Yes! Weekly - Triad Baseball Guide 2017

Aug. 27, 1947 - March 24, 2017

We send our condolences to the family of Kevin Reid of Greensboro. Kevin was a long-time contributor to YES! Weekly and was well known as an expert on the game of baseball. Kevin wrote annually for this baseball guide, among other assignments. He will be truly missed.

Kevin B. Reid

Winston-Salem Dash looking forward to new season and new stadium features

BY RICH LEWIS

Work is underway to get ready for the new season of WinstonSalem Dash baseball. This year, the team will be welcoming a new coach who is a former MLB World Series champ, unveiling new safety netting and improvements to the Flow Club area of the ballpark.

“We’re always excited to start off the season,” Winston-Salem Dash Associate Director of Media

Boesch said.“We’re looking forward to getting our team in town and this year the Chicago White Sox (the Dash’s parent organization) are in rebuilding mode, so there’s a really, really great group of young players in the organization.”

“There are several good prospects that could be here for the upcoming season,” Boesch said, “but we won’t know the roster until five days before the beginning of the season. I’ve got a

feeling that we’ll be pretty talent laden this year, though.”

Managing the team this year will be none other than Willie Harris in his first year of managerial work for the White Sox organization.

Part of the White Sox’s 2005 World Series championship team, Harris scored the game winning run in game four of that series, clinching not just the game but the series itself. The former outfielder played

DASH

in his career for the Baltimore Orioles (2001), the Chicago White Sox (from 2002 to 2005), the Boston Red Sox (2006), the Washington Nationals (2008 to 2010) and the New York Mets (2011).

Harris will be joined by hitting coach Charlie Poe in his third year with the team. Pitching will be coached this year by Brian Drahman, who is returning to the team, having served originally in Winston-Salem back in the Warthog days. They will be assisted by veterans Josh Fallin (athletic trainer) and George Timke (strength and conditioning).

While last year’s campaign only netted a third-place finish in the Carolina League’s Southern Division, a new team means this year could have only the sky as the limit. This year the Carolina League will be adding two more teams into the fray: the Buies Creek Astros (who will be playing at Campbell University) and the

Downeast Wood Ducks (formerly the Kinston Indians).

“This is the first time in a while that we’ve had a 10-team league,” Boesch said.

There will be upgrades to the BB&T Park experience as well, Boesch said. Safety nets protecting the fans from tipped balls will be much taller this year and made of a different material featuring tighter knots, increasing spectator safety while making for clearer lines of sight from the areas behind home plate. This was a new request for teams throughout Minor League Baseball to be phased in over the next few years, but

the Dash decided to go ahead and make the change early on.

In addition, there will be expansions and new amenities to the popular Flow Club at the stadium. Among the new features there will be newer Sharp monitors to view the games on and even touch screens to improve the overall experience.

This year, Boesch said, the team has scheduled 14 total fireworks nights, including their annual 4th of July game and fireworks display, something that has always been one of the city’s biggest hits of the season. Lowes will also be sponsoring Thirsty Thursdays at the games this year.

“BB&T Ballpark has welcomed over 300,000 fans to the stadium each year for the last seven seasons,” Boesch said, explaining the enduring popularity of the team and the ballpark. Single game, partial and full season tickets are available.

For more information, check out the team’s website at www. wsdash.com.

WINSTON-SALEM DASH

WINSTON-SALEM DASH

HPT HiToms keeping history alive and swinging in Coastal Plain League

BY RICH LEWIS

They might come from the smallest city in the Triad, but the High Point/Thomasville HiToms certainly have cornered the market when it comes to local baseball history. Dating back to the Carolina League of the 1950s, today’s HiToms are stalwarts of the collegiate summer baseball league’s Coastal Plain League.

“The big thing for us has been the stability of the organization now as we approach our 19th year in the Coastal Plain League,” HiToms President Greg Suire said.“Back in 1999 it was a rebirthing of the HiToms team that began playing here back in 1937. It really speaks volumes to the community’s commitment to the teams over the years and we’ve tried to cement ourselves in the community under the same brand we’ve always had, we haven’t reinvented ourselves or even changed our name since we came back in 1999.”

Historically, the team did begin under the name the Thomasville Chair Makers in 1937, followed up by the Thomasville Orioles in 1938, Thomasville Tommies (1939 – 1942, 1945) and the Thomasville Dodgers (19461947). They officially became the High PointThomasville HiToms in 1948, and changed once again to the Thomasville Royals for the 1969 season. The HiToms name was restored as the team came back to life in 1999.

Calling Finch Field in Thomasville home, the organization has kept a commitment to the communities it serves.

“It’s important to us that our team identity is based here in the southern Triad,” Suire said.“Our mission is to grow the sport of baseball in the High

Point/Thomasville area. We run the biggest baseball clinic in the state and Novant Health has been a great partner in that.”

Beyond the 450 or so participants in the baseball clinic, the HiToms have also run the American Legion Baseball program in the city of High Point for players aged 13 to 19. They also run a Fall League for players from all over the area including Winston-Salem, Greensboro and Asheboro, as well as High Point and Thomasville.

