The Vidalia Indians were a minor league baseball team based in

Vidalia, Georgia Vidalia ( ''vye-DAYL-yə'' , ) is a city located primarily in Toombs County, Georgia, United States. The city also extends very slightly into Montgomery County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 10,473. Vidalia is the principal ...

. With the exception of 1951, Vidalia teams between 1948 and 1956 played exclusively as members of the Class D level

Georgia State 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 ...

, winning Georgia State League championships in 1952 and 1954. From 1948 to 1950, Vidalia played as the "Vidalia-Lyons Twins," in partnership with neighboring Lyons, Georgia. The "Indians" nickname was adopted as Vidalia served as a minor league affiliate of the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

from 1952 to 1956. Vidalia hosted home games in all minor league seasons at Vidalia Municipal Stadium.

History

Minor league baseball in Vidalia, began in 1948 when the Vidalia–Lyons Twins were formed, in partnership with neighboring Lyons, Georgia. The Twins played in the newly reformed six–team Class D level Georgia State League from 1948 to 1950. The team was named the "Twins" because of the close proximity and partnership of Vidalia and Lyons. The Twins finished the 1948 regular season with a 54–66 record, placing fifth. The 1949 Twins finished in fourth place with a 72–65 record and advanced to the Georgia State League Finals in the playoffs. In 1950, the Twins had a 56–83 record, placing seventh in the final standings. After not fielding a team in 1951, the Vidalia Indians rejoined the 1952 Class D

as an affiliate of the

. Today, the local Vidalia High School sports teams are known as the "Indians." The Vidalia Indians captured the 1952 Georgia State League championship. Vidalia finished the regular season with a record of 66–58, placing third in the 1952 regular season. Playing under manager Frank "Bull" Hamons, Vidalia finished 9.0 games behind the first place Eastman Dodgers. After beating the Hazlehurst-Baxley Cardinals four games to two, the Vidalia Indians defeated the

Douglas Trojans {{No footnotes, date=January 2020 The Douglas Trojans were a minor league baseball team, based in Douglas, Georgia that played from 1948 until 1956. The team played in the Class D Georgia State League and won three of the league's titles during the ...

four games to two in the league finals to win the championship. The 1952 season attendance for Vidalia was 37,485, an average of 605 per home game. In the 1953 season, the Indians finished last in the Georgia State League. Placing eighth in the eight–the team league, the Indians had a 41–82 record under managers Frank Hamons,

Jake Daniel Handley Jacob Daniel (April 22, 1911 – April 23, 1996) was a professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball for the 1937 Brooklyn Dodgers, primarily as a first baseman. External links

Major League Baseball first basemen ...

and Don Cross. The Indians finished 42.0 games behind first place Baxley-Hazlehurst Red Sox in the regular season standings. The Vidalia Indians rebounded from the last place finish and won the 1954 Georgia State League championship and pennant. The Indians ended the regular season in first place, with a 85–44 record under manager James Beavers, finishing just 0.5 game ahead of the second place

. In the 1954 playoffs, after defeating the

Statesboro Pilots The Statesboro Pilots were a minor league baseball team based in Statesboro, Georgia Statesboro is the largest city and county seat of Bulloch County, Georgia, United States, located in the southeastern part of the state. Statesboro is home to ...

four games to two, Vidalia swept the Douglas Trojans four games to none in the league finals. During their championship season of 1954, the Indians had home season attendance of 53,334 at Vidalia Municipal Stadium. Vidalia qualified for the 1955 Georgia State League playoffs with a fourth-place regular season finish. Playing the season under player/manager Ed Levy, the Indians ended the regular season with a 56–54 record, in fourth place, finishing 7.0 games behind the first place Douglas Trojans. In the playoffs, the Indians lost in the first round of the playoffs, as the Douglas Trojans defeated the Vidalia three games to one. Vidalia was led by pitcher Gary Bell, who finished the season with a 7–5 record and a 3.33 ERA. In their final season, the 1956 Vidalia Indians placed third in the 1956 Georgia State League regular season standings and again qualified for the playffs. Playing under manager Mark Wylie, the Indians ended the regular season with a 63–57 record, finishing 14.0 games behind the

Douglas Reds Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...

. In the first round of the playoffs, the Douglas Reds beat the Vidalia Indians three games to two, in the last games played by the franchise.

Dick Stigman Richard Lewis Stigman (born January 24, 1936) is an American former professional baseball player, a left-handed pitcher who appeared in seven Major League seasons (1960–1966) for the Cleveland Indians, Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox. Born ...

had a record of 17–9 with a 1.44 ERA. Vidalia had 1956 season attendance of 17,273, an average of 288 per game. The Georgia State League permanently folded after completing the 1956 season. Vidalia, Georgia has not hosted another minor league baseball team.

The ballpark

The Vidalia Indians and Vidalia–Lyons Twins played minor league home games at Vidalia Municipal Stadium.

Timeline

Year–by–year records

Notable alumni

* Gary Bell (1955) 4x MLB All-Star *

Sugar Cain Merritt Patrick "Sugar" Cain (April 5, 1907 – April 3, 1975) was an American professional baseball pitcher who worked in 178 games in the major leagues as a member of the Philadelphia Athletics (–), St. Louis Browns (1935–) and Chicago W ...

(1948, MGR) *

Major League Baseball first basemen ...

(1952), (1953, MGR) *

Don Dillard David Donald Dillard (January 8, 1937 – January 8, 2022) was an American professional baseball player. The outfielder appeared in six Major League seasons and 272 total games played for the Cleveland Indians (1959–62) and Milwaukee Braves ( ...

(1955) * Joe Shipley (1953) *

(1956) 2x MLB All-Star

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

Vidalia - Baseball ReferenceLyons - Baseball Reference
Baseball teams established in 1952 Baseball teams disestablished in 1956 Defunct Georgia State League teams Professional baseball teams in Georgia (U.S. state) Cleveland Guardians minor league affiliates 1952 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) 1956 disestablishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Vidalia, Georgia, micropolitan area Defunct baseball teams in Georgia (U.S. state) Toombs County, Georgia Montgomery County, Georgia