The Tobacco State League

The Tobacco State League played an important role in eastern North Carolina for five summers (1946–1950), giving small-town communities a chance to be a part of professional baseball and offering a return to normalcy after World War II. Years later, the players’ names were spoken with reverence, their exploits the subject of impassioned discussion. This book tells the story of the short-lived league and the clubs who entertained fans on dusty ball fields under dim lights, including the Lumberton Auctioneers, Rockingham Eagles, Warsaw Red Sox, Sanford Spinners and Wilmington Pirates.

Chris Holaday is a fulltime copywriter and photographer in Durham, North Carolina. A member of the Society for American Baseball Research, he is the author of several other books on baseball history.

Chris Holaday

Foreword by Charlie Daniels

Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 304
Bibliographic Info: 94 photos, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2017
pISBN: 978-1-4766-6670-9
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2603-1
Imprint: McFarland

Foreword by Charlie Daniels 1
Preface 3
Introduction 4

Part I
1. Beginnings 7
2. 1946: True Professionals 15
3. 1947: Expansion and Big League Farm Clubs 28
4. 1948: Sanford’s Spinners on a Roll 39
5. 1949: A Pair of .400 Hitters and a ­Dunn-Erwin Pennant 48
6. 1950: Newcomers and Attendance Struggles 62
7. Requiem for a League 84

Part II
8. Managers 89
9. ­All-Star Selections 110
10. Umpires 117
11. League and Team Information 120

Part III
12. Player Register 136

Bibliography 283
Index 285

“valuable…impressive”—North Carolina Historical Review.