Winston-Salem Twins

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Team History[edit]

On August 30, 1916, the Winston-Salem Twins, playing in the North Carolina State League, were involved in the quickest game in baseball history. It was the last day of the season and they wanted to catch an early train out of Asheville, NC, so they agreed with the home Asheville Tourists to start their afternoon games 30 minutes early (without bothering to advise the umpire, who only showed up after three innings had already been played). The players ran to their positions and back, the pitchers lobbed the ball towards the batters, who swung on every pitch, and would run until tagged out. The game started at 1:28 and ended at 1:59 with a 2-1 win by Winston-Salem, with all three runs scoring on solo homers. The total game time of 31 minutes was one minute faster than the Southern Association game of September 17, 1910 between Atlanta and Mobile, which is often listed as the quickest on record. The game received only local coverage, and was entirely forgotten until a researcher uncovered its account 50 years later.

Year-by-Year Record[edit]

Year Record Finish Manager Playoffs Notes
1905 10-14 3rd J.C. "Con" Strothers / Earle Holt League disbanded August 19 Salisbury-Spencer (24-28) moved to Winston-Salem July 17
1908 41-48 4th Robert Carter none
1909 54-52 4th Robert Carter none
1910 51-57 4th James McKivett none
1911 72-37 1st Charles Clancy none League Champs
1912 63-47 2nd Charles Clancy none
1913 66-49 1st Charles Clancy none League Champs
1914 70-47 1st Charles Clancy none League Champs
1915 53-69 5th Charles Clancy none
1916 63-48 2nd Charles Clancy none
1917 17-20 4th Charles Clancy League ceased operations May 30
1920 56-65 4th Bill Shumaker / Eddie Brennan / Jim Kelly
1921 62-58 4th Charles Clancy
1922 66-59 3rd Charles Clancy
1923 59-63 4th Bill Leard / Mike Fahey
1924 59-62 4th Bill Jackson none
1925 77-49 1st Charlie Carroll Lost League Finals
1926 64-81 5th Cy Chisolm / Red Irby / Walt Christensen / Art Bourg
1927 79-64 3rd Charles McMillan
1928 82-51 1st Bunn Hearn League Champs
1929 77-63 3rd George Whiteman
1930 70-71 4th Hal Weafer / Claude Joyner /
Charlie Carroll / John Brock
1931 55-79 6th Bunn Hearn / Clarence "Stuffy" McCrone
1932 18-28 -- Harry Wilke Winston-Salem moved to High Point (50-38) August 20
1933 42-99 6th Jim Poole (25-36) / Art Bourg (17-63) none
1937 35-105 8th Alvin Crowder / Pepper Rhea /
Phil Lundeen / Walt VanGrofski
1938 46-92 8th Walt VanGrofski (7-15) / Joe Prerost (39-77)
1939 54-84 8th Charles Clancy
1940 45-85 8th Eddie Moore (18-28) / Ray Brubaker (27-57)
1941 54-82 8th Jake Atz
1942 52-81 8th Jack Tighe (6-18) / Al Unser (46-63)
1954 44-94 8th Ralph Hodgin (14-31) / Herb Brett (30-63)
1955 65-73 7th Ken Silvestri (46-53) / Aaron Robinson (19-20)
1956 59-91 8th George Hausmann (43-59) / Lee Peterson (16-32)

Further reading[edit]

  • Wynn Montgomery: "Quicker than Quick", The Baseball Research Journal, SABR, Volume 40, Number 2 (Fall 2011), pp. 104-106.