State

Tar Heel History By Jim Sumner The Slugger Of ’49 They still talk about the prodigious home runs Leo 'Muscle' Shoals hit for the minor-league Reidsville Luckies during the summer of 1949. When Leo “Muscle” Shoals came to bat foi the Reidsville Luckies in 1949, fans paid attention. Idle chatter in the stands ceased. The concession stands shut down. The only movement came as boys scampered to the stands behind right field, where they hoped Shoals would oblige them with a home run. After all, most of these fans had paid good money to sec the 230- pound first baseman take a rip at the other pitcher’s lx‘st shot. They were rarely disappointed because Muscle Shoals was haring the finest year of a long and distinguished l>aschall carcei and perhaps the best season in North Carolina minor league baseball history. Of course. Tar Heel minor league- base ball fans were long accustomed to seeing high-caliber professional hard¬ ball. The state had been a hotbed of minor league ball for much ol the centu¬ ry and boasted an eyc-opcning -13 teams in 1949. Such future major league stars as Johnny Mi/e (Greensboro), Hank Greenberg (Raleigh) and Johnny Vander Meet (Durham) had stopped oil in the state on their way up the minor league ladder. Muscle Shoals, however, never made the majors, despite his prodigious batting skills. Bad luck, bad liming and bad habits conspired to keep Shoals in the minors. Shoals was bom in 1916 in Camden. West Virginia. In 1936. he signed a pro¬ fessional contract with the St. Louis Cardinals, then and now one ol base¬ ball's strongest franchises. He began his pro career in 1937 in the Pennsylvania State League, where lie batted .366 for Moncsscn. Two years later, playing lot Johnson City (Tennessee). Shoals led the Appalachian League with a .365 batting average. He was clearly a prospect to "'itch. Following the 1939 season, how¬ ever. the Cardinals gave up on Shoals, Phr"> «oulir* N c DmWm ..I An hnr. and lliunn Shoals liked lo show off his ‘muscle. ' selling his contract to the independent Tyler club of the East Texas League. Up to that [>oiiu. Shoals' hitting bril¬ liance had Ix-en undermined by a series ol ofi-field misadventures. In 1938. he punched out his manager. Harrison W'ickel. at New Ilxria (Louisiana) of the Evangeline Ix-ague. He was quickly dis¬ patched to .Albuquerque (New Mexico) of the Ari/ona-Texas League as a result, and reported a week late. In 1939. In- was shot bv a Johnson City bartender follow¬ ing a dispute and almost died. Throughout, he gained a reputation as a carouser, as a player interested as much in breaking curfews as curveballs. Cardinals President Branch Rickey, a base-ball puritan if there ever was one. gave up on Shoals in dismay. In fact. Shoals was told by several scouts that the Cardinals had blacklisted him. making sure other teams knew of his off-field exploits. Whatever chance Shoals had to reha¬ bilitate his tarnished reputation and make an impact on the major league stage disappeared when the United States entered World War II. Shoals The Statc/AuguM 1945 31 spent four years in the Army, where he rose* to corporal, was busted, rose back m sergeant, then contracted malaria and jungle rot in the Pacific. Bv the time In¬ got out ol the .Army, Muscle Shoals was 30 years old and nolrodv’s top prospect But he could still hit. and in the minor leagues ol the- I94(K there was a I wavs a place for somelxxly who could hit home runs and sell tickets. The independent Kingsport. Tennessee, club of the Appalachian league signed the veteran to a contract and he responded by batting .333 in 1946 and a phenomenal .387. with 32 home runs, in 1947. The Washington Senators purchased his contract and sent him to Chattanooga (Tennessee) ol the Southern League. Shoals reported over¬ weight and out ol shape and feuded with his manager. Aftci a few weeks, lie was sent lo Charlotte. The Charlotte Hornets played in the short-lived Tri-State League in 1948. along with teams from Asheville. Fayetteville. South Carolina and Tennessee. Shoals regained his batting stroke in Charlotte, hatting .287 with 21 home runs. I le also almost came to blows with Charlotte manager Joe Bowman over curfew violations. .After the season, the Senators sold his contract to the Reidsville Luckies of the Carolina league. The Carolina league, best known today as the home ol the Durham Bulls, was in its fifth year in 1949. It was a blend of farm teams ol inajot league Hubs and others that were independently operat¬ ed. Hu- Luckies, named after Lucky Strike cigarette* anti owned by local tobacco warehouse millionaire Tom Smothers, were an independent. Since Smothers was under no obligation through major league affiliation to stex k his team with promising youngsters. Un- Luckies featured a healthy nuinhci ol veterans, including a deaf mute outfield¬ er named Dick Sipek. The veteran Shoals fell right at home, which might help explain the spectacular season he had in Reidsville. Shoals sent an early message to Carolina League pitchers when he hit a three-run homer in the first inning of Reidsville's season opener to spark the Luckies to a 12-1 win over Martinsville (Virginia). However, the Luckies had a woeful pitching stall, which led to a 2-14