Greensboro kept the Patriots name through 1957
the nearest pro baseball to Welch is in Bluefield
The franchise began in 1947 as the Duncan Cementers
Their Three-I seasons were played out against the backdrop of wartime
The Angels years gave way to Kansas City Royals and Cleveland affiliations
Merced Bears T-Shirt (Heavyweight) - Vintage Defunct Baseball Teams - California Size:4XL Greensboro kept the Patriots nameThe Merced Bears, based in Merced, California, were a charter member of the California League, founded in 1941 as a Class C circuit, and were fittingly a farm club of the Boston Bees, as the Boston Braves were then briefly known. Merced was the smallest market among the eight founding cities, and the Bears struggled accordingly, finishing last at 50 86, a full 38 games behind pennant winning Fresno. That one season was the whole story. When World War