To begin, what is the single most interesting fact about Now, the most interesting fact about the Atlanta Black Crackers? As the owner of a minor league team, can you tell us how minor league baseball is different I assume that you have experience with major league players as well. Do you find that Do you think that today’s players and fans have a true sense of nostalgia for baseball? What difficulties did you encounter gathering information about the Crackers? Did you have difficulty encountering information about the team’s counterpart, the Atlanta In The Crackers, you interview players from both teams. How did you go about finding Did you notice any interesting differences between the Crackers’ and the Black Crackers’ What interesting facts did you gather about other minor league teams while writing The Can we look forward to reading more about other minor league teams or the Black The Best of the Ballpark Read on to see Tim’s choices.
Tim Darnell’s Atlanta Cracker All Stars
Luke Appling Eddie Mathews Bob Montag Ralph “Country” Brown Tim McCarver Chuck Tanner Nat Peeples Whitlow Wyatt: Manager Hank Morgan: Broadcaster Earl Mann: Owner More about the book: The Crackers
discussing the Crackers with Tim
Darnell
--
the Atlanta Crackers?
The most interesting fact about the team is that they're one of the most
successful -- if not the most successful -- minor league team in professional
baseball history. From 1901 until 1965, they won more league championships,
or pennants, than any other team in organized baseball history except the New
York Yankees.
The fact that, in 1938, they could have been the champions of all of black baseball in America. The
1938 Atlanta Black Crackers were all set to compete against the Memphis Red Sox for the Negro
American League championship, but neither team felt it could get a "fair shake" in the other's
ballpark, so the series was cancelled. We'll never know if the Atlanta Black Crackers would have
been crowned champion of all of American black baseball during that season.
for players today than it was for the Crackers?
Well, today's players, even at the Class A level, have much better equipment, uniforms and medical
care and treatment than did the Crackers. Also, players aren't under pressure to play every day.
During the Crackers' era, there was no such thing going on the disabled list because of an injury,
because players were fearful of losing their starting positions. Whereas today, there's much more
security. And obviously, the players make more money today!
major league players have a nostalgia for their past in the minor leagues?
There are a few who remember their humble beginnings in the minor leagues, but, by and large,
and at least from my own experience, big league players are so focused on their own financial
successes, contract extensions, and individual statistics that they often overlook and forget their
early years.
I think that many fans do. I'm not sure about players by and large. But what Major
League Baseball and its subsidiaries should do, in my opinion, is create a
marketing plan and approach that focuses on what a great game baseball is
today, rather than what a great game it has been, in the past.
Making sure the information was as complete and thorough as possible. There are no official team
records or rosters anywhere in existence, to my knowledge, so all of my information gathering began
by word of mouth. More and more people approach me every day with recollections about the team
and their experiences at Ponce de Leon Ballpark.
Black Crackers?
Oh, yes, particularly so. There is even less roster information about the
Black Crackers than the Crackers. That difficulty was compounded by the fact that many Negro League teams switched
rosters and players at an incredible rate during the course of the season. And newspaper reports
were few and far between in terms of today's availability.
these players?
Mainly through word of mouth. I was lucky to find one or two players just from friends of mine and
other folks, and that's how the entire network of people who were quoted in the book, began.
memories of their time in Ponce de Leon Ballpark?
Of course, Poncey was segregated, which not only meant that black and white
fans couldn't sit together when the white Crackers were in town, but it also
meant that Black Cracker players had to dress elsewhere, as they weren't
allowed to use the Crackers' dressing rooms. Ironically, though, both the
Crackers and Black Crackers remember one common theme -- the many fans
who came out to support them, during their home games at Ponce Park. It just
goes to show that baseball fans in Atlanta, both white and black, were true
supporters of their teams.
Crackers?
Joe Engel and his Chattanooga Lookouts were one of the true rivals of the
Crackers and Earl Mann, owner and general manager of the Crackers. They
had a great friendship and a great rivalry, and Engel was one of the most
colorful characters in all of baseball history.
Also, many of the old Southern
Association teams had their own unique ballparks, in much the same way that
Ponce de Leon Ballpark had its own unusual quirks and personality. Nonetheless,
Poncey remains the only ballpark in sports history that had a giant magnolia tree in
the outfield!
Crackers soon?
I hope so. I'd love to incorporate all of the new information that I've come across since the
book was published, perhaps into a new edition.
What if the very best of the Atlanta Crackers could play ball together?We at HSP thought it would be fun to
ask baseball enthusiast and author of The Crackers: Early Days of Atlanta Baseball Tim Darnell to choose
his favorite Crackers of all time.
Appling joined the Crackers his sophomore year at Ogelthorpe University. At the end of the 1930 season,
Chicago paid $20,000 for his contract. Before his death in 1991, Appling served as a part-time minor-league
hitting instructor for the Atlanta Braves.
A future Hall of Famer, Mathews joined the Crackers in 1950 at age 18. He is the only man other than Babe
Ruth ever verified to have hit home run balls into a magnolia. He is also one of only five players to hit an
extra-inning, game-edinging homer in the World Series. Mathews’ baseball career came to a close in 1974.
He was manager of the Braves.
Swinging left-handed, Montag set the record as the Crackers’ all-time home-run leader in 1954.
Brown got his nickname while playing at Daniel Field in Augusta, Ga. He told teammate Dutch Lumberger
that he was from Summerville, Ga., and Lumberger remarked that that must be way out in the country. Brown
played with the Crackers from 1948-52 and was the most popular Cracker of his era.
McCarver played with the Crackers in the early ‘60s. A broadcaster for Fox Sports, he is the most famous
contemporary Cracker.
Tanner joined the Crackers in 1951. He later played for the Braves, Cubs, Indians, and Angels. He also
became a World Series-winning manager.
Peeples joined the Crackers in 1954. He is the only black player to every play for the Crackers or their league,
the Southern Association.
Wyatt began his baseball career in 1927. He joined the Crackers as their manager in 1950 and led the
teams through minor-league baseball’s most astonishing championship run.
Morgan began covering the Crackers on the radio in 1954. He called the games, kept records on players and
used his imagination to generate widespread interest in the Crackers.
Later dubbed Mr. Atlanta Baseball, Mann was general manager of the Crackers from 1933 until 1947. He
purchased the team in 1947 and did not relinquish control until 1959.