ALABAMA PITTS: January 2008

The following is an excerpt from the chapter on Alabama Pitts from Hank Utley and my book. It was published in 2006 and is available through McFarland & Co. or through regular internet book sites.

CHAPTER FOUR

Cause Celebre

Edwin Collins “Alabama” Pitts

Born: November 22, 1909: Opelike, Alabama

Died: June 7, 1941: Valdese, North Carolina

Edwin Collins “Alabama” Pitts was born November 22, 1909, in Opelika, Alabama. His father, Edwin Sr. was a US cavalryman who died when the boy was five months old. His mother, Erma Mills Pitts nicknamed him “Alabama” to avoid confusion with his father who had been born on the Georgia side of the state line. After Edwin Sr.’s death, Erma lived with her sister Vera Rudd’s family on their farm. There she met her second husband, Robert E. Rudd. She and her sister were married to the two oldest Rudd brothers. On February 14, 1914, Mildred Eileen Rudd, Pitts’ half sister was born. Even though Edwin never got to spend much time with her, he adored his sister. It is not known why, but Erma and Robert were divorced. Myrtice Carr, a second cousin to Edwin, speculates that it may have been because she wanted to go to work as a secretary. At any rate, Rudd’s parents obtained custody of Mildred while Erma kept Edwin. There are several stories that tell of her attempts to kidnap her daughter from her former in-laws.

Little is known about Erma or about Pitts as a young man. At some point they left the southeast and moved to Peoria, Illinois. Ms. Carr noted that she was highly skilled as a typist and was likely able to find secretarial work. More recent information has revealed that she became a telephone operator, a position much in demand which would have allowed her to support herself anywhere in the country. No sandlot or school athletic records are available. Given his gift for athletics, one can only assume that the young Pitts was successful on the school playground. Little is known as well about his schooling. Robert Gold states that he attended one year of high school (Gold). While he could not have attained much formal education, it is likely that he inherited some of the sharp intellect which his mother was known to possess. Edwin, however, did not have the advantages that allowed his sister to finish school, get a college degree and become a teacher. It would seem that he was on his own, for at the age of fifteen, some time after his parents’ divorce, Pitts joined the Navy. He served his three year term, was honorably discharged, and ended up in New York City, broke and unemployed.

According to a story that undoubtedly originated with Pitts, he was convinced by an acquaintance to rob a grocery store. In this version he claims that it was simply because he was hungry, and that the amount of their take was only ten dollars. The amount was rather $76.25, a large sum for that day. Official court records show that it was Pitts who entered a Daniel Reeves Grocery Store with a gun that day. His accomplice, James Murphy waited outside, serving as a lookout as he had before. Their getaway plan, however, was not the brightest one. Murphy hailed a cab and waited for Pitts who exited the store with gun and money and the proprietor in pursuit. The cab was stopped just up the street, and the two young men were arrested.

Pitts’ crimes should not be made light of as they tended to be by the media a few years later. He was implicated in five other robberies and had probably used a gun in them as well. Later he would admit that he was a young thug at the time and that the arrest and prison time had a positive effect on him. The public defender who was provided for him urged Pitts to write a letter to the judge, begging for leniency. It does not seem possible that he could have written these words on his own:

Dear Sir:

I am Edwin Collins Pitts who will be sentenced before you Tuesday, March 18. Your Honor, I am guilty twice over and now fully realize the seriousness of the crimes I committed punishable by long years of penal servitude. Sir, I know that one can not be drove or made to commit the crime by persons or circumstances, but Sir, if one should fall, and Sir, both against the state and the church, the way is often paved by both of the mentioned elements. It would tiresome to you and useless to me to go into details of why I have broken these laws. The madness and folly of youth had much to do with it, ably aided by false pride, broken illusions, and shattered ideals.

I was nineteen years of age and in an unsettled state of mind caused by personal family troubles at the time I committed the crimes. Your Honor, my object in writing this letter to you is to beg that you be as merciful as possible with me. Sir, if you should see fit for your court to show me mercy, I will try in every way to be worthy of your kindness and goodness.

Respectfully and Humbly,

Edwin Collins Pitts

The judge was not moved by his plea and sentenced him to an eight to sixteen year sentence in Sing Sing Prison, the legendary facility located 35 miles north of New York City in Ossining, NY. Because he had used a gun while committing the crime, five of those years were mandatory. Murphy, his accomplice, was sent to a reformatory and told to avoid characters like Pitts. The judge did note in his statement that there were circumstances in the young man’s life that might have contributed to his recklessness. He mentioned the erratic behavior of his mother who had left her job in Peoria, Illinois, and come to New York to be with her son. No mention is made of his wife though records show that Pitts was married in 1928. Certainly, the pressure of providing for a wife and dealing with an obsessive mother had some effect on his choices.

