Dr. Richard Hackney
Cherokee County Historical Commission
African Americans are known for their work in the agricultural development of Cherokee County. Despite the lack of educational opportunities and difficulties in acquiring voting rights, advancements in the area of agriculture are well documented.
Through all these obstacles, African Americans were able to make an impact in another great American enterprise – baseball. African-American teams were organized and many baseball games played right here in Cherokee County. These games were a major outlet and means of entertainment for the African-American community.
Representations of players are still the subject of conversations today and many of these players still reside in Cherokee County today. Very little was written about the games and even less about the players. So I must say that it is an honor and privilege to finally put these moments in history in writing.
Because very little was written about these games, most historical accounts were documented orally. Likewise, this article was made possible by oral interviews with surviving players: TJ, Harold and Jerry Johnson and Sammie Gordon of the Corinth community.
With the enormous stressors present in the African-American community, the need for entertainment grew the desire to participate in sports. Because of the lack of integration, these games provided excellent opportunities for community activities and social growth. Public ball parks were segregated. But this did not stop the growth and support of African-American baseball teams in the area. African-American ball fields were located in the African-American communities of Cuney, Hudson, Ponta, Elm Grove, Clemmon Grove and Larissa here in Cherokee County.
TJ Johnson states that “these are some of the things that I remember my mother and father along with other older people talk about the game of baseball that was played back in the 20s, 30s and the early 40s. Baseball was one of the main sports in those days. Just about every African-American community in the surrounding area had a baseball team.”
“The name of the team in the Pinery community during this time was the Pinery Tusk Hogs. My understanding is that they had a very good baseball team. They would play every Saturday doing the summer months and on special holidays. People would look forward to coming out to the ball games. They had a great time and enjoyed themselves very much. During this time people did not have a lot of places to go or things to do. So baseball was truly America’s favorite pastime,” Johnson said.
The names of some of the Pinery Tusk Hogs players included Deuero Miller, Broley Broughton, Green Hall, Jessie Johnson, Lim Johnson and many others.
After many African Americans moved from Pinery to other parts of the Corinth community, they started playing in different places in the community and they always had a good time. Sometime in the early 40s, baseball began to die out in the community. It is speculated that the war and the large number of African Americans serving our nation at the time may have played a role in the sport’s decline.
During the peak of baseball in the community, there was always plenty of food and drink, and everyone had a good time. They enjoyed the fellowship. There were hot dog dinners and fish frys. People would gather early to make sure they did not miss anything. With the absence of TV and very few radios, the young women would cheer and sing during the game to support and encourage their teams. It was about all they had to look forward to — besides going to church Sunday.
In 1951, Mr. Henry Hudson started a team in the Bullard area for a year or two. After that, Harold Johnson started a team.
“We again started playing in the Corinth community for a few years, and we then moved the team home field to Larissa, where they had a baseball diamond. There we played for many years and we had a very good team! We only lost two to four games a year,” Johnson said.
Some names of the players were Harold Johnson, TJ Johnson, Sammie Cordo, Jessie Johnson, OD Jones, Jerry Johnson and Roy Johnson.
Sponsors were communities themselves with no outside sponsorship from commercial businesses. There were very few, if any African-American commercial businesses in the African-American community. Equipment and uniforms were supplied by the players donations. Fundraising consisted of barbecue, hot dog and fish dinners.
Due to the lack of financial support, these games did not continue to grow. As personal interests declined, no new players joined these teams to help maintain the level of community participation. No one was paid, not even the umpires. A hat was passed when a home run was hit for donations. At the Cuney Park, an admission fee was charged because it was a semi-pro field.
The following is a list of the players who played in these games: Warnell Hackney, Arthur W. Hill, Norman Johnson, TJ Johnson, Harold Johnson, Jerry Johnson, Sammie L Gordon and Joe L. Hill
The games were organized by managers in each community. Harold Johnson was a manager and owner for the Larissa Park. P Cross was manager of the Cuney Park. The Larissa Park held the first tailgate event. Games were played on Saturday and Sunday (Cuney). They were held in the daytime because the fields were not lighted.
The seasons lasted from April to October of each year and what a time of great excitement in these communities! It was a time when people would forget about their hard times and come together as friends. When African Americans were allowed to integrate public schools, a decline in African-American-only teams resulted. Integration affected sports and businesses in the African-American community alike. There was a development of softball leagues, which required less physical talent and fear of injuries.
What happened to the ball parks after the decline of these baseball leagues is unfortunate — they no longer exist. They have been taken over by trees, houses and cattle pastures. I wonder if segregation did not exist if some of these players could have been seen by scouts from colleges or professional teams. What would have been possible? Some of the players probably could have played Major League Baseball. Unfortunately, none of these players ever pictured a future in the Major Leagues. These fields were not fields of dreams. The winners received no awards, just memories of the victories.
However, these baseball games were the only organized entertainment for the African-American community. They were well supported by the local and surrounding community. Even today, they still surface as topics of major discussion when former team rivals see each other. It is interesting that the losers are the ones to bring back the memories of games played a long time ago!
Most of these players today are retired — still living in Cherokee County. Some are no longer living. May God bless the wonderful times and roles they played in bringing fun into a community in the midst of difficult times in our history.
Time did not permit me to identify all the teams throughout Cherokee County in this article. If you were excluded, please forgive my oversight and contact me at richth@embarqmail.com so you and/or your team can be included in the next article, Fields Without Dreams.
