Panama City Black Baseball Team Rosters (1943-1956

BAY COUNTY BLACK BASEBALL TEAM ROSTERS 1943-1956

PANAMA CITY BLUE SOX 1947

Manager: R. B. Johnson Players: Position: Willie Simpson first baseman Bell pitcher Winder pitcher Johnson third baseman Taylor catcher Deacon Webster pitcher Baxter pitcher Murray pitcher James Harris pitcher 1948

Managers: David “Fats” Waitman (formerly with the Pepsi-Cola Giants) Allen Spottford Players: Position: Dittyboy Birdsong pitcher Raydell “Lefty Bo”Maddix Bill Spottford Lefty Perry Westcott Ralph Johnson third baseman Dean Deacon Weston pitcher Williams shortstop Leonard Williams first baseman Noah Taylor third baseman Charles Marvray outfield 1949

Manager: Fisher Players: Rudolph Stepps Weston McGill Fisher Richardson

1950

Manager: Descum David Foreman Players: Hunter Charlie Wills Garrett Patterson Mozelle Neeley/Nealey 1953

Manager: Charles McCoy Players: Position: Carl “Cash” McLane pitcher Robinson pitcher Bronson catcher Lanphus first baseman Mozelle Neeley/Nealey second baseman Hank Young shortstop William Miller third baseman Timothy Locklear outfield Barnes outfield Lipston outfield 1956

Manager: Chester Byrd Players: Position:

Marbley Winder Lucian Williams Felix Patterson Hardy William Miller third baseman Carl “Cash” McLane James Davis pitcher Eddie Smith Mozell Neeley/Nealey Charles McCoy

PANAMA CITY STARS (PANAMA CITY COLORED ALL-STARS) 1951

Players: H.A. Tibbs Mozelle Neeley/Nealey Timothy Locklear Charles McCoy Simmons Brown Willie Jackson Johnson 1952

Players: Position: Carl “Cash” McLane pitcher Ray Jones Brown catcher 1953

Mozelle Neeley/Nealey second baseman Hank Young shortstop William Miller third baseman Timothy Locklear outfield W. H. Barnes outfield Lipston outfield Joe Landry first baseman Sam Baskin catcher Woods Foster Lambert first baseman Manager: Charles McCoy Players: Position: Carl “Cash” McLane pitcher Callaway pitcher Robinson pitcher Bronson catcher Lanphus first baseman

1954

Manager: Charles McCoy Players: Position: Carl “Cash” McLane pitcher “Lucky” Whatley Chester Byrd Foster Mozelle Neeley/Nealey Charles Garrett Campbell catcher Landry Callaway pitcher Landers

PANAMA CITY TIGERS 1943

Players: Position: Charles (Two Sides) Wesley Sylvester (Good Black) Owens Charles McCoy James (Neck Bone) Davis J.B. Hampton Bill “Wild Bill” Wright pitcher George Young Owens center field Wesley first baseman Hampton shortstop Dixon right field Gilchrist (Gilcreist) third baseman Williams left field Snow center field Davis pitcher McCoy pitcher Bill pitcher Sam Hariston

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robert Cvornyek, Ph.D., is an assistant teaching professor at Florida State University Panama City specializing in sport history. He received his doctorate in History from Columbia University and has written extensively on the intersection of race, sports, and cultural expression. Cvornyek is currently curating "Portraits of Black History in Bay County," an oral history project that captures the collective memories and history of African Americans in Bay County, Florida. Cvornyek also co-directs the program “It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing: Baseball, Jazz, and Black Cultural Expression," which focuses on the parallel story and experience of Black baseball players and Black musicians from the 1910s through the 1940s.

On the back cover: The Pensacola Sea Gulls battled the Mobile Bears at Foreman Park in a Southern Negro League Contest in 1949.