The Troy Trojans were a minor league baseball team based in Troy, Alabama. Between 1936 and 1949, Troy teams played as members of the Alabama State League and its predecessor the Alabama–Florida League, winning two league championships and two league pennants.
The Troy Trojans teams hosted their minor league home games at Trojan Field in Troy, Alabama, which is still use today as Riddle–Pace Field on the campus of Troy University.
Troy teams played as a minor league affiliate of the Cleveland Indians (1939), Cincinnati Reds (1940), Brooklyn Dodgers (1941) and Detroit Tigers (1947–1949)
History 1936: Charter members Alabama-Florida League
The Troy "Trojans" amateur team played in the 1935 season as members of the Dixie Amateur League. The Trojans captured the league title, managed by Tilden "Happy" Campbell. When the professional franchise was formed, Campbell was in line remain as manager of the Troy team in 1936. But he resigned before the season began to focus entirely on his position as the coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide baseball team at the University of Alabama. Tilden was also serving an assistant coach for the Alabama Crimson Tide football team at the time. Tilden coached the Alabama Crimson Tide baseball team from 1935 to 1962, with a hiatus for his time in military service during World War II. While still coaching baseball at Alabama, Tilden died on February 23, 1963, of a heart attack.
A future major league player, catcher Fred Walters played for Troy and manager Happy Campbell on the 1935 team. Walters played for the Trojans amateur team while a student at Mississippi State University.
In 1936, the professional Alabama–Florida League was formed as a minor league to begin play that season. George M. Grant had previously been the president of the Dixie Amateur League. Grant then became the Alabama–Florida League president. The new professional league was so named as it featured seven teams based in Alabama cities, and a Panama City, Florida based team. Grant had been a key organizer of the new league and had hosted meetings in Troy that lead to the formation of the league. It was noted that many Troy baseball supporters were initially opposed to professional baseball, after their team's successes without a professional league. Grant was an attorney in Troy, Alabama and later became a politician.
Minor league baseball in Troy, Alabama began in the 1936 season when the new league was officially formed. The Troy Trojans became charter members of the eight–team Class D level Alabama–Florida League. The Abbeville Red Sox, Andalusia Reds, Dothan Boll Weevils, Enterprise Browns, Ozark Cardinals, Panama City Papermakers and Union Springs Springers teams joined the Troy Trojans as the first members of the new league. The Alabama-Florida League schedule had opening day play on May 12, 1936.
The Troy franchise use of the "Trojans" nickname ties to modern local tradition and history. In world history, the Trojan War was waged around the 1,200 or 1,300 century BC. and pitted the Ancient Greeks against the ancient city of Troy after Paris of Troy took Helen of Troy from her husband Menelaus, the King of Sparta. Troy, Alabama is the home of Troy University, established in 1887. Today, the mascot of the university and its sports teams is the Trojan, first used by the minor league team and later adopted by the university in 1973.
The minor league Trojan team began play at the site known today as Riddle–Pace Field, located on the campus of Troy University. The college first began baseball play in 1911, when the college was named the Troy Normal School. In the era of the minor league team playing on campus, the Troy University teams were known as the "Red Wave."
After the resignation of Tilden Campbell before the 1936 season began, Ernie Wingard joined Troy, becoming the Trojans' player/manager. It was his first season as a manager at age 35. The prior season, Wingard had been a player for the Milwaukee Brewers and Indianapolis Indians, batting .290 in 1935. From 1924 to 1927, Wingard had played in the major leagues with the St. Louis Browns as a pitcher. He compiled a 29-43 record with a 4.64 ERA in the major leagues. Wingard was nicknamed "Doc" and had a baseball career that spanned 30 years. As a major league pitcher, Wingard gave up five home runs to Babe Ruth. After playing baseball at the University of Alabama in 1920 and 1921 Wingard played for a semi-professional team in Bastrop, Louisiana. While playing there, he met Shoeless Joe Jackson who became a friend and mentor to Wingard, even traveling with Wingard during his rookie major league season in 1924. After his time as a pitcher diminished, Wingard became a strong minor league hitter.
In their first season of play, the Troy Trojans won the 1936 Alabama–Florida League pennant. With a record of 66–42, playing under manager Ernie Wingard, the Trojans placed first in the overall season standings and finished 5½ games ahead of the second place Enterprise Browns in the final regular season standings. The Alabama–Florida League played a split season schedule and the Troy Trojans won both halves of the season. Such an occurrence in a split season schedule usually eliminated a playoff being held because the two split season schedule winning teams would meet in a final series. As a playoff final wasn't needed due to Troy's two regular season titles, a unique playoff plan was created. The six remaining league teams (Abbeville having withdrawn) had a one game playoff rotation, with the winner of those playoffs set to meet Troy in a championship series.
After the six-team Alabama–Florida League playoffs, Troy received their bye until the finals, and the Andalusia Reds became their opponent. In the playoff finals, the Andalusia Reds defeated the Trojans 4 games to 2 to win the league playoff structure. 2,000 fans were in attendance at the final game of the championship series which Andalusia won, 6–2. Although Andalusia won the series, because of their two regular season titles, Troy was considered the league champion.
