1950 ASL SEASON
The eleventh AFL season was to be the
last under the name of the Alabama State League. This was a season
where rare pitching feats would make headlines. Not only were
there two perfect games and a no-hitter (see Points of Interest),
but two of the games involved the Enterprise Boll Weevils (one
was a win and one was a loss) and they occured on two successive
nights! The league itself would go through some team transition
with the Troy Trojans, one of the league’s original franchises,
ceasing operations and moving to microscopic Headland, Alabama,
whose population in 1950 was just a touch over 1000. The new
team, nicknamed the Dixie Runners would begin a short but successful
run in the league. The season belonged to the Enterprise Boll
Weevils, winning 76 games and staying ahead of Dothan by 4 games.
The Weevils, as was often the case in the AFL, fell apart in
the playoffs, losing a tightly fought first round 4 games to
3. Dothan, having had three managers the previous season, needed
a proven leader to take the helm in 1950. They found one in Clarence
« Shovel » Hodge. Hodge had managed in the league before,
way back in 1936, but he was much more than just a former manger,
Hodge was a true baseball man: Much like Ivy Griffen, Hodge had
spent his career working in all aspects of baseball, from the
field to the front office. Hodge had worked in various leagues
in the southeast, and he was about to spend an extended period
of time with the AFL. Hodge would parlay his success with Dothan
in 1950 into the league presidency in 1952, returning to the
league after a one year absence as somewhat of a savior. The
turmoil of 1951 almost ended the league for good and it was Hodge
who came in and stabilized the league leadership for the next
few years.
John McPherson, Headland’s player-manager, finished the season
with a .405 average, the highest league average to date, yet
he wasn’t selected for the all star team. He was batting .416
at the time.
Geneva had the league’s worst attendance. Based on the 130
games schedule, the Red Birds average only 218 fans per game.
The Headland Dixie Runners needed extra fielding practice.
They averaged 3 errors per game.
Jim Pomykala of Greenville pitched a perfect game on May 31st
against Geneva, winning 12 to 0. That wasn’t the only perfect
game of the year: Harry Clark of Dothan pitched a perfect game
on July 14th, beating Enterprise, 2 to 0.
The night before, Harry Pollock of Enterprise had no-hit the
Ozark Eagles, 14 to 0 !
No future major leaguers played in the AFL during the 1950
season, but Andy Olsen, pitcher for Andalusia, became a major
league umpire.
Three of the league’s top six all-time stolen base marks were
set in 1950. Joe Harper set the single season record of 76 followed
his Headland teammate, Newell Pangburn (63) and Don Plarksi (63)
of Enterprise.
ELSEWHERE IN 1950
Lou Fitzgerald (1957 Pensacola) leads the Big State League
in runs (138).
Winston-Salem (Carolina League) wins 106 games (losing 47).
| Enterprise | 76 | 49 | 0 | .608 | ** |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dothan | 72 | 53 | 0 | .576 | 4 |
| Headland | 68 | 56 | 1 | .548 | 7.5 |
| Greenville | 65 | 61 | 1 | .516 | 11.5 |
| Andalusia | 63 | 62 | 0 | .504 | 13 |
| Brewton | 54 | 72 | 0 | .429 | 22.5 |
| Geneva | 52 | 73 | 0 | .416 | 24 |
| Ozark | 51 | 75 | 0 | .405 | 25.5 |
1950 Season
Won
Lost
Tie
PCT
GB
| 1950 Shaugnnessey Playoffs |
|---|
| Headland defeated Enterprise, 4 games to 3 |
| Dothan defeated Greenville, 4 games to 2 |
| Dothan defeated Headland, 4 games to 1 |
| Team | Attendance | AVG * |
|---|---|---|
| Dothan | 51,665 | 794 |
| Andalusia | 43,163 | 664 |
| Headland | 27,121 | 417 |
| Brewton | 24,397 | 375 |
| Enterprise | 23,269 | 357 |
| Ozark | 17,799 | 273 |
| Greenville | 17,106 | 263 |
| Geneva | 14,194 | 218 |
| Totals: | ||
| Playoffs: | 25,777 | ** |
| All star game | 4968 | ** |
The average is based on 65 home games in a 130 game season.
