Tombstone
Born: February 1953 (Re-branded from Portsmouth Cubs)
Folded: Winter 1955-1956
First Game: April 23, 1953 (W 10-3 vs. Norfolk Tars)
Last Game: September 22, 1953 (L 5-1 vs. Lancaster Red Roses)
Piedmont League Championships: None
Stadium
Ownership & Affiliation
Owner: Frank Lawrence
Major League Affiliation: None
Background
The Portsmouth Merrimacs were a mid-1950’s Minor League Baseball entry from the southeastern Virginia. The Merrimacs replaced the long-running Portsmouth Cubs (1936-1952) club in the Class B Piedmont League, with the name change taking effect in February 1953. The name ‘Merrimacs’ derived from the Merrimac iron clad steam frigate constructed at the Gosport Shipyard in Portsmouth during the American Civil War.
Portsmouth had no Major League affiliation during its three seasons under the ‘Merrimacs’ name.
Breaking the Piedmont Color Barrier
In the Merrimacs first season, 1953, team owner Frank Lawrence effectively ended the Virginia-based Piedmont League’s 33-year history of racial exclusion. The Merrimacs signed local black ballplayers Richard Nathaniel Brown (catcher) and Leonard Dunovant (pitcher) and outfielder James Livingston of Cleveland, Ohio in February 1953. No Virginia-based team in the Piedmont had ever signed a black player. (The York White Roses of Pennsylvania joined the Piedmont League in 1953 from the defunct Interstate League. A St. Louis Browns farm club, York had black players in the Interstate League in 1952 and brought them into the Piedmont in 1953, meaning two of the eight Piedmont franchises were integrated when the 1953 season opened that April).
Late in the 1953 season, the Merrimacs signed 45-year old former Negro League star Buck Leonard. According to Baseball Reference, Leonard appeared in 10 games for ‘Macs, hitting .333 with 11 hits in 33 at-bats. These games would be Leonard’s only participation with a racially integrated team on U.S. soil during his legendary career.
Buck Leonard was inducted into the Baseball Hall-of-Fame in 1972.
The End
In September 1955, Portsmouth advanced to the best-of-five Piedmont League championship series against the Lancaster (PA) Red Roses. Tied 2 games to 2, the series came down to a decisive rubber game at Portsmouth Stadium on September 22, 1955. The visiting Red Roses took the series with a 5-1 victory. Only 353 fans attended and this turned out to be the final game for both the Merrimacs and the Piedmont League itself.
Portsmouth owner Frank Lawrence announced in December 1955 that the unaffiliated team would not operate in 1956 unless Major League Baseball saw fit to provide subsidies to independent minor league clubs like the Merrimacs. He proposed an infusion of $20,000 for each unaffiliated Class B team like Portsmouth, plus $15,000 for Class C independents and $10,000 for Class D independents. (Petersburg Progress-Index, 12/9/1955)
With no such aid forthcoming, the Merrimacs folded. The Piedmont League gave up the ghost soon afterwards, closing down in February 1956.
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One Response
The final sentence is not true. Portsmouth was home to the Tidewater Tides, who played at Lawrence Stadium in the 1960’s, I watched many of their games there as a teenager. The Tides now play in Norfolk, I believe ever since the demolition of Lawrence Stadium.