(Windows Media Player required.). Its neat, though, to see the halo on the crown of the cap. The address is 474 North Center Street, Statesville, North Carolina. The Continental League ended up collapsing while still in the drawing board phase in August 1960, with the Western Carolina League midway through its first season. [28], The Statesville Owls were referenced to have hosted home minor league games at Cooper Field from 1939 to 1942. Of those shown in the photo, four are still with us Jack Hiatt, Dick Simpson, Paul Mosley and George Bryson. The next day, the players were treated to a barbecue at Jerry Foxs farm. National Professional Soccer League Baltimore Bays 1 Oakland Clippers 0 Windows Media Player and a broadband (cable modem, DSL) Internet connection are required. Airy, NC 7 pm (postponed), MON, 7/4 V. MORAVIANS TRUIST POINT STADIUM, HIGH POINT ROCKERS BALLPARK, 4 pm (L, 12-4), TUE, 7/5 V. NATIVE AMERICAN NATIONAL TEAM TRUIST POINT STADIUM, HIGH POINT ROCKERS BALLPARK, 5 pm (rainout, DTs leading 8-0 after 4 inn. Ivan Zambrano of the Lake Norman Copperheads used a surge in the second round of the derby to set the tone for his championship in the 2022 Home Run Derby. Statesville, North Carolina was Class D, a rough equivalent to todays Low Class-A. Tucson Community Center The Owls leave the SCBL this summer in favor of returning as an independent. [2] Statesboro folded after the 1900 season and did not return to the 1901 North Carolina Association. Dont expect big crowds, at least not initially. Pauls scrapbook also helped me figure out a lot about where minor league spring training was based. The other teams appearing on their scheduleCharlotte Crushers, Catawba Valley Stars, Lenoir Oilers, Kernersville Bulldogs, Mooresville Spinners and Race City Bootleggersare members of either the SCBL or Carolina Virginia Collegiate League. But after four years of research, phone calls, letters, e-mails and an October 2009 gathering at the Angels minor league complex in Tempe, the 1961 Statesville Owls have finally returned to their home ballpark. Sunday Closed . We established the initial contacts to make possible that 50th anniversary reunion. In the playoffs, the Owls defeated the Lenoir Indians 3 games to 2 and the Hickory Rebels 4 games to 1 to win the 1940 Tar Heel League Championship. Former Statesville Owl Mason Stikeleather (44) makes contact with the ball. You can help with a tip for our Speed Fund today. 14 talking about this. He signed working agreements with a Triple-A team in Dallas-Ft. Worth that was already affiliated with the Phillies, and with a Class D team in Statesville, North Carolina whose players were mostly signed independently. Attendance: 14,801, Las Vegas Locos vs. Florida Tuskers. Statesville won handily, 11-6, but the game would turn . The 1960's ball club followed the original Owls (1939-1942) of the Tarheel League and the North Carolina State League and a post-WWII revival that played in the latter league from 1947 . Paul loaned me the scrapbook he kept during his career; its helped to unearth much of the buried early history of the Angels minor leagues. With respective college seasons ending prematurely due to the coronavirus, eagerness to get back on the diamond is certain to be at an all-time high for Owls players. He threw the first Angels organizational no-hitter on this field on August 26, 1961. The Angels had affiliates that year in Tri-City (Kennewick, Pasco and Richland in Washington state), San Jose and Quad Cities (Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa, and Moline and Rock Island, Illinois). Flitcraft went down to the bullpen to throw beforehand. On June 11, 1953, the Statesville Blues, with a record of 1328, disbanded. Next. Three went on to major league careers. Full-Time. The Statesville Owls played their home opener on May 3, 1961, against the Lexington Indians. My wife and I moved to Florida last summer, which put me in driving range of Statesville. But Mosley and Bryson didnt arrive until near the end of June. The Angels expanded from two minor league teams in 1961 to five in 1962, so they needed more than Amerige Park. GameChanger is the best free mobile Baseball scorekeeping application, used by teams like the Owls for full, detailed and accurate season and player statistics. It