The Kinston Indians were a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League (CL) located in Kinston, North Carolina, from 1978 to 2011. They played their home games at Grainger Stadium, which opened in 1949. The team began play in 1978 as the Kinston Eagles, borrowing their name from the city's first team of the same name dating back to 1925. They became an affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays in 1979 and rebranded as the Kinston Blue Jays in 1982. Kinston reverted to the Eagles moniker in 1986 after the Toronto affiliation ended and became the Kinston Indians upon partnering with the Cleveland Indians in 1987. After the 2011 season, the Carolina League franchise was relocated to Zebulon, North Carolina, for the 2012 campaign to become the Carolina Mudcats. The K-Tribe won the Carolina League championship in 1988, 1991, 1995, 2004, and 2006. History Early years Kinston was represented by many amateur clubs since the late nineteenth century, but it was unable to sustain a viable professional team until the mid-1920s. Earlier attempts included an aborted campaign in the Class D Eastern Carolina League in and an "outlaw league" team in and . The latter was notable for being managed by former major league pitcher George Suggs and College Football Hall of Fame member Ira Rodgers. Due to the efforts of the city's business leaders, former local amateur star Elisha Lewis, and George Suggs, the town secured a professional team in the Virginia League for the season named the "Eagles". The Eagles were a Class B team playing out of a then newly renovated stadium designed by Suggs known as West End Park. The squad had little success against other teams in their league, but was successful enough in gate receipts to validate the city's capacity to sustain a professional team. Kinston's team remained in the Virginia League for three years and then migrated to a newly reformed Eastern Carolina League. This later affiliation collapsed along with the stock market in . The 1920s Eagles' roster included a young catcher named Rick Ferrell, who later had a long playing career and even longer front office career in the major leagues. In , Ferrell became the only former Kinston player inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Another player, Frank Armstrong, gave up baseball for a career in the armed services and became one of the most decorated generals in