Professional Baseball in the Roanoke Valley can be traced all the way back to 1887 when Roanoke Machine Works fielded its first professional team, and played all over the area through the 1888 season. Many different professional teams graced the Valley over the next 50 years, culminating in Salem fielding its first team in 1939.

The team relocated to Roanoke in 1943 and for the first time was an affiliate with a major league team. In the late forties the Roanoke Red Sox or “RoSox” pulled off an upset over the parent Red Sox playing at Maher Field in Roanoke. Their tenure in the region came to an end when the club folded after the 1953 season.

With no professional baseball in the Valley, Salem jumped on the opportunity to field a team for the 1955 season. The Salem Athletic Club fielded the Salem Rebels, an independent team to play in the Appalachian League at Municipal Stadium. That 55’ team featured Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda, whose powerful bat helped lead the St. Louis Cardinals to the 1967 World Series.

In 1960 the team joined the Pittsburgh Pirates system and also spent some time as a San Francisco Giants affiliate in the early sixties prior to joining the Carolina League in 1968.

In 1972, the Rebels name was retired and Salem chose the Pirates to show a closer affiliation to their major league club in Pittsburgh. That 1972 squad featured future All-Star Dave Parker as Salem compiled a 79-58 record on their way to a Carolina League Championship.

Just two years later Salem once again dominated the Carolina League. The Pirates won both halves of the regular season, winning 87 games overall en route to the 1974 Carolina League Championship.

Salem changed names again in 1980 as it switched affiliates to the San Diego Padres and then the Texas Rangers over the net few seasons. The Redbirds made the playoffs in their first two seasons but then suffered through the worst season in Salem history losing over 100 games in 1982. After continued struggles on the field the Redbirds switched affiliates, moving back with Pittsburgh in 1987 and changing the team name to the Salem Buccaneers. Famous Redbirds include former Philadelphia Phillies closer Mitch Williams and Texas Rangers pitcher Kenny Rogers.

In its first season back with the Pirates organization the Salem Buccaneers captured the 1987 Carolina League Championship followed by a Division Winner in 1988. Even though the Buccaneers struggled over the following seasons many major leaguers came through Salem including San Francisco Giants OF Moises Alou and Boston Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield.

Mid-way through the 1995 season, Salem bid farewell to professional baseball at Old Municipal Field. It housed professional baseball in the area for over 60 years before giving way to Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium.

At a final cost of $10.1 million, Salem Memorial Stadium was constructed for the brand new Salem Avalanche, an affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, in August of 1995. The 2001 season saw Salem’s fourth Carolina League Championship as the Avalanche won the title after reaching the playoffs as a Wild Card. Prior to the 2006 season, the Avalanche and the City of Salem struck a deal with Lewis-Gale Medical Center to rename Salem’s ballpark.

In 2003, the team switched affiliates to the Houston Astros organization, keeping the Avalanche name. The Avalanche reached the playoffs in 2006 and 2007, their first two appearances as an Astros affiliate and their first back-to-back post-season action since the 1988 and 1989 seasons.

In 2008, Salem will play its 14th season in “the new ballpark” complete its sixth season as part of the Houston Astros Farm System.