| Number | |
| Attorneys | 128 |
|---|---|
| Bankers | 77 |
| Business Executives | 377 |
| Judges | 9 |
| Manufacturers | 6 |
| Insurance agents | 54 |
| Realtors | 46 |
| Accountants | 41 |
| Brokers | 19 |
| Entertainment | 13 |
| Automobile Dealers | 166 |
| Hotel and Restaurant Owners | 43 |
| Beverage Distributors | 50 |
| Florists | 2 |
| Contractors | 45 |
| Farmers | 65 |
| Small Business | 529 |
| Doctors | 75 |
| Newspaper/Radio | 73 |
| Morticians | 14 |
| Salesmen | 62 |
| City/State/Federal | 76 |
| Teachers | 7 |
| Architects | 1 |
| Baseball | 291 |
| Housewives | 18 |
The twelveth AFL season marked the return
of the Alabama-Florida League name. Greenville, Brewton, Geneva,
and Andalusia all disappeared from the league map and in their
places entered two Florida teams: Panama City and Tallahassee.
The league, paired down to a 6-team unit was not only more efficient
size-wise, but all six teams were located within an 150 mile
circle that covered the panhandle and southeastern Alabama. No
one could have guessed what a remarkable season 1951 would be:
Not only would the league’s best hitter be killed by a pitched
ball, but the league would come within a hair of disbanding twice
in a 50 day period: Once as a result of the beaning’s aftermath
and the other time because of an umpire strike. The
beaning death of Ottis Johnson is well
documented elsewhere on the web page, as is the
umpire strike . Both events were tramatic
because they exposed weaknesses in the league leadership, the
rule structures, and the economic strength of the teams. League
president
G. D. Halstead was exposed as a weak leader unable to manage
the volatile events, and if not for Montgomery president and
former journalist, Stuart Stephenson’s mediation this would have
been the end of the AFL. Stephenson resolved the Clifton/Johnson
crisis while Halstead « took a vacation », and he also
resolved the Chase Riddle incident and kept Enterprise from leaving
the league. Stephenson’s leadership was what kept the league
afloat and there were probably numerous requests from owners
for Stephenson to become the next president but he never did
take over. The league righted itself and continued on, only to
have yet one more crisis: league scorers failed to turn in boxscores
for 55 games. All Panama City home game boxscores after June
20th were lost as were several from Enterprise and Ozark. Because
of this, there are no « official » stats for the 1951
season, and no fielding stats exist at all.
Ottis Johnson’s record for the season was never recorded in
the 1951 statistics. The stats for the season are all incomplete
but for some reason, Johnson doesn’t show up at all. Given that
this was his only professional season, he was not only killed
playing pro ball, but he left no trace in the record books that
he ever played at all.
Headland compiled the best record in AFL history during 1951.
The Dixie Runners were so strong that they finishing 40 games
or more ahead of two teams.
Harry « Jack » Clifton, the pitcher who threw the
beanball that killed Ottis Johnson, Bill Williams, and Tom Stone
combined to win 63 of Headland’s 80 victories.
No team in the league had an affiliation with a major league
club during 1951.
Once again, the team that won the regular season was knocked
out by the fourth seed in the playoffs: Tallahassee squeeked
by Headland, 4 games to 3.
Enterprise had 4 managers during the season.
A PONY League game between Olean and Batavia is brought to
a standstill by a skunk that wanders onto the field. With no
players or umpires willing to risk getting sprayed, a long delay
ensued until the skunk found his way off the field. By the time
the game was resumed, virtually all of the fans had gome home.
of the
officers of the many minor league teams. Notice that only 291
individuals were full-time baseball executives:
| Headland | 84 | 36 | 0 | .700 | ** |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ozark | 72 | 45 | 0 | .615 | 10.5 |
| Tallahassee | 65 | 52 | 0 | .556 | 17.5 |
| Dothan | 50 | 69 | 0 | .420 | 33.5 |
| Enterprise | 44 | 76 | 0 | .367 | 40 |
| Panama City | 41 | 78 | 0 | .345 | 42.5 |
1951 Season
Won
Lost
Tie
PCT
GB
| 1951 Shaugnnessey Playoffs |
|---|
| Tallahassee defeated Headland, 4 games to 3 |
| Dothan defeated Ozark, 4 games to 1 |
| Dothan defeated Tallahassee, 4 games to 2 |
| Team | Attendance | AVG * |
|---|---|---|
| Dothan | 45,101 | 751 |
| Panama City | 40,116 | 668 |
| Tallahassee | 31,051 | 517 |
| Ozark | 15,983 | 266 |
| Enterprise | 14,500 | 241 |
| Headland | 13,675 | 227 |
| Totals: | ||
| Playoffs: | 16,955 | ** |
| All star game | 3,128 | ** |
The average is based on 60 home games in a 120 game season.
Most teams didn’t play the full 120 games.