This year, they will also take part in leading the

(Above) Cub Scouts high ve players.

(Left) Memorial Day with the HiToms.

Southern Triad Race Series, a set of 5K running races for folks in the community.“This is a part of our commitment to helping keep kids and people active in the area,” Suire said.“We want to inspire people to get out and exercise.”

Beyond a commitment to the community, the HiToms are also committed to providing a great example of the American pastime. This year’s team will be led by Manager Brian Roundtree in his third year leading the HiToms. Opening night this year will be on Saturday, May 27th against the Kernersville Bulldogs.

Advance tickets are available through the team’s website at www.hitoms.com. Throughout the season, there will be a number of events as part of the home games, including a concert series that will feature live music at each of the six Saturday home games.

It’s a great opportunity to bring the family out, enjoy a great game and maybe see some of tomorrow’s stars take the field. As Suire explained, a HiToms game is a great chance to understand how baseball became America’s great pastime game and why it’s still important in today’s fast paced society.

Zach Almond Fist Pump

Former local players in Major Leagues

BY KEVIN REID

This story originally appeared in Triad Baseball Guide 2016

A check of the 2016 Who’s Who in Baseball showed 29 major league pitchers who had spent time at a local Triad (Greensboro, Winston-Salem or Burlington) minor league team, but only 21 players in this category from the other eight positions.

Despite this and despite the fact that all members of The Core Four (Derek Jeter, shortstop, Mariano Rivera, closer, Jorge Posada, catcher, and Andy Pettitte, starting pitcher) all of whom played in Greensboro, but have now retired,

One reason for this is Robinson Cano, the 33-yearold second baseman of the Seattle Mariners. When he was 19, he played for the Greensboro Bats, hitting 14 home runs for the team. Based on his career with the New York Yankees, he signed a 10-year, $240 million dollar contract with Seattle. Last year he batted .287 with 21 home runs.

The main reason, however, is Giancarlo Stanton. In 2008, playing as Mike Stanton, he hit 39 homers for the Greensboro Grasshoppers while batting .293. At the end of 2014, after he had hit 37 home runs for the second time for the Marlins, he signed a 13-year, $325 million dollar contract with them. Last year he hit 27 home runs for Miami after being disabled for the rest of the year on June 27.

Another current Marlin and fellow Miami outfielder is Christian Yelicih, who played for the Hoppers in 2010 (.348 in six games) and 2011, when the left-handed batter hit .312 with 15 homers and 32 stolen bases. Last year he batted .300 and stole 16 bases. Also a regular in Miami’s outfield is Marcell Ozuna, who appeared with the Hoppers for six games in 2010 before batting .266 with 23 home runs the next year. Two years ago the right-hander hit 23 homers and last year he hit 15, but five were at Triple-A. He turned 24 last November.

Another position player who played in Greensboro and is a member of the Marlins is catcher J.T. Realmuto. In 2011 he hit 12 homers and batted .287 for the Grasshoppers. Last year he hit 10 home runs and batted .259 for Miami.

Chris Coghlan hit .325 and 10 homers for the Grasshoppers, as their second baseman, in 2007 be-

fore being promoted to Jupiter. In ’09 he was N.L. Rookie of the Year for the Marlins when used primarily as a left fielder. He spent some time with the Chicago Cubs and was traded to the Oakland A’s last Feb. 25, who will be using him as a utility player.

Logan Morrison, who lived in Wilmington, N.C., for four years as his father travelled around with the Coast Guard, was the Hoppers first baseman in 2007. He hit 23 homers for Greensboro in 2011 and 17 more for Seattle last year. Last Nov. 5, he was traded to Tampa Bay.

Greensboro has been associated with the Marlins since 2003, when they played at War Memorial Stadium – now the home baseball park of the Aggies at N.C. A&T University. That’s a long time, but Winston-Salem has been associated with the Chicago White Sox in the Carolina League since 1997, when they played at Ernie Shore Field. However, unless someone is brought up from the minors this spring, there are no former Dash (or Spirits) position players playing in Chicago.

Michael Morse was a shortstop for the Winston-Salem Spirits in 2003. Traded before reaching Chicago he has now played for six different major league teams. He is currently with the Pittsburgh Pirates as a first baseman.

Chris Stewart was a catcher for the ’03 Spirits. Last year he hit .289 as a part-timer for the Pirates.

The last position player traded by the Sox was Micah Johnson, a second baseman who was dealt to the Los Angeles Dodgers last December, as the White Sox picked up third baseman Todd Frazier. Johnson started at second base for the White Sox last year, but was sent down early. He played at Indiana and graduated from its university online. He hopes to eventually get a law degree and become a general manager of a big league team.

Paulo Orlando played for the Spirits in 2007 and ‘08, Traded to the Royals in ’08 he finished the season at Wilmington and led the Carolina League with 14 triples. Because so few players are from his home country, Brazil, he holds a lot of records. His favorite is that he is the first Brazilian player to play on a team that won the World Series. He’ll be competing for the right field job this spring.

