The minor league Providence Grays was the name of several minor league baseball teams between and . These teams were unconnected to the

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

Providence Grays The Providence Grays were a Major League Baseball team based in Providence, Rhode Island who played in the National League from until . The Grays played at the Messer Street Grounds in the Olneyville neighborhood. The team won the National Lea ...

. The first minor league Grays were members of the Eastern League in 1886, playing at the Messer Street Grounds. The team folded in June. A team known as the Providence Clamdiggers first played in the

Eastern Association The Eastern Association of counties was an administrative organisation set up by Parliament in the early years of the First English Civil War. Its main function was to finance and support an army which became a mainstay of the Parliamentarian mi ...

in , folding in August, and teams known as the Clamdiggers or Grays played in the Eastern League through . The Grays and Clamdiggers had been preceded in Providence by the Providence Rhode Islanders who played as members of the 1877 New England Association. The next Providence team was a bit more successful, joining the EL in as the Clamdiggers, then changing its name to the Grays soon thereafter. That team remained in operation through , at which point the EL had become the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ( ...

. The team moved back to the new Eastern League in .

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

played for this version of the Grays in 1914. The Grays returned to the Eastern League again in as the Providence Rubes before changing its name back to Grays in . This team lasted until . Finally, in , the Providence Chiefs were formed as members of the

New England League The New England League was a mid-level league in American minor league baseball that played intermittently in five of the six New England states (Vermont excepted) between 1886 and 1949. After 1901, it existed in the shadow of two Major League B ...

, who also changed their name to the Grays in before folding after the season.

References

Defunct Eastern League (1938–present) teams Sports in Providence, Rhode Island Professional baseball teams in Rhode Island Defunct baseball teams in Rhode Island New England League teams Baseball teams disestablished in 1949 Baseball teams established in 1886 {{ProvidenceRI-stub