Playing for the Trojans at age 24, Brick Owens batted .378 for the season and won the Alabama–Florida League batting title. He also led the league with 110 runs scored. Owens added 4 home runs and 54 RBIs in 94 games for the Trojans in 1936. Owens would play four more seasons for Troy before leaving baseball. Ownes' teammate, Troy catcher William Casey led the league with 151 total hits on the season. Overall, Casey batted .348 with 6 home runs and 76 RBIs in 106 games. Playing for Troy as a left-handed first baseman, outfielder and pitcher, Ernie Wingard appeared in 104 games for Troy in his player/manager role. As a hitter, Wingard batted .328 with 14 home runs and 90 RBIs. As a pitcher, he had an 8-3 record with a 2.48 ERA in 14 games and 102 innings with 2 shutouts.
1937 to 1939: Alabama-Florida League / 1938 championship
In his first managerial role, Charlie Moss became the Troy player/manager in 1937. At age 26, Moss joined Troy after playing in the majors for the entirety of the prior three seasons. His 1937 season with Troy was his first minor league season in any role. After attending the University of Mississippi and playing collegiate baseball, Moss went directly to the major leagues from college. He played as a catcher with the Philadelphia Athletics from 1934 to 1936. Moss batted .246 with 0 home runs in 47 total career games and 65 total at-bats for the Athletics. He did not play in the minor leagues prior to joining Philadelphia in 1934.
Continuing play in the 1937 Alabama–Florida League, the Troy Trojans advanced to the finals of the league playoffs. The Alabama–Florida League reduced to a six-team league for the 1937 season, as the Abbeville Red Sox and Enterprise Browns teams did not return for the second season of the league. The 1937 Troy team was also informally called the "Cotton Bolls." The Trojans ended the Alabama State League regular season with a 70–56 record, playing under player/manager Charlie Moss and placed second in the standings. Troy finished 8½ games behind the first place Union Springs Springers in the overall Alabama–Florida League regular season standings. Finishing in third place in the overall standings, the Andalusia Bulldogs won the first half title in the split season schedule and the Union Springs Springers won the second half title. The playoff structure was scheduled to include Troy. The league gave Troy a bye to meet the winner of the Andalusia vs. Union Springs series. In their separate playoff, Andalusia defeated Union Springs 4 games to 2 to advance and meet Troy. In the finals, the Andalusia Bulldogs won the championship, defeating Troy 4 games to 2.
Playing at age 21, Trojan outfielder Andy Skurski batted .327 with 11 home runs and 107 RBIs on the season. He went on to play in the minor leagues through the 1954 season. Troy player/manager Charlie Moss batted .306 with 5 home runs and 65 RBIs for the Trojans in his dual rold.
Righthander Joe Dobson pitched for Troy in 1937, compiling a 19–12 record, a 2.27 ERA in 39 games and 270 innings. Dodson had 26 complete games to lead the Alabama–Florida League. The season prior, in 1936, Dodson had been seen pitching well for the semipro Tucson Merchants team at the July 1936 Arizona state tournament. At the tournament in Phoenix, Arizona he was discovered by Cleveland Indians scout, Grover Land who eventually signed Dodson to a professional contract. The Indians assigned him to play for Troy, beginning his professional career in 1937. The youngest of 14 children, Dobson had lost his left thumb and forefinger in an accident with dynamite at 9 years of age. After his successful season with Troy to begin his career, Dodson went on to become a major league All-star, winning 137 (137–103) career games pitching for the Cleveland Indians (1939–1940), Boston Red Sox (1941–1943; 1946–1950; 1954) and Chicago White Sox (1951–1953). Following his pitching career, Dobson became the pitching coach for the Boston Red Sox in 1954. In 1972, he became the general manager for the Winter Haven Red Sox of the Florida State League. Dodson was inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2012.
In 1938, Charlie Moss left Troy and rejoined the Philadelphia Athletics organization, becoming the player/manager of the Federalsburg A's of the Class D level Eastern Shore League. Moss left professional baseball following the 1939 season. A native of Meridian, Mississippi, where he was born in 1911 and died in 1991, Moss owned and lived in an area of Meridian called Moss Canyon. There, he built a baseball field directly behind his home for the youth in the neighborhood to play on. The ballpark he constructed also hosted organized youth games.
Charlie Hilcher replaced Charlie Moss as the Troy player/manager to begin the 1938 season. During the season, Tilden Campbell and Trojans pitcher Gene Babbitt also managed the team. With the three different managers, the Troy Trojans captured the Alabama–Florida League title.
The Troy Trojans won the league title in the 1938 Alabama-Florida League as the league continued play as the six-team Class D level league but abandoned the split season schedule format. The league adopted a four-team playoff structure. The Trojans placed second in the six–team Alabama–Florida League final standings and qualified for the playoffs to begin their title run. With an overall record of 71–59, playing under their three managers, Troy ended their season 6.0 games behind the first place Dothan Browns in the league standings. In the four–team playoffs, Troy first defeated the Union Springs Redbirds 3 games to 1 to advance. In the finals, Troy defeated the Andalusia Bulldogs with pitcher Virgil Trucks 4 games to 2 to win the title.