John Moss

John Henry Moss

• High School Kings Mountain High School
• Born November 10, 1918 in Kings Mountain, NC USA
• Died July 1, 2009 in Kings Mountain, NC USA

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Biographical Information

John Moss founded the semi-pro Western Carolina League in 1947. The next year, it became a fully professional league. It later became the Western Carolinas League and is now known as the South Atlantic League. He was the president of the three leagues for fifty years. Moss was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 2004. In 2009, Gardner-Webb University announced that their new baseball complex was to be named in Moss' honor. Moss' wife of many years was Elaine Caroline Beilke Moss who served in the SALLY League front office and was inducted into the South Atlantic League Hall of Fame in 1994.

Moss also had a brief minor league career as a good-glove/weak-bat middle infielder in the farm system of the Washington Senators in the 1930s and early 1940s.

During World War II, Moss served as a general's bodyguard. Following the war, Moss spent some time as the general manager of the Detroit Tigers farm system.

Moss made his home in Kings Mountain, NC where he served as mayor for over twenty years. One of his biggest accomplishments as mayor was overseeing the construction of a 15 billion gallon reservoir that was named Lake Moss in his honor.