Harlan Smokies was the primary name of a Minor League Baseball team based in Harlan, Kentucky. The team competed for a total of 11 seasons during 1948–1965, first in the Mountain States League and later in the Appalachian League. The team was known as the Harlan Yankees in 1963 and Harlan Red Sox in 1965, due to affiliations with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB).

The Smokies qualified for the Mountain States League postseason in four consecutive seasons, 1949–1952, and were league champions in three of those years (1949, 1950, and 1952).

Notable players Multiple players with Harlan also made appearances in MLB:

1948: — 1949: — 1950: Roger McCardell 1951: — 1952: — 1953: Cliff Melton 1954: —

1961: Cisco Carlos, Mike DeGerick, Art López, Luis Peraza, Mel Stottlemyre 1962: Fred Klages, Dave McDonald, Denny McLain, John Miller, Billy Murphy, Cecil Perkins, Jim Shellenback 1963: Mike Jurewicz, Jim Ollom, Fritz Peterson, Dale Roberts, Charlie Vinson 1965: Ray Jarvis, Bobby Mitchell, Amos Otis

Results by season Season Nickname Affiliation Record (win %) Finish ManagerPlayoffs (games) AttendanceRef. 1948 Smokies — 5th of 6 Bill SislerFrank WilsonMichael Goda did not qualify 46,187 1949 Smokies — 1st of 8 George Motto defeated Middlesboro Athletics (3–1)defeated Morristown Red Sox (3–2) 49,615 1950 Smokies — 1st of 8 Rex Carr defeated Big Stone Gap Rebels (3–1)defeated Middlesboro Athletics (3–0) 41,707 1951 Smokies — 3rd of 8 Bones SandersJohn Streza lost to Hazard Bombers (0–3) 35,657 1952 Smokies Boston Braves 2nd of 6 Rex Carr defeated Big Stone Gap Rebels (3–2)defeated Morristown Red Sox (3–0) 32,579 1953 Smokies — 7th of 8 Cliff MeltonBarry CoxJames Grigg did not qualify 20,630 1954 Smokies — 2nd of 6 Bill Steinecke unknown 1961 Smokies Chicago White Sox &New York Yankees 3rd of 8 Frank ParentiEd Lyons none held 19,466 1962 Smokies 6th of 6 Chips SobekLamar North none held 16,056 1963 Yankees New York Yankees 6th of 6 Gary Blaylock none held 13,134 1965 Red Sox Boston Red Sox 4th of 6 Rac Slider none held 23,190 In 1954, the Mountain States League disbanded in July, thus no playoffs were held.

References

Further reading

External links Harlan Smokies history at harlancountysports.com