During his time at Sing Sing Prison, Pitts was fortunate to come under the influence of Warden Lewis E. Lawes, a progressive administrator and champion of prisoner rehabilitation. Lawes had arrived at Sing Sing in 1919 and immediately began to reform the prison and to institute new, more humane methods of punishment. Joseph Overfield notes that Lawes oversaw “ a massive and long overdue plan of modernization, while also instituting a well-rounded athletic program, including outside games. Prison teams of various sports, including football, basketball, and baseball were started, with qualified coaches…put in charge of each sport.” Although some politicians complained that Lawes was pampering the prisoners, he was given a great deal of latitude because he kept a “quiet prison” (Gold).

Pitts, who was labeled a model prisoner, made the most of these opportunities. He played for the Black Sheep, a football team coached by former Notre Dame star, John Law. Law, the son of a bricklayer, and a member of a lower class immigrant family, had been a star football player at the Hamilton Institute. He had gone on to captain the Notre Dame football team and spent five years there as a disciple of the great Knute Rockne. His association with Notre Dame and Rockne, who was killed in a 1931 plane crash, had made him a celebrity. The fact that Lawes was able to bring such a man to Sing Sing Prison as his athletic director shows what an effective pubic relations man he was. Law became his connection to the sports world and provided a high profile image for their programs.

Pitts soon became a sensation, even attracting attention from the New York newspapers. On September 8, 1932, the New York Times carried a story that proclaimed Pitts to be a star, and Coach Law noted that he had “all the ear marks of a great halfback.” Law had a tremendous effect on Pitts and gave him the kind of coaching attention that he would never receive outside of prison. He thought that Pitts made a mistake when he decided to dedicate himself to baseball. Law always thought he was better-suited for football.

Besides being an outstanding football and basketball player as well as a track athlete, Pitts demonstrated high level baseball skills. He was an especially strong fielder and gained notice in the New York Times after an exhibition game with the Yankees in September of 1933. The Times account stated that “Alabama Pitts, Sing Sing’s star football player, demonstrated that he is equally at home on the diamond.” Pitts finished his Sing Sing baseball career with a .500 batting average in 21 games. He also hit eight home runs.

Pitts’ cooperation and athletic prowess soon paid off. Warden Laws made arrangements to reduce his prison sentence by three years. He was to be released in June of 1935. Pitts’ accomplishments as an athlete had garnered national attention by late 1934 as evidenced by a Los Angeles Times article, discussing his release which called him “the most prominent jailbird athlete in America.” Pitts received tryouts from at least two professional football teams while still in prison. But his big break came when Joe Cambria, the owner of the Albany Senators of the International League took an interest in his services. Cambria asked his manager, the famous second baseman, Johnny Evers, to sign Pitts before his release. With Warden Lawes’ consent, Pitts signed a contract on May 22, 1935, for $200 a month. This seemingly innocuous act would soon create such an enormous amount of attention that its recipient would never be the same.

It all started with an Associated Press release dated June 6, 1935. The Charlotte Observer ran the story on June 7:

Alabama Pitts tucked an unconditional release from the Sing Sing Prison Baseball Club in his pocket today, and reported to the Albany Senators in the midst of a controversy over his professional eligibility.

As he left the shadows of the prison, the star of Sing Sing athletic teams cupped an ear to the high howl of debate over the question: ‘Is an ex-convict eligible to play professional baseball?’

The Albany Club signed “Alabama” last month, but when the action was revealed a few days ago, President W.C. Branham of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues set down his foot the first time and started a controversy that immediately brought nationally prominent persons to Pitts’ support.

In fact, he said, ‘No,’ twice, the last time to Warden Lawes at Sing Sing, who appealed to him.

In a telegram to Lawes, Branham said, “It is not a question of the individual, Edwin Pitts, but his case presents this question; shall the ranks of organized baseball be opened to ex-convicts? I construe it my duty to answer in the negative. If my judgment is erroneous, I am glad the Executive Committee and the high Commissioner (KM Landis, former federal judge) have the power to reverse me?” Branham was obviously under tremendous public pressure. Pitts had public support on his side as well as the support of baseball players such as Dizzy Dean who came forward on behalf of his cause. It is also important to note that International League President, Charles H. Knapp first refused to approve the contract. Branham’s move was only one to support his subordinate.

For two weeks, no news item commanded more of the nation’s attention. One would have to go back to the kidnapping of the Lindberg baby in 1932 to find an event that so galvanized this country.

Pitts was not deterred by his initial rejection. As the Charlotte Observer reported, “Pitts was a shade on the optimistic side when he arrived in Albany. ‘I’m raring to go. I tell you now that I won’t make anybody regret giving me an opportunity.’ Pitts added, ‘In a way, I don’t blame Branham. If he thinks I may do something wrong, I suppose he is right. After all, baseball is a business.” Pitts could not have been too worried about finding a position on a sports team. He had other offers. The House of David, a touring team in both baseball and basketball and another pro baseball team in Dayton, OH, had wired him job offers. The Philadelphia Eagles, a professional football team was looking to sign him for the fall season.

