# Tar Heel League

The Tar Heel League was a mid-20th century Class D level professional minor baseball league, based in North Carolina in the United States. It operated during the full seasons of 1939, 1940 and 1953, and from the opening of the season through June 21, 1954.
The first incarnation of the league began and ended the 1939 season with six clubs, but the following year saw the Shelby Nationals and Newton-Conover Twins — one third of the Tar Heel League — drop out on July 19, 1940. The entire league then shut down for 1941 and through World War II.
During the postwar boom in minor league baseball, the Tar Heel circuit remained dormant, while the Class D level North Carolina State League resumed play in 1945 and a new Class D circuit, the Western Carolina League, entered organized baseball in 1948. When the 1950s brought dwindling attendance to minor league baseball and clubs and leagues began to contract, the North Carolina State and Western Carolina leagues merged into a revived Tar Heel League for 1953. A large, ten–club circuit, the 1953 THL shed two teams on June 11 and relocated a third. The 1954 Tar Heel League fielded four teams, before permanently folding 50 games into the season. The Western Carolina League returned to baseball in 1960, and still plays as the Class A level South Atlantic League.

## Cities represented

* Forest City, NC: Forest City Owls 1953–1954
* Gastonia, NC: Gastonia Cardinals 1939–1940
* Hickory, NC: Hickory Rebels 1939–1940, 1953–1954
* High Point, NC & Thomasville, NC: High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms 1953
* Lenoir, NC: Lenoir Indians 1939; Lenoir Reds 1940
* Lexington, NC: Lexington Indians 1953
* Lincolnton, NC: Lincolnton Cardinals 1953
* Marion, NC: Marion Marauders 1953–1954
* Mooresville, NC: Mooresville Moors 1953
* Newton, NC & Conover, NC: Newton-Conover Twins 1939–1940
* Salisbury, NC: Salisbury Rocots 1953
* Shelby, NC: Shelby Nationals 1939; Shelby Colonels 1940; Shelby Clippers 1953–1954
* Statesville, NC: Statesville Owls 1939–1940; Statesville Blues 1953; Statesville Sports 1953

## Yearly standings & statistics
### 1939 Tar Heel League

| Team name | W | L | PCT | GB | Managers |
| Gastonia Cardinals | 72 | 36 | .667 | -- | Al Unser |
| Lenoir Indians | 61 | 46 | .570 | 10.5 | Clarence Roper |
| Statesville Owls | 56 | 51 | .523 | 15.5 | Stuffy McCrone |
| Shelby Nationals | 50 | 59 | .459 | 22.5 | Edward Montague |
| Hickory Rebels | 48 | 62 | .436 | 25.0 | Louis Viau |
| Newton-Conover Twins | 36 | 69 | .343 | 34.5 | Mack Arnette |
Playoffs: Gastonia 3 games, Shelby 1. Statesville 3 games, Lenoir 0. (1 tie.) Finals: Gastonia 4 games, Statesville 3.
Player statistics
| Player | Team | Stat | Tot | Player | Team | Stat | Tot |
| Hooper Triplett | Gastonia | BA | .391 | Ralph Fox | Newton/Conover | W | 17 |
| James Guinn | Shelby | Hits | 161 | Miles Gardner | Gastonia | W | 17 |
| Birch Douglas | Lenoir | Runs | 127 | Lefty Guise | Lenoir | ERA | 2.82 |
| Hooper Triplett | Gastonia | RBI | 115 | William Skinner | Hickory | SO | 212 |
| Hooper Triplett | Gastonia | HR | 27 | Miles Gardner | Gastonia | PCT | .773 17–5 |

