Salem Red Sox

"Salem Rebels" redirects here. "Salem Rebels" can also refer to an Eastern Hockey League team from 1967 to 1971.

The Salem Red Sox are a minor league baseball team in Salem, Virginia, USA, an independent city adjacent to Roanoke, Virginia. They are a Class High-A team in the Carolina League and are a farm team of the Boston Red Sox. The team, known from 1995 through 2008 as the Salem Avalanche, was previously affiliated with the Houston Astros from 2003 to 2008 and the Colorado Rockies from 1995 to 2002; prior to 1995, the franchise played under several different names and affiliations. The Red Sox play home games at Lewis-Gale Field at Salem Memorial Ballpark, a 4,968 seat facility opened in 1995 that hosted the Carolina/California League All Star Game in 2006.

The franchise was owned from 1986 until 2006 by Kelvin Bowles, a local resident and major league baseball scout. Bowles (who, coincidentally, scouted for the Boston Red Sox from 2002–05) bought the team when it was in danger of moving from Salem. In 2006, the team was sold to a pair of businessmen from Atlanta who also owned the Fort Wayne Wizards; in December 2007, this group sold the team to Fenway Sports Group, a subsidiary of the Boston Red Sox ownership group, preparing the team for an affiliation change after its Player Development Contract with the Astros ended in 2008.

History of baseball in Salem

• 1943 – 1953: Roanoke Red Sox (Boston affiliate)
• 1955 – 1971: Salem Rebels......
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