On June 8, the Observer reported that the three man executive committee of the National Association had announced that they would hold a hearing within a few days. The committee had the authority to overrule Branham. In the meantime, Warden Lawes, in Ossining, NY, announced that he had received hundreds of messages supporting Pitts in his effort to play professional baseball. Among the messages were telegrams from Lou Little, nationally known Columbia University football coach, Judge JP Egan of Pittsburgh, and Harry Von Kersburg, Sam Darthy, and HT Clinton, all college football referees who officiated some at Sing Sing.

While waiting for the committee’s decision, Pitts attended an Albany game and received a tremendous ovation. According to the Associated Press release, “Pitts, barred at least temporarily from active play by the Minor League boss, was given a wild ovation, similar to those accorded Babe Ruth when introduced to some 3,000 Albany fans who braved wintry weather.” Between games of a doubleheader with the Buffalo Bisons, Pitts put on a batting exhibition. National newsreel and newspaper photographers were on hand when Manager AJ Mamaux pitched to Pitts.

It should be noted that the Albany club was off to a miserable start which had affected attendance figures, so Johnny Evers’ efforts were possibly not purely baseball-oriented. As Pitts had said, “After all, baseball is a business.” Evers was encouraged when Warren Giles, the National League president telegraphed him and told him that he would personally advise him of the committee’s decision.

The June 11 issue of the Charlotte Observer includes his announcement:

While we are in sympathy with the program which gives to paroled convicts an opportunity to rehabilitate themselves in society, we are of the opinion that the interests of the man will be served by offering that opportunity in some field where his activities will not be constantly subjected to public scrutiny and comment as they would be in baseball. The decision applies to baseball generally in the future.

This article continues, “With tears in his eyes, Pitts asked the meaning of the decision, saying, ‘You mean that if they let me play, every ex-inmate will want to play.’” He then announced that he would appeal to Commissioner Landis and added, “You don’t think I’m trying to get into baseball for the money? I love the game.” Evers also announced that he would appeal to the highest authority in baseball. He threatened to sever all ties with baseball if nothing could be done and denied allegations that he had signed Pitts in order to take advantage of his celebrity. Evers added that he would seek an outright pardon for Pitts from New York governor Hubert H. Lehman when Lehman returned from a trip to Bermuda.

Within days, editorialists all over America had taken up the cause of Alabama Pitts. Typical of these was Jake Wade’s Charlotte Observer column of June 12, 1935:

I’ve been down to see a picture called “Les Miserables.” I first heard the story many, many years ago and as a little boy I was profoundly impressed…While watching a very faithfully interpreted Jean Valjean go through hell and back, if you will pardon my French, I couldn’t help but think of Alabama Pitts and wonder if Judge WC Branham (President of the National Association of Minor Professional Baseball) had seen this picture. Erving Stone, the smart young manager of the Imperial Theater, tells me he sent Judge Branham a couple of ducats with a special invitation, so maybe he has or will, not that it will make any difference. Judge Branham is a very firm and opinionated man, and all the Jean Valjean pictures or stories in the world probably won’t change his opinion that Alabama Pitts should not be permitted to play baseball in the minor leagues, being a paroled prisoner…maybe that is not stating it quite right, since Judge Branham has explained that it is no personal opinion at all, but merely baseball law or custom.

Still there have been fellows, who have come out of jail and played professional baseball, and I could name one in a hurry we all know, but won’t because maybe the law or custom applies to him and he has been overlooked and he might lose his job, which I should hate to see…a lot of people or maybe I should say some- agree with Judge Branham and his associate high knockers in baseball that Alabama Pitts should be banned from the National Pastime.. For instance, Johnny Nee, the scout, said he thought it would be a bad move to let him play because when he got to kicking them around (error) the fans would put on a demonstration… and personally I don’t think Johnny Evers, is moved by an humanitarian spirit in offering Pitts a job at Albany, but merely wants him as an attraction…but that is beside the point and I can’t for the life of me see where Pitts could harm baseball, while it might make a man of him…and today that he can’t play is putting in clod words and fact what we dislike to believe, that a man who has been to jail and paid society for his wrong, hasn’t a chance when released…, if other businesses, along with baseball, adopt this rule, we may as well tear down our jails and build only electric chairs, scaffolds and gas rooms.

Atypical of the editorials was this one found in the June 13^th issue of The Sporting News, a magazine that served as a mouthpiece for Organized Baseball:

Baseball yields to no enterprise in its democracy. Its ranks are filled with the highly and lowly born, with college bred and with the graduates of Kerry Patch and the Ghetto. None of its player ever has been asked to produce a pedigree, a diploma or a birth certificate. They are accepted on faith and it must be admitted that as a whole, they have proved gentlemen, both on and off the field; in fact, their ranking in character is well above the average.

Therefore, the game cannot be charged with drawing a line of demarcation or of discrimination when it refused to permit a prison inmate, just released, to join its ranks and be ballyhooed as a player who had made good behind penitentiary walls. To do otherwise would be unfair, both to the man and the game. Both would be put on the spot and an exceedingly delicate spot at that.

The game, after all, is a quasi public affair. The spot light is constantly directed on it and of its members must constantly parade before the powerful glare of publicity. As a sport, it is a living experiment of fair play—helping the other fellow and not knocking an individual when he is down. But the game also has certain ideals that must be maintained and which can only be upheld by those in its ranks.

Therefore, we believe that President W.G. Branham and members of his Executive Committee of the National Association took the only course open to them when they advised the Albany club of the International League not to go through with its intention of signing a recent inmate of Sing Sing. The special position of baseball before the public seems to make the stand imperative. It would seem to be better to let this man first re-establish himself in a less prominent position and then if his playing ability warrants, allow him to enter the game not as a ballyhooed freak, but as a ball player whose past record, as in the case of all others, will not be questioned. The rosters are always open to the performer who can make good on his own ability and not on a manufactured reputation.

Fortunately for Pitts, when the commissioner of Major League baseball, Judge “Mountain” Landis ruled on the matter, he sided with the ex-convict. The nationwide interest in this story is indicated by its June 18^th front page placement in the Charlotte Observer. The headline which ran above the paper’s masthead proclaimed, “Judge Landis rules “Alabama Pitts May Play Baseball.” The United Press article noted that the ruling contained a stipulation that Pitts not be allowed to play in exhibition games to avoid notoriety. In his statement, Landis first showed support for Branham and his initial ruling, justifying his subordinate before overruling him. After a lengthy preamble, Landis commented on the official court record of Pitts’ sentence:

The record shows that it was Pitts who went into the grocery store in Brooklyn and held up a lone clerk with a gun. His accomplice who was one year older than Pitts was unarmed and remained outside the store as a lookout. His accomplice, the record shows, had no previous record, but Pitts had been in five other similar robberies. That record, however, is not important in this case. Many reputable people approached me in Pitts’ behalf. The opinion of many of those people is one that there has been a complete reformation in Pitts’ character. This fact and the fact barring him from baseball would perhaps have a destroying effect on his entire career provide the reasons for my action.

The reactions to the decision were widespread and positive. Charles H. Knapp, President of the International League said, “I’m very glad Pitts is going to get a chance to play and I hope he makes good.” Pitts spoke to legendary New York Mirror sportswriter, Dan Parker: “The judge has finally earned his salary. His decision is the best boost in the world. I’m just raring to go. Judge Landis’ ruling to let me play ball makes me the happiest man in the world. I won’t do anything to make him regret it. Whenever I get there, whether it’s tonight or Thursday or next week, I am going to do everything I can to make my baseball career a success.” Pitts appeared to be humbled by his opportunity. “I hope that someday I’ll be able to play in the majors. When I was down there (Sing Sing), I batted .500 and we played against some pretty good teams. I don’t know whether I’ll be able to hit like that against International League pitching, but you can bet I am going to try my hardest. I know I did wrong and I am thankful that I was sent to prison for that wrong. It was the turning point in my life just as this decision may be also.” Pitts went further to mention that Hal Roach had offered him a job in Hollywood and that he would have accepted it if the decision had gone the other way.

Everything seemed to be going Alabama Pitts’ way. Even the Sporting News adopted a more forgiving attitude toward him. While they had once argued that his presence would tarnish the game, they offered their revised opinion in the June 20^th editorial entitled, “It’s Up to Pitts Now:” “The supreme authority in baseball has spoken and given Pitts a clean bill of health, deciding that he is entitled to consideration on his merits as a player. The final umpire—the public—has yet to pass judgment, but should be willing to give him the chance for which he has appealed and in which plea he was joined by many fans. The future alone can determine the ultimate disposition of this cause celebre.” Pitts could ask for no more than this chance. It would be eleven years before anyone else would challenge the baseball establishment status quo. In 1946, Brooklyn Dodger General Manager, Branch Rickey would sign a young African-American named Jackie Robinson to a minor league contract with Montreal.

Pitts finally got his chance three days later in a Sunday afternoon double-header. The Sporting News reported that 7,752 people attended the spectacle. Details of the game indicate that Pitts led off the first inning with a ground out to the Syracuse shortstop. In the third he reached first on shortstop Neimiec’s error, and flied out to right in the fifth. Pitts’ first hit came in the seventh on a line drive. He later scored in a two run rally that chased Syracuse pitcher, Fred Fussell. In the ninth inning he drove in his first run with another single. Pitts went hitless in the second game, and Albany lost both ends of the doubleheader. The report praised his ability in the field: “In the opening game, he ran 40 to 45 feet on soggy turf to catch hard hit balls that looked like certain doubles.”

