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Dear Jeff,
Thanks for keeping in touch. It's always good to hear from my friend in Arizona.
By the time you get this note, you will have likely heard that the Asheville Tourists are North Carolina State League champions! After winning the regular season title, we went out and beat the Charlotte Hornets in the Carolina Champions Cup playoff series three games to one.
I thought for awhile that I might get named MVP of the 1919 series. I had the best batting average of anyone on our team, 8-for-14 (.571). One of my hits was a triple and another a double. But the MVP went to our superstar catcher Vincente Nieves. He wracked up on RBIs, had some really clutch hits and kept our pitching staff together. He deserved it, though it's now my goal to be a playoff series MVP at some point in my career. Hey, I'm only 22, so I should have a lot of time to try.
As for Miss Dee, I guess she was a looker in her day. But she's old enough to be my grandma. Haha. Her husband died a few years ago, and he really loved baseball. So, she uses her enormous house as a boarding house of sorts for young (and poor) ballplayers who come through Hickory. We pay just a few dollars in rent and agree to help her keep the place up. Of course, she gets to come and go at the Hickory ballpark any time she pleases. The Hickory manager made sure she had great seats for all of Asheville's playoff home games, and even introduced her to the crowd before Game Four. She absolutely loved it. She probably cheered louder than anyone when we won it all.
As much as Miss Dee came to mean to us, I'm hoping I won't have need to live at her house again. I'm hoping to stay in Asheville full time now. I think I've earned that chance to be on the "Big Club." Hopefully I can even be a full-time starter in 1920.
Anyways, take care. Maybe one day I can come visit Slaughterhouse Gulch. Is that anywhere near Tombstone?
Your friend
Chris Hartle
3B Asheville Tourists
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