Newspapers / The Chowan Herald (Edenton, … / May 16, 1985, edition 1 / Page 19
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Barker House Notes: Albemarle League Baseball Players Recalled BASEBALL— <from I. to r. > Jim Partin, Frank Suttenfield, Carlyle Webb and Fred Fearing were all members of teams which played in the Albemarle League in the 1920s and :10s. by Marguerite McCall A new dimension had been add ed to hall parks by the time the Albemarle League reactivated in June 1946—lights. •‘Hertford was the first team to use lights," Fred Fearing told me. ‘‘And you know something, it was the toughest ball park I ever played in. They had the lowest lights in the league, i think, in stead of being 80 foot poles, they were 60 foot, and they were too close together behind the center field. They'd come together on you. Sometimes, and I’ve had it to happen, the ball would be hit; and you’d know about where it was going—as I say, instinct—but you never saw it. You’d hear it hit the ground with a thud-d, but sometimes it never got out of the lights.’’ Frank Suttenfield didn’t appear too dismayed that he never played “a single game under lights.’’ “Well, Coach,” Fred replied, “it would have been a great ex perience if you had, especially if you’d started in Hertford.” “Speaking of ball parks,” Jim Partin lamented, “I won’t ever forget the one in Windsor. There was a ditch all the way across left field. You didn’t always manage to dodge-it.’’ ; — Cprlyl£#V\(ebb laughf^.^’ Talkj ing 'bout Windsor reminds me of something happened not more’n a year ago. I saw this fellow from Hertford. Told me he was up at Luke McQuire Hospital, and his doctor asked him where he was from. Fellow said ‘When I told him Hertford, the Doc wanted to know if I knew the Webb boys from Edenton abnd their brother in-law Suttenfield. Doc said he us ed to pitch for Windsor the same time you all played for Edenton’. That doctor was Jack Jarrett. He’s a surgeon at Luke McQuire Hospital.” “Old Jack Jarrett, Fred repeated the name and continued the conversation. “Yes sir. Well, getting back to the lights, all the ball parks soon got them. It was right after World War II that ‘46 league started. The boys were coming home, and everybody was just hungry for baseball." Fred was right. People were starved for baseball. With ration ing and frugality of the war years behind them, and new cars on the market, folks were ready to travel again if only to a neighboring town to attend a ball game. “The parks were full every night,” Jim said. “You had to het out there before sunset, you wanted to get a seat. The games started at eight o'clock; you had to get out there by six o‘clock to get in and get a seat. There wouldn’t be a seat left anywhere.” Jim spoke the truth, for fans were ensconced nightly in every available space. I remembered, though, how one well-to-do fan punctually appeared after suspen sion of admission at the top of the 7th and always managed to find a seat. (Likewise, Mr. John Doe punctually arrived at church, too, after the collection plate was pass-' ed.) Strange, I hadn’t thought of the gentleman in years. In fact, listening to the recollections of these former ball players, numerous names and events began to vie for prominence in conscious contemplation. I will never forget the time a rival team’s star pitcher’s wife put a huge wad of bubble gum on the bleacher where I’d be sure to sit on it; My mother said surely it was an accident. Of course it wasn’t! I can still see that wife’s smug smile when I flattened her masticated token of self satisfaction. Little Bud Cayton and Harmon Young? Remember them? What ball fan could ever forget them! "Fell to fight right out there at se cond base,” Fred chuckled. "They 'd both played for Hertford, then Harmon started playing for Elizabeth City. Old Harmon hit the ball and was running from first to second. Little Bud called out ‘foul ball’. When Harmon stop ped running, Little Bud tagged him out. Yes sir. Fell to fight right there.” “Red Kimball played third," Carlyle recalled. “Lester Jordan played for Edenton," Jim added, “and Gashouse Parker." Fred didn't wanted to leave out Vinnie De Lorenzo, Russ Bat chelor, Joe Nowell, or the Gastellos. “What about Leroy Sires, cat cher; Brantley Aycock, catcher; Bill Bergeron, shortstop; hand some Fred Folger, outfield; Moe Baurer, pitcher; Max Eller, Pit cher; and the fastest centerfield alive. Archie