A History of Professional Baseball in Asheville (Sports)

So many greats have appeared in Asheville within McCormick Fields white lines: Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, Ty Cobb, manager Cal Ripken Sr. and batboy Cal Ripken Jr. As player Tom Nevers said, When you think of all the great people that have played on this field before us, its kinda neat being a part of history.

Asheville, North Carolina, is not widely recognized as a baseball crazy city. However, for a small town where flat land is hard to find and everything is far removed from the bright lights of the big cities, Ashevilles part in professional baseball is remarkable. In these pages youll find little-known stories of baseballs stars, the ups and downs of the national pastime in the Land of the Sky and a number of local heroes. Meet Struttin Bud Shaney, a pitcher from the 1920s who served as athletic director, umpire and the McCormick Field groundskeeper at various times in the diamonds past. Despite his inexperience, gritty Tourists general manager Ron McKees efforts revived the flagging franchise in the 1980s. Most recently, fiery skipper Joe Mik Mikulik has helped bring record numbers of fans to McCormick to cheer the Tourists to victory.