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March 9 & 10, 2005
Baseball Fever
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PLAYERS
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Abernathy. All were pitchers
and all were from North
Carolina. The other two were
Talmadge Abernathy (also
called Ted) of Bynum and
Woody Abernathy of Forest
City.
Beginning in 1935, J.K.
“Buddy” Lewis played 11
years with the Washington
Senators. He made the all star
team both as a third baseman
and an outfielder. In 1946,
Lewis played for the American
‘league in the game, and the
other two starting outfielders
were Ted Williams and Joe
Dimaggio
Lewis compiled a lifetime
batting average of .297. He hit
over .300 four times and spent
three of what could have been
his most productive years in
the military, flying “The
Hump” in Burma.
Kings Mountain's Jake Early
had the reputation of being
one of the better catchers in
the American League. Early
played for Washington from
1939 until 1949, with the
exception of 1947, when he
was with the St. Louis Browns.
“Jake was one of the best
catchers around,” said Ted
Williams in an interview after
Early retired. “He could really
fire that ball to second base.”
Early was noted as the only
catcher in the league who had
the nerve to toss dirt into
Williams shoes when he was
batting.
Jimmie Hall, born in Mount
Holly and reared in Belmont,
enjoyed a successful major
league career. Beginning with .
Minnesota in 1963, Hall
played for several teams,
including, California,
Cleveland, the N.Y. Yankees,
and the Chicago Cubs before
finishing up with Atlanta in
1970.
An outfielder, he averaged
23 home runs a year for his
first five seasons, and tied a
rookie record with 33 his first
year.
Belmont’s Harold Stowe
was a long time Yankee farm
hand and spent time in New
York, although he eventually
pitched in just one game. He
was a Casey Stengel favorite.
Most people don’t know
that Stowe was actually the
first player chosen by the
expansion N.Y. Mets. When
Stengel found out about it he
hit the roof and recalled
Stowe’s name from the draft
list.
Many people think Whitey
Lockman is a native of
Charlotte. Actually, he was
born in Lowell. Lockman was
a major league star and man-
ager with the New York
Giants for many years.
Tony Cloninger, of Iron
Station who now resides in
Kings Mountain, pitched for
12 years with Milwaukee,
Atlanta, Cincinnati and St.
Louis. Cloninger, who won 24
while losing 11 in 1965, was
also a good hitter, slamming
two grand slam home runs in
a single game on one occasion
against San Francisco.
Tom Wright of Shelby
played for a total of nine years
with the Boston Red Sox, the
St. Louis Cardinals, the
Chicago White Sox and the
Washington Senators from
1948 until 1956.
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There were others from the
region who played briefly, or a
few years in the majors.
Doyt Morris of Stanley
played part of one season as
an outfielder for the
Philadelphia Athletics in 1937;
Billy “Doc” Queen helped the
1957 Milwaukee Braves win
the National League pennant
by catching one fly ball in the
only inning he played in the
big leagues; and Howard
Moss of Gastonia had cups of
coffee with the N.Y. Giants in
1942 and Cincinnati and
Cleveland in 1946. :
Shelby’s Billy Champion
spent eight years in the majors
with the Philadelphia Phillies
and Milwaukee Brewers. He
was a right handed pitcher.
George Wilson of
Cherryville, Kings Mountain
and Shelby played the outfield
for the N.Y. Giants, Yankees
and the White Sox for three
years. He was best noted as a
pinch hitter with the Giants.
Buzz Peeler is probably the
best known Cherryville pitch-
er. The little southpaw played
for several years as a minor
leaguer. Another Cherryville
native, Ralph Roberts, is high
on Atlanta’s list of prospects.
Rube Melton, a strapping
right-hand pitcher with a blaz-
ing fast ball, pitched for parts
of six seasons with the
Philadelphia Phillies and the
Brooklyn Dodgers from 1941
until 1947.
Austin “Chink” Outen of
Mount Holly spent part of the
1933 season as a catcher with
the Brooklyn Dodgers. As an
eighth grader at Mount Holly
High School in 1917, Outen
led the baseball team in hit-
ting. y
Stanley’s Scott Stewart has
pitched for several years with
Montreal, Cleveland and Los
Angeles. He has signed a
minor league contract with the
Mets for the coming season.
The best known current
major leaguer from these parts
is pitcher Kevin Millwood of
Bessemer City. Millwood will
ply his trade with Cleveland
in the coming season, provid-
ed he is healed from the injury
which slowed him down last
year.
Millwood won 18 games
See Players, Page 14