When you think about sports in North Carolina, the first images that come to mind likely involve ACC basketball and NASCAR. Maybe the Carolina Panthers. Maybe the Charlotte Bobcats (maybe not). Maybe little Appalachian State University knocking off powerful Michigan at the Big House a few years ago in the midst of winning three straight Division I-AA football titles.
Your first thoughts probably aren’t of baseball, but the Tar Heel state has fashioned quite a baseball tradition within its borders. Even Michael Jordan tried it during his first retirement from the NBA.
Scores and scores of Minor League clubs have called the Old North State home since the late 1800s. Even casual fans recognize the name “Durham Bulls,” a long-standing Minor League franchise made famous by the movie
Bull Durham. Other clubs still in existence today include the Carolina Mudcats, Kinston Indians, Hickory Crawdads, Asheville Tourists, Greensboro Grasshoppers, Winston-Salem Dash (recent name change from Warthogs). All of these feed Major League clubs, while feeding fans’ thirst for competitive baseball, from the North Carolina mountains to the Piedmont to the coast.
Famous players with North Carolina roots include Enos Slaughter, Buck Leonard, Hoyt Wilhelm, Jim “Catfish” Hunter, Mark Grace, Gaylord Perry and Brian Roberts.
On the collegiate front, the University of North Carolina’s baseball team has played in the College World Series finals twice in recent years (June 2009 edit — make that three times, though my Heels still have yet to win it all).
All this to say, when I went looking for a backdrop for my first
OOTP fictional dynasty, my home state seemed like the perfect fit. I can’t remember too many people trying a North Carolina-based state dynasty, so hopefully we’ll find a few fans out there eager to follow something a little different.
I’m planning on starting with a small league in 1913 and seeing where it takes me. Why 1913? Well, that was the first year of the real-life North Carolina State League, which featured six teams based in six of the state’s largest cities.
Those same six teams will form the genesis of my story as well:
Asheville Mountaineers
Charlotte Hornets
Durham Bulls
Greensboro Patriots
Raleigh Capitals
Winston-Salem Twins
I’m not going to tie myself down to trying to follow the real history with regards to teams and leagues coming and going. But I’ll definitely draw a lot of inspiration from North Carolina’s baseball past and present when it comes to where this story goes. I’m a small-town guy at heart, so I envision professional baseball making its way down North Carolina’s back roads in addition to being in the biggest cities.
Hope folks enjoy this one as much as I am enjoying getting deep into a fictional dynasty for the first time (I love the uniform and logo creation aspect a lot). Feel free to chime in with feedback, questions, trash talking against your favorite team‘s big rival, etc.
And not to fear. My Andrew Zarzour “Tall Tales” story -- he’s a native North Carolinian, too -- will continue. I look forward to meeting some new stars in this dynasty, though.
Thanks for stopping by. And now, AzTarHeel Productions presents: Baseball In Tar Heel State -- A Fictional Experience
fade out to the Andy Griffith theme song