Textile League Baseball: South Carolina's Mill Teams, 1880-1955

by Thomas K. Perry

After the Civil War, the Yankee textile industry began a steady transfer south, bringing with it the tradition of a mill village, usually owned by the mill's owner, where the workers and their families lived. The new game of baseball quickly became a foundation of mill village life. A rich tradition of textile league baseball in South Carolina is here reconstructed from newspaper accounts and interviews with former players and fans. Players such as "Shoeless" Joe Jackson and Champ Osteen made their marks as "lintheads" in these semipro leagues. The fierce rivalries between competing mills and the impact of the teams on mill life are recounted. Appendices list club records and rosters for many of the teams from 1880 through 1955.

327 pages, Paperback

First published November 25, 1993

Reviews

[Eric Berg · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a hard book to review and rate. It feels like a dissertation. There’s a lot of very valuable information in the text but also long list of names and data from box scores. Well researched and it does a great service documenting these leagues.

[Chris McCormick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything you would ever want to know about textile league baseball. A very well researched and interesting read about a little known but not forgotten piece of baseball history.