Most teams didn’t play the full 130 games.
218,714
3364
| Team Fielding | G | DP | PB | PO | A | E | PCT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enterprise | 125 | 90 | 25 | 3317 | 1397 | 230 | .953 |
| Dothan | 125 | 113 | 30 | 3261 | 1496 | 269 | .948 |
| Greenville | 127 | 91 | 40 | 3287 | 1346 | 297 | .940 |
| Andalusia | 125 | 126 | 14 | 3267 | 1361 | 301 | .939 |
| Ozark | 126 | 70 | 28 | 3230 | 1329 | 309 | .937 |
| Brewton | 126 | 84 | 25 | 3254 | 1287 | 330 | .932 |
| Geneva | 125 | 77 | 27 | 3520 | 1364 | 371 | .929 |
| Headland | 125 | 91 | 21 | 3268 | 1364 | 375 | .925 |
| Team Name | Managers | Batting Leader | Home Run Leader | RBI Leader | Wins Leader | Losses Leader | ERA Leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| James « Bubba » Ball | James « Bubba » Ball .306 | Joe Petraglia / Mike Kassabian 3 |
Christ Hermedes 72 | Dave Hataway 23 | Dave Hataway 16 | Dave Hataway 3.02 | |
| Holt « Cat » Milner / Arden « Cotton » McCaskey / Sam Demma |
Sam Demma .352 | Sam Demma 5 | Stan Jastrebski 70 | John Mytrysak / Bill Kimball 16 | John Mytrysak / Bill Kimball 12 | John Mytrysak 3.57 | |
| Clarence « Shovel » Hodge | Emory Lindsey .334 | Lamar Bowden 15 | Emory Lindsey 92 | Dick York 17 | Dick York 12 | Dick York 2.20 | |
| Paul O’Dea | |||||||
| John Grodzicki / Robert Cominsky | Don Smith .320 | Don Smith 6 | Don Smith 76 | Paul Dewey 11 | Paul Dewey 14 | Paul Dewey 3.00 | |
| George « Mickey » O’Neil | Francis Abraham .393 | Jim Williams 9 | Joe Burgess 63 | Jess Leach 10 | Don Betz 9 | Jim Pomykala 2.19 | |
| John McPherson | John McPherson .405 | John McPherson 11 | John McPherson 132 | Tom Stone 19 | Tom Stone 13 | Tom Stone 3.09 | |
| Team Offense | G | AB | R | H | TB | 2 | 3 | HR | SH | SB | BB | HB | SO | RBI | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dothan | 125 | 4440 | 830 | 1267 | 1739 | 217 | 63 | 43 | 73 | 80 | 624 | 41 | 416 | 690 | 1122 | .285 |
| Headland | 125 | 4415 | 781 | 1241 | 1662 | 175 | 78 | 30 | 44 | 217 | 590 | 39 | 514 | 673 | 1034 | .281 |
| Enterprise | 125 | 4269 | 695 | 1131 | 1523 | 143 | 75 | 33 | 84 | 157 | 569 | 39 | 638 | 585 | 1001 | .265 |
| Greenville | 127 | 4263 | 723 | 1080 | 1506 | 212 | 50 | 38 | 90 | 193 | 603 | 38 | 825 | 571 | 982 | .253 |
| Geneva | 125 | 4219 | 638 | 1068 | 1420 | 188 | 49 | 22 | 67 | 132 | 598 | 35 | 705 | 520 | 1040 | .253 |
| Andalusia | 125 | 4209 | 705 | 1046 | 1345 | 134 | 63 | 13 | 67 | 135 | 765 | 39 | 511 | 582 | 1094 | .249 |
| Brewton | 126 | 4265 | 643 | 1016 | 1357 | 172 | 41 | 29 | 65 | 82 | 643 | 26 | 771 | 515 | 971 | .238 |
| Ozark | 126 | 4214 | 612 | 979 | 1320 | 152 | 39 | 37 | 61 | 44 | 652 | 45 | 745 | 521 | 1079 | .232 |
| 1950 Hitting Leaders | Name | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Runs Scored | Joe Harper | Headland | 138 |
