About the Coal Cats

Tri-State is not Huntington's first foray into professional baseball. The city had teams in the Virginia Valley League (1910), Mountain States League (1911-12, 1937-42), Ohio State League (1913-16) and Middle Atlantic League (1931-36).

Furthermore, Huntington had an Appalachian League for six years in the 1990s. From 1990-94, the Huntington Cubs served as the Chicago Cubs' rookie-league affiliate, with the team playing games at St. Cloud Commons. In 1995, Huntington fielded the River City Rumblers, a co-op team that featured players from the other nine organizations after the Cubs moved their rookie team from Huntington.

Ultimately, 13 players who played for Huntington/River City went on to play in the Major Leagues, including 11-year MLB reliever Terry Adams. Huntington was also home to NFL defensive back Jason Sehorn's brief professional baseball career. Sehorn signed with the Cubs out of American Legion ball at 19 years old and played on the inaugural Huntington Cubs team in 1990. Sehorn displayed his speed, going 9-for-10 on steal attempts, but failed to produce at the plate; He batted .184/.254/.248 with one home run, 10 RBI and 52 strikeouts in 141 plate appearances.

Sehorn went to junior college and later USC for football after playing in Huntington and went on to have a 10-year NFL career with the New York Giants (1994-2002) and St. Louis Rams (2003). The cornerback played in Super Bowl XXXV with the Giants.