Gastonia Honey Hunters, Caromont Health Stadium

SATURDAY, AUGUST 20: In Atlantic League of Professional Baseball action, the Gastonia Honey Hunters knocked off the visiting High Point Rockers, 11-5.

Photo by JBJ

As a repeat customer I feel qualified to say, ALPB baseball is a pretty good product. The Honey Hunters are strong this year; they will be competing in the championship playoffs in September. It seemed that every guy in their line-up is sporting an OPS in the 800 to 900 range. Possibly the 304-foot left field dimension contributes to that potent offense. The Honey Hunters jumped out to an early lead, then let the Rockers get back into the game in the middle innings, before putting the hammer down to extinguish the threat. 

We have a friend here in Raleigh who is a native of Gastonia, and she briefed us prior to our trip, enthusiastically, about things to see and do. We tried to follow her advice, failed in some cases. But our visit was animated by our friend's civic pride and hope. Most of us, certainly Angela and I, know the feeling of loving a small town, seeing the best in it, the untapped potential amid or alongside the decay. 

Gastonia has its challenges, as a former textile town, like so many towns in the Carolinas. (You're close to the South Carolina border here.) Something particular to Gastonia is that Loray Mills was the site of a famous strike and episodes of union-related violence. This is a complicated legacy. 

Renewal efforts are underway in Gastonia. Loray Village is a project to re-purpose the massive red-brick mill building into apartments, retail shops, and a museum. The Esquire, where we ate breakfast on Sunday, is a boutique hotel occupying a former bank building downtown. We had post-game drinks and nachos at Pita Wheel, which was a gas station in its former life. And the Honey Hunters ballclub, its stadium, and the FUSE District represent a broad-based plan to bring sports and entertainment to the area between Loray and the downtown center.  

Photo by Upstateherd (CC 3.0)

Caromont Health Stadium is a nice ballpark in only its second year of existence. It has the wall-to-wall carpet that High Point's home park has, which I dislike, but it's well-designed for multi-sport potential, with seating close to the action. We sat immediately behind the home team dugout, which added to the fun; we felt we were part of the players' conversations. 

Photo by Milbpics (CC 4.0)

Caromont has a friendly, efficient staff, including the EMTs who dressed Angela's wound after she fell and skinned her knee while crossing the street to enter the park. This was our first significant injury of the year, but Ange was a gamer and spectated through the whole contest. 

Ballpark foods consumed included a chili dog, Cracker Jacks, and a SunDrop soda. Local beer enjoyed: an Olde Mecklenburg Copper Altbier, out of Charlotte.

The crop of big-league ballplayers from around Gastonia is impressive. I was surprised. There are a bunch of All-Stars, 20-game winners, and MVP vote getters here. Gastonia is a bigger town than I tend to realize, for one thing.

• Jake Early (1915-1985), from Kings Mountain, was a catcher and longtime teammate of Buddy Lewis's with the Washington Senators. After leaving the Senators, Early played several more years in the minors. He had stints as a manager in Rock Hill, SC and Statesville, NC, and appeared as a pitcher for the Gastonia Rippers in 1960, aged 45.
• Buddy Lewis (1916-2011) was an outstanding player for the Washington Senators in a career shortened by WW2 military service. Lewis served in the U.S. Army Air Corps, flying supply missions over the Himalayas. He played third base, then later right field for the Senators. After retiring as a player, he returned to Gastonia and ran an auto dealership.
• Whitey Lockman (1926-2009) played first base and outfield for the New York Giants. He was a regular on the 1951 and 1954 pennant winning Giant teams. Lockman was born in Lowell and attended Gastonia High School. After his playing days, he coached, managed, and worked in player development for many years.
• After a shoulder injury threatened to end his pitching career, Ted Abernathy (1933-2004) adopted an unorthodox submarine delivery. The change transformed him from a marginal starter to an excellent relief pitcher. Abernathy led the NL in saves in 1965 and 1967. He was born in Stanley, in Gaston County.
• Jimmie Hall (b. 1938) had a sensational, almost freakish batting year as a major league rookie in 1963: 33 home runs for the Minnesota Twins, way more than he had ever hit in the minors. He had a good five-year run from '63 to '67, then fell off sharply. An outfielder, Hall was born in Mt. Holly and went to school in Belmont.
• Lincoln County native Tony Cloninger (1940-2018) pitched 12 seasons in the National League, mostly with the Braves and the Reds. He went 24-11 for Milwaukee in 1964. He started and took the loss for Cincinnati in Game 3 of the 1970 World Series, against the Orioles. But he later collected four World Series rings as Joe Torre's bullpen coach with the Yankees. 
• I remember Kevin Millwood (b. 1974) from my circa-2000 fantasy baseball days. Big right-handed pitcher, a good guy to draft with good fantasy "fundamentals" (HR, BB, K). He came up with the Atlanta Braves and teamed with Maddux, Smoltz, and Glavine late in their reign of dominance over the NL East. He bounced around after leaving the Braves but wound up with 169 big-league victories. Born in Gastonia, Millwood went to high school in Bessemer City.