doesnt bother me that much, Bonifay said. Statesville Owls @StatesvilleOwls. Bob Bralley, a 23-year old pitcher on the team, took over as player/manager midway through the season and led the Owls on a 40-17 stretch run to the pennant. ), Lloyd Johnson & Miles Wolff, 1993. [32][33][34][35], Statesville Owls playersStatesville Blues playersStatesville Colts playersStatesvlle Cubs playersStatesville Tigers playersStatesville/Monroe Indians players, "1900 North Carolina Association (NCA) on StatsCrew.com", "1900 Statesville Roster on StatsCrew.com", "1901 Virginia-North Carolina League (VNCL) on StatsCrew.com", "1939 Tar Heel League (THL) Minor League Baseball Standings on StatsCrew.com", "1940 Tar Heel League (THL) Minor League Baseball Standings on StatsCrew.com", "1942 North Carolina State League (NCSL) Minor League Baseball on StatsCrew.com", "1953 Statesville Blues minor league baseball Statistics on StatsCrew.com", "1953 Tar Heel League (THL) Minor League Baseball Standings on StatsCrew.com", "1964 Statesville Colts Roster on StatsCrew.com", "1967 Statesville Tigers Roster on StatsCrew.com", "Statesville/Monroe Indians Statistics and Roster on StatsCrew.com", "1969 Statesville/Monroe Indians Roster on StatsCrew.com", "1969 Statesville/Monroe Indians Statistics", "Statesville, North Carolina Encyclopedia", "COLLEGE BASEBALL: Statesville Owls returning to the diamond under new leadership", "Athletic Park in Statesville, NC history and teams on StatsCrew.com", "Cooper Field in Statesville, NC history and teams on StatsCrew.com", "Alex Cooper Park | Welcome to Statesville, North Carolina! The Angels had only two minor league teams in their 1961 inaugural season, the Triple-A Dallas-Ft. Worth Rangers and the Class D Western Carolina Leagues Statesville Owls. first aid merit badge lesson plan. Circumstances required me to bow out, so the locals took over planning, led by the new Southern Collegiate Baseball League Statesville Owls. [18] The Tigers finished with a record of 4281 to place 7th in 1966 and a 5962 record to place 4th in 1967, missing the playoffs in both seasons. The next day, as part of their FanFest, the Owls will play a doubleheader and honor the alumni. The Statesville Owls were part of the Western Carolina League, a circuit created to feed talent into the Contintental League, a proposed third major league. September 3, 1967 document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. There are 31 scheduled games. Statesville is about 50 minutes north of Charlotte, 40 minutes south of Elkin, 45 minutes southwest of Winston-Salem, and about 1 hour 10 minutes southwest of Greensboro. The club won the Western Carolina League crown with a 62-36 record, though competition was slight the WCL had shrunk to just four member teams by the summer of 1962. 1998-99 International Basketball Association Media Guide, Manute Bol and Spud Webb on the cover of a 1992 United States Basketball League Marketing Brochure, 1992 United States Basketball League Marketing Brochure BASEBALL: Owls anticipate start to season; no home games for a while though. CA Disclosures Your email address will not be published. Taipei . A lot of guys are just ready for this to be over and ready to get out on the field and play, said Bonifay, whose Montreat baseball team was 15-12 coming out of spring break when the Cavaliers learned their season was over. Continue with Recommended Cookies. Thursday, June 2 Mooresville Spinners vs Statesville Owls -7pm. It all began when the Los Angeles Angels, one of two American League expansion teams in 1961, desperately needed minor league affiliates. With its assumed Major League patron dead, the WCL contracted from 8 to 6 teams in 1961 and the surviving teams hustled to secure Major League affiliations. Owls are back at home tomorrow night! You can cancel at any time. Why Statesville would owe D-FW $1,500 for a working agreement is beyond me. Statesville baseball historian Steve Hill had in his collection the above photo of 1961 Statesville Owls, which Id never seen before. International Womens Professional Softball Association, 1974 Golden Gaters Program Also missing is Walt Darton, the ace pitcher from L.A. whose career was ended by an elbow injury suffered during a brawl with Lexington on May 31. The Statesville/Monroe team finished with a record of 6163 to place 3rd in 1969. The third inning was big for the Foots tallying four runs. . It helps bring those people back out (to the ballpark) who remember watching them play in high school, he said. Their leading pitcher was Ben Gilks, 4-1 with two saves. George Trautman was the president of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues from 1947 until his death in 1963. DFW had players from the Angels, Phillies, Twins and a few from other organizations. