1919 North Carolina State League — News & Notes
A few legends step away from the game; another player endures wife's wrath
Some final tidbits on the 1919 season, which in a sense marks the end of the first era of the North Carolina State League. In 1920, several changes will take place, including the addition of two new teams and a longer season schedule.
• Winston-Salem outfielder
Ryan Travis is just three runs away from being the first in the NCSL to reach 500 career runs. Five others in the league have more than 400 at this point. Travis also is 27 hits shy of being the first to 1,000. He has been an unsung hero much of his career.
• Back-up Durham Bulls catcher
Jorge Diaz missed three months of action after getting hit in the head with a frying pan. The blow was delivered by his wife in February. No one ever really knew what exactly Diaz did to deserve the cast-iron swipe to the head. But no one ever dared talk junk about Mrs. Diaz…
• The Winston-Salem Twins were 18-6 against the Raleigh Capitals in 1919. Talk about domination. No other series between clubs was that lopsided.
Oliver "Skull" Jenkins shown during his Raleigh Capitals days
• Popular left-handed pitcher
Oliver “Skull” Jenkins decided to hang it up after the 1919 campaign. “It’s just time,” the 40-year-old from Holyoke, Mass said. Jenkins ends his career with a 96-73 record, 2.79 ERA. He had 12 shutouts and 91 complete games. He struck out 791, which is for now the career lead for K’s in the league.
Jenkins pitched for the Raleigh Capitals from 1913 until getting traded to Durham in 1918. He admitted that the Bulls’ jersey never quite felt right after “Raleigh Red.” Jenkins won Most Outstanding Pitching honors in 1914 and 1915 with the Caps. Jenkins lost his last start, a 6-5 heartbreaker against Asheville. “I knew then as I was coming off the field, I was done,” he would later say. “It was a fun ride for this old hard head. I just wish I could have brought my teams and my fans a championship.”
• Winston-Salem outfielder
Zachary Taylor (517 career hits, .310 career average) also decided to retire. He helped the Twins to a couple of championships and won a Glove Wizard award for himself in 1915...
• Outfielder
Floyd Mathis, who started for Durham and Raleigh for six seasons, joined the growing list of retirees. He leaves the game with 570 career hits.
•
Ollie Spence, who managed Winston-Salem and Asheville to championships (then got fired by both clubs), has signed on to be the Greensboro Patriots pitching coach for 1920. Wow…
• Below are season & career pitching and hitting records as they stand in the NCSL going into the 1920 season. Obviously, a lot of these will be rewritten quickly with the league increasing its number of games from 120 to 162.
BATTING RECORD BOOK:
PITCHING RECORD BOOK:
