The Evergreen Courant's Sports Flashback for May 12, 2025

27 YEARS AGO
MAY 14, 1998

Frank Porter Sr. and Frank Porter Jr. are showing everyone how to start the spring off with this fine string of bass they caught recently. When asked where they caught the fish, they replied “in the mouth.”

42 YEARS AGO
MAY 12, 1983

Larry Johnson of the Game and Fish Division of Mobile and Tommy Cagle of the State Dept. of Conservation, place the tagged fish in the lake at the Evergreen Municipal Park Friday afternoon for the Fisherman’s Fun Day to be held this Saturday, sponsored by the Pilot Club of Evergreen.

J.W. Coburn wins bass tournament: J.W. Coburn of Evergreen won first place in the 1983 Jaycee Bass Tournament at Camp McMillan Boy Scout Retreat Pond on U.S. 31 near Brewton on Sat., April 30.
He was presented a trophy and bass tackle box by the Jaycees. He was fishing from the bank with a cane pole and wigglers in competition with fishermen in bass boats with all sorts of rods and reels and lures.

57 YEARS AGO
MAY 9, 1968

AGGIES BLAST MILLER – The Evergreen Aggies scored four runs in the top of the first frame and added six more a few innings later as they blasted the T.R. Miller Tigers, 10-4. Jimmy Brown, Bill Bailey and Hollis Tranum had singles for the Aggies in that big first inning. The Tigers countered with single runs in the third and fourth innings and two runs in the fifth inning to account for their scoring for the afternoon. The Aggies scored a run in the top of the fifth with Leon Hinson, Jimmy Hart and Larry Wright all getting hits. The Aggies iced it in the top of the sixth inning as they scored five runs on one hit and three errors. Tommy Weaver had the lone Aggie bingle in that frame. Jimmy Brown led the Aggie batters as he collected two hits in three trips to the plate. In all, seven Aggies had at least one hit, and all nine Aggie starters scored at least one run. Tommy Chapman went the distance for the Aggies and yielded seven hits while getting seven Tigers to strike out.

ATMORE BLANKS AGGIES 1 TO 0 – The Evergreen Aggies managed just one hit off three Atmore hurlers, and lost a heart-breaker, 1-0. George Stinson got an infield single in the first inning for the Aggies’ only safety of the night. Atmore scored their lone run in the top of the third inning on a single, a double and an error. Ralph Deason went the route for the Aggies and scattered four hits.

Miller blanks Evergreen 5-0: Veteran Tommy Scarbrough fired a neat four-hit shutout at the Aggies, and his teammates backed him with a 10-hit attack as the T.R. Miller Tigers rapped the Aggies, 5-0. The Tigers got to Aggies starter Jimmy Hart for five runs on eight hits in the first four frames and coasted in from there. Ralph Deason came in for Hart in the fifth inning and put the Tigers down on just two hits for the remainder of the contest. The Tigers scored two runs in the second inning and three more in the fourth inning. Tommy Weaver, George Stinson and Jimmy Hart had the four hits for the Aggies. Hart went two for three at the plate, including a 425-foot double off the center field wall.

72 YEARS AGO
MAY 14, 1953

Greenies In Brewton Tonight; Here Sunday: The Evergreen Baseball Team will journey to Brewton for a game tonight (Thursday) under the lights of Liles Park. Manager Zell Murphy states that he has high hopes of a victory due to added strength to his ball club. Warren ‘Slugger’ Bolton, dependable second-sacker of the strong local club several years back, made his initial appearance of the season against Atmore last Sunday and will be with the team for the remainder of the season. In his first appearance with no practice, ‘Slugger’ played flawlessly afield and rapped out two hits on four trips, one being a homer over left-center field his second time at bat. George Gaston pitched good ball as the locals lost, 4-2, as the result of a ninth-inning rally by Atmore. Gaston appears to be a dependable addition to the mound staff. John Greel Ralls is also expected to join the local squad for the remainder of the season.
The Greenies will return home for a game in Brooks Stadium with Brewton Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m.

Aggie Hurler Tosses No-Hitter At Monroe: Hugh ‘Long’ Ellington, star Aggie pitcher, tossed a no-hit, 11-0, ball game at the Monroeville Tigers Tuesday afternoon. It was the second time this season that ‘Long’ had shut out the Tigers as he only surrendered one hit to them in a game several weeks back. The victory closed the most successful season for an Aggie baseball team in many years as they compiled an eight won and one lost record.

Hi-Lites of E.H.S. – So Long, Coach! Coach Ralph Law, popular assistant coach at E.H.S., has been called into service in the Air Force.
During World War II, Coach Law served two years in the Navy. After his discharge from this branch of the service, he enrolled at Auburn. Coach Law graduated from A.P.I. and accepted a commission as a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force. On May 27, 1953, Coach Law will report to Moody A.F.B., Valdosta, Georgia, where he will work with the physical training program.
The sincere good wishes of the students and faculty of E.H.S. will go with Coach Law when he leave E.H.S.

