International League The International League ( IL ) 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 and Canada ( and for several years in the 1950s in Cuba as well ) . However , since the relocation of the Ottawa Lynx to Allentown , Pennsylvania , to become the Lehigh Valley IronPigs for the 2008 season , all of the league ' s teams are now based in the U . S . History . The International League was created from the mergers of member teams from three precursor leagues : the Eastern League , founded in ; the New York State League , formed in ; and the Ontario League , also organized in 1885 . The New York State and Ontario leagues merged in to form the International League , and in the Eastern League was absorbed to create a 10 - club league . The league collapsed soon afterwards , when the Northern teams claimed that it was too onerous to travel to the South and formed the International Association . Teams and league names came and went over the years . In , a franchise was awarded to Havana , Cuba , but due to political upheaval in that country it had to be moved — to Jersey City , New Jersey — in the middle of the season . Another foray into the Caribbean failed when the newly created team in San Juan , Puerto Rico , added in , had to be moved to Charleston , West Virginia , in mid - season . In , an International League all - star team beat the New York Yankees in an exhibition game in Rochester , New York , before 11 , 000 people . In , the all - stars lost to the Cleveland Indians in 11 innings before 11 , 032 fans in Columbus , Ohio , to commemorate the league ' s 100th anniversary . The International League and the American Association , another Triple - A league that operated in the Midwest , voted in to play inter - league games . The league also split into two divisions that year . The inter - league concept ended in , but the two league divisions remained . In further inter - league play , in 1988 , the three Triple - A leagues , the other being the Pacific Coast League , met to play the first Triple - A All - Star Game . One team was made up of All - Stars from American League affiliates and the other of National League affiliates . Beginning in , a team of IL All - Stars faced off against a team of PCL All - Stars . This game was the first of its kind . The game was played in the first year stadium of the Buffalo Bison ' s ( Coca - Cola Field , operating as Pilot Field ) Also in 1998 , with the addition of three new teams from the disbanded American Association and the Durham Bulls who previously played in the Carolina League , the International League reorganized into three divisions : the North Division , South Division , and West Division . At the end of each season , the three divisional leaders and a wild card team square off in best - of - 5 playoffs , with the winning team of the finals awarded the Governors ' Cup , the league ' s championship trophy . Since the league champion has met to play the PCL champion in the Triple - A Baseball National Championship Game , a single Triple - A Championship game . Previous class championship series included the Junior World Series and the Triple - A World Series . Current teams . < onlyinclude >