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History Corner By Pat Ross & Fran Snead | ||
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Going, Going, Going, Gone – The Bi-State League The Bi State League was a baseball minor league formed around 1934 which included six teams from Virginia and eight teams from North Carolina. It was the area’s first attempt at having a genuine pro baseball league. The league’s final season was in 1942 and it was not restarted after the end of World War II. Teams in the Bi State League were:
According to these records, the combined team from Leaksville, Draper, and Spray, North Carolina was the only team to have played all nine years in the league. The Bassett Furnituremakers, a team that participated in the Bi State League between the years 1935 and 1940, made the playoff games each year of their existence. Bassett won three consecutive league championships from 1936-1938 under three different managers: 1936 Ernie Jenkins; 1937 Ray White; 1938 Walter Novak. From 1936 to 1937, the Bassett Furnituremakers were a farm team for the New York Yankees. In 1938, Bassett was a farm team for the Cincinnati Reds and in 1939 they were a farm team for the Brooklyn Dodgers. When in town, the Furnituremakers would play games in both the Bassett and Martinsville areas and were known to play practice games in Fieldale. Their home field was Riverside Park located on Riverside Drive where the field is beside the HJDB Event Center today. The Martinsville Bulletin states that this ballpark in Bassett was used around 1928 but this was for regular school sports. With the Bi State League forming to begin in Bassett in 1935, Bassett’s Furnituremakers made it their obvious home and continued with that until 1940. The old fence to the ballpark was torn down around 1945-46 and the oldest part of the stadium was torn down around 1950. This left the middle part of the stadium which was still used for sports viewers until this part was “razed by fire” on April 25, 1964 according to the local newspaper. Many of the Bi State League ballplayers made lifelong friends with people in the community, some even finding love and getting married to local girls. Scrapbooks with Bi State newspaper clippings and photographs of the players were cherished treasures that we still appreciate today. Several of the Bi State League players started and ended their baseball careers in this league while others went on and made it to the “big leagues”. But they all left a lasting impression on this area and in this community. Charles Francis Wanagitis played centerfield for the Bassett Furnituremakers from 1935-1940. He married a Bassett girl named Margaret Halbrook who graduated from John D. Bassett High School in 1936. They married in Martinsville after her graduation. When Charlie Wanagitis began playing in the Bi State League the announcers had difficulty pronouncing his last name. They asked if he wouldn’t mind them shortening his name making it easier for them to pronounce. Charlie Wanny was born! Jackson Carl “Jack” Crosswhite went to Salem High School in Salem, Virginia. Jack’s senior yearbook states “Jack’s versatility makes him hard to describe. Those four splendid years on the gridiron – the basketball court – and the baseball diamond! How we count on Jack to help us win our games! We hope someday to see him in the League.” Jack’s baseball ability would send him to the position of catcher for the Bassett Furniutremakers from 1935 to 1937. In 1938 he played for the Norfolk Tars in the Piedmont League. He continued his career playing for numerous teams in the Bi State, Piedmont, Virginia, and Appalachian Leagues. He ended his baseball career as a manager. Joseph Edward Zentara played outfield for the 1938-1939 season for the Bassett Furnituremakers. His batting average was .326 hitting 14 home runs in his 228 game career. Cloy Mitchell “Monk” Mattox, Sr. was an outstanding athlete at Hargrave Military Academy then called Chatham Training School excelling in baseball, football, and basketball. He attended Virginia Tech where he played football and was also a catcher for the school’s baseball team. Before graduating, he left Tech in 1929 to attend the training camp for the Philadelphia Athletics. He made the team and the Athletics won the World Series that year. For the next several seasons, he caught for several farm teams in New York and Pennsylvania. Mattox moved to Bassett to play in the Bi State League for the Furnituremakers and met Dixie Josephine Wade whom he married. Harry Lee Daughtry, Jr. began his baseball career in 1928 when he played for the Goldsboro Manufacturers of the Eastern Carolina League. In 1929, he played for the Charlotte Hornets of the South Atlantic League. In 1930, he went to the Southern Association to play for the Memphis Chicks and the next year was traded to the Mobile team of the same conference. The next year he went to the Decatur, Illinois team which was a team in the Three I League. Daughtry, not enjoying the northern environment and missing his southern roots, came to the area to play for the Bassett Furnituremakers where he played for two seasons. He met Bassett girl, Alice Glenwood Goode, whom he married. After finishing the 1936 season with Bassett, he became the manager of the Mayodan Senators of the same league. In 1939, he joined the Martinsville Manufacturers as the team’s business manager. He closed out his baseball career in 1940 as a player and manager of the Martinsville Manufacturers. Philip Francis “Phil” Rizzuto was the most famous baseball player to play for the Bassett Furnituremakers. He lived in Bassett during his time on the team at the home of Mr. and Mrs. M.E. Helms on Bassett Heights. When Phil arrived in Bassett, the only possessions that he had with him were the clothes on his back. While leaving the Bassett Train Depot after his arrival into town, he spotted Nathan’s Department Store across the street. After talking to the owner, Nathan Weinstein, Phil was able to get all of the clothes that he needed and agreed to pay Nathan back a little each month until his bill was settled. After playing in the 1937 season, Rizzuto soon signed with the New York Yankees. He played his 13 year professional baseball career with the Yankees and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994. Along with the information on the Bi State League that we have here at the Bassett Historical Center (which does not just cover the Bassett Furnituremakers), we also have a few Bi State League treasures. In our display case there is a Phil Rizzuto baseball card when he played with the New York Yankees, a Phil Rizzuto Hall of Fame Stars card when he played for the Bassett Furnituremakers, an Enos Slaughter St. Louis Cardinals baseball card (Slaughter got his start with the Martinsville Manufacturers in 1935), and an autographed Phil Rizzuto baseball. The baseball is signed “To the sweetest and dearest lady in the world Emma Davis” (Mrs. M.E. Helms). Recently, Denton Boardwine donated a poster that he had hanging on the walls of the Fieldale Cafe’ for years. The poster is for the First Annual All-Star Bi State League Baseball Game. We appreciate all of these pieces of history that we are able to share with our patrons which represent an unforgotten part of America’s favorite pastime. Information for this article and for the Bi State League is found in the files at the Bassett Historical Center. | ||