Despite Judge Landis’s ruling which stated that Pitts could not be used in extra games or exploited for his notoriety, it became apparent that the Albany club hoped to use his presence to increase gate receipts at all regularly scheduled league games. The Sporting News reported, “Johnny Evers, general manager of the Albany club, has stated that Pitts will remain with the Senators the remainder of the season, regardless of whether he makes good or not but the skeptics, who have seen a flock of Cambria’s players come and go this season, declare that Pitts will be going the rounds of other clubs with Albany connections (lower minor leagues) if he doesn’t make the grade in Albany.”

Evers obviously intended to milk Pitts’ notoriety for all it was worth. He even requested and received a special ruling from the Canadian government, permitting Pitts to play in Montreal and Toronto. The Dominion law against entry of persons charged with “moral turpitude” was lifted, and Pitts was free to travel with his teammates.

Among Pitts' teammates in 1935 when he arrived at Albany was Hack Wilson, caught up in the hopeless tailspin of his life after hitting 56 home runs for the Chicago Cubs in 1930. Three days after the decision to allow Pitts to play, Albany sold Wilson to Portland of the Pacific Coast League in order to clear room for Pitts. Wilson retired from the game rather than play for the tee-totaling Portland manager. Another teammate was Fred Chapman, a 20 year-old youngster who the Senators had signed off the semi-pro Kannapolis Towelers team that year.

Chapman, still living in Kannapolis in 1992, recalled that Pitts received a friendly welcome in all the International League ballparks that season. This was probably due to the ballyhoo built up by the press about his entry into organized ball as well as his obvious ability to draw crowds. Pitts' entrance into the outlaw Carolina League one year later was anything but friendly. Ulmont Baker, Concord Weavers' third baseman in 1938 remembered that as late as 1938, two years after he began playing in the outlaw league, he was the subject of fan abuse that was absolutely brutal in every game he played. Chapman also indicated that Pitts was very fast and a good fielding outfielder, but "like a lot of us rookies, he didn't hit too well."

It didn't take long to figure out that Pitts was in over his head in the International League. Even Pitts began to realized his need for playing time at a lower classification.

The July 25^th edition of the Sporting News reported the following:

Edwin (Alabama) Pitts told Rochester (NY) scribes last week that he felt he would improve if the Albany Senators would farm him to a club in lower classification for the remainder of the season. Manager Mamaux of Albany asserts that Pitts will remain with the team, because there is no better defensive man on the squad. Pitts had been idle due to injuries. He first injured his shoulder in sliding, then jammed the middle finger of his throwing hand on a fly ball.

The August 1^st issue of Sporting News made another reference to Pitts' lack of success at the plate. The story mentioned that before the July 25^th game Albany held some track events. "The famous Edwin (Alabama) Pitts showed he could run, even if he isn't much of a hitter." During the event, he circled the bases in a team-best 14.4 seconds.

Speculation about his future with the Albany club was heavy. Yet, in the August 8^th Sporting News, team president Cambria denied that Pitts and his "puny batting average" would be farmed out the following year. He insisted that "next year Pitts will be a regular with the Albany club." Since he had left Sing Sing, Pitts was batting less than .225.

Although injuries could not be the blame for all of Pitts' problems at the plate, it was reported again in the August 29^th Sporting News that Pitts had blood poisoning from a self-inflicted knife wound. Because of numerous injuries during the 1935 season, Pitts only played in 43 games. He managed to get 27 hits and 30 total bases in 116 at bats. His only extra base hits were three doubles, and he produced nine RBIs while finishing with a .233 average. . .

At the beginning of the 1936 season, Pitts was reassigned along with Fred Chapman to the York PA team in the Class A New York-Penn League, another team under Cambria's ownership. At the end of June, the team relocated to Trenton, NJ. The move was blamed on poor patronage, but it was actually the second move of the season for the franchise. The previous season it was located in Harrisburg, PA, but had been moved because the Harrisburg ballpark had been destroyed by spring floods.

Pitts' batting average stayed below .250 for his time in the NY-Penn League. The May 14^th Sporting News reported that in an effort to shake his past notoriety he had requested that he be addressed as Ed or Edwin rather than as Alabama. At one point he was suspended for 15 days because of a wrist injury and his slow start at the plate.

