Burlington Sock Puppets, Burlington Athletic Stadium

Friday, July 29 saw the Burlington Sock Puppets prevail over the Bluefield Ridge Runners, 12-10. The game was marked by errors and passed balls and hit batsmen. It did seem like the guys remembered how to hit along about the 5th inning, so there were a few homers and even a couple of defensive gems, but they were outnumbered by sloppy plays. This was the longest game we've seen this season, over 3 1/2 hours, and we were pretty ready for it to be over. (Burlington is only a hour from our house, so we commuted to the game and got home before midnight.) 

The home team pulled it out, though. (They have the best record in the Appalachian League. Go Sock Puppets!) We felt lucky that the thunderstorms passed us by with only a few drizzles. The evening sky was lovely, streaked with clouds and rich colors.

The effort in recent years by organized baseball to restructure the minor leagues (i.e., shrink them for economic reasons) was one of those news stories that depressed me enough that I didn't follow it closely or understand the resolution. Part of the upshot is, the Appalachian League today is no longer a low-level pro league, a "rookie" league, but a developmental league whose players will return to their college teams next year. The players are mostly 18 and 19 years old, and all U.S. players, none from Latin American countries that I could tell. It's a short season, June 1 thru August 10, roughly. Kind of like summer camp? Are these the "best" college prospects in the country or are they self-selected in some way? Was I correct to categorize the Appy League as part of the minor league system? These are my questions.

Burlington Athletic Stadium stands out as the oldest ballpark we have visited, and the most unpretentious: metal and concrete like one of your better high-school football stadia. It originally stood in Danville, Virginia. The structure was bought by the town of Burlington, disassembled, brought in, and reassembled in time for the 1960 season. Its hard aluminum bleacher benches are a little problematic for a middle-aged person after a few hours. The park seats 3,500. Well-tended grass field. 330' down each line, 400' to center.

Photo by JBJ

Burlington has held a place in the Appalachian League since 1986. Prior to that, they had an entry in the Carolina League for about 25 years, from the mid-40s to early 70s. The ballpark is within sight of the Pioneer Plant of Burlington Mills, later Burlington Industries, which came to specialize in hosiery. So the name Sock Puppets, dating only from 2021, reflects that history. Earlier team nicknames merely mimicked the big-league affiliate at the time: the Indians, Pirates. Royals, etc. 

This area of the state was settled pretty early, pre-Revolutionary War, with some religious dissenters and Regulators in the mix. Yet there was never much of a town here until the rise of the railroads in the 1850s and the need for a repair site. The town was known as Company Shops for over 20 years. "Burlington" was chosen as the new town name on 1887, nominated by a resident who saw it on a passing train. 

Burlington went quickly from being dominated by the railroads to being dominated by the textile barons. Yet I liked the spirit in the crowd in Burlington, as downwardly mobile and unpretentious as its ballpark. We saw families, young couples on dates, teenagers screwing around behind the bleachers. 

Ballpark foods consumed: a pulled-pork barbecue sandwich and an order of barbecue nachos, which were fine. (I will say, next time in Burlington I want to visit Hursey's Barbecue, which I expect will be better than fine.) Local beer enjoyed: a Sock Puppet Pilsner by Tobacco Wood Brewing of Oxford, NC. 

Each of the following baseball gentlemen was born in the Burlington area, and three of them died there as well:

• Left-handed pitcher Tom Zachary (1896-1969) never spent a day in the minor leagues, but appeared in 533 big-league games over 19 seasons. If you know only one fact about Zachary, it's probably that he gave up Home Run # 60 to Babe Ruth in 1927. My favorite fact, however: He was from a family of Quakers, and served with a Red Cross unit in Europe as an alternative to WW1 military service. Zachary pitched in three World Series (1924-25 with Washington, 1928 with the Yankees) and won each of his three WS starts. 
• Garland Braxton (1900-1966), from the community of Snow Camp, was a journeyman lefty pitcher. He won 50 games in the majors, plus 193 in the minors, including some big seasons in the high minors. Started out at age 20 with Greensboro in the Piedmont League. At age 39 he returned to his home region, playing for Winston-Salem, again in the Piedmont League. Within that league, Braxton later shifted to the Norfolk (Va.) Tars, and apparently settled in Norfolk after pitching his last game at age 49. He died in Norfolk.
• Mebane native Lew Riggs (1910-1975) was a left-handed hitting third baseman. He came up through the Cardinals system, became a regular for the Cincinnati Reds for a few years, then was brought to Brooklyn by Leo Durocher to be a pinch-hitting specialist for the Dodgers. Riggs appeared in the World Series in 1940 with the Reds and in 1941 with the Dodgers. As a youngster he came up in the minors with Dizzy Dean. As a veteran he was a member of the 1946 Montreal Royals, Jackie Robinson's first "white" professional team.  
• Jim Holt (1944-2019) is a player I remember from my bubblegum card collecting childhood. An outfielder/first baseman, a semi-regular for the Minnesota Twins, then later a useful sub on the World Champion 1974 Oakland A's.