State

THE STATE Page Three Acres of Diamonds THERE are many of them in IVorlli Caro¬ lina. only they’re acres of baseball dia¬ monds. This year will see greater sports activities in the state than ever before. By J. Cii.ASKILI. >lcl>AMi:i. POKTS like to call North Carolina the lain! of tin* long leaf pine, but warm weather ami youthful enthusiasm are fa»t changing it into a jungle of wildly waving willows. Xot tin* ordinary kind of willow-, that look to terra firma for their sustonaiH*-. No indeedy ! There get their support from tightly elenehed finger-, and иге at their bent when conflicting with II — 1113*11 round bundle of «tilled hor-diide. So prolific i> the growth of Mich tim¬ ber thit spring that all America hn« taken notice. In fact, many of the most con-crvatii’e «ports lovers are re¬ ferring to u* as "the" baseball state, and give Tarheelia abundant credit for helping the national pa-time in its cur¬ rent boom. Four Minor Leagues And well they might, for no less than four minor league- will do business in the Old Xorth State this summer. Heading the list is I>an Hill’s Pied- mont circuit, which claims Asheville, Kooky Mount, Winston-Salem, Dur¬ ham. and Charlotte. The other Pied¬ mont entries are from Virginia, but a persistent story along the grapevine is that the day will come when the league will he entirely made up of Xorth Carolina trams. However, we’re dealing with the present right now, and there’* plenty to talk about without consulting the crystal ball. For instance, there’s the Bi-State League. Mount Airy, lieids- ville. and Leaksvillc are members of this sturdy circuit, and it looks like an¬ other fine season in organized hall is in store for the boys up that way. Dropping down to the Atlantic to- board wc find a new minor league entry. This one, the Coastal Plain, has operated four years as a surcc*-ful semi-pro combination, and it is no se- eret that Judge Bramham and the Xa- tional Association were tickled pink to get the well-handled circuit into the family. The eight Cowlal Plain towns that voted the league into pro loll were (ireenvillc, Kinston, Xew Bern, Wil- liunuton, Tarboro, Ay-den, Goblsboro. and Snow Hill. The Iasi named town has considerably less than a thousand inhabitants, and is credited with being the smallest in the professional group. Inasinueh as there are something like thirty minor leagues in the country, such an honor isn’t to be taken lightly. So much for the Coastal Plain. Let’» take a ]«ek at the North Carolina State la-ague, where shrewd baseball men are busily gelling tbeir ducks in a row. The towns in this bracket are comparatively small, hut they don’t lack for cash customer*. Included are Thomaatillo, Cooleemce, Landis, Moin-sville, Xowt on -Conover, la-xing- ton, Salisbury, and Shelby. This remarkable hankering for the national pastime is not confined to the Judge W. G. Bramham, of Durham, president of the Minor Leagues Base¬ ball Association. professionals, although the pro. do boast a record nutuls-r of entries for u single state. North Carolina abounds with serni-pro eireuiis an- 1 individual in«le|*-n-lent nine I’pstate mill towns are always sun- Ы as are the agri- eultiiral and fishing sections of the east. High school. Ill.l college, find 1и.*- ball a vital requisite for tlieir athletic programs and. though the matter never In» been publicised, there are any пит- hr of girls team, in the various insti¬ tution*. Supplementing these an- the boys and girls softball aggregations, playing a game that i- based on the es¬ sential* of ba-ehall. leaving the slate picture, we expe¬ rience little trouble in locating the lo¬ cal boy, who have made good farther up the ladder. It would take a book to cover the delegates in minor league», •o suppose we just discuss our contri¬ butions to the Main Show. Going about it in a manner that a laced spinster in Boston’s Back Bay •ector would approve of, we hasten to con»ult the 1937 edition of Who’s Wh¬ in Baseball. Here ue find Wesley and Kick Ferrell, who hail from Greensboro and Durham nwpcetivcly. Stringing along with them arc Luke Appling and Kay Hayworth of High Point. Gastonia's Buddy Lewis, Coolec- niee's Baxter Jordan, Mount Airy’s «’hubby Dean, Rich S-|uare's Stuart Martin. Mobanc- Lew Rig*-. Tarboro'a Burgess Whitebcnil, Is-itnir"- Johnnie Allen. Moirisville’s Vie Sorrell, Hil¬ ton’- Monte Weaver, and Greeiishoro'- f’liff Bolton. Worthy Successors These boys are certainly worthy suc¬ cessors to North «’arolinians wlm made the Big Time in another day, including la,- Meadows of Oxford. George Whit- ted <>f Durham, Frank Dari, of Wil¬ son Mill*. John S-ott of Ridgeway. John Benton of Clinton, Tom Zachary of Graham. Hamilton Hyatt of Ashe¬ ville, Krnie Shore of la • I Bend. Mau¬ rice Burrus of Hutteras, Jjki<- May of ( t'l/nliNU'il им (4i«i- liijhh’ n )