Thomasville, Georgia was home to several minor league baseball teams from 1913 to 1963, most of them in the Georgia–Florida League.

History

The Thomasville Hornets played from 1913 to 1915 in the

Empire State League The Empire State League was a Minor league baseball circuit which operated in the 1913 season. It was a Class-D, six-team league, with teams based exclusively in Georgia, U.S. In 1914, the league evolved to become the Georgia State League. Ci ...

, Georgia–Florida League and

Florida–Alabama–Georgia League The Georgia State League was an American Class D minor league in professional baseball that existed in 1906, 1914, 1920–1921 and 1948–1956. During its last incarnation, it existed alongside two nearby Class D circuits, the Georgia–Florida Le ...

. Baseball did not return until the Thomasville Orioles arrived in 1935 in the Georgia–Florida League as an affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

. They became an independent team in 1940 as the Thomasville Tourists and then the Thomasville Lookouts in 1941. After a shutdown for World War II, the team returned as a

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

affiliate called the Thomasville Tigers, which played from 1946 to 1950. The

Americus Rebels There have been eight Minor leagues teams that have represented the city of Americus, Georgia. Since classification of the minors began, seven of them have been labeled as class D loops and one played in an independent league. History Americus Pal ...

moved to Thomasville for the 1952 season and were renamed as the Thomasville Tomcats. They became a

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

affiliate and changed the team name to the Thomasville Dodgers in 1953. They continued in this manner until the league folded in 1958. The league returned in 1962 and so did the team, back with the Tigers for two more years.

The ballpark

Thomasville teams played at Varnedoe Field. Today, Vandedoe Stadium is the home of Thomas University baseball, located at 103 Varnedoe Road Thomasville, Georgia 31792.

Notable alumni

* Dale Alexander (1940); won 1932 AL batting title * Bob Aspromonte (1957) * Paul Foytack (1949) *

Frank Lary Frank Strong Lary (April 10, 1930 – December 13, 2017) was a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Detroit Tigers (–), New York Mets (1964, ), Milwaukee Braves (1964), and Chicago White Sox (1965). He led the American League with 21 win ...

(1950); 3x MLB All-Star * Frank Lucchesi (1952) *

Paul Minner Paul Edison Minner (July 30, 1923 – March 28, 2006), was a Major League pitcher from 1946 to 1956. He played for the Chicago Cubs and Brooklyn Dodgers. Born in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, he was listed at and . Minner was signed by the ...

(1941) * Bubba Phillips (1949) *

Rich Reese Richard Benjamin Reese (born September 29, 1941) is an American former professional baseball player who played first base and outfield in the major leagues from through for the Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers. Born in Leipsic, Ohio, Reese th ...

(1962) * Pete Reiser (1955), 3x MLB All-Star; won 1941 NL batting title

References

External links

Baseball Reference

Thomas County, Georgia Defunct minor league baseball teams Los Angeles Dodgers minor league affiliates Brooklyn Dodgers minor league affiliates Detroit Tigers minor league affiliates Washington Senators (1901–1960) minor league affiliates 1913 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) 1963 disestablishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Baseball teams established in 1913 Sports clubs and teams disestablished in 1963 Defunct baseball teams in Georgia (U.S. state) Baseball teams disestablished in 1963 {{GeorgiaUS-baseball-team-stub