Danville Leafs

The Danville Leafs took their name in 1925, a nod to the tobacco leaf markets that built the city, after an earlier Danville team played as the Tobacconists starting in 1905. A new Leafs club reformed in 1934 in the Class D Bi-State League (sometimes billed as the Danville-Schoolfield Leafs), then joined the Carolina League at its founding in 1945 and played there continuously through 1958.

The Leafs were one of the league's most successful early franchises, winning three Carolina League championships, in 1945, 1953, and 1955. In 1951 they became the first team in the Carolina League to integrate, signing local outfielder Percy Miller Jr. Pitcher Ramon Monzant went 23-6 with 232 strikeouts in 1953 to win the league's MVP award before pitching several seasons for the New York Giants.

The Leafs' best-known alumnus arrived in 1956: an 18-year-old Willie McCovey, who hit .310 with 29 home runs and 89 RBI at first base before going on to a Hall of Fame career with the San Francisco Giants. His teammate that year, outfielder Leon Wagner, put up an even bigger season at the plate (.330, 51 home runs, 166 RBI) and also reached the majors.

The Leafs folded after the 1958 season. Their home ballpark, League Park, was later disassembled, shipped by rail, and rebuilt in Burlington, North Carolina, where it continued hosting Carolina League baseball into the 1970s.