Tar Heel League Explained

Tar Heel League
Sport:	Minor League Baseball
President:	M. C. Campbell (1939–1940) Walter H. Woodson, Jr. (1953) Lawson Brown (1954)
Inaugural:	1939
Teams:	13
Country:	United States of America
Continent:	or
Continents:	-->
Folded:	1954
Most Champs:	1 Gastonia Cardinals (1939) Statesville Owls (1940) Lexington Indians (1953) Hickory Rebels (1954)
Classification:	Class D (1939–1940, 1953–1954)

The Tar Heel League was a mid-20th century Class D level professional minor baseball league, based in North Carolina in the United States. It operated during the full seasons of, and, and from the opening of the season through June 21, .^[1]

The first incarnation of the league began and ended the 1939 season with six clubs, but the following year saw the Shelby Nationals and Newton-Conover Twins — one third of the Tar Heel League — drop out on July 19, 1940. The entire league then shut down for 1941 and through World War II.^[1]

During the postwar boom in minor league baseball, the Tar Heel circuit remained dormant, while the Class D level North Carolina State League resumed play in and a new Class D circuit, the Western Carolina League, entered organized baseball in . When the 1950s brought dwindling attendance to minor league baseball and clubs and leagues began to contract, the North Carolina State and Western Carolina leagues merged into a revived Tar Heel League for 1953. A large, ten–club circuit, the 1953 THL shed two teams on June 11 and relocated a third.^[2] The 1954 Tar Heel League fielded four teams, before permanently folding 50 games into the season.^[3] The Western Carolina League returned to baseball in 1960, and still plays as the Class A level South Atlantic League.^[1]

Cities represented

Forest City, NC

Forest City Owls 1953–1954

Gastonia, NC

Gastonia Cardinals 1939–1940

Hickory, NC

Hickory Rebels 1939–1940, 1953–1954

Lenoir Indians 1939; Lenoir Reds 1940

Lexington, NC

Lexington Indians 1953

Lincolnton, NC

Lincolnton Cardinals 1953

Marion, NC

Marion Marauders 1953–1954

Mooresville, NC

Mooresville Moors 1953

Newton, NC & Conover, NC: Newton-Conover Twins 1939–1940
Salisbury, NC

Salisbury Rocots 1953

Shelby, NC

Shelby Nationals 1939; Shelby Colonels 1940; Shelby Clippers 1953–1954

Statesville, NC

Statesville Owls 1939–1940; Statesville Blues 1953; Statesville Sports 1953 ^[1]

Yearly standings & statistics

1939 Tar Heel League

Team name	W	L	PCT	GB	Managers
Gastonia Cardinals	72	36	.667	--
Lenoir Indians	61	46	.570	10.5	Clarence Roper
Statesville Owls	56	51	.523	15.5	Stuffy McCrone
	50	59	.459	22.5	Edward Montague
Hickory Rebels	48	62	.436	25.0	Louis Viau
Newton-Conover Twins	36	69	.343	34.5	Mack Arnette

Playoffs: Gastonia 3 games, Shelby 1.
Statesville 3 games, Lenoir 0. (1 tie.) Finals: Gastonia 4 games, Statesville 3.Player statistics

Player	Team	Stat	Tot		Player	Team	Stat	Tot
Hooper Triplett	Gastonia	BA	.391		Ralph Fox	Newton/Conover	W	17
James Guinn	Shelby	Hits	161		Miles Gardner	Gastonia	W	17
Birch Douglas	Lenoir		Runs	127		Lefty Guise	Lenoir	ERA	2.82
Hooper Triplett	Gastonia	RBI	115		William Skinner	Hickory	SO	212
Hooper Triplett	Gastonia	HR	27		Miles Gardner	Gastonia	PCT	.773 17–5

1940 Tar Heel League

schedule

Team name	W	L	PCT	GB	Managers
Statesville Owls	73	37	.664	--	Stuffy McCrone
Gastonia Cardinals	64	44	.593	8.0
Hickory Rebels	54	52	.509	17.0	Woodrow Traylor
	53	55	.491	19.0	Ray Rice
	27	45.0	.375	NA	Arthur Hauger / Ginger Watts
	16	54	.229	NA	Lou Haneles / Art Patchin