Pitts began to hit a little better after the team moved to Trenton. Records show he had seven hits in his first four games of July. He peaked with a 3 for 5 showing on July 6^th. His final records in the NY-Penn League show him with a .224 average that included 35 hits and 21 RBIs. He had two home runs, two stolen bases and had struck out only 16 times in 156 at bats. Then, inexplicably, Pitts showed up in Charlotte, NC, on July 12^th as a member of the Charlotte Hornet/outlaw Carolina League team. He had, in fact, been signed by the Hornets to replace Vince Barton, the Canadian slugger who had contractual obligations to the Chicago Cubs, but as it worked out ended up with another outlaw team, the Kannapolis Towelers.

Just a little over a year had passed since Pitts had broken into organized baseball. Now he found himself in a league that played a wide open brand of ball. Pitts seemed relieved to be out of the New York area spotlight. He told the Charlotte Observer that he wasn’t “happy up there.” He said the club had been losing money, and that they wanted to use him as “a circus freak, which didn’t appeal to” him.

Pitts went 3 for 5 in his debut on July 13^th. His production included a triple, and the Observer reported that “Pitts brought the crowd to its feet in the ninth with his hair line catch of Heavener’s line drive. He cut a flip in the slippery ground after the catch.” There was heavy rain that day, but the record crowd of 3000 demanded that the game be played. Charlotte won the game over Concord 10-3.

The Carolina League was a hitter’s league, and Alabama Pitts found it to be much more to his liking. Just six days after he joined the Charlotte Hornets, the July 19^th Observer ran an article describing his success: “Pitts Peps Up Hornet Gang Smacks Agate at .411 Clip”

The Alabama Streak has put power, punch, and magnetism into Frank Packard’s Boisterous Bees; whatever it is, those Charlotte Hornet are winning ball games and knocking at the front door of the fast Carolina baseball circuit.

Edwin (Alabama) Pitts stepped into the Hornets lineup on July 13 (a lucky date) and since that time has been posting that date at a sensational clip and doing a bang up job in the outfield.” The paper reported as well that the local fans had adopted him as a hero and that he received a huge hand each time he came to the plate. Pitts enjoyed playing in Charlotte, remarking to another player that “these folks are just too swell.

There were no league batting averages published during the first season of the outlaw Carolina League. But a sample of game reports shows that Pitts continued his torrid hitting. On July 23 he went 2 for 3, both home runs; on July 24 he had 3 for 5. On August 1 Pitts was 4 for 6 and 3 for 5 on August 4^th. In the August 9^th game, he was 3 for 4 at the plate and won the game by stealing home in the bottom of the 9^th. On August 11^th, he was 4 for 4, and on the 14^th, he got two hits and knocked in the game’s only run.

In the five game playoff series with Valdese, he had eleven hits. Despite his heroics the Hornets lost their playoff to the smallest town in the league. It should be noted that the series was not played without incident. In the first game, which Charlotte won 4-3, Valdese protested, claiming that Charlotte pitcher, “Struttin Bud” Shaney was cutting the ball. In the second game, played in Valdese, Pitts and Whitey Maxey were ejected for protesting a sixth inning call at the plate. A riot broke out in the grandstand, and when the Charlotte team refused the take the field for the seventh inning, Umpire Rube Brandon declared the game a forfeit. Valdese continued its winning ways, defeating the regular season champion Concord team in four of six games to win the first Carolina League playoff championship.

Although complete records are not available, Pitts clearly put up his best numbers during his half season with the Hornets. It seemed that he had found his place in the game. But it was not to be so. The Charlotte franchise elected to withdraw from the Carolina League in 1937, returning to the Class B Piedmont League. Pitts decided to stay in the outlaw league and signed with the Gastonia Spinners.

The success of the Carolina League had not gone unnoticed during its initial season. After players continued to jump professional contracts, Judge Branham declared it an outlaw league, meaning that its players would be prohibited from participating in organized professional baseball leagues. It was ironic that one of the league stars was Alabama Pitts who had fought so hard to play on an NAPBL team just two years before. The money was so good, and the promise of off season jobs during the depression so attractive that players continued to break contracts, some of them playing under assumed names. Pitts, with his notoriety, would hardly have been able to hide his presence. . .

After the 1937 season, Pitts settled down in the North Carolina foothills town of Valdese. He became a knitter and worked for Pilot Full Fashion Hosiery Mills. While working there, he met Mary Walker, a young woman from Falston, NC, a small town just north of Shelby. Mary was born on May 13, 1921, the daughter of Curtis and Callie London Walker, both of whom had died by March of 1937.

A brief article posted in the April 15, 1937, New York Times notes that Pitts had been granted a divorce by New York Supreme Court Justice Raymond C. Aldrich from his first wife, Kathryn Cruse Pitts of Brooklyn. Ms. Pitts was accused of misconduct while Mr. Pitts was serving his prison sentence. According to the article, they had been married in 1928.

Mary and Edwin were married in 1938, and she became pregnant with their daughter that year. Patricia Ann was born January 17, 1939, and though Mary was 18 at the time, the birth certificate lists her a year older.

