Red Springs Twins

Lore & Background

The Red Springs Twins were created when the Wilson Tobs relocated after the 1968 season, moving from a city of about 35,000 to Red Springs, which had a population of 4,040. The team was owned by construction executive Matt Boykin and managed by former Major League outfielder Tom Umphlett, a native North Carolinian. Despite finishing with the worst winning percentage in the Carolina League (.404), the team featured six future Major Leaguers on its roster.

The community embraced the Twins enthusiastically, drawing 40,332 fans in 1969—almost double the 22,811 fans the Tobs had drawn in Wilson the previous year. The team played at Robbins Park. Red Springs had previously hosted a professional team, the Red Springs Red Robins, in the Class D Tobacco State League from 1947 to 1950.

At the end of the 1969 season, the Carolina League contracted from ten to eight teams, and the Red Springs franchise disappeared. The Minnesota Twins moved their Carolina League affiliate to Lynchburg, Virginia, for 1970.

Reader's Guide

The Red Springs Twins represent a notable example of a small-market minor league team that achieved remarkable community support despite a brief existence. The franchise's relocation from Wilson (population about 35,000) to Red Springs (population 4,040) created a market about one-ninth the size of its predecessor, yet the team nearly doubled attendance. This phenomenon was highlighted in a Sports Illustrated article titled 'A Bonanza in Red Springs' in July 1969. The team's struggles on the field—posting the lowest winning percentage in the league—contrasted with its off-field success. The presence of six future Major Leaguers on the roster underscores the developmental role of minor league affiliates. The team's disappearance after one season, due to league contraction, illustrates the volatility of minor league baseball in that era. The Red Springs Twins remain a footnote in baseball history, emblematic of how a tiny community can rally around a professional sports team, even if only for a single season.

Did You Know?

• The Red Springs Twins existed for only one season, 1969.
• The team drew 40,332 fans, nearly double the 22,811 fans the Wilson Tobs drew in 1968.
• Red Springs billed itself as the 'world's smallest baseball town' with a population of 4,040.
• Six future Major Leaguers were on the Red Springs roster.