The Fayetteville Generals were a

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 ...

team located in

Fayetteville, North Carolina Fayetteville ( , ) is a city in and the county seat of Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a major U.S. Army installation northwest of the city. Fayetteville has received the All-Ameri ...

. The last minor league baseball team to play before the Generals were the Fayetteville Highlanders of the

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

, they ceased play after the 1956 season. In 1986, Charles Padgett, a Don Koonce and Jimmy O. Bunce paid $500,000 for the franchise. The team struggled financially until the 1989 season and posted several positive years financially and with attendance through the early 1990s. The team was featured in the classic 1988 baseball film

Bull Durham ''Bull Durham'' is a 1988 American romantic comedy sports film written and directed by Ron Shelton. The film stars Kevin Costner as "Crash" Davis, a veteran catcher from the AAA Richmond Braves, brought in to teach rookie pitcher Ebby Calv ...

. They were part of the

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its h ...

between 1986 and 1996. They were affiliated with the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

throughout their entire existence. Prior to the 1997 season, the Generals were renamed the

Cape Fear Crocs The Cape Fear Crocs were a minor league baseball team in Fayetteville, North Carolina. They were a low Class-A baseball team which played in the South Atlantic League, and were a farm team of the Montreal Expos for the franchise's entire tenu ...

. In 1996, playing with the Generals,

Gabe Kapler Gabriel Stefan Kapler (born July 31, 1975), nicknamed "Kap", is an American former professional baseball outfielder and manager who serves as the assistant general manager of the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball (MLB). Kapler was a 57th- ...

led the South Atlantic League in hits, doubles, and triples (45; 2nd in the minor leagues), extra-base hits (71), and total bases (280).

Year-by-year record

Notable former players

, outfielder *

Travis Fryman David Travis Fryman (born March 25, 1969) is an American former professional baseball third baseman who played in Major League Baseball for the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians from 1990 to 2002. He is currently a hitting instructor for the C ...

, infielder * Frank Catalanotto, infielder *

Juan Encarnación Juan De Dios Encarnación (born March 8, 1976) is a Dominican former professional baseball outfielder. He played 11 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1997 to 2007 for the Detroit Tigers, Cincinnati Reds, Florida Marlins, Los Angeles Do ...

, outfielder

References

Defunct South Atlantic League teams Baseball teams established in 1987 Sports in Fayetteville, North Carolina Baseball teams disestablished in 1996 1987 establishments in North Carolina 1996 disestablishments in North Carolina Professional baseball teams in North Carolina Defunct baseball teams in North Carolina {{NorthCarolina-baseball-team-stub