The Little Rock Travelers were an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 minor league

Minor league

Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities. This term is used in North America with regard to several organizations competing in...

 baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 team located in Little Rock, Arkansas

Little Rock, Arkansas

Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...

 and members (1902–1910, 1915–1958, 1960–1961) of the Southern Association

Southern Association

The Southern Association was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class A , Class A1 and Class AA...

, which as a Class A, A1 or AA circuit was typically two rungs below Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

. When farm systems came into being in the 1930s, the Travelers were at different times affiliated with the Boston Red Sox

Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...

, Detroit Tigers

Detroit Tigers

The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...

, Kansas City Athletics, and Baltimore Orioles

Baltimore Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...

. After attracting less than 68,000 paying customers over a 77-game home schedule in 1958, the Travelers moved to Shreveport, Louisiana

Shreveport, Louisiana

Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....

 in 1959, but they returned to the Southern Association in 1960 as the relocated New Orleans Pelicans

New Orleans Pelicans

The New Orleans Pelicans were a Minor league professional baseball team based in New Orleans, Louisiana.-Team history:Founded in 1887, the Pelicans became part of the Southern Association in 1901...

 franchise. But the Association was in its death throes, and the Travelers went down with the entire league after the 1961 season.

In 1963, organized baseball returned to Little Rock with the Arkansas Travelers

Arkansas Travelers

The Arkansas Travelers, also known informally as The Travs, are a Minor League Baseball team based in Little Rock, Arkansas. The team, which plays in the Texas League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Major League club....

 of the AAA International League

International League

The International League is a minor league baseball league that operates in the eastern United States. Like the Pacific Coast League and the Mexican League, it plays at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball. It was so named because it had teams in both the United States...

. In 1964-65, Arkansas played in the AAA Pacific Coast League

Pacific Coast League

The Pacific Coast League is a minor-league baseball league operating in the Western, Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Along with the International League and the Mexican League, it is one of three leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball.The...

 before settling in the AA Texas League

Texas League

The Texas League is a minor league baseball league which operates in the South Central United States. It is classified a Double-A league. The league was founded in 1888 and ran through 1892...

, where the Travelers have played since 1966. Currently, the Arkansas Travelers are the AA affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels.

The team's name derives from the old folk song, The Arkansas Traveler

The Arkansas Traveler (song)

"The Arkansas Traveler" was the state song of Arkansas from 1949 to 1963; it has been the state historical song since 1987. The music was composed in the 19th century by Colonel Sanford C...

.

The team played at Travelers Field

Ray Winder Field

Ray Winder Field is a baseball park in Little Rock, Arkansas. The ballpark was constructed during 1931, as a new home field for the Arkansas Travelers minor league baseball team...

 starting in 1932, a facility that would long outlast its original tenant. Previously the team had played at Kavanaugh Field

Kavanaugh Field

Kavanaugh Field was a minor league baseball park in Little Rock, Arkansas. It was the home of the Little Rock Travelers prior to their move to Travelers Field in 1932....

.