Category: Tampa Bay
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Dr. J. L. Moorefield and Moorefield Ballpark, 1920
Doc Moorefield became St. Pete’s Mr. Baseball for 1920 Part 2 Around the same time, Moorefield gets word from his winter league counterpart in Tampa that the Yankees are looking to relocate from Jacksonville for spring training. Moorefield immediately wires the Yankees business manager, W. H. Sparrow, about coming to St. Pete. Sparrow telegrams back…
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March Madness
Cardinal Style I got this anecdote from Bob Gibson in a book titled Baseball Under Siege: The Yankees, the Cardinals, and a Doctor’s Battle to Integrate Spring Training by Adam Henig, 2016. This occurred in spring training in St. Petersburg, Fl., either in 1959 or ’60. The negro players were segregated from their white Cardinal teammates…
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Coffee Pot Ballpark, Part 17
1919: Now what? Although no official release says that Phillies manager Pat Moran was released, the December 15, 1918, edition of The St. Petersburg Times indicates that Moran quit. The Times also reports the rumor that William Baker was looking to sell the team. Baker repeatedly denied and in fact, died in 1930 while still…
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Coffee Pot Ballpark, Part 16
1918: Where Did Everybody Go? The Phillies training in St. Pete finally came together. In December, owner William Baker originally decided not to come to St. Pete. An exchange of telegrams between Al Lang and Baker finally came to a resolution and the Phillies would come to train after all. The season would start later…
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March Madness in Clearwater
The Phillies seemed to have a particular affinity for basketball players. While today’s game likes to feature very tall pitchers, the Phillies looked for tall guys early on. The starting five, a sixth man, and a coach for the squad are presented here. Center: Neil Johnston 6’8”. Pitcher in Clearwater, 1949-51 Johnston is the most…
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Coffee Pot Ballpark, Part 15
1917: Another Season in the Sun The Phillies return despite not having any major league teams to play. The Cubs have left Tampa, the A’s are still mad and refuse to schedule, and the Braves are deemed too far down in Miami. The squad will play two games against Southern College and otherwise play games…
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Coffee Pot Ballpark, Part 14
1916: The Heroes Return Going into the ’16 spring season, the Phillies will return with just as much optimism of getting the proper work done as they did last spring. The Cardinals pulled out of the state so the Cubs and A’s are the only major league opponents to schedule (the Braves are in Miami,…
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Back-To-Back-To-Back, Part 4
Part 4: Jim Oliver, the Mentor Jim Oliver migrated from Georgia to St. Petersburg to work for the railroad. When is not known. What is known is that he was an excellent baseball player. A shortstop and like his son Nate, was often referred to as “Pee Wee”. Jim played professionally in the early to…
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Coffee Pot Ballpark, Part 13
1915: Here Come the Phillies The happenstance of how the Phillies were led to select St. Pete can perhaps be credited to their chief scout and to the innkeeper of the Detroit Hotel. Capt. William Neal came to St. Pete in 1914 to look at the Browns prospects as the Phillies players were being poached…
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Back-To-Back-To-Back, Part 3
Part 3: Nate Oliver He was known from childhood to the big leagues as “Pee Wee”. Nate Oliver was the son of Jim Oliver a veteran Negro League player who settled in St. Pete. Pee Wee followed George Smith in the Gibbs High School lineage. He also played basketball for Gibbs. There is no record…