First Posted: 3/30/2012
As World War II ended, Americans turned their attention to resuming more-peaceful pursuits. After years of sacrificing, the years following the war were times of prosperity, and people began to spend more money on entertainment. Attending a professional baseball game was inexpensive. Since most Americans did not live near a major-league city, they went to minor-league games.
The minor leagues reached their peak from 1946 through 1951. In 1946, 43 North Carolina towns had minor-league teams in six different leagues. One of these leagues was the Class D Tobacco State League, which began play that year with six Tar Heel teams: Clinton, Dunn-Erwin, Fuquay-Angier, Sanford, Smithfield-Selma and Wilmington. Sanford won the regular-season crown and Fuguay-Angier triumphed in the playoffs.
In 1947, a group of 10 Lumberton, N.C. businessmen, including Tim Murcheson, decided to field a team and apply to the league for membership. The league, which was expanding from six to eight teams, accepted Lumberton and Red Springs as new members.
The Lumberton management decided that the team would play its 63 home games at the stadium behind the Armory, now the Bill Sapp Recreation Center. It was known simply as Lumberton Armory Field. Accordingly, improvements were made to the facilities. The infield was sodded. New, clean restrooms were advertised. The grandstand, which was renovated, had a seating capacity of 3,500. Dugouts were built and box seats were featured. Finally, there was to be a press box, a public address system and a concession stand.
The league established a number of rules. Umpires were to be paid $250 per month, with a $100-a-month expense account. There would be a 126-game schedule. Admission prices were set at 65 cents for adults, 35 cents for high school students and 25 cents for children younger than 12. Each team could have up to four veteran players.
Lumberton established a working relationship with the Chicago Cubs and, not surprisingly, the team was to be called the Lumberton Cubs. The parent club was to pay the players’ salaries and supply some equipment. The city of Lumberton was to provide, improve and maintain the facilities, as well as provide players’ transportation to and from games away from home. Buddy Frazier was appointed the club’s business manager.
Lorman stayed here
When Doug Lorman, a young left-handed pitcher from Chicago, joined the team, he had no way of knowing that he would spend the rest of his life in the southeastern North Carolina town. Lorman met Ellenor French, a young copywriter for WTSB radio, while walking on West Fifth Street and struck up a conversation that resulted in a 62-year marriage.
Ellenor Lorman says that, after the two began dating, Lorman asked if she was interested in attending ball games. When she responded in the affirmative, he gave her a number of “foul-ball” tickets, free-admission tickets given to youngsters who returned foul balls. “He started calling me ‘foul ball,’” she recalls.
The first season
The season opened on April 24, 1947, with Fairmont and Lumberton High Schools’ bands performing. The Rev. R.L. Alexander was master of ceremonies. Prior to the game, Lumberton Mayor R. “Rom” A. Hedgpeth, Congressman J, Bayard Clark and County Commission Chairman C.A. Hasty, of Maxton, spoke. The 3,000 fans in attendance heard Mrs. M.F. Townsend and Henry McDuffie sing the pre-game national anthem. Lumberton lost to Red Springs, 14-3.
During the early part of the season, the Cubs won about half of their games. But they steadily improved and finished the regular season in second place with a 71-49 record. First baseman, Elzer Marx hit .315 with 17 homers and 122 RBI. Lorman and Bob Spicer were the leading pitchers, with 16-6 and 16-7 records, respectively. The club drew nearly 51,000 paying customers that season.
In the first round of the playoffs, Lumberton swept Dunn-Erwin four games to one. In the finals, the Cubs defeated the regular-season champs, Sanford, three straight games before their bubble burst and they lost four straight. Because Sunday games were banned in Lumberton, the Cubs had to play Sunday home games in Red Springs.
Second season
Buoyed by their second-place finish in 1947, the Lumberton supporters were expecting great things in 1948, when the season was expanded to 140 games. The Chicago Cubs were rumored to be concluding their working arrangement with Lumberton. But the rumor was laid to rest when the parent club sent a telegram to Lumberton’s mayor, Malcom Seawell, confirming that the Cubs would continue with their agreement. When Red Lucas did not return as the manager, Charlie Jamin was hired as the skipper.
More improvements were made to the facilities. Henry Gerald of Fayetteville turned in the low bid to build a roof over the grandstand and to erect a dressing room for the visiting team. Advance tickets went on sale at Britt-McLeod Hardware in front of the Robeson County Courthouse.
Lorman was promoted to Decatur, Ill., a Class B team. When he injured his arm, he was released from his contract. He returned to Lumberton and Ellenor French, the southern girl who had stolen his heart. He went to work for her brother, Billy French, at Robeson Office Supply, selling office equipment, a job he held more than 40 years. He and Ellenor married on Oct. 8, 1948. He died in February 2011 at the age of 88. Ellenor lives at Wesley Pines Retirement Home.
Meanwhile, the ‘48 Lumberton Cubs opened on the road at Red Springs, losing 11-0 and then winning their home opener 4-1 over Wilmington. By May 19, the team’s record was a mediocre 12-11. The club never reached the .500 mark again.
The Cubs did not hit well and were the seventh best-fielding team in an eight-team league. The team finished the season with 55 wins and 81 losses, 26 games out of first and failing to make the playoffs. Season attendance dropped to less than 39,000. Dean Padgett led the team in hitting with a .310 average, 16 homers and 115 RBI. None of the team’s starting pitchers had a winning record.