87 YEARS AGO
MAY 12, 1938

Greenies Win One; Lose Five; Tie One: The baseball gods have declared war on the hapless Greenies. The gods have seen fit to let Lady Luck smile upon the Greenie opposition. The past week found the Greenies winning a lone game from the Union Springs Red Birds by an overwhelming score. The game started off with the Greenies grabbing seven runs in the first inning and coming back to end the scoring in the second setto with six more tallys. Every Greenie hitter hit at least one time with the exception of catcher Sumpf. Big Will Walls slammed out another homer to boost his batting average. Skipper Rice also connected for a homer. Lefty Goetz was in rare form when he slipped the third strike by eight Bird batsmen. Lefty limited the Birders to five scattered safeties.
On Friday night, the Greenies met the Panama City Pels in the Bay City only to see history repeat itself. The Pels shut out the Greenies by a 12-0 score.
Saturday, the Pels came to Evergreen for a return match with the Greenies and after trailing the Greenies they managed to come from behind and cause a three-all tie. The game was called at the end of the ninth because of darkness.
Sunday, the Greenies met the fast improving Andalusia Rams in that city and after a wild game the Rams came out on top. The score stood 12 to 7 at the end of the ninth. Errors played a major part in the downfall of the Greenies.
Monday, the Greenies caught the Rams in a return match at Gantt Field. Again Lady Luck faced Andalusia squad. The ball bounced in every direction except the right one. Skipper Rice took a turn on the mound and should have had a tight ball game but the errors that were turned in caused his downfall. The Skipper and Spurlock paced the Greenie hitters, both banging out two hits. Spurlock connected for a triple.
Tuesday the Greenies met the Trojans in Troy and but for a two-base error would have added another game to their win column. The Trojans barely nosed out the Greenies with a six to five score. Bryant, new Greenie catcher, paced the Greenie hitters by collecting three base hits.
Wednesday afternoon, the Trojans slapped the Greenies by a 13 to 4 score. Chick Barranco, former Greenie found Spurlock out of position and slashed out a home run inside the park. Harbin and Harris led the Greenies with two safe blows. Hilcher and Middlebrooks got three and four respectively.

Jewish Cemetery exhibit a must-see for Alabama history buffs

Jewish Cemetery at Claiborne, Ala.

Like many of you, I read with great interest that the Doy Leale McCall Rare Book & Manuscript Library at the University of South Alabama is celebrating Jewish Heritage Month with an exhibit that features the Jewish Cemetery at Claiborne.

The exhibit officially opened with a public reception Monday afternoon and will remain on display through June 30. The exhibit is located on the third floor of the Marx Library, the home of the Doy Leale McCall Rare Book & Manuscript Library. The Marx Library is open seven days a week.

The Jewish cemetery at Claiborne is located on private property and is a unique reminder of how different life once was in Monroe County. In its heyday, Claiborne was a large frontier town on the Alabama River with a thriving merchant class. All walks of life could be found at Old Claiborne, including a sizeable Jewish community.

Sources say that the last burial at Claiborne’s Jewish cemetery occurred in 1899 and that the cemetery was vandalized in 1967. The cemetery contains at least 32 graves, probably more. Sources say that the oldest grave there belongs to a David Sanders, who died on Nov. 18, 1843.

Despite the age of the Jewish cemetery, there are few references to it in old editions of The Monroe Journal. The only reference to the cemetery prior to 1963 that I could find was in the July 10, 1958 edition of The Journal. That week’s paper published a story about Claiborne historian, Elizabeth S. Deer.

That story said that Deer, who moved to Claiborne in 1919, was preparing to write a history of Claiborne and had “amassed one of the largest collections of material owned by a single person” on Claiborne. “In addition to the Dellet or Torrey home, about the only lasting remains of the town is the old cemetery up the hill from the Claiborne-Murphy Bridge (dedicated Sept. 9, 1932, when Mrs. Deer was president of the Claiborne Historical Society), a Jewish Cemetery and a historical marker,” the story went on to say.

Some readers may be wondering why an exhibit about a Monroe County cemetery is being held at the Doy Leale McCall Library in Mobile. Doy Leale McCall Sr. was born in Etowah County in 1896 and after serving in World War I, he moved to Monroe County in 1922 to establish a sawmill. He eventually moved to Monroeville and got married, only to lose an arm in a 1927 sawmill accident.

Sources say that this injury left him with “time to indulge his passion for history and bottle collecting,” and during the ensuing years, he “amassed one of the largest archive of historical documents and bottles in the United States.” McCall died in 1971 and 40 years later – on May 6, 2011 – the archives at the University of South Alabama officially changed its name to the Doy Leale McCall Rare Book & Manuscript Library after McCall’s grandchildren donated a valuable and historically significant collection of 18th, 19th and 20th century documents amassed by McCall and valued at $3.1 million.