# 1952 Carolina League season

The 1952 Carolina League was a Class B baseball season played between April 16 and September 1. Eight teams played a 140-game schedule, with the top four teams qualifying for the post-season.
The Reidsville Luckies won the Carolina League championship, defeating the Durham Bulls in the final round of the playoffs.

## Team changes

* The Burlington Bees are rebranded as the Burlington-Graham Pirates. The team relocated their home games to Graham High School in Graham, North Carolina. The club remained affiliated with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
* The Danville Leafs began an affiliation with the Washington Senators.

## Teams

1952 Carolina League :
| Team | City | MLB Affiliate | Stadium |
| Burlington-Graham Pirates | Graham, North Carolina | Pittsburgh Pirates | Graham High School |
| Danville Leafs | Danville, Virginia | Washington Senators | League Park |
| Durham Bulls | Durham, North Carolina | Detroit Tigers | Durham Athletic Park |
| Fayetteville Athletics | Fayetteville, North Carolina | Philadelphia Athletics | Pittman Stadium |
| Greensboro Patriots | Greensboro, North Carolina | Chicago Cubs | World War Memorial Stadium |
| Raleigh Capitals | Raleigh, North Carolina | None | Devereaux Meadow |
| Reidsville Luckies | Reidsville, North Carolina | None | Kiker Stadium |
| Winston-Salem Cardinals | Winston-Salem, North Carolina | St. Louis Cardinals | South Side Park |

## Regular season
### Summary

* The Raleigh Capitals finished with the best record in the regular season for the first time since 1948.

### Standings

Carolina League :
| Team | Win | Loss | % | GB |
| Raleigh Capitals | 79 | 57 | .581 | – |
| Durham Bulls | 76 | 59 | .563 | 2.5 |
| Winston-Salem Cardinals | 74 | 63 | .540 | 5.5 |
| Reidsville Luckies | 74 | 64 | .536 | 6 |
| Greensboro Patriots | 70 | 64 | .522 | 8 |
| Danville Leafs | 65 | 74 | .468 | 15.5 |
| Fayetteville Athletics | 63 | 73 | .463 | 16 |
| Burlington-Graham Pirates | 45 | 92 | .328 | 34.5 |

## League Leaders
### Batting leaders

| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Emil Karlik, Durham Bulls | .347 |
| H | Chick King, Durham Bulls | 186 |
| R | Luis Morales, Danville Leafs | 110 |
| 2B | Joseph Pancoe, Reidsville Luckies | 44 |
| 3B | Scott Quackenbush, Greensboro Patriots | 11 |
| HR | Dale Powell, Danville Leafs | 25 |
| RBI | Paul Owens, Winston-Salem Cardinals Dale Powell, Danville Leafs | 105 |
| SB | Jack Mitchell, Greensboro Patriots | 47 |

### Pitching leaders

| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Len Matarazzo, Fayetteville Athletics | 22 |
| ERA | Ron Necciai, Burlington-Graham Pirates | 1.57 |
| CG | Len Matarazzo, Fayetteville Athletics Bernard Rossman, Raleigh Capitals | 22 |
| SHO | Len Matarazzo, Fayetteville Athletics | 9 |
| SO | Ron Necciai, Burlington-Graham Pirates | 172 |
| IP | Bob Hartig, Greensboro Patriots | 254.0 |

## Playoffs

* The Reidsville Luckies won their first Carolina League championship, defeating the Durham Bulls in four games.
* The league semi-finals were shortened from a best-of-seven series to a best-of-five.

### Playoff bracket

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| 1 | Raleigh | 0 | | | |
| 4 | Reidsville | 3 | | | |
| 4 | Reidsville | 3 | 4 | Reidsville | 4 |
| | | | 2 | Durham | 0 |
| 2 | Durham | 3 | 2 | Durham | 0 |
| 3 | Winston-Salem | 0 | | | |

## Awards

Carolina League awards :
| Award name | Recipient |
| Most Valuable Player | Len Matarazzo, Fayetteville Athletics |
| Manager of the Year | Herb Brett, Raleigh Capitals |