Attendance tops 60,000
In 1949, the league members were Lumberton, Sanford, Smithfield-Selma, Red Springs, Dunn-Erwin, Wilmington, Clinton and Fayetteville. Fayetteville replaced Warsaw, which had fielded a team in 1948. Red Lucas was back as the manager. Murphy Bowman, a local businessman, was the team president. R. A. Hedgpeth was the vice-president and Buddy Frazier returned as business manager.
The parent club Chicago Cubs sent 14 players to staff the team. Others could try out, and Lumberton signed Melvin Bosser, a pitcher who had recently played for Class B Waterloo, Iowa. It was announced that there would be a contest to pick a new name for the team. The Rev. R.L. Alexander led six other judges in picking the winner, and the Lumberton Auctioneers were born. The club was generally referred to as the Auks.
Admission prices dropped a nickel. The press box was widened and Seller’s Sporting Goods and Hedgpeth’s Pharmacy sold advance tickets. At the first home game, April 21, 1949, three high school bands played. The Rev. Alexander was the master of ceremonies. Judge John Burney threw out the first ball and Congressman F. Ertel Carlyle caught it.
The season did not begin well. By May 30, the Auks were in last place with 16 wins and 21 losses. But the team righted itself and finished third at 75-61 behind the hitting of Cecil “Turkey” Tyson, .318, and Bill Bohlender, who finished with a .305 average to go along with 88 RBI and 101 runs scored. Pitchers Gordon McDonald, 15-6, and August Vierra, with a 14-7 record, were the staff meal tickets.
The Auctioneers lost to the regular-season champs, Dunn-Erwin, in the playoffs four games to one. Another Robeson County team won the league honors: Red Springs upset Dunn-Erwin four games to one in the finals.
The strong finish was reflected in the attendance, with more than 60,000 paying customers, the most ever. Tyson also married a Lumberton girl, Hester Hayes. After a long professional baseball career that included a short stint in the major leagues, he and Hester settled in Elm City. Hester, now a widow, still lives on the family farm there.
1950 greatest team
The 1950 Auctioneers were one of the greatest teams in the history of the Tobacco State League. The club had ended its working relationship with the Chicago Cubs and now was an independent. John Streza was hired as a playing manager. He was the first baseman. The league still had eight teams. Fayetteville moved to the Class B Carolina League and was replaced by Rockingham. Dunn-Erwin had financial problems and about midway through the season moved to Whiteville.
As the exhibition schedule began, nothing about the Auctioneers indicated the team was destined to record the finest regular-season record in the league’s history. The Auks lost more games than they won and were beaten by Wake Forest, 16-5.
The league came down to a two-team race between Sanford and Lumberton. Red Springs finished third, 24 games out of first. Sanford led the league most of the season but never by more than 6 1/2 games. By the end of May, Lumberton’s record was 21-12.
The Auctioneers then improved on that sterling record, winning 15 of 20 games in June to improve to 36-17. John Lagan led the pitchers with a 6-1 mark. The Auctioneers stayed hot. Although the team was winning almost 68 percent of its games, Lumberton could not overtake Sanford. At the July 19 mark, the Auctioneers stood at 55-26 but were four games out of first.
Final run begins
On Aug. 7, the Auctioneers began their final run at Sanford, winning at an incredible rate. At one point, Lumberton won 18 of 23 games. John Gerace pitched the season’s only no-hitter, an 11-inning gem. Sanford and Lumberton saved the best for last. Lumberton won both games of a two-game series, including a 5-4 “on-the-edge-of- your-seats” thriller. The Auctioneers were 88-42 and in first place. Lumberton finished 92-43 (49 games over .500). In their last 37 games, the Auctioneers went 25-12. John Lagan won 18 and lost 7. Player-manager John Streza hit over .300, as did four other Auks. Pete Ethier scored 123 runs. Mike Milo batted in 107 runs and Johnny Musumcci banged out 19 triples. The team’s batting average was .282.
Lumberton drew fourth-place Rockingham in a three-out-of-five format in the opening round of the playoffs. It has been said that in a short series nearly anything can happen. Lumberton dropped the first two games at home but then won two games on the road. The deciding game 5 was a heart breaker, as the Auks concluded their season with a 17-inning marathon, losing 7-6.
League folds
Shortly after the season ended, the league folded. Attendance was down throughout the league. Lumberton was the attendance leader, with more than 40,000, a 30 percent attendance decline despite such an outstanding team. The Tobacco State League faded into history. Within two years, three other minor leagues — the Coastal Plain, the Western Carolina, and the North Carolina State — had also disbanded. Minor league baseball in North Carolina went from 43 teams to 11. Today, there are only six teams.
What brought about this change? First, there was competition from other sports: college football and basketball got a great deal of the entertainment dollar and NASCAR was growing from its infancy. And, of course, more and more households were buying televisions, purchases that consumed entertainment dollars while providing the entertainment. Lumberton never made another foray into professional baseball. The town did have an entrant in a semi-pro league. It did not draw well, and it performed poorly on the field. In a few short years, it too was gone.
“Game called across the field of play
the dusk is come, the hour is late.
The fight is lost or won,
the player files out through the gate.
The tumult dies, the cheer is hushed,
the stands are bare, the park is still.”
Grantland Rice
Credits: I drew my information from the microfilm copies of The Robesonian at the Robeson County Public Library in Lumberton and from “Professional Baseball in North Carolina, An illustrated City-by-City History, 1901-1996” by J. Chris Holaday.
