The Salem RidgeYaks are a Minor League Baseball affiliate of the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB), based in Salem, an independent city adjacent to Roanoke, Virginia. The team competes at the Single-A level in the Carolina League. Home games are played at Carilion Clinic Field at Salem Memorial Ballpark, a 6,300-seat facility opened in 1995.
The team first played in 1955, and then from 1957 to 1967, in the Appalachian League, initially at the now-defunct Class D level, and then at the Rookie level starting in 1963. From 1968 through 2020, the team competed in the Carolina League, initially Class A and then Class A-Advanced starting in 1990.
The team was known as the Salem Avalanche from 1995 through 2008, when it was affiliated with the Colorado Rockies (1995–2002) and Houston Astros (2003–2008). Prior to 1995, the franchise played under several other names and affiliations. In 2009, the team rebranded as the Salem Red Sox before adopting the RidgeYaks identity for 2026.
History
The franchise debuted in 1955 and was initially known as the Salem Rebels, an affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The franchise was owned from 1986 until 2006 by Kelvin Bowles, a cable television executive and scout in Major League Baseball. Bowles, who scouted for the Boston Red Sox from 2002 to 2005, bought the team when it was in danger of moving from Salem. In 2006, the team was sold to Hardball Capital from Atlanta who also owned the Fort Wayne Wizards. In December 2007, this group sold the team to Fenway Sports Group, a subsidiary of the Boston Red Sox ownership group, preparing the team for an affiliation change after its Player Development Contract with the Houston Astros ended in 2008. As such, the Salem Red Sox were owned (until 2023) by the same parent company that manages Liverpool F.C. and the Boston Red Sox.
In 2006, Salem Memorial Ballpark hosted the All Star Game between the Carolina League and California League.
Since switching affiliation to Boston in 2009, the team has claimed four division titles (2009, 2013, 2016, 2019), has made five playoff appearances (each division title season, plus 2014 as a wild card), and has won one league championship (2013). League and divisional titles are commemorated on the press box and sky boxes overlooking the Carilion Clinic Field Grandstand.
In conjunction with Major League Baseball's restructuring of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the team moved from being the Red Sox' Class A-Advanced affiliate to being their Low-A affiliate, and became a member of the Low-A East; in a corresponding move, the Greenville Drive moved from Class A to High-A. At the time of the restructuring, the website Ballpark Digest speculated that the Red Sox could look to move the Salem franchise to Lowell, Massachusetts in time for the 2022 season. In May 2021, Rick White, president of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, announced that Salem, along with Staten Island, New York, was "on board for 2022" as an expansion franchise location, further fueling speculation that Salem would lose their affiliation status to Lowell. In 2022, the Low-A East became known as the Carolina League, the name historically used by the regional circuit prior to the 2021 reorganization, and was reclassified as a Single-A circuit.
On March 17, 2023, it was announced that their owners, FSG, sold them to Diamond Baseball Holdings who also own the Red Sox Double-A affiliate, the Portland Sea Dogs.
Location and rivalry games While the team is located in a relatively small city (population circa 25,000) when compared to other teams of its classification, the Red Sox are strongly identified with the Roanoke Valley as a whole, drawing fans from neighboring cities and counties within the roughly 300,000-person metropolitan area. The connection with neighboring Roanoke was emphasized during the 2017 Carolina League All-Star Classic, hosted by Salem, that was represented by a logo featuring the iconic Mill Mountain Star. Salem is also located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are featured prominently on the team's logo and are clearly visible over Carilion Clinic Field's outfield walls. This mountain view includes the aforementioned star, visible on clear nights over the left field wall.
Carilion Clinic Field at Salem Memorial Ballpark is located roughly from downtown Salem and is part of the James E. Taliaferro Sports and Entertainment Complex, which also includes the Salem Civic Center and Salem Football Stadium (former location of the annual Stagg Bowl). The Red Sox share their stadium with the NCAA Division III Roanoke Maroons and have previously hosted the "Hokie-Smokey Classic" baseball series between the Tennessee Volunteers and the nearby Virginia Tech Hokies.