Pitts played one more year in the outlaw league, this one for the Lenoir Finishers. Although the Lenoir team won the pennant by five and a half games over Hickory, Pitts did not have as strong a season. He hit 10 home runs and drove in 58 runs, but his batting average fell to .268, not so great when you consider that the Lenoir team average was .312. Despite their regular season success, Lenoir was swept in the playoffs. The last Carolina League playoff ended in a bizarre series in which Hickory, under protest, failed to show up for the fifth and deciding game.

The outlaw league folded after the 1938 season, and Alabama Pitts settled into his small town life. It has been noted that he made many friends and became a part of the community. He was, however, still connected to sports. He led the Pilot Mills basketball team to a championship in 1938, and records show that he coached the Valdese High School baseball team in 1939. The April 27, 1939 Sporting News carried a brief one paragraph article entitled, “Sing-Sing Graduate: Alabama Pitts coaching the Valdese High School baseball team.” There is no record of Pitts having played professional ball during 1939. He did play on some local semi-pro teams and may have been one of the players that was forced to sit out for a year because of his participation in the Carolina League. . . . .

Harold Lail of Longview, NC, was the batboy for the Rebels from 1938 through the early forties. He remembers Pitts as one of his favorite players. When some of the other players picked on Lail, Pitts was quick to defend him. Lail’s most important memory of Pitts was the day that the player approached him and asked if he would like to have a uniform for his sandlot games. Lail, who had lost his father was quick to answer yes. For the rest of that summer Lail showed up for his games proudly wearing a Sing Sing Prison baseball uniform.

Pitts had his best year in official professional baseball, batting .303 in 64 games, scoring 48 runs and driving in 39. Nevertheless, he was released by the club on August 1^st. One can only speculate as to why. Perhaps his age made him a liability. Hickory had signed him not only as a player, but also as a means to bolster attendance. It could be that he had made himself too available in the area and had lost his drawing power at the gate. Nevertheless, one could assume that Pitts had become disenchanted with organized ball and did not sign with a team the following season.

In 1941 Pitts went back to work at the mill, playing sporadically in semi-pro games. On June 5, a House of David touring team came to Morganton, a town ten miles west of Valdese. Pitts played center field for the touring team. A local newspaper article reported that he played well in the field and hit a home run. The next night he played in a game for the Valdese semi-pro team. Details of his performance are not available.

Later that night after the game, Pitts and two of his teammates, Horace Tron and Reid Suttle went to a well known roadhouse, a combination dance hall and service station, located beside the swimming pool. In “The Sad Tale of Alabama Pitts” Michael Clark describes what happened:

Around 3 AM, Pitts, apparently quite drunk, attempted to dance with a young lady, Miss Mildred Deal, of Valdese. She had come to the club in the company of Miss Kate Smith, and the two young ladies were escorted by cousins Roy and Newland LeFevers. Newland LeFevers was dancing with Miss Deal when Pitts decided to cut in.

The News Herald reported “Some difference was heard in reports as to actual details as to whether Pitts was starting to hit LeFevers with his fist.” Regardless of the nature of the dispute, LeFevers slashed Pitts with a knife, leaving a four inch gash under his right arm pit that severed an artery. After the incident, Suttle attacked Ray LeFevers, but Newland quickly escaped the scene and hid out for seven days.

Hickory Daily Record reporter Wake Bridges included Suttle’s account of the incident in his front page June 7^th article:

Suttle said that Pitts was slashed only once, the blade of the knife laying the muscle of the right arm open and severing the large artery.

He added that he and Horace Tron ripped off Pitts’ belt and made a tourniquet and succeeded partly in stopping the flow of blood.

Pitts helped with and directed the placing of the tourniquet.

‘His calmness was admirable,’ Suttle commented, adding, ‘He met it like a soldier.

Suttle said when the cutting took place he heard loud voices and then heard the splatter of blood on the floor of the tavern.

‘I know that sounds fantastic,’ he exclaimed, ‘but it’s the truth. I actually heard the blood start splattering on the floor.’

Suttle, a fellow worker of Pitts at the Pilot Full Fashioned Hosiery mill in Valdese asserted that Pitts strictly observed the terms of his parole from prison because ‘that was an ax hanging over his head.’

After attempting to stop the bleeding with a tourniquet, the teammates rushed Pitts to the Valdese General Hospital where the newspaper reported, “he bled as much as it is possible for a person to bleed.” According to the News Herald, Pitts told the hospital staff that “there was no fight and he was cut when he attempted to break in on a dancing couple” (Clark).

Two hours later, as preparations were being made to give him a blood transfusion, (Suttle was to have supplied the blood) Edwin “Alabama” Pitts died at the age of thirty-one.

