Western Carolinas League (1973)
Tombstone
Born: 1973
Affiliation Change: 1974 (Orangeburg Dodgers)
First Game: April 13, 1973 (L 14-3 @ Charleston Pirates)
Last Game: August 28, 1973 (W 7-6 vs. Charleston Pirates)
Western Carolinas League Championships: None
Stadium
Ownership & Affiliation
Owner: Verner Ross
Major League Affiliation: Co-Op (St. Louis Cardinals and others)
Attendance
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Source: Lloyd Johnson & Miles Wolff, Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, Third Edition (Durham, NC: Baseball America, 2007). Page 563.
Background
A cool-looking program from the obscure Orangeburg Cardinals of the old Western Carolinas League. The Cardinals reside in our One-Year Wonders file, as the team lasted just a single summer in 1973.
The team’s name and the St. Louis Cardinals logo on the program cover would seem to identify the club as a low-level (single-A) farm club of St. Louis. However, the club was actually a Co-Op club, receiving the bulk of its players from St. Louis but also several from other Major League teams. No longer allow under Minor League Baseball rules today, co-op farm teams popped up occasionally back in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Rather than have a single Major League parent club, multiple Major League clubs contributed players to the roster. It was an arrangement of last resort and these loaner players were often held in low regard. Co-op teams frequently finished near the bottom of the standings. The 1973 Orangeburg Cardinals’ last place record (50-72) was typical for this type of arrangement.
Jimmy & The Macho Man
Two particularly notable figures were involved with the Orangeburg Cardinals in 1973.
One was field manager Jimmy Piersall. Piersall was a talented outfielder in the Major Leagues from 1950-1967. Although a two-time All-Star with the Boston Red Sox, his on-field abilities were overshadowed by his erratic behavior and public battle with mental illness. Piersall was institutionalized in his early twenties during his time with the Boston Red Sox. At the time, his troubles were attributed variously to a domineering father who pushed him to excel at baseball and to nervous exhaustion. Today it is commonly understood that Piersall suffered from bi-polar disorder. His story was turned into the autobiography Fear Strikes Out, later a movie with Anthony Perkins portraying Piersall.
The other was a 20-year old outfielder provided by St. Louis named Randy Poffo. Poffo appeared in 46 games for Orangeburg and he hit .250. His baseball career was over by the end of the following summer, but Poffo went on to superstardom in the 1980’s and 1990’s as pro wrestling legend Randy “Macho Man” Savage.
End of the Road
Following the 1973 season, the Los Angeles Dodgers took over the Western Carolinas League farm club in Orangeburg. The Orangeburg Dodgers also lasted just one season at Orangeburg’s Mirmow Field before pulling out at the end of 1974. Pro baseball has never returned to the city.
Looking Back
Brian Merzbach over at BallparkReviews.com has some nice photos of Orangeburg’s Mirmow Field. Brian points out that the field is rather nice (by 1970’s standards) and it’s somewhat surprising that pro ball had such a short stay there before rising stadium standards rendered the facility obsolete in the late 1980’s.
Back in the days of the Western Carolinas League (1960-1979), souvenir program advertising represented a substantial portion of a team’s annual advertising revenue. Today, the printed game program has become an endangered species. But back in 1973, it was a simpler time and advertisers, such as this comically plainspoken Orangeburg chiropractor, just wanted get a simple message across…
In Memoriam
Outfielder Randy Poffo died of a heart attack while driving on May 20, 2011. The Macho Man was 58 years old. New York Times obituary.
Manager Jimmy Piersall passed away on June 3, 2017 at the age of 87. New York Times obituary.
Links
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