Newton-Conover and Shelby disbanded July 19.
Playoffs: Hickory 3 games, Gastonia 0. Statesville 3 games, Lenoir 2.
Finals: Statesville 4 games, Hickory 1.
Player statistics

Player	Team	Stat	Tot		Player	Team	Stat	Tot
Milt Bocek	Gastonia	BA	.364		Herman Drefs	Statesville	W	17
Milt Bocek	Gastonia	Hits	157		Frank Motley	Newton-Conover	SO	174
Milt Bocek	Gastonia		Runs	98		Robert Bailey	Lenoir	ERA	1.99
Milt Bocek	Gastonia	RBI	109		Price Ferguson	Statesville	PCT	.824 14–3
Frank Shoue	Lenoir	HR	16
Robert Traylor	Hickory	HR	16

1953 Tar Heel League

schedule

Team name	W	L	PCT	GB	Attend	Managers
Marion Marauders	74	35	.679	--	35,322	Bob Beal
Forest City Owls	72	40	.643	3.5	48,812	Len Cross / Boger McGimsey
Shelby Clippers	60	49	.550	14.0	19,247	David Coble
	59	54	.522	17.0	39,453	Alex Monchak
	58	55	.513	18.0	19,413	Jim Mills
	47	64	.423	28.0	27,866	Burl Storie / Hugh Rudisill / Jr. Dodgin/ Charley Knight
Hickory Rebels	46	66	.411	29.5	22,742	William Parker
Salisbury Rocots	44	67	.396	31.0	21,690
High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms	13	28	.317	NA	5,862	Jim Gruzdis / John Lybrand
	13	28	.317	NA	20,925	Fred Chapman / Charley Knight

High-Point-Thomasville & Statesville disbanded June 11.
Lincolnton moved to Statesville July 12.
Playoffs: Marion 4 games, Shelby 2. Lexington 4 games, Forest City 2.
Finals: Lexington 4 games, Marion 2.^[1] Player statistics

Player	Team	Stat	Tot		Player	Team	Stat	Tot
Don Stafford	Hi-Toms/Lexington	BA	.374		Kelly Jack Swift	Marion	W	30
Bob Barker	Marion	Hits	166		Kelly Jack Swift	Marion	SO	321
Carl Miller	Marion		Runs	129		Jose Nakamura	Shelby	ERA	2.40
Don Stafford	Hi-Toms/Lexington	RBI	124		Jim Smiley	Marion	PCT	.857 12–2
Carl Miller	Marion	HR	21

1954 Tar Heel League

schedule

Team name	W	L	PCT	GB	Attend	Managers
Hickory Rebels	34	18	.654	--	8,598
Marion Marauders	26	26	.500	8.0	8,203	Robert Knoke
Forest City Owls	24	24	.500	8.0	8,147	Woody Rich / Richard McKeithan
	16	32	.333	16.0	12,000	Harold Kollar

The League disbanded June 21.^[1] Player statistics

Player	Team	Stat	Tot		Player	Team	Stat	Tot
Mike Yaremchuk	Hickory	BA	.376		Russell Wingo	Hickory	W	11
Mike Yaremchuk		Hickory	Hits	74		John Cathey	Forest City	SO	95
Mike Yaremchuk		Hickory		RBI	45		Leo Davis	Hickory	ERA	1.82
Lou McCotter	Hickory	Runs	52		Russell Wingo	Hickory	PCT	.733 11–4
Joe Cristello	Forest City	HR	5
Harold Kollar	Shelby	HR	5

Notes and References

Book: The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball . Lloyd . Johnson . Miles . Wolff . Third . . 2007 . 978-1932391176.
Web site: 1953 Tar Heel League | Baseball-Reference.com.
Web site: 1954 Tar Heel League | Baseball-Reference.com.