x
Breaking News
More () »

Macon baseball history through the decades

Luther Williams has been home to numerous teams dating back to the early 1900s.

Right outside the stands at Luther Williams Field you will see play cards with names like Kevin Brown,

Rondell White, and John Odom. These guys have baseball ties to Macon.

A few of them played at Luther Williams on some great teams that have called Macon home over the last one hundred years or so.

Bobby Pope loves baseball.

"I mean, it is so full of history at the ball park," he said about Luther Williams.

And he sits on the Macon Hall of Fame board of Directors, he's kind of like an encyclopedia for Mac Town and the boys of summer.

"You had Vince Coleman who was the national league rookie of the year in 1985 who stole 145 bases if you can believe that and he was a Macon Redbird at the time, Pope recalled.

So lets take a ride down memory lane. Teams called the Peaches show up the most in Macon Baseball history. Different ones with affiliations with the reds Cubs and Phillies played between 1923 and 1982.

The Macon Dodgers did a small stint at Luther Williams from 1956-1960.

The Macon Redbirds flew the coop after a year in 1983.

The Macon Pirates walked the plant from 1984 until 1987.

And who can forget the Macon Braves who got our attention from 1991 through 2002.... they were the last major league farm team to play at Luther Williams.

Another team opened up shop for a year called the peaches in 2003.

The Macon Music folded after a season in 2007.

The Pinetoppers also had a summer collegiate team but only lasted a year in 2010.

Nowadays most folks reminice about the Braves and the ties that were created right up 1-75.

"We know that Chipper Jones came through here Andruw Jones came through here Rafael Furcal and Jermain Dye," Pope rattled off. " And Snitker Brian Snitker who is the manager of the Atlanta Braves now was the manager of the Macon Braves at that particular time."

The Braves churned out the stars but a big personality also made a name for himself in the sixties in fact the Macon Music even had a fan night to celebrate Pete Rose.

"If I didn't have that year in 1962, I wouldn't have made the Reds in 1963," Rose said years ago when he visited.

He didn't get the national spotlight but everybody knew groundskeeper Willie Smokie Glover. You might of seen the road to Luther Williams is named after the man that passed away in 1994.

"Smokie knew where every divot was on that field," Pope recalled fondly. "Smokey was Luther Williams field no question about it."

Before You Leave, Check This Out