Hot Stove: 1954

Leaves drift to the ground along Church Street. Up the street, at the top of a steep hill, amongst old hardwood trees now almost completely bare, sits the sturdy white church building with the square bell tower, stark against the pale blue November sky. On this Saturday morning in 1954, the church is quiet and few folks brave the wind.   But a handful of men have gathered in the general store and have talked of the tobacco crops now curing safely in the barns. It is not quite time to strip the crop and prepare for market. And it is a little too early for much excitement about the chances of the basketball team at the state university.   But it is time for old friends to reflect on a baseball season now almost two months gone and ponder what spring will bring for their favorite teams, the New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians.   “Oscar, you reckon the Yankees can whup the Indians next year?” Elmo Forrester has known Oscar Simmons for more than 40 years. Much of ... (link)