Florida
For 6 years, from 1953 through 1958,
Graceville, Florida was known as « the biggest little town
in Professional Baseball ». Graceville is located in
the northern panhandle of Florida, around 35 miles south of Dothan,
Alabama. In the mid fifties, Graceville’s population was
1658, yet they successfully supported a Class D team in the AFL.
This gave them the distinction of being the smallest town at that
time to have a professional baseball team (the smallest
city to support a team in AFL history was Headland, which was
in the AFL in 1950-1952, and had a population at the time of 1090).
The team was financed by a group of Graceville’s wealthiest citizens
including G. W. Morrow, who operated one of the world’s biggest
peanut processing plants and Mayor Neil Williams. In this time,
when television was still in it’s infancy, the « thing to
do » on a summer evening was to go to the ball game to not
only cheer on the team, but to socialize. Graceville was proud
of their team, and especially proud of the status it brought to
the town. Former Graceville Batboy, Lane Harris has fond memories
of the way it was: « My father, Sonny Harris, had a sports
program on WOOF radio during that time called « Sunny Spots
in Sports ». He reported all of the Alabama-Florida league
game scores every morning. He was the scorekeeper for Graceville
as well as the public address announcer. I took over these duties
when I was in the 11th and 12 grades. Baseball was ‘king’ in Graceville,
and the whole town thrived on baseball stories year round. I grew
up in Graceville during this time, and delivered newspapers to
all of the members of the Graceville Oilers….. (they usually
took The Montgomery Advertiser because of it’s excellent sports
reporting). As batboy for 2 years, I also travelled with them
on road trips (in station wagons). » The Oilers were brought
to town by a group of local businessmen, lead by G.W. Morrow,
who ran the Golden Peanut processing plant just beyond the first
base side of Sportsman’s Park.
The men behind the Graceville Oilers
in 1957 were (sitting, L to R) E.D. Patterson, J.M. Cooper,
Mayor Neil Williams, and G.W. Morrow, the peanut king, (standing
L to R) P.W. Bottoms, W.E. Henderson, G.A. Watford, R.C. Curry,
O.C. Roberts.
The citizens of Graceville loved their
team, and came out often to support them. In 1955, the All-Star
game in Graceville drew over 3000 fans. In 1956, The Oilers
drew a respectable 21,584 fans for the season and 23,098 in 1957,
besting many larger cities and towns in the minor leagues.
The Oilers were so proud of their drawing ability that in 1957,
they challenged league newcomer and former Class B city, Montgomery,
Alabama, that they would outdraw the Rebels on opening day. Montgomery’s
stadium could hold 5000 fans, compared to the small number that
[Sportman’s
Park] could
hold. Seating was limited at Sportman’s, but there was plenty
of room for lawn chairs. The Montgomery Advertiser the following
day lists the Rebel’s attendance at 1782 and conveniently left
the attendance figures off the box score for the Graceville opener.
Did they outdraw Montgomery? No record is currently available,
but I’d like to think the might have made good on their promise.
The Oilers finished the 1957 season as co-champs with the
Panama City Fliers when bad weather forced a cancellation in the
final play-off series. The local ownership always knew that
they needed a great team to maintain interest, and at the end
of 1958 the bubble burst. The owners tried to work something
out with former major league affiliate, Cincinnati, but
Graceville was no longer valued as a farm team location by the
Reds. The AFL had reached a point where each teams really
needed an affiliation deal to make ends meet, and no major clubs
wanted to put their money into tiny Graceville. The small
but loyal fan base were shocked to lose their team. Many
Oiler boosters resorted to driving to Dothan or Panama City to
watch games and they clung to the hope that a team would return
to Sportsman’s Park. It never happened.
Graceville
Oiler and AFL President, Billy Moore
Billy Moore, local banker and the president
of the Oilers in 1958 was elected as the AFL commissioner for
1959, the first year since 1953 that Graceville didn’t have
a pro baseball team. Moore was optimistic that Graceville
would get a team back for the 1960 season, but the end of professional
baseball in Graceville had come. While it lasted though, Graceville
was the proudest spot on the baseball map.
The 1957 season was a highwater mark
for the Oilers: They were co-champions, the All-star game was
played in Graceville, and player-manager (and former major leaguer)
Bob Wellman had an amazing season, batting .404, with 30 home
runs and 113 RBIs in only 297 at bats. The ’57 team had great
pitching and excellent hitting. Among the starters was a young
kid playing in his first and only professional baseball season,
his name was [David
Fisher].
David was a decent fielder with some speed (he stole 12 bases
that season), but like many young men giving baseball a try, he
chose to end his professional after his first season and raise
a family. Fortunately for us, he took a group of wonderful pictures
of his teammates, and even more fortunately, his son, Todd Fisher,
has given us a chance to see these photos.
Oilers
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