The Clark C. Griffith Collegiate Baseball League (CGL) was a collegiate summer baseball league, with teams located in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. All league players had to be enrolled at a

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) school, have at least one year of

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

eligibility remaining and be amateurs by

rules. The CGL was a charter member of th
All-American Amateur Baseball Association
and was designated a Premier League by the

National Baseball Congress National Baseball Congress World Series or NBC World Series is an annual collegiate and semi-pro baseball tournament held in Wichita, Kansas, United States. The next series will happen on July 24 to August 2, 2025. It will be held at Eck Stad ...

. The league had five teams in 2009 but suspended play for the 2010 season and does not appear to have been operational since.

History

The Clark Griffith Collegiate Baseball League was founded in 1945 and was then known as the National Capital City Junior League. In the earliest years, games were played around Washington, D.C., including on

The Ellipse The Ellipse, sometimes referred to as President's Park South, is a park south of the White House fence and north of Constitution Avenue and the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. The Ellipse is also the name of the circumference ...

behind the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

Clark Griffith Clark Calvin Griffith (November 20, 1869 – October 27, 1955, ), nicknamed "the Old Fox", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher, manager and team owner. He began his MLB playing career with the St. Louis Browns (1891), Boston Re ...

who then owned the Washington Senators (now Minnesota Twins) gave the league financial support. When he died in 1955, the league was renamed the Clark Griffith Memorial Baseball League. The name was changed to its final form in 1995. In 1966 the league began playing all its game on the baseball field at

George Mason University George Mason University (GMU) is a Public university, public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Located in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., the university is named in honor of George Mason, a Founding Father ...

. That continued until 1987 when teams began playing on their own home fields. The league instituted a rule requiring the use of only wooden bats in competition in 1993. More than 50 CGL alumni went on to play

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

and over 250 went on to play

Minor League Baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

Noted alumni

See

* Jonathon Papelbon * Cla Meredith *

Mark Teixeira Mark Charles Teixeira ( ; born April 11, 1980), nicknamed "Tex", is an American former professional baseball first baseman who played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Angels of Anahe ...

* Joe Saunders *

Will Rhymes William Daniel Rhymes (born April 1, 1983) is an American former professional baseball second baseman and current front office executive for the Los Angeles Dodgers. His title is Director of Player Development. He played in Major League Baseball ...

* Manny Burriss * Jared Burton * Shawn Camp * John Maine *

Charlton Jimerson Charlton Maxwell Jimerson (born September 22, 1979) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder. He played in MLB for the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners. He played college baseball at the University of Miami, where he was ...

* Dirk Hayhurst * Michael McKenry * Tony Dokoupil

References

External links

Official website

Team sites

Sites of teams that participated in the league in 2009:
Carney PiratesDC GraysFairfax NationalsVienna SenatorsSouthern Maryland Cardinals
{{College Summer Baseball Summer baseball leagues College baseball leagues in the United States Baseball in Washington, D.C. 1945 establishments in the United States Sports leagues established in 1945