160,426
2,673
| Team Name | Managers | Batting Leader | Home Run Leader | RBI Leader | Wins Leader | Losses Leader | ERA Leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emory Lindsey/ Holt Milner | Dick York .311 | Lamar Bowden / Morris Johnson / Bob Odenheimer 3 |
Morris Johnson 64 | Dick York 11 | Dick York 12 | Not available | |
| Richard Hahn / James Guinn / Irv Fortune / Bill Brightwell |
Jim Guinn .353 | Bill Brightwell / Stan Mann / Clude Greene 3 |
Jim Guinn 50 | Lorenzo Hinchman 11 | Early Williams 15 | Not available | |
| Bubba Ball | Al Rivenbark .359 | Herb Marshall 9 | John McPherson 130 | Harry Clifton / Tom Stone 22 | Tom Stone 9 | Not available | |
| Roxie Humberson / Phil Noto / Bill Herring |
John Hitson .305 | Roxie Humberson 6 | Roxie Humberson 54 | Bruce Foster 5 | Bruce Foster 11 | Not available | |
| Charles Quimby | Charles Quimby .404 | Charles Quimby 13 | Charles Quimby 97 | Dario Jiminez 12 | Lou Ballard 7 | Not available |
| Team Offense | G | AB | R | H | TB | 2 | 3 | HR | SH | SB | BB | K | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Headland | 111 | 3947 | 781 | 1161 | 1552 | 211 | 61 | 33 | 43 | 115 | 484 | 386 | .296 |
| Tallahassee | 101 | 3526 | 685 | 995 | 1388 | 149 | 56 | 43 | 47 | 81 | 622 | 515 | .282 |
| Ozark | 101 | 3613 | 669 | 957 | 1290 | 146 | 53 | 25 | 45 | 169 | 611 | 467 | .269 |
| Panama City | 81 | 2757 | 402 | 608 | 870 | 114 | 30 | 12 | 28 | 52 | 528 | 446 | .244 |
| Dothan | 109 | 3788 | 580 | 924 | 1237 | 170 | 31 | 26 | 57 | 107 | 541 | 529 | .241 |
| Enterprise | 99 | 3609 | 479 | 643 | 1079 | 131 | 31 | 18 | 42 | 53 | 432 | 490 | .239 |
The low number of total games per team is a reflect of lost
statistics, not a lower number of games played
| 1951 Hitting Leaders | Name | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Runs Scored | Al Rivenbark | Headland | 127 |
| Hits | Al Rivenbark | Headland | 169 |
| Doubles | John McPherson | Headland | 36 |
| Triples | Wilmer Chappell | Tallahassee | 11 |
| Home Runs | Chuck Quimby | Tallahassee | 13 |
| Sacrifices | Tom Stone | Headland | 10 |
| RBIs | John McPherson | Headland | 130 |
| Stolen Bases | George Wemeyer | Tallahassee | 41 |
| Batting Average | Chuck Quimby | Tallahassee | .404 |
| 1951 Pitching Leaders | Name | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Tom Stone | Headland | 33 |
| Innings | Tom Stone | Headland | 247 |
| Wins | Tom Stone Harry Clifton |
Headland Headland |
22 |
| Loses | Early Williams | Enterprise | 15 |
| Win Percentage | Harry Clifton | Headland | .786 |
| Strikeouts | Harry Clifton | Headland | 245 |
| Runs | Tom Stone | Headland | 119 |
| Bases On Balls | Harry Clifton | Headland | 194 |
| Hits | Tom Stone | Headland | 205 |
| Hit Batsmen | Harry Clifton | Headland | 12 |
| Wild Pitches | Harry Clifton Cliff Serbin |
Headland Tallahassee |
12 |
The 1951 All Star Game
The league’s tenth annual all-star
game was the second one to use an east-west format. The game
was played in Panama City on July 10th. The East team was comprised
of players from Panama City, Dothan, and Tallahassee, while the
west was made up of players from Headland, Ozark, and Enterprise.
The game was a low scoring event which the East team won 2-0
on a two-run homer by former Crimson Tide football and baseball
star, Mike Mizerany. Noticably absent was Harry Clifton.
| EAST SQUAD | TEAM | POS | WEST SQUAD | TEAM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Mizerany | Panama City | 1st | Al Rivenbark | Headland |
| John Hitson | Panama City | 2nd | Chase Riddle | Ozark |
| George Wehmeyer | Tallahassee | SS | Leon Hilyer | Headland |
| Jim Colley | Dothan | 3rd | Jim Guinn | Enterprise |
| Morris Johnson | Dothan | Of | Bennie Shaw | Ozark |
| Wilmer Chappell | Tallahassee | Of | Joe Clark | Ozark |
| Roxie Humberson | Panama City | Of | Billy Myers | Enterprise |
| Chuck Quimby | Tallahassee | Ut | Jim Ball | Headland |
| Marion Bowden | Dothan | Ut | Wallace Hanna | Enterprise |
| Phil Noto | Panama City | C | Joe Boehmer | Ozark |
| ** | ** | C | Aubrey Baker | Headland |
| Dario Jiminez | Tallahassee | P | Tom Litchford | Ozark |
| Marcus Davis | Dothan | P | Early Williams | Enterprise |
| Dick York | Dothan | P | Jack Weeks | Enterprise |
| John Mytrysak | Panama City | P | ** | ** |
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