Logo of a baseball team from the Appalachian League, the Burlington Sock Puppets. Burlington, North Carolina has a history of minor league baseball dating back to 1958, when they had the Burlington Indians in the Carolina League and were a Cleveland farm club. After minor league baseball was contracted during the Covid pandemic, the Appalachian League was reorganized as a collegiate summer league for rising freshman and sophomore players, and the Sock Puppets were born to represent Burlington. The nickname is a nod to the city’s textile heritage.