Pawtucket Slaters

The Pawtucket Slaters of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, were the Boston Braves' Class B farm club in the New England League from 1946 through 1949, and the first tenants of McCoy Stadium, which was formally dedicated for their arrival after sitting largely unused since it opened in 1942.

The nickname points to Samuel Slater, whose 1793 cotton mill on the Blackstone River in Pawtucket is generally credited as the start of the American industrial revolution; the mill still stands a short walk from downtown, and the city's largest park carries the same name. No period account explaining the choice has yet been found, but in Pawtucket the name explains itself.

The Slaters made the playoffs in all four seasons and ran into the same wall three years running: the Nashua Dodgers, a Brooklyn farm club that had Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe on its 1946 roster, won three straight titles and knocked Pawtucket out in the first round each time. The Slaters finished fourth in 1946, 1947 and 1948, and led the league in attendance in 1947 at 92,787. A 19-year-old outfielder named Chuck Tanner joined the club in 1948; he would manage the Pittsburgh Pirates to the 1979 World Series championship. The best Pawtucket club was the last one. The 1949 Slaters went 83-43 and won the regular-season pennant under three managers, including former Cardinals Gashouse Gang first baseman Ripper Collins, before losing in the first round to the Springfield Cubs. Over four seasons the club went 279-221.

The Braves bought the franchise outright in 1948, but could not save the league. Four of the eight clubs folded during the 1949 season, and when Brooklyn announced in December that it was pulling out of Nashua, the remaining owners voted to disband within the week. McCoy Stadium sat without professional baseball until 1966, and would later become known for a much longer-running Triple-A tenant.