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. When my wife and I drove cross-country last May to move from California to Florida, Paul and his wife Betty Jo were gracious enough to let us stay overnight at their home near Houston. The other affiliate was the Triple-A Dalls-Ft. Worth Rangers, an affiliation shared with the Philadelphia Phillies. Published specifically for the Colorado Springs Sky Sox market, 1970-71 Sporting News American Basketball Association Guide, 1973 Grand Rapids Tackers Program from the Continental Basketball Association. The scrapbook also had a copy of a 1965 Angels minor league spring training program, a rather unique item: One side of this folded program is still glued to the scrapbook, so I couldnt remove it, but I scanned the rest and used Adobe PhotoShop to reassemble it into a digital document. The letter indicates a $3,000 check was being sent to the NAPBL to cover $1,500 owed D-FW for their working agreement, and another $1,500 owed D-FW for spring training costs. Ive tracked down quite a bit of Statesville history, and last September we staged a reunion of eight surviving Statesville players at the Angels minor league complex in Tempe, Arizona. The Owls play their home opener June 2 against the High Point Locos. Please subscribe to keep reading. Wrigley Field was torn down in the 1960s, the Dallas ballpark has alsopassed into history, but the Statesville field remains as the only surviving remnant of 1961. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. The order is scheduled to run through June 26. You can cancel at any time. I walked on that field, met those players, and became one of them when they asked me to autograph their first-pitch baseballs. The ballpark had a capacity of 4,000 in 1939 and dimensions (Left, Center, Right) of 410410325 in 1939. Cooper Park is still in existence as a public park, located at Wilson Lee Avenue &, Goldsboro Avenue, Statesville, North Carolina[29][30][31], In the seasons between 1945 and 1969, Statesville minor league teams played home games at Senior High Stadium, located at Statesville High School. Snead, the nephew of pro golf legendSam Snead, played one more season of minor league baseball in 1963 before following his uncle into the PGA Tour. The first pitch in each game will be thrown out by the alumni, and between games theyll be honored with a ceremony. September 3, 1967, North American Soccer League Logo Sometimes called "High School Park" or "City Park Stadium", the ballpark is still in use at Statesville High School. The Statesville "Owls" moniker was later revived by Statesville teams playing in collegiate summer baseball. The team set up a tent at a Friday night street fair where the players signed autographs on photos created from 1961 images. The third inning was big for the Foots tallying four runs. These are more for the alumni we reunited last year, so they can see what the town looks like today. We met with Ed Thomas and Jerry Fox, two 1961 Owls who still live in Statesville. NPSL Championship Final, 1st Leg Its a tribute to their camaraderie that the 1961 Owls were willing to return to this town of 27,000 people just so they could reunite their band of brothers and walk on that field one more time. Jerrys wife loaned me footage of a home movie her family shot in 1961 of a Statesville game. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Fifty years later, the 1961 Statesville Owls are still a family. This photo from the El Centro newspaper shows the Seattle team at Stark Field in El Centro sometime around early March 1965: An article in the El Centro paper noted that Seattle manager Bob Lemon arrived late in El Centro, upon his return from a 14-game tour of Mexico with half of the split Angel squad. Yikes!

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