| Hits | John McPherson | Headland | 197 |
| Doubles | John McPherson | Headland | 40 |
| Triples | Joe Harper | Headland | 16 |
| Home Runs | Lamar Bowden | Dothan | 15 |
| Sacrifices | Bill Hayden | Enterprise | 21 |
| Bases On Balls | Lamar Bowden | Dothan | 128 |
| RBIs | John McPherson | Headland | 132 |
| Stolen Bases | Joe Harper | Headland | 76 |
| Strikeouts | Paul Silvestro | Enterprise | 124 |
| Batting Average | John McPherson | Headland | .405 |
| 1950 Pitching Leaders | Name | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Dave Hataway | Andalusia | 45 |
| Innings | Dave Hataway | Andalusia | 271 |
| Wins | Dave Hataway | Andalusia | 23 |
| Loses | Dave Hataway | Andalsuia | 16 |
| Win Percentage | Bill Pouncey | Enterprise | .870 |
| Strikeouts | Tom Stone | Headland | 246 |
| Shutouts | Tom Litchford Harry Clark Bill Williams |
Ozark Dothan Headland |
4 |
| ERA | Jim Pomykala | Greenville | 2.19 |
| Runs | Bill Kimball | Brewton | 144 |
| Earned Runs | Chester Ellis | Brewton | 109 |
| Bases On Balls | Tom Stone | Headland | 177 |
| Hits | Tim O’Neill | Ozark | 250 |
| Hit Batsmen | Andy Olsen | Andalusia | 12 |
| Wild Pitches | Lou Reilly | Geneva | 18 |
The 1950 All Star Game
The league’s ninth annual all-star
game was the first one to use an east-west format. The game was
played in Andalusia on July 10th. The game featured a great pitching
performance by future major league umpire, Andy Olsen. Olsen
started for the West squad and pitched 3 scorless innings, giving
up only one hit. The West team won the game 3 to 2, but you’d
never know it from the headlines:
| EAST SQUAD | TEAM | POS | WEST SQUAD | TEAM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shovel Hodge | Dothan | MGR | Bubba Ball | Andalusia |
| Coy Davis | Enterprise | 1st | Frank Azzarello | Brewton |
| Joe Laney | Dothan | 2nd | Joe Petraglia | Andalusia |
| Lamar Bowden | Dothan | SS | Joe Kohut | Brewton |
| Bob Basal | Ozark | 3rd | Sal Campagna | Greenville |
| Al Rivenbank | Headland | Of | Don Smith | Geneva |
| Joe Clarke | Ozark | Of | Jim Williams | Greenville |
| Don Plarski | Enterprise | Of | Art Remsa | Geneva |
| Neal Cobb | Dothan | Of | Ed Jacobson | Greenville |
| Bill Hayden | Enterprise | Ut | Stan Jastrebski | Brewton |
| Joe Harper | Headland | Ut | ** | ** |
| Lee Glover | Headland | C | Al Lerch | Andalusia |
| Joe Boehmer | Enterprise | C | Ed Sallis | Greenville |
| Tom Springer | Ozark | P | Dave Hattaway | Andalusia |
| Dick York | Dothan | P | Andy Olsen | Andalusia |
| Jim Drummer | Enterprise | P | Bill Kimball | Brewton |
| Bill Williams | Headland | P | John Knight | Geneva |
| ** | ** | P | Paul Dewey | Geneva |
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