Newland LeFevers remained at large for seven days before turning himself in. Although he was represented by Frank Patton, one of the most respected lawyers in the state, he was convicted of murder. However, he was granted an unconditional pardon by Governor Broughton, who was convinced that LeFevers acted out of self-defense and that Pitts who was quite drunk had forcibly grabbed Miss Deal and threatened LeFevers with violence.

The funeral for Alabama Pitts was conducted on June 8, 1941, and is described here by Michael Clark:

The man who stepped from the spotlight of the sports world to become a hosiery mill worker in the Waldensian city four years previous drew an estimated 5,000 people to pass by his casket in the small Valdese funeral home. A brief service was conducted by Rev. MI Harris of Valdese First Baptist Church, and then the body, followed by a procession of 50 cars, traveled to Friendship United Methodist Church in Fallston, a small community twenty or so miles south of Morganton in Cleveland County. He was buried beside Mary’s father, mother and sister Ruby. The funeral was conducted by Rev. Sylvan S. Poet of the Waldensian Presbyterian Church, and his pall bearers were the Valdese teammates with whom he’d shared a field only a few hours before his death: Will Bumgarner, Reid Suttle, Claude Owens, Harold Pruitt, TP Baker and Louis Vinay. His half-sister, Miss Mildred Rudd, and a cousin, Mrs. Lewis Green, both of Opelika, AL, were in attendance.

Clark also notes that “before their next game, against Morganton, the Valdese players lined up, heads bare, eyes filled with tears, in a silent salute to their centerfielder.”

Newspapers from around the country told the story of the tragedy of Alabama Pitts. The New York Times carried this story in the June 7^th issue:

Sing Sing Prison, which never saw a faster halfback on its gridiron, a more skillful fielder on its diamond, a better all-around man in its track and field events, was saddened by the news today of Alabama Pitts’ death.

A graduate of the Class of ’35, Pitts went into the world with the support of Warden Lewis E. Lawes and the confidence of the other prisoners who liked his athletic and social qualities and considered him, of all the celebrated personages turned out by that institution, ‘most likely to succeed.’

‘I’m deeply distressed to learn of his death,’ Warden Lawes said when informed of the stabbing. ‘Pitts had an excellent record here as he had in the Navy before he came to Sing Sing.’”

In the June 12^th issue of the Sporting News, Pitts was mentioned in the “necrology” column. In their coverage, the “Bible of baseball” failed to mention his years of service in the outlaw league. The Pitts story has similarly been a forgotten commodity in baseball lore. However, his successful battle with the baseball powers paved the way for other ex-prisoners like Ron LeFlore and Gates Brown who both played for the Detroit Tigers after serving time.

Of all the great characters that arrived to play in the outlaw Carolina League, Edwin “Alabama” Pitts remains the most enigmatic. For every answer provided by a study of his life, a question remains. Much of his life is open to speculation. Why, in 1940, did he rent a Hickory apartment during the ball season when his home was only fifteen miles away? Why did he never tell his teammates he had a wife and daughter just down the road? Why was he released by Winston-Salem in 1937? Why did Hickory release him when he was having a great season? Why did he not make another attempt at pro football?

Perhaps the most mysterious and therefore emblematic element of his life is something as simple as his birth date. In this profile we have used the birth date that appears on his Burke County death certificate, November 22, 1909. This date is substantiated by each age reference in his story. However, several internet sites list his birth as March 1, 1910, or March 1910. This record also fits with age references and possibly comes from baseball records. Total Football provides a record because of his time with the Philadelphia team. That date is 1908. Strangest of all is the date on his Cleveland County headstone: December 18, 1906. Information recently made available has provided an answer to the inaccuracy of the headstone. According to Myrtice Carr, Pitts’ second cousin, the grave did not originally have a headstone. An improvement project sponsored by the two churches that shared the graveyard was responsible for this addition. Apparently, they did the best they could with what information they had. This also explains why his first name is misspelled as Edwins on the stone.

Other information obtained from Ms. Carr may explain the secretive nature of Alabama Pitts’ existence. During all of his days, from his meteoric rise as Sing-Sing’s greatest athlete to his lesser-known ones as an outlaw ball player, his mother was always around. She was an obsessive-compulsive and possibly schizophrenic. According to Ms. Carr, she showed signs of instability much earlier in her life. One thing that is certain is that Pitts did an amazing job of maintaining his family secret. In all the comments made by his various teammates, there is never a mention of his mother.

Her condition had worsened in the late 30’s to the point where Edwin had her committed to Broughton Hospital, a state-run mental institution, in nearby Morganton. She apparently remained there until the early 50’s when she died. Erma is buried on the hospital grounds. . . .

ALABAMA PITTS

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Broughton Hospital Pauper's Cemetery, Where Alabama Pitts's Mother is Buried

An Alabama Pitts Poem

Alabama Pitts, What Did You Learn

Chapter Four From Outlaw Ballplayers

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