Brigman," 1 in quired, surprising the men and dating myself. "Goodness! " Frank exclaimed. “She does know something about Albemarle League Baseball. There was something the men didn't know. The summers of 1946, 1947, and 1948 had been the hap piest of a young girl s life. Her mornings were spent with female peers, fishing and taking turns rowing a little boat around the Perquimans River. After lunch, a bath, and "dressing up", the girls congregated in local drugstore, a hangout for the college-hired ball players. Too young to evoke more than a casual nod from the fellows the young ladies, nonetheless, would secure a booth, order cokes which lasted ages if sipped slow ly, and proceed to act in an ex pected adolescent manner. Unless a rain-out was called, evenings were reserved for attending the game. Greek gods commanded no more adulation than did these summer heroes. Indeed, barkers were begged for a loek aMigpie Brigman’s blond tressJ^ More . than just pubescent inff^JFion, however, was the atmdsphere of excitement permeatingM^ntire community as friends and family members shared a common interest. v An illness in childhood left my father with a weak heart, pro hibiting his participation in athletics, but oh, how he loved the ball games. The two of us usually re-played each game before bed time or during breakfast the next morning. Although we sat separately at the games, each with out own peers, we exchang ed frequent, private signals: Bight hand raised "I told you Young would get a hit"; left hand raised "Watch Mugsy steal se cond"; a nod toward the gate "Mr. John Doe has arrived". Without fail. I could spot my father in the crowd by the straw, flat-top, cracker box hat he wore in the summertime. On January 8, 1949, at forty years of age, Daddy’s weakened heart beat for the last time. 1 ex perienced no excitement, nor an ticipatiopn, when the season began that June. Somewhere, bet ween the age of fourteen and fif teen years, the bridge of carefree, giggling girlishness had been crossed to unexpected, premature responsibleness. Furthermore, my gods stepped down from their * lofty pinnacles and became quite, comfortingly human as they ex pressed belated condolences and offered mature conversation. With butterflies stilled and pulse rate normal,Accepted same, in finitely appreciative fdfr the respect these "summer heroes" accorded my father. What the league of the 1920s and '30s had meant to Frank, Carlyle, Jim, and Fred, the one in the '40s had meant to me. Love baseball? Of course! It was unquestionably more than a summer Dastime. Katner, il was a medium that created a loving, sharing social history, which letl Ians and players richer lor having been participants. Jim sighed. "Yeah, people started going to the beaches and all. Then television came along, and that just killed league baseball. Just killed it." Are you sure. Jim'.’ Who knows'.’ Perhaps a new generation is hungering lor renewal of a game which promises memories lasting a lifetime. License Plates To Change ivmjLiiun — niui in cii unnet vehicle license plates are undergoing a change, officials in the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) in the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) have announced. The plates will now have three letters and four numerals as op posed to the previous configura tion of three letters and three numerals. wiviv v omiMissmiH'i mu man explained, "With 5.5 million registered North Carol inn vehicles, we had simply ex hausted all arrangement possibilities lor the <> character system. "To be great is to be mis understood." Emerson CRANE A SERVICE GORDON SHEET METAL EII2MHM CITY 315 S. DOW SI. 335 5403 Borrowing power: sometimes it’s there, aiid you don’t even know it. But when you bank with us,you getall kinds of ways to put wallop in your wallet. What’s more,we know that people today handle credit better than ever, so we developed several services that feature one-time-only applications. With Cash Reserve, you can get a line of credit up to $5,000 that’s as easy to use as your checking account Then, when a special bargain,an emergency or maybe achance tomake an investment comes up,you can write yourself a loan like you write a check. 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The Chowan Herald (Edenton, N.C.)
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May 16, 1985, edition 1
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