Marcus Semien, who played shortstop for the Dash in 2012 was a shortstop for the Oakland A’s last year

Giancarlo Stanton

when he batted .257 with 15 homers and 11 steals. He did lead the league in errors last year and former Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington is working with him on that.

Eduardo Escobar was a switch hitting shortstop for the Dash in 2010 and has been a utility player for the Minnesota Twins since ’12. Last year he batted .262 with 12 home runs in 409 at-bats while playing shortstop, left field, and second and third.

Will Myers, written about heavily in the North Carolina big-leaguers article began. After four games he was promoted. While Myers found his way to the outfield, Salvador Perez had been a catcher in Burlington the year before. It was he who turned out to be the Royal’s catcher Last year after making the A.L. All-Star team for the third time, while hitting 21 homers during the regular season, the Royals signed Perez to a five year, 52.5 million dollar contract.

Pitchers

There are plenty of “ifs” in the pitching, but there are some hurlers who could have some significant big league careers.

The top pitching alumni for the Grasshoppers was to be Jose Fernandez but the rising star was tragically killed in a boating accident in 2016. In 2012, the Cuban born right-hander went 7-0, 1.59, for the Hoppers with 99 strikeouts in 79 innings before being promoted to Jupiter, where he did almost as well. In the three seasons since then, it has been almost all-Miami, with a 22-9, 2.40 record and 336 strikeouts in 289 innings. Unfortunately. he underwent Tommy John surgery on May 16, 2014, which except for five minor league games explains why the numbers were so low for the last three years prior to his death in Sept. 2016.

Jose Fernandez

Will Myers

Winston-Salem Dash alumni include left-handers Carlos Rodon and Chris Sale. Rodon, who appeared in four games for the Dash in 2014, with no wins or losses, but a 1.86 ERA and 15 Ks in 9 2/3 innings went 9-6, 3.75, for the Sox last year and at age 23, he should improve from there.

Sale, who started his career with the Dash, also pitched four games for them. (He pitched only four innings for the Dash, also.) He is now the White Sox top pitcher. Last year, he went 13-11, 3.41, and led the major leagues with 274 strikeouts.

Also with the Sox is right-hander Jake Petricka, who hurled for Winston-Salem in ’11 and ’12, who went 4-3, 3.63, with two saves a long reliever. Another righty, Nate Jones, who pitched for Winston in ’08, ’09, ’10 and in rehab last year, went 2-2 for the ChiSox later in the season with a 3.32 ERA.

Actually southpaw Dan Jennings is also with the White Sox, but he pitched in Greensboro in ’09 and was traded to Chicago after the ’14 season. Last year he went 2-3, 3.99 for the Sox.

Another left-hander, Adam Conley went 7-3. 2.78, for the Hoppers in 2012, before being promoted to Jupiter. Last year he was promoted to Miami, where he went 4-1, 3.76. This spring, he is battling to keep his starting job.

Right-hander Tom Koehler appears better off. After pitching for the Dash in ’09, he has started for Miami since ’13. Last year he went 11-14, 4.08.

Miami’s closer has been in the Marlins organization his entire professional career. Right-hander A.J. Ramos had 28 saves for the Hoppers in ’10 and 32 for the Marlins in ’15 to go with a 2.30 ERA. As of this writing, he is battling against Carter Capps to remain the Miami closer.

One more who remains with the Marlins is lefthander Brad Hand, a second-roud draft pick, who went 7-13 for the Hoppers in ’10 and 4-7 in his fourth year with Miami last year.

Right-hander Gio Gonzalez went 8-3 for the Spirits in 2005. A few trades later he went 21-8 for Washington in 2012. Last year he went 11-8 for the Nats.

Southpaw Andrew Heaney, drafted in the first round out of Oklahoma State, pitched four games for the Hoppers in 2012 and, a couple of trades later in 18 games for the Los Angeles Angels after getting

promoted last year, for whom he

Also for the Angels is southpaw Hector Santiago, who went 9-9, 3.59, for them, last year. He pitched for Winston-Salem in ’09, ’10 and ’11 before a couple of trades.

A right-hander, Addison Reed pitched for the Dash in 2011. He went 2-0, 1.59. After a couple of trades he went to the New York Mets last Aug. 30, where he went 3-3, 3.38, with four saves. He lost the last game of the World Series to the Kansas City Royals.

Right-hander Chris Bassett pitched in WinstonSalem in ’11, ’12 and ’13 (when he went 7-2 for the Dash. Traded to Oakland last year, he went 1-8 for the A’s.

Southpaw Jose Alvarez went 10-3 for the Hoppers in ’10 – and voted the best change-up artist in the Marlins system - a before five years and a couple of trades later going 4-3, 3.49, as a short reliever for the Angels.

Righty Arquimedes Caminero pitched for the Hoppers in ’08 before going 5-1, 3.62, for the Pittsburgh Pirates last year.

Steve Cishek, a six foot six right-hander pitched for the Hoppers in ’08. A sinkerball pitcher, he had attended Carson-Newman. Last year for a Miami-St. Louis combination he went 2-6, 3.58, with four saves. The Cardinals did not offer him a contract, so he signed a two-year offer from Seattle.

