THE BLUE SOX: A STORY OF REGIONAL AND LOCAL SOUTHERN BLACK BASEBALL
Descome handled the day-to-day business operations of the Blue Sox and was the original manager for the team. With ready access to Farris’s bankroll, he quickly built “one of the strongest colored nines in the state.” Descome signed the region’s most talented pitcher, Raydell “Bo” Maddix, a lefty who later played professionally for the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League. Maddix recalled that his
greatest personal achievement was “pitching back-to-back no hitters in Luther Williams Stadium (Macon, Georgia) for the Panama City Blues.” Descome added power to his lineup with Charles “Hawk” Marvray, a hard-hitting first baseman from Pensacola who left the Blue Sox in 1949 to join the Cleveland Buckeyes of the Negro American League. Ralph “Big Cat” Johnson joined Marvray in the infield at third base. Johnson spent several years in the Negro Leagues with the Birmingham Black Barons, Indianapolis Clowns, and Kansas City Monarchs. The “Big Cat” confessed that “the best team I played with was a semi-pro team called the Panama City Blue Sox… that was a good team.” Descome also persuaded David “Fats” Waitman, the popular and successful manager of the Tampa Pepsi-Cola Giants, to join the Blue Sox as its new skipper. In 1948, The Panama City News Herald declared the Blue Sox as the best “colored team in the state.” Descome made an instrumental move when he hired Jack M. Hunt, a well-known and respected member of the Glenwood Community, as the team’s publicity agent. Hunt, originally from Alabama, served as secretary of the Black Elks Club. As secretary, Hunt booked professional entertainers to perform at the Elks
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