2015 Wayne County Hot Stove: Public library starts baseball project

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on February 3, 2015 1:48 PM

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Wooten's journey from a small town to baseball's biggest stage is just one of many stories in Wayne County's tradition-rich history of the national pastime.

Marty Tschetter, local history curator of Wayne County Public Library, set up displays that documented more than a century of the county's baseball history before the banquet. He had pictures and stories from old newspapers that featured local heroes such as the late Clyde King, Marion Talton, Narron, the late Ray Scarborough, Johnny Peacock and George Altman.

Tschetter gave a brief synopsis of a semi-pro league that consisted of farmers and mill workers. He mentioned that several African-American teams, which existed in the 1890s, played teams up and down the eastern seaboard.

The most-treasured item of the project -- which remains in its infant stages -- is a picture of the 1910 Goldsboro Giants. Each player has his own baseball card, including the batboy. Old Mill Tobacco Company printed the cards.

Other items on display include Peacock's Red Sox uniform from the 1940s, a ball from a 1947 game King threw at Ebbetts Field, a hat worn by Scarborough when he pitched in the 1952 World Series for the Yankees, a catcher's mitt used by Talton in a game, a ball that was Narron's first-ever Major League hit and a jersey worn by Wooten in the College World Series.

"Baseball is evidently important to Wayne County history," Tschetter said. "The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum researches the history of the game as it fits into American focus, and we're using that same model to focus on Wayne County."