Right-hander Carlos Torres pitched for WinstonSalem in 2006 and ’07. Last year, his third as a reliever for the Mets, he went 5-6.

Southpaw Randy Choate, who turned 40 last Septemer, pitched in 71 gamesm, but only 27 1/3 innings. He went 1-0, 3.95, but after his three-year contact with the Cardinals ended, he has yet, ay this writing, to sign

A few pitchers hurled in Burlington. The best known at this time is southpaw C.C. Sabathia, who has won 214 games for the Yankees and the Indians. A first-round pick by Cleveland in 1998, he went 1-0

Carlos Rodon

Chris Sale Robinson Cano

for Burlington that year. He led the A.L. in victories in ’09 and ’10, for the Yanks, but last year was 6-10 for them. At the end of the year, he entered alcohol rehabilitation rather than competed in the Yankees one-game battle against the wild cards to continue into the playoffs. What happens this year to the 35-year-old left-hander is anyone’s guess.

If you think Sabathia pitched in Burlington a long time ago, one big-league hurler pitched there before he did. Right-hander Bartolo Colon went 7-4, 3.14, for the 1994 Burlington Indians. The six foot, 265-pounder doesn’t look like an athlete, but he has won 218 big league games. He’ll be 43 on May 24, this year – and most likely still a starter. He won 14 games for the Mets last year. Now the last player ever to play for the Montreal Expos, who won a Cy Young Award with the Angels in 2005 (21-8 for them) he figures to build on his record more than Sabathia.

Another Dominican right-hander who pitched in Burlington a while back is Roberto Hernandez, who went 2-4, 3.30, in 2002, when he was known as Faust Carmona. Last year with Houston, he was 3-5, when he was released on August 15. He signed a minor

league deal with the Toronto Blue Jays and, at this writing, has a good chance to make the Jays.

Another righty, Edward Nujica pitched for the B-Indians in 2010. After he divided last year between Boston and Oakland, he signed a contract with the Philadelphia Phillies organization in December.

And last, we have a couple of pitchers from the Burlington Royals, Kansas City’s current Rookie League team. Right-handed Kelvin Herrera, who went 2-2, 1.42, for the B-Royals in 2008, is now a reliever for Kansas City, who has pitched in seven games for KC the last couple of years in the Series. He won a game in 2015 and was not scored upon in the Series last year. The right-hander went 4-3, both last year and the year before during his regular seasons for the Royals and had ERAs of 1.41 in 2014 and 2.71 in 2015. He can throw a ball 98 miles-perhour.

Southpaw John Lamb went 2-2, 3.95, for the Appalachian League team in Burlington, in 2009. Last year he was trded to the Cincinnati Reds in July and earned his big league debut. He went 1-5, 5.80, and had back surgery last December. This should delay his debut this year, but not by much.

April

dash 2017 schedule

TEAMS

FRE Frederick Keys (BAL) LYN Lynchburg Hillcats (CLE) POT Potomac Nationals (WSH) WIL Wilmington Blue Rocks (KC)

Carolina Mudcats (ATL)

MBP Myrtle Beach Pelicans (CHC) SAL Salem Red Sox (BOS) WSD Winston-Salem Dash (CHW)

BCA Buies Creek Astros (HOU)

DEW Down East Wood Ducks (TEX)

Greensboro baseball

team’s 2017 schedule

northern dIVIsIon

DEL Delmarva Shorebirds (BAL)

GSO Greensboro (MIA)

HAG Hagerstown Suns (WSH)

HIC Hickory Crawdads (TEX)

KAN Kannapolis Intimidators (CHW)

LWD Lakewood BlueClaws (PHI)

WVP West Virginia Power (PIT)

southern dIVIsIon

ASH Asheville Tourists (COL)

AUG Augusta GreenJackets (SF)

GRE Greenville Drive (BOS)

LEX Lexington Legends (KC)

ROM Rome Braves (ATL)

COL Columbia Fireflies

HOME AWAY

*Schedule is subject to change. Game times and promotions will be confirmed at a later date.*

TEAMS

Grasshoppers and First National Bank unveil new name of Downtown Greensboro Ballpark

First National Bank, the largest subsidiary of F.N.B. Corporation (NYSE: FNB), and the Greensboro Grasshoppers, the Class A minor league baseball affiliate of the Miami Marlins, today unveiled the new name and logo for the Grasshoppers’ ballpark, now First National Bank Field.

“FNB is committed to improving the quality of life in our communities, and our partnership with the Grasshoppers organization is just one, highly visible example of the level of commitment our new customers across North Carolina can expect,” said Vincent J. Delie, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer of F.N.B. Corporation and First National Bank.

First National Bank will enter North Carolina through its planned acquisition of Yadkin Financial Corporation (Yadkin) and agreed to continue the sponsorship that was previously held by NewBridge Bank. Visitors to First National Bank Field will have access to two on-site First National Bank ATMs, part of the combined organization’s extensive, multi-state network of more than 400 branch locations and more than 550 ATMs.