### 1940 Tar Heel League

schedule
| Team name | W | L | PCT | GB | Managers |
| Statesville Owls | 73 | 37 | .664 | -- | Stuffy McCrone |
| Gastonia Cardinals | 64 | 44 | .593 | 8.0 | Milt Bocek |
| Hickory Rebels | 54 | 52 | .509 | 17.0 | Woodrow Traylor |
| Lenoir Reds | 53 | 55 | .491 | 19.0 | Ray Rice |
| Newton-Conover Twins | 27 | 45.0 | .375 | NA | Arthur Hauger / Ginger Watts |
| Shelby Colonels | 16 | 54 | .229 | NA | Lou Haneles / Art Patchin |
Newton-Conover and Shelby disbanded July 19. Playoffs: Hickory 3 games, Gastonia 0. Statesville 3 games, Lenoir 2. Finals: Statesville 4 games, Hickory 1. Player statistics
| Player | Team | Stat | Tot | Player | Team | Stat | Tot |
| Milt Bocek | Gastonia | BA | .364 | Herman Drefs | Statesville | W | 17 |
| Milt Bocek | Gastonia | Hits | 157 | Frank Motley | Newton-Conover | SO | 174 |
| Milt Bocek | Gastonia | Runs | 98 | Robert Bailey | Lenoir | ERA | 1.99 |
| Milt Bocek | Gastonia | RBI | 109 | Price Ferguson | Statesville | PCT | .824 14–3 |
| Frank Shoue | Lenoir | HR | 16 |
| Robert Traylor | Hickory | HR | 16 |

### 1953 Tar Heel League

schedule
| Team name | W | L | PCT | GB | Attend | Managers |
| Marion Marauders | 74 | 35 | .679 | -- | 35,322 | Bob Beal |
| Forest City Owls | 72 | 40 | .643 | 3.5 | 48,812 | Len Cross / Boger McGimsey |
| Shelby Clippers | 60 | 49 | .550 | 14.0 | 19,247 | David Coble |
| Lexington Indians | 59 | 54 | .522 | 17.0 | 39,453 | Alex Monchak |
| Mooresville Moors | 58 | 55 | .513 | 18.0 | 19,413 | Jim Mills |
| Lincolnton Cardinals / Statesville Sports | 47 | 64 | .423 | 28.0 | 27,866 | Burl Storie / Hugh Rudisill / Jr. Dodgin/ Charley Knight |
| Hickory Rebels | 46 | 66 | .411 | 29.5 | 22,742 | William Parker |
| Salisbury Rocots | 44 | 67 | .396 | 31.0 | 21,690 | Sheriff Robinson |
| High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms | 13 | 28 | .317 | NA | 5,862 | Jim Gruzdis / John Lybrand |
| Statesville Blues | 13 | 28 | .317 | NA | 20,925 | Fred Chapman / Charley Knight |
High-Point-Thomasville & Statesville disbanded June 11. Lincolnton moved to Statesville July 12. Playoffs: Marion 4 games, Shelby 2. Lexington 4 games, Forest City 2. Finals: Lexington 4 games, Marion 2.
Player statistics
| Player | Team | Stat | Tot | Player | Team | Stat | Tot |
| Don Stafford | Hi-Toms/Lexington | BA | .374 | Kelly Jack Swift | Marion | W | 30 |
| Bob Barker | Marion | Hits | 166 | Kelly Jack Swift | Marion | SO | 321 |
| Carl Miller | Marion | Runs | 129 | Jose Nakamura | Shelby | ERA | 2.40 |
| Don Stafford | Hi-Toms/Lexington | RBI | 124 | Jim Smiley | Marion | PCT | .857 12–2 |
| Carl Miller | Marion | HR | 21 |

### 1954 Tar Heel League

schedule
| Team name | W | L | PCT | GB | Attend | Managers |
| Hickory Rebels | 34 | 18 | .654 | -- | 8,598 | Charlie Teague |
| Marion Marauders | 26 | 26 | .500 | 8.0 | 8,203 | Robert Knoke |
| Forest City Owls | 24 | 24 | .500 | 8.0 | 8,147 | Woody Rich / Richard McKeithan |
| Shelby Clippers | 16 | 32 | .333 | 16.0 | 12,000 | Harold Kollar |
The League disbanded June 21.
Player statistics
| Player | Team | Stat | Tot | Player | Team | Stat | Tot |
| Mike Yaremchuk | Hickory | BA | .376 | Russell Wingo | Hickory | W | 11 |
| Mike Yaremchuk | Hickory | Hits | 74 | John Cathey | Forest City | SO | 95 |
| Mike Yaremchuk | Hickory | RBI | 45 | Leo Davis | Hickory | ERA | 1.82 |
| Lou McCotter | Hickory | Runs | 52 | Russell Wingo | Hickory | PCT | .733 11–4 |
| Joe Cristello | Forest City | HR | 5 |
| Harold Kollar | Shelby | HR | 5 |
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