Tombstone
Born: October 1967 – The Knoxville Smokies relocate to Savannah, GA
Affiliation Change: 1969 (Savannah Indians)
First Game: April 17, 1968 (W 6-3 vs. Evansville White Sox)
Last Game: August 31, 1969 (W 5-0 @ Montgomery Rebels)
Southern League Championships: None
Stadium
Ownership & Affiliation
Owner: Joe Buzas
Major League Affiliation: Washington Senators
Attendance
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Source: The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.), Lloyd Johnson & Miles Wolff, 2007
Background
Pro baseball returned to Savannah, Georgia in the spring of 1968 after a six-year absence. The new club was the Savannah Senators, Class AA affiliate of the American League’s Washington Senators.
The Savannah club formed out of the complicated annual re-shuffling and horse trading of Major League farm clubs. Washington pulled their Class AA franchise out of York, Pennsylvania in the Eastern League in November 1967 and agreed to shift it to the Southern League and Savannah’s Grayson Stadium under the management of long-time minor league operator Joe Buzas.
Six Decade Man
The Savannah Senators didn’t fare well in either of their seasons in the Southern League. In 1968 the Sens finished 57-79, avoiding last place in the six-team circuit thanks only to the ineptitude of the Evansville White Sox. The 1969 squad, under field manager Hub Kittle, finished in the cellar at 59-76.
Kittle provided one of the Sens better moments in 1969. The 52-year old manager, who made his minor league debut as a 20-year old pitcher back in 1937, activated himself for a single game, becoming the oldest player in Southern League history. Eleven years later, Kittle did it again. He activated himself as a 63-year old pitcher for the Class AAA Springfield Cardinals for a single game. Today Kittle remains the only professional ballplayer to pitch in six different decades.
Sens Out, Indians In
Following the 1969 season, Savannah’s Major League affiliation passed from Washington to Cleveland and the ball club was re-branded as the Savannah Indians for the 1970 campaign.
Prominent Major Leaguers who spent time with the Savannah Senators included Larry Biitner, Toby Harrah and Fred Stanley.
Links
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One Response
Wait a minute…six decades? I don’t see when he pitched in the 70s. (He *managed* in the 70s, but didn’t pitch…unless I’m reading his BBRef page wrong…)