“The partnership with First National Bank is an exciting opportunity for the Grasshoppers and for the greater Triad area. First National Bank is known for their commitment to service and we look forward to working together to make a difference for our fans, their families and the places they call home,” said Donald Moore, President and General Manager of the Greensboro Grasshoppers.

The Greensboro Grasshoppers will celebrate their first Opening Day at First National Bank Field on April 6, 2017.

About First National Bank of Pennsylvania

First National Bank of Pennsylvania, the largest

subsidiary of F.N.B. Corporation (NYSE: FNB), has more than 300 full-service locations in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland and West Virginia. In addition to a comprehensive suite of traditional banking products and services, the Bank also provides a full range of online and mobile banking solutions for consumer and business clients. First National Bank has been recognized repeatedly as a best place to work in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, its headquarters city.

From Thomasville and Winston-Salem to Cooperstown: The stories of three men who successfully completed the journey

BY KEVIN REID

This story originally appeared in Triad Baseball Guide 2014

Two third basemen, one for the old Hi-Toms and another for the old Winston-Salem Red Sox were stars here and continued hitting after moving up to the point that they batted their way into Baseball’s Hall of Fame. Meanwhile, a second baseman for the old Winston-Salem Cardinals failed to make the major leagues as a player, but excelled when he hung up his spikes and entered the coaching side of the game. He made it to Cooperstown as a manager. But the greatest of all Hall of Famers who spent time in Winston-Salem started his professional career in spring training for a Negro League team.

The first of these three players to come to this area was Eddie Mathews, who began his professional baseball career in 1949, the year after the Thomasville Tommies changed their name to the Hi-Toms. This was 16 years before the major league teams held a draft in order to pick up the best of the amateur talent, so Mathews, who would have been a first-rounder, could sign with whomever he wished. Had he have accepted a bonus for more than $6,000, he would have been required to go straight to the major league team – and probably sit on the bench. Despite all

his talent and potential, he obviously was not ready to compete against big leaguers. He accepted a $6,000 bonus from the Boston Braves and went to Thomasville, where their Class D North State League affiliate was. According to his autobiography, Eddie Mathews and the National Pastime, co-written with Bob Buege, the first thing Mathews noticed after exiting the train in the Chair City was a woman, “maybe in her 60s, sitting on a bench near the train tracks, chewing tobacco and spitting a brown streak. That’s when I knew I was a long way from Santa Barbara.”

Mathews probably saw that woman, but she was probably dipping snuff, a popular habit for females in some Southern social circles back then, rather than chewing tobacco. Either way, the Big Chair Mathews walked by on the way to Finch Field was also an early impression of Thomasville. So was the heat and humidity, especially considering there was virtually no air conditioning in 1949. He stayed on the third floor of a boarding house about four blocks from Finch. It turns out his father had signed a contract with Pittsburgh after Eddie had left and Jimmy Gruzdis, the Hi-Toms owner, manager and pinch hitter, had actually driven him to Salisbury where the Pirates had a North State League team. Eventually they called George Trautman,

then president of the National Association of Baseball Leagues, and the Pittsburgh contract was declared null and void.

“Basically, I fit in real well with the Hi-Toms,” Mathews remembered. “We had a bunch of nice fellows, a mixture of younger guys and older guys.”

The oldest player on the

Weaver, Cardinals

team – even older than Gruzdis – was Cliff Bolton, 42, the catcher and a native of High Point, who Mathews called “incredible.”Bolton was the league’s batting champion that season. Mathews favorite player on the team was Ted Alex, a righthanded pitcher from Greenwich, Conn.

“I’ve tried to find him several times over the years, but he moved out of Greenwich,” Mathews wrote. “lf you read this, Ted, give me a call -- collect.”

Mathews remembered traveling to away games in automobiles and coming home each night after the game. He also remembered a terrific season that saw the team win the championship with a 90-34 record. Personally, Mathews batted .363 with 17 home runs, even though he

didn’t join the club until July 12. At third, however, he fielded only .904 and made 21 errors.

Twenty-nine years and 512 bigleague homers later, Matthews was enshrined into Baseball’s Hall of Fame.

The year after Mathews was in Thomasville, a 19-year-old second baseman from St. Louis, named Earl Weaver, joined the WinstonSalem Cardinals of the Carolina League. Weaver was in his second year of pro ball. Playing at the old Southside Park, he batted .276 with three home runs and the Cards won the CL title. That was not unusual for Weaver. His first four years all ended in championships for his team. In fact in two of those seasons, he was the MVP, but not 1950. The Cardinals had a pitcher named Wilmer “Vinegar Bend” Mizell on the team with

a 19-4 record. Mizell ended up in nearby Welcome and, after a nine-year big-league career that included All-Star and World Series appearances, wound up serving two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Meanwhile, Weaver went to major league spring training with St. Louis in 1952, but, when he was sent down, that was the last of the big leagues he would ever see as a player.

The only thing I ever wanted in my life was to be a majorleague player, but I had to admit to myself that I wasn’t good enough,” he said later in his book, Weaver on Strategy. “It broke my heart.”

