Asheville native George Howard “Buck” Redfern attended North Carolina State University before signing with the Chicago White Sox during the 1928 and 1929 seasons. Redfern's talents enabled him to play shortstop as well as second and third base. He eventually served as the third baseman for the Concord Weavers in 1937 before moving on to the Kannapolis Towelers as their third baseman and manager in 1938.
Born in High Point, North Carolina, "Dick" Culler graduated from High Point College in 1935, where he excelled in basketball, soccer, and baseball. Known as one of the most intelligent fielders, Culler played shortstop during most of his career.
Born in South Carolina and a graduate of Furman University, "Blackie" Carter enjoyed a brief career in the majors when he played for the New York Giants between 1925 and 1926. During the 1936 innaugural season of the Carolina "Outlaw" League, Carter was managing the Charlotte Hornets. In all, he played for over eight different minor league ball clubs in North Carolina. Eventually, he settled down in his native South Carolina and became a scout for the then Brooklyn Dodgers.
Born in Alabama, Grey Clarke enjoyed a long baseball career as a third baseman. He left Quincy, Illinois, to play ball in Asheville then later joined the Kannapolis Towelers during the 1936-1937 season.
Shown here batting for a team in Dallas, Clarke hit an amazing .361 to lead the Texas League in 1941. Clarke went onto the majors and became a league leader at the plate, with a batting average of .346 for the Milwaukee Braves in 1943 and for the Chicago White Sox in 1944.
Born and raised in Cliffside, North Carolina, "Pick" Biggerstaff attended Gardner-Webb College. In 1936, he was an outfielder and manager of the 1936 playoff champion Valdese Textiles. He remained active in the minor leagues until joing the service during the Korean Conflict.
Tennessee native Ken Chitwood played for the Concord Weavers and was notorious for aiming at the batter's head. Fights usually broke out when one of Chitwood's pitches struck the batter. Ulmont Baker recalls his teammate,:
Yes, there really was a "Crash" Davis who was born in Georgia, but grew up in Gastonia, North Carolina. He went onto play baseball in high school, the American Legion, Duke University, for the Philadelphia Athletics, and for one summer in 1937, the Gastonia Spinners, a team in the infamous Independent Carolina "Outlaw" Baseball League.
Davis was seventeen at the time and had just completed his freshman year at Duke when he signed up to play with the Spinners.
A native of Edmonton, Alberta, Barton played for the Chicago Cubd in 1931 and 1932 as an outfielder. He joined the Carolina Outlaw League and played for the Kannapolis Towelers in 1936 and 1937 and later for the Hickory Rebels. Oddly enough, Barton batted left handed and threw with his right.
In school, Glenn Miller was nicknamed "Razzy," and in pro baseball, his teammates called him "Preacher." Born in Rockwell, North Carolina, Miller went onto play baseball, basketball, and football at Lenoir Rhyne College. After graduation in 1930, he taught school in Landis, North Carolina, and spent his summers playing ball. Miller decided to enter the ministry and graduated from Lutheran Theological Seminary in June of 1934 and served two parishes while still playing centerfield in semi-professional baseball.
Photo: George Barley fires one off the pitcher's mound in spring training with the New York Yankees, 1941.