobacconists 1895–1896
Norfolk Clam Eaters 1894; Norfolk Clams/Norfolk Crows 1895; Norfolk Braves 1896
Petersburg Farmers 1894–1896
Portsmouth Truckers 1895; Portsmouth Browns 1896
Richmond Crows/Richmond Colts 1894; Richmond Bluebirds 1895-1896
Roanoke Magicians 1894–1896
Staunton Hayseeds 1894
1894 Virginia State League
| Team standings | W | L | PCT | GB | Managers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 72 | 44 | .621 | - | H.P. Harrison | ||
| Norfolk Clam Eaters | 66 | 45 | .595 | 3.5 | Camden Sommers | |
| Richmond Crows / Richmond Colts | 67 | 48 | .583 | 4.5 | Timothy West | |
| 50 | 64 | .439 | 21.0 | Pat Ziegler C.A. Gaussen / William Donovan | ||
| Roanoke Magicians | 45 | 71 | .338 | 27.0 | George Houston / Hal O'Hagan / Shadrack McHooveter / Bill Stephenson | |
| Lynchburg Hill Climbers | 43 | 71 | .377 | 28.0 | E.J. Kerry / Samuel Shaw J. Hofford / S. Moran |
| Stuart Sanford | Petersburg | Hits | 121 |
| Team standings | W | L | PCT | GB | Managers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 78 | 45 | .634 | - | |||
| Lynchburg Tobacconists | 67 | 52 | .563 | 9.0 | Bill Smith | |
| Norfolk Clams/Crows | 56 | 61 | .479 | 19.0 | ||
| Portsmouth Truckers | 57 | 68 | .456 | 22.0 | John Brady Charles Bland / George Reed | |
| Petersburg Farmers | 55 | 69 | .444 | 23.5 | Bob Pender | |
| Roanoke Magicians | 52 | 70 | .431 | 25.5 | Jim Breen / Dick Padden |
| Pop Tate | Portsmouth/Norfolk | BA | .412 | Carney Flynn | Richmond | W | 25 | |
| Hal O'Hagan | Norfolk | Runs | 125 | Carney Flynn | Richmond | SO | 203 | |
| Pop Tate | Portsmouth/Norfolk | Hits | 194 | Al Orth | Lynchburg | PCT | .774 24-7 | |
| Bob Berryhill | Lynchburg | HR | 19 | |||||
| Charles McIntyre | Lynchburg | HR | 19 | |||||
| Louis Lippert | Petersburg | SB | 77 |
| Team standings | W | L | PCT | GB | Managers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 71 | 55 | .563 | - | |||
| Norfolk Braves | 70 | 60 | .538 | 3.0 | Claude McFarland | |
| Portsmouth Browns | 65 | 64 | .504 | 7.5 | Lefty Marr / Bill Hall | |
| 39 | 90 | .302 | 33.5 | James Breen George Kelly / Charles Boyer | ||
| 68 | 37 | .648 | NA | Bill Smith | ||
| 49 | 56 | .467 | NA |
| Pop Tate | Roanoke | BA | .384 | Jesse Tannehill | Richmond | W | 27 | |
| Claude McFarland | Norfolk | Runs | 123 | Cy Malarkey | Richmond | SO | 208 | |
| Claude McFarland | Norfolk | Hits | 194 | W.F. McFarland | Lynchburg | PCT | .741 20-7 | |
| Zeke Wrigley | Roanoke | HR | 16 | |||||
| Joe Dolan | Lynchburg | HR | 16 | |||||
| Dummy Stephenson | Norfolk/Portsmouth/Petersburg | HR | 16 | |||||
| Barley Kain | Richmond | SB | 94 |