He did accept a player-manager position with the Knoxville Continued

Smokies in 1956. After the season he was prepared to leave baseball when Harry Dalton, then an assistant in the Baltimore Orioles farm system, offered him a Class D managing job in Fitzgerald, Ga. This time Weaver really was on his way to the majors.

“From the start of my managerial career, I was pretty sure of my baseball judgment,” Weaver wrote in his book. “I felt I could size up a player well and know whether or not he could play.”

Dalton eventually became the Orioles general manager. In 1968 he placed Weaver on the Orioles coaching staff, and at the All-Star break that season, promoted Weaver to manager. He won a total of 1,480 games and lost 1,060,

for the Orioles. That included one World Series, three other A.L. pennants and two other A.L. East titles. It was those accomplish-

ments rather than what he did as a second baseman that put Earl Weaver in the Hall of Fame in 1996.

1950 WS Cardinals players

By

1977, the Winston-Salem Red Sox had moved to Ernie Shore Field, now known as Wake Forest Ballpark. That year Wade Boggs, a native of Tampa, became the Carolina League’s Red Sox third sacker. It was also the first year he started eating so much chicken.

“It began in the minors when I started eating fowl three or four times a week in 1977,” Boggs said in his book, The Techniques of Modern Hitting. “I’d like to tell you I had an inkling that it was going to help, but the truth is red meat was beyond my budget.”

As the local Red Sox third baseman, Boggs batted .332 and made the Carolina League All-Star team. It was the first year hit over .300 in professional baseball. He hit two homers with 55 RBIs and stole eight bases.

“I was playing baseball,” Boggs told a reporter of the Tampa Tribune about his minor league days after his retirement. “That was my passion. You just have to wait for a break.”

While waiting for that break, he and his wife lived with his parents for seven years. Even though he batted well over .300 the rest of his minor league career, Boggs didn’t get to Boston until 1982. He played first base and left field until June, when Carney Lansford, Boston’s regular at third broke his ankle. When Lansford returned he went to first and he was traded the next year. Boggs went on to win five A.L. batting championships for the Red Sox and played until 1999. Most of his career was with Boston, but the last two were with Tampa Bay and the five

years before that were with the New York Yankees. Boggs had a total of 3,010 hits and 118 home runs. He reached the Hall of Fame in 2005 after being voted in by the writers the first time he was eligible.

Ironically, Caribbean cruise ships played major roles in the deaths of the two others. Mathews died of pneumonia, at age 69 in La Jolla, Calif., on Feb. 18, 2001, the same day Dale Earnhardt died. The former Brave had never been the same after a cruise ship accident five years before. Weaver died of an apparent heart attack on July 21, 2013, aboard a cruise ship in the Caribbean. Boggs now volunteers as an assistant coach for Wharton High School in Tampa.

Ernie Shore’s last save

BY BRIAN CLAREY

This story originally appeared in YES! Weekly on April 8, 2008.

I relive the fantasy every spring, when the grass greens and the earth softens just enough to give extra bounce to an infielder’s knees and make a poorly hit ball take a short hop right into his mitt.

I’m listening for the crack of the bat, the roar of the crowd, the smell of spilled beer and hot-dog water that still give me a rush even after all these years.

Talkin’ ’bout baseball, if you haven’t figured it out yet, and it’s gonna be a banner year for the American pastime in the Triad.

The Greensboro Grasshoppers play in value-added NewBridge Bank Park, which this year will be home to the 2008 South Atlantic League All-Star Game on June 17. And the Winston-Salem Warthogs close out their last season at Ernie Shore Field before next year’s inaugural opening game at the downtown ballpark that has yet to be named.

Ernie Shore was a grand old park, and Shore himself was a grand old guy — a local boy, Guilford College grad (Class of ’14) from Yadkin County. Made it to the bigs in 1912, throwing batting practice for the New York Giants and then moved on to the Boston Red Sox as a right-handed reliever.That’s where he met a cocky left-hander by the name of George Herman Ruth.

Well, they roomed together on the road, drank together in the bars, and maybe the most noteworthy time Shore covered the Babe’s ass was on the mound, during the first game of a double-header against the Washington Senators on June 23, 1917.

Everybody knows Ruth was a pitcher back then, right? And he was young, 21 or 22, full of spit and fire. Well, Ruth takes the mound at Fenway that afternoon and walks the first batter. He’s not happy with the strike zone, so he gets into it with legendary plate ump, Brick Owens — some say he even took a swing at the Brick — and finds himself in the showers before even the first out in the game.

Shore comes in, a right-hander, and he’s cold — it’s the top of the first inning, for cryin’ out loud — but he immediately picks off the runner Ruth walked. He’s a right-hander, see, and the Senators had their game built around hitting Ruth. Shore goes on to retire the next 26 batters, three up three down, a perfect game.

With an asterisk, of course.

But I’m thinking of an Ernie Shore save that went down long after he retired in 1920 — as a New York Yankee, by the way; Shore was a part of that infamous trade that put the Babe in pinstripes and into the annals of human history and sent the Sox on a centurylong championship slump.

