The Evergreen Greenies Tri-County League 1947 Season Story by Steve Stacey, a native of Repton, and a resident of Monroeville. Born on the day the league was formed, Steve is the son of a former player at Frisco City and Monroeville. In a time without television, when our nation was still conducting funerals for the war dead from the world war, and as Americans worked to regain their lives, there were few recreational opportunities to be found in the rural counties of south Alabama. “Evergreen was a friendly place, a little dull, with nothing happening except raising kids and watching the trains roll through”, Hubert Smith said, “Then, we got a baseball team”. Cliff Harper, Principal of Evergreen High School, met with J.M. May and C.D. Kelly in Atmore to discuss a proposal to establish an amateur baseball league made up from the communities within the counties of Escambia, Conecuh, and Monroe. The three men traveled to Monroeville and met R.C. Snowden at his barber shop on the courthouse square. From this meeting, the Tri-County League was formed on March 27, 1947. The league headquarters was established in Atmore with J.M. May named President. The league teams agreed to a thirty game split season with an All-Star game to be held at mid-season. Games were scheduled each Thursday afternoon and double-headers were scheduled on Sunday. The league adopted an amateur status for all players. In a short time, teams representing Evergreen, Atmore, Monroeville, Frisco City, Booneville/ McCullough, Brewton, Flomaton, and Jay, Florida were formed and began to practice. Almost every community within Conecuh fielded a local team. An amateur league was already in place and teams from Paul (Aces), Castleberry (Pirates), Bermuda (Bears), Loree (Dollies), Starlington (Stars), and others at Shreve, Skinnerton, and Centerville supplied capable players to the tryouts. Two of Evergreen’s better players, Edsel and Ottis Johnson, came from the rural teams. Mr. Hubert Smith told of the rising excitement in Conecuh as people waited for the season to begin. The first game was scheduled at Brooks Stadium on the campus of Evergreen High School versus Frisco City. To be continued.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 18:32:25 +0000
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