Macon Peaches (1980-1982)

South Atlantic League (1980-1982)

Background

Macon, Georgia was a mainstay on the Southeastern minor league circuit from the turn of the 20th century until the late 1960’s. For virtually all of that time, the city’s ball club was known as the Macon Peaches and future stars such as Pete Rose and Tony Perez trod the base paths at Luther Williams Field. But Major League Baseball came to Atlanta, 80 miles to the north on I-75, in 1966. The Class AA Peaches closed their doors in 1967 a year later. Macon was without pro baseball for 12 years, the city’s longest drought since the 1880’s.

On The Diamond

Minor league ball returned to Macon in 1980 with a new franchise in the Class A South Atlantic League and the team re-claimed the historic ‘Peaches’ name. The 1980 season was difficult. The Peaches failed to secure a Major League tie-up and finished with the second worst record in the league (59-81) with a roster of cast-offs and free agents. 26-year old player-manager Brock Pemberton, who played a handful of games with the New York Mets in 1974 and 1975, was the Peaches’ most experienced player.

The Peaches landed an affiliation with the Detroit Tigers prior to the 1981 season. Two more losing seasons followed. Dwight Lowry (Macon ’81), Roger Mason (Macon ’81), Bob Melvin (Macon ’81) and Chris Pittaro (Macon ’82) were among the future Major Leaguers to play at Luther Williams Field during the Tigers era.

Peaches to Redbirds to Pirates

The Tigers affiliation came to an end after the 1982 season. Absentee owner A. Ray Smith of Tulsa, Oklahoma also owned the wildly popular Louisville Redbirds Class AAA team in the American Association. Louisville shattered the all-time minor league baseball single-season attendance record in 1982 as the top farm club of the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals replaced the Tigers as Macon’s Major League parent club for the 1983 season. As part of the change-over, the Peaches adopted the “Redbirds” moniker used by Smith’s Louisville club.

The Cardinals relationship lasted just a single season. In 1984 the team switched affiliations again and became the Macon Pirates (1984-1987).

The Macon Peaches name was revived one final time in 2003 by a team in an obscure independent circuit called the Southeastern League. That team lasted only one season.

In Memoriam

Peaches General Manager Hillman Lyons (Macon ’80-’81) passed away on March 7, 1962 at age 60.

Catcher Dwight Lowry (Macon ’81) died of a heart attack at age 39 on July 10, 1997. Lowry was the manager of the Jamestown Jammers of the New York-Penn League at the time.

Peaches owner A. Ray Smith passed away after a bout with cancer on June 28, 1999 at age 84. Tulsa World obituary.

Player-manager Brock Pemberton (Macon ’80) died on February 17, 2016 at age 62.

Downloads

1981 Macon Peaches Roster Sheet

Links

South Atlantic League Media Guides

South Atlantic League Programs

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