After he hung up his cleats, ol’ Ernie got himself elected sheriff of Forsyth County in 1936.Today a scenario like that could serve as a plot from an Adam Sandler movie, but things were different back then. It was during the Great Depression, and before Shore was elected sheriff for life, most North Carolina counties didn’t even have patrol cars, and none of them had two-way radios. Back then made Mayberry seem like the world of the future, but ol’ Ernie kept the peace reasonably well for 10 years or so before he found himself presiding over a crime against baseball, the game to which, you might say, he owed everything he had.

It was a fixing scandal, and to make matters worse it involved a player, fellow right-handed pitcher and baseball journeyman Barney DeForge.

Complicating matters further, at the time fixing a

baseball game in North Carolina was a felony, punishable by no less than a year in prison.

What could DeForge have been thinking?

Baseball had not been so kind to Barney DeForge. After a more than a decade in the game, he found himself player-manager of the Reidsville Luckies in their first year in the Carolina League. A-ball, but still…. DeForge’s career had followed a different trajectory than his pal Ernie Shore’s. In the great crapshoot that is professional baseball, Shore made his point early on and rode his winnings into the sunset. DeForge, a sturdy Frenchman with a square jaw and dark, deepset eyes, showed early promise but was not favored by time, talent and circumstance.

It wasn’t but 10 years earlier that he struck out 15 against the Eau Claire Bears as a starter for the Superior Blues and a couple months later threw a 4-hitter against Wasau. He went 19-6 as a starter that year, and the sportswriters of the day called his performance in the first playoff game against Crookston a “masterpiece,” though after 15 innings he allowed the winning run to score in the 1-0 contest, just another stroke of piss-poor luck in a life that seemed, at times, lousy with it.

But if what Ed Weingarten and WC McWaters had told him up in the rooms at the Hotel Belvedere was true, he could finally stand to make some real dough from this game to which he’d devoted his life.

Weingarten was a good enough guy — a baseball man who had teams in Leaksville, NC and Florence, SC. McWaters was another story, a used-car salesman and professional gambler who had drifted in from South Carolina with flash, style and a scheme to wring some dollars from the national pastime.

Gambling on baseball was nothing new in 1948. The Chicago Black Sox scandal of 1920 was still fresh in fans’ memories, and DeForge himself had seen plenty of corruption when he played in the Evangeline League down in Louisiana, which during the mid-forties was pretty much run by the bookies. He pitched good ball down there, though, going 12-4 the previous season for Natchez, a fact that would later come back to haunt.

But up in that room McWaters had made it sound so easy.“We can make a lot of money,” he said. Weingarten said it would work. What the hell did DeForge,

a washed-up ballplayer with a mouthful of sour tobacco, know about it? His job was the team. And that day up in the Hotel Belvedere, DeForge made his pact.

The call came four days later, May 14, the afternoon before the game with the Winston-Salem Cardinals. DeForge was at home, thinking about a starting pitcher. It was McWaters on the line.

“Meet me at the Robert E. Lee,” McWaters had said.

They met in the lobby and DeForge got his instructions.

“Lose by three,” McWaters had said.

So DeForge penciled in Tal Abernathy, another washed-up hurler, a Southpaw, who had done time with the Philadelphia Athletics from 1942-44 and also found himself in the Carolina League on the ass end of his career.

The stage was set, and DeForge watched from the bench at South Side Park on a chilly night, working his chaw furiously in his cheek. It would be the last professional baseball game he was ever a part of.

Things looked good. WinstonSalem’s pitcher, Jack Frisinger, was throwing good ball, giving up just two hits going into the eighth. The problem was with DeForge’s patsy, Abernathy.

He was a chucker, which was why he never made it in the bigs. In his three-year stint with the A’s he had only pitched about 20 innings and had given up 26 runs. But here he was pitching the game of his life, just two runs off seven hits by the end of the seventh, and DeForge was a nervous wreck.

There was only one thing he could do.

At the bottom of the eighth, DeForge took Abernathy off the mound and assigned relieving duties to… himself. At the moment it was regarded as an odd decision: The smart move would have been to pinch-hit for Abernathy in the top of the inning — the kid had but a single hit in five at-bats during his three years in the majors.

It didn’t help that DeForge consulted with McWaters in the bullpen before taking the mound, and that afterwards McWaters began taking bets in the WinstonSalem bleachers.

So DeForge took the mound and walked the first two batters, Zernia and Caswell.

He almost swallowed his plug when, in the next at bat, Rutherford hit to third, catching Zernia in a pickle that would see DeForge throwing the ball for the put-out. Then, with Caswell at third and Rutherford at second and one man down, DeForge walked Dean Frye, loading the bases.

It was advantageous for the cardinals, to be sure, but three men on base can easily turn into a quick double play, which would have ended the inning. Again, DeForge knew what he needed to do.

He uncorked a wild pitch, one of a small handful in his career, scoring Caswell. Another walk, to Mason, loaded the bases anew. A sacrifice single by Frisinger scored two more for Winston-Salem, and DeForge, the spread safely covered, got Blackwell to hit into a 4-3 put-out.

