THOMASVILLE — Long before Thomasville High School won six straight region titles or the Braves made Atlanta their home. Before one could ever hear the ping of a metal bat, the small town of Thomasville, Georgia bustled with the thought of baseball. As far back as 1896, teams took the diamond to represent the small South Georgia town.
Earliest evidence of organized baseball in the Rose City was the Thomasville Turks, also known as Brux’s Colts after manager C. A. Brux from 1896. High school baseball has been entertaining Thomasvillians as far back as 1914 when Thomasville High School fielded a team for the diamond.
Many Major League teams also came to Thomasville during spring training. Teams like the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, and the Pittsburg Pirates all made stops in Thomasville in the early 1900’s. MLB Spring Training was a bit different back then. While fans usually see teams travel to one location and play several games, spring training in the early 1900’s was more of a tour, with teams starting in the south and working their way up north. Back home.
Thomasville has an extremely rich baseball history, namely in the 20th century. While the high schoolers were playing on their diamond, the Thomasville Hornets began one year earlier, debuting on May 5, 1913, against Valdosta. The town was mad with baseball fever that day as the May 1 edition of the Daily Times Enterprise was filled with ads announcing that businesses would be closed for the game.
The Hornets played in the Empire State league and won the league in 1913, but the Hornets were short lived as their time in Thomasville ended in 1915.
Adding to the depth of Thomasville’s significant baseball history is the Pebble Hill Plantation. A 26 second 28mm film showing the Pebble Hill black baseball team is thought to be one of, if not the, oldest footage of African-Americans playing baseball. The Thomasville History Center archives also contain a photo, dating the Pebble Hill team as far back as 1903. However, Thomasville experienced a baseball drought after the Hornets franchise ended in 1915 and it wasn’t until the addition of a new stadium came in the 1920s that baseball returned to the Rose City.
In 1923, the city of Thomasville proposed a new stadium to its citizens to be used for baseball and football with the intent of attracting baseball teams for spring training. The stadium was known as Municipal Stadium and in 1935, it brought Thomasville its first minor league baseball team.
This is the first article in a series of stories detailing the deep history of minor league baseball in Thomasville. Data from reputable sources like the Society for American Baseball Research, baseball-reference.com, statscrew.com, the Thomasville History Center, the Georgia Digital Library, and MiLB.com was used to compile and form these stories. Every week, the Times- Enterprise will visit Thomasville in the 20th century as we discover the history of this beautiful game in the Rose City.