Given the teams' close proximity, their long-time histories in the league, and both competing in the Carolina League's North Division, Salem's chief rival is the Hill City Howlers. The regular matchups of these teams, known as the "460 Series", named for U.S. Route 460 which connects the cities, has occasionally feature day/night doubleheaders during which two games will be split between the two cities over the course of the same day.
Season-by-season records
Salem has competed in two different leagues and at four different classification levels: Appalachian League (1955, 1957–1967) Class D (1955, 1957–1962) Rookie (1963–1967) Carolina League (1968–2020) Class A (1968–1989) Class A-Advanced (1990–2020) Class A (2021–present)
+ Key Division title League champions
Note that while records in the below table are for entire seasons, the Carolina League has played a split-season schedule since 1970, except for 2020, when minor-league seasons were canceled, and 2021, when it operated as Low-A East. In years when a split-season was played, a team may have earned a division title by finishing first in either half of the season, despite not having the best overall record for the entire season. Alternately, a team may have had the best overall record for the entire season, but did not finish first in either half of the season, thus did not earn a division title.
Season Nickname Affiliation Record (win %) Finish ManagerPlayoffs (games) AttendanceRef. 1955 Rebels Pittsburgh 1st of 8 defeated Kingsport Cherokees (2–0)no contest vs. Johnson City Cardinals 31,213 1956 no team — — — — 1957 Rebels Pittsburgh 3rd of 6 none held 18,007 1958 Rebels Pittsburgh 3rd of 6 none held 21,351 1959 Rebels Pittsburgh 2nd of 6 none held 36,128 1960 Rebels San Francisco 6th of 6 none held 38,929 1961 Rebels San Francisco 7th of 8 none held 34,125 1962 Rebels San Francisco 5th of 6 none held 40,913 1963 Rebels San Francisco 2nd of 6 none held 34,061 1964 Rebels Pittsburgh 3rd of 4 none held 36,184 1965 Rebels Pittsburgh 1st of 6 (champions, no playoff) 44,254 1966 Rebels Pittsburgh 5th of 5 none held 34,884 1967 Rebels Pittsburgh 5th of 6 none held 34,822 1968 Rebels Pittsburgh 1st of 6 (West) lost to Lynchburg White Sox (0–1) 64,532 1969 Rebels Pittsburgh 1st of 5 (West) defeated High Point-Thomasville Royals (2–0)lost to Burlington Senators (0–2) 63,248 1970 Rebels Pittsburgh 7th of 8 did not qualify 50,076 1971 Rebels Pittsburgh 6th of 8 did not qualify 37,872 1972 Pirates Pittsburgh 1st of 6 defeated Burlington Rangers (2–1) 43,910 1973 Pirates Pittsburgh 5th of 6 did not qualify 45,915 1974 Pirates Pittsburgh 1st of 6 (champions, no playoff) 41,379 1975 Pirates Pittsburgh 3rd of 4 did not qualify 39,007 1976 Pirates Pittsburgh 3rd of 4 did not qualify 30,387 1977 Pirates Pittsburgh 3rd of 4 did not qualify 32,744 1978 Pirates Pittsburgh 3rd of 6 did not qualify 51,096 1979 Pirates Pittsburgh 6th of 6 did not qualify 43,036 1980 Redbirds Pittsburgh 2nd of 4 (Virginia) did not qualify 102,456 1981 Redbirds San Diego 3rd of 4 (North) lost to Hagerstown Suns (0–1) 72,125 1982 Redbirds San Diego 4th of 4 (North) did not qualify 47,202 1983 Redbirds San Diego 4th of 4 (North) did not qualify 56,451 1984 Redbirds Texas 3rd of 4 (North) did not qualify 61,623 1985 Redbirds Texas 2nd of 4 (North) did not qualify 71,788 1986 Redbirds Texas 4th of 4 (North) did not qualify 87,047 1987 Buccaneers Pittsburgh 1st of 4 (North) defeated Hagerstown Suns (2–0)defeated Kinston Indians (3–1) 111,661 1988 Buccaneers Pittsburgh 2nd of 4 (North) lost to Lynchburg Red Sox (1–2) 119,966 1989 Buccaneers Pittsburgh 4th of 4 (North) did not qualify 121,581 1990 Buccaneers Pittsburgh 4th of 4 (North) did not qualify 126,121 1991 Buccaneers Pittsburgh 3rd of 4 (North) did not qualify 131,582 1992 Buccaneers Pittsburgh 4th of 4 (North) did not qualify 159,316 1993 Buccaneers Pittsburgh 4th of 4 (South) did not qualify 145,657 1994 Buccaneers Pittsburgh 3rd of 4 (South) did not qualify 153,575 1995 Avalanche Colorado 3rd of 4 (South) did not qualify 140,111 1996 Avalanche Colorado 4th of 4 (South) did not qualify 173,703 1997 Avalanche Colorado 2nd of 4 (South) did not qualify 188,023 1998 Avalanche Colorado 3rd of 4 (South) did not qualify 189,069 1999 Avalanche Colorado 3rd of 4 (South) did not qualify 206,012 2000 Avalanche Colorado 2nd of 4 (South) did not qualify 200,863 2001 Avalanche Colorado 3rd of 4 (South) defeated Kinston Indians (2–1)defeated Frederick Keys (3–2) 203,375 2002 Avalanche Colorado 3rd of 4 (South) did not qualify 196,347 2003 Avalanche Houston 1st of 4 (South) did not qualify 175,155 2004 Avalanche Houston 4th of 4 (South) did not qualify 224,991 2005 Avalanche Houston 3rd of 4 (South) did not qualify 255,225 2006 Avalanche Houston 2nd of 4 (South) lost to Kinston Indians (0–2) 237,724 2007 Avalanche Houston 2nd of 4 (South) defeated Kinston Indians (2–1)lost to Frederick Keys (1–3) 258,469 2008 Avalanche Houston 4th of 4 (South) did not qualify 235,823 2009 Red Sox Boston 2nd of 4 (South) defeated Winston-Salem Dash (3–0)lost to Lynchburg Hillcats (0–3) 231,186 2010 Red Sox Boston 2nd of 4 (South) did not qualify 211,527 2011 Red Sox Boston 4th of 4 (South) did not qualify 226,337 2012 Red Sox Boston 3rd of 4 (South) did not qualify 178,730 2013 Red Sox Boston 2nd of 4 (South) defeated Myrtle Beach Pelicans (2–0)defeated Potomac Nationals (3–0) 172,293 2014 Red Sox Boston 2nd of 4 (South) lost to Myrtle Beach Pelicans (1–2) 220,782 2015 Red Sox Boston 4th of 4 (South) did not qualify 228,120 2016 Red Sox Boston 1st of 4 (South) lost to Myrtle Beach Pelicans (1–2) 200,478 2017 Red Sox Boston 2nd of 5 (North) did not qualify 215,244 2018 Red Sox Boston 5th of 5 (North) did not qualify 192,621 2019 Red Sox Boston 3rd of 5 (North) lost to Wilmington Blue Rocks (2–3) 171,866 2020 Red Sox Boston season canceled, COVID-19 pandemic — 2021 Red Sox Boston 1st of 4 (North) did not qualify 128,769 2022 Red Sox Boston 4th of 6 (North) did not qualify 181,287 2023 Red Sox Boston 5th of 6 (North) did not qualify 177,083 2024Red SoxBoston70–62 (.530)3rd of 6 (North)did not qualify185,7842025Red SoxBoston56–74 (.431)5th of 6 (North)Ozzie Chavezdid not qualify164,746 Source:
Notable former players
At least three inductees, most recently Dave Parker, to the National Baseball Hall of Fame played for Salem; Orlando Cepeda, who played 26 games for the Rebels in 1955, and Larry Walker, who played two rehabilitation games with the Avalanche in 1996.
Tim Murtaugh was a player, manager, and player-manager for Salem; he played 38 games for the 1965 Rebels, he managed the 1971 Rebels, and he appeared in 10 games while managing the 1972 Pirates.
Mario Mendoza played 136 games for Salem in 1972, registering a .221 batting average, slightly above the Mendoza Line that is named for him.
Daisuke Matsuzaka made a rehabilitation start for Salem in September 2009, in a Carolina League playoff game against the Winston-Salem Dash, and later made a regular-season rehabilitation start for Salem in 2012.
For notable players who made appearances with Salem, see: List of Salem Red Sox players (affiliated with Boston)