Tarboro Tars Explained

Tarboro Tars
Allyears:	1937–1941, 1946–1952
City:	Tarboro, North Carolina
Class Level:	Class D
League:	Coastal Plain League
Leaguechamps:	1940, 1948

Tarboro Tars was the primary name of a minor league baseball team based in Tarboro, North Carolina. The team competed in the Coastal Plain League from 1937 to 1941 and from 1946 to 1952. The team used several other nicknames during its history, and had brief affiliations with the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Athletics of Major League Baseball.

In the team's 12 seasons of play, it qualified for the postseason five times, advanced to the league championship series three times (1937, 1940, and 1948), and won the championship twice (1940 and 1948).^{[1] [2]}

Tarboro had previously fielded minor league teams in 1900 and 1901, and for part of the 1921 season when the Petersburg Goobers relocated to Tarboro from Petersburg, Virginia, in early August.^[3]

Notable players

Several players with Tarboro also made appearances in Major League Baseball:

• 1937:^[4] Soup Campbell, Snake Henry
• 1938:^[5] Campbell, Henry, Buster Maynard
• 1939:^[6] Bob Allen, Bill Donovan
• 1940:^[7] Hank Schenz, Bill Steinecke
• 1941:^[8] Bob Hooper, Ray Murray, Frankie Zak
• 1946:^[9] —

• 1947:^[10] Otey Clark
• 1948:^[11] Jake Daniel
• 1949:^[12] Joe Antolick, Bob Zick
• 1950:^[13] Antolick, Zick
• 1951:^[14] Eric Mackenzie, Joe Rullo
• 1952:^[15] —

Results by season

Season	Nickname	Affiliation	Record (win %)	Finish	Manager	class=unsortable	Playoffs (games)	Attendance	class=unsortable	Ref.
1937	Combs	—		3rd of 8		defeated Williamston Martins (3–0) lost to Snow Hill Hill Billies (1–4)	unknown
1938	Serpents	—		2nd of 8	Snake Henry	lost to Snow Hill Hill Billies (2–4)	unknown
1939	Serpents / Goobers	—		8th of 8	Guy Shatzer Fred Neisler Larry Merville	—	unknown
1940	Tars	—		2nd of 8	Arthur "Cowboy" McHenry Bill Steinecke Wes Ratteree	defeated Goldsboro Goldbugs (4–1) defeated Kinston Eagles (4–2)	unknown
1941	Orioles	—		7th of 8	Thomas "Poke" Whalen	—	unknown
1942–1945		Coastal Plain League did not operate during World War II					—
1946	Tars			5th of 8	Michael Kardish F. L. "Bull" Hamons	—	46,679	^[16]
1947	Tars	—		3rd of 8	F. L. "Bull" Hamons	lost to Kinston Eagles (2–4)	75,281
1948	Tars	—		1st of 8	F. L. "Bull" Hamons	defeated Rocky Mount Leafs (4–2) defeated Kinston Eagles (4–1)	67,767
1949	Athletics	—		6th of 8		—	41,212
1950	Tars			7th of 8	Joe Antolick	—	36,467
1951	A's	Philadelphia Athletics				—	6,431
1952	Tars	—		7th of 8	Bill Long	—	28,439

Other sources list the team's 1937 nickname as Serpents,^[4] 1940 nickname as Cubs,^[7] and A's during 1948–1951.^{[11] [12] [13] [14]}
In 1951, Tarboro and the Greenville Robins withdrew from the league in early June.^[17]

Notes and References

1. News: Tarboro Annexes Coastal's Finals . . . 14 . September 15, 1940 . February 25, 2021 . newspapers.com.
2. News: Standings . . . 22 . September 22, 1948 . February 25, 2021 . newspapers.com.
3. Book: The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball . Lloyd . Johnson . Miles . Wolff . Third . . 2007 . 978-1932391176.
4. Web site: 1937 Tarboro Serpents Statistics.
5. Web site: 1938 Tarboro Serpents Statistics.
6. Web site: 1939 Tarboro Serpents/Goobers Statistics.
7. Web site: 1940 Tarboro Cubs Statistics.
8. Web site: 1941 Tarboro Orioles Statistics.
9. Web site: 1946 Tarboro Tars Statistics.
10. Web site: 1947 Tarboro Tars Statistics.
11. Web site: 1948 Tarboro A's Statistics.
12. Web site: 1949 Tarboro A's Statistics.
13. Web site: 1950 Tarboro A's Statistics.
14. Web site: 1951 Tarboro A's Statistics.
15. Web site: 1952 Tarboro Tars Statistics.
16. Web site: 1946 Coastal Plain League . . February 24, 2021.
17. News: League Drops Robins & A's . . . 19 . June 8, 1951 . February 25, 2021 . newspapers.com.