The final score: Winston-Salem 5, Reidsville 2.

After the game, DeForge met McWaters again in the lobby of the Robert E. Lee Hotel in Win-

ston-Salem and collected his part of the take: $300, which in today’s money is about $2,675.

“I hated to see you have to do what you did,” McWaters told him. DeForge pocketed the money — three one-hundred dollar bills — and deposited them in his bank account in Reidsville.

And if it weren’t for a meddling do-gooder in the stands, they might have gotten away with it.

An anonymous fan came into the offices of the Winston-Salem Journal just before the midnight deadline on the night of the 14th and complained to legendary sports columnist Frank Spencer about betting in the stands, money changing hands, a game besmirched.

“I take my little son to baseball games and I don’t want anything crooked to happen,” he told Spencer.“I talked it over with my wife and she said to come and see you.”

The next morning Spencer hit the streets with Cardinals business manager Vedie Himsl. The scheme quickly fell apart, and on June 1, 1948, DeForge and Weingartner were banned for life from the

game of baseball by Association of Professional Baseball Clubs President George Trautman.

“I guess it was just a weak moment,” DeForge said later.“I thought I was being smart.”

But because fixing baseball games was a felony in the state of North Carolina, there was still a criminal matter to deal with.

“There is some consolation in the knowledge that a statute of the state of North Carolina provides a penalty of imprisonment for anybody found guilty of fixing a ball game,”Trautman said in his statement,“and I feel that I speak for all professional baseball when I wish the law enforcement officials of that state Godspeed in any action that the state might institute against the guilty.”

DeForge was looking at one to five years.

The trial began Oct. 18, 1948 in Forsyth County Courthouse, in the courtroom of Judge Allen Gwyn, in late October, just after the Cleveland Indians defeated

the Boston Braves in Game 6 of the World Series and far too late to affect Weingartner, who passed just a couple months after being banned from the game. They said it was kidney failure. DeForge knew better.

And oh, but weren’t those South Carolina boys slick? McWaters faced charges of conspiracy and bribery in baseball — felonies in North Carolina, you recall — with another Palmetto State sharpie named Tom Phillips.

On the first day of proceedings, the four lawyers for McWaters and Phillips presented three character witnesses: the Rev. WH Bowman, pastor of Clover Presbyterian Church; AY Cartwright Jr., York County, SC state representative; and York County Sheriff CA Moss.

They both denied everything, and McWaters provided eyewitnesses who placed him in Greenville, SC the night of the fateful game. He said he read about it in the newspapers three weeks later in Washington, DC.

DeForge had but a single lawyer who advised him to plead guilty, since he had already confessed to his role and been banned from the game. And though DeForge named names, he was not offered immunity for his testimony.

McWaters and Phillips were acquitted of all charges. For DeForge it was just another curve ball that refused to drop.

The jury found DeForge guilty after a 37-minute deliberation; Judge Gwyn sentenced him to a year in jail, but not before remarking to Deforge,“You are one of the most pathetic figures I have ever seen in a courtroom.”

Gwyn also delivered a lengthy diatribe worthy of the stage:

“I think that baseball is one of the truest and finest expressions of the American spirit,” he told

the courtroom.“Anybody who tampers with it and undertakes to corrupt it and does corrupt it, does violence to America and irreparable damage to the people. Baseball is one means for people weary and worn out to go out and renew their spirits.”

He gave DeForge until Saturday morning to report for jail. DeForge went to say goodbye to his wife and child.

Now here is where Ernie Shore comes in.

And what happened next didn’t make the front page of the papers, but appeared as the lead item in Frank Spencer’s sports column in the winston-salem journal under the hed:“Unofficial decisions.”

It was a Saturday morning meeting in Judge Gwyn’s chambers, with the prosecutor, Walter Johnston, in attendance, Chief John Gold of the Winston-Salem Police Department and the one-time roommate of Babe Ruth, now with 12 years under his belt as sheriff and with considerable goodwill sown atop the loam of his legendary lore.

What went down in the judge’s chambers that day was not recorded for posterity, but the end result was that Judge Gwyn suspended DeForge’s one-year sentence and the case was deemed closed.

Spencer, the dean of North Carolina sportswriters, had the last word.

“The case is closed,” he wrote on Oct. 26, 1948,“but there is a feeling among baseball fans that the verdict is one of the strongest boosts which organized gambling has received in the history of North Carolina.”

And Ernie Shore, the cagey right-hander who had been out of baseball for 20 years and would serve 22 more as Forsyth County Sheriff, chalked up another save.

Looking Back...

1910s Winston-Salem Minor League Team

1910 Jack Ridgeway Greensboro Champs

Herbert Martin, who played for the Greensboro Patriots.

1910 H801-7 Old Mill Tony Walters Greensboro Cabinet

Proximity Textile Mill’s Baseball team Greensboro, NC 1910

White Oak Mill Baseball Team Greensboro

Greensboro player,

team

AUTOGRAPHS

Asking players for autographs is a baseball tradition and highly encouraged.