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sgunter@wmbb.com

Friday, May 26, 2006

Baseball Strikes Out: A History Of Pro Ball In P.C.

PANAMA CITY, Fla. - It’s been about four decades since professional baseball left Panama City.

It was a pre-televison era, pre-air conditioned era when what happened on a summer’s eve baseball diamond would be the stuff of the next day’s conversation.

Click Here for videoThe original Panama City team arrived in 1936 and changed names several times (Papermakers, Pilots, Pelicans).

That team folded in 1939. 

But the nation’s past time was re-established in 1951 as the Panama City Fliers.

It was the Class D Alabama-Florida League, a professional league which consisted of cities that were hardly more than villages.

Tallahasse, Crestview, Graceville, Dothan and Enterprise all fielded teams.

“It was a fun year,” current Atlanta Braves manager and former Flier Bobby Cox said.  “You didn’t care where you played, as long as you were playing pro ball, it didn’t make a difference.”

Cox played in Panama City in 1961 and hit .304 with 17 home runs as a second baseman.

But the heyday for the Fliers was the summer of 1955 when they won the Alabama-Florida League title.

Former Panama City ball player Bill Brighwell’s recollection of the old days weren’t clouded by romantic boyhood dreams.

“We had an old bus,” Brightwell said.  “It stayed broke down half the time.”

Brightwell played with the Fliers from 1955-58.  He hit .328, knocked in 101 runs and even won 12 games as a pitcher.

“The locker room only had one little bench in it,” Cox said.  “There were some nails on the wall, it wasn’t the best conditions, but fun.”

The Fliers played there games at Lyons Park, which was located at the corner of US 231 and State 77. 

The county water tower now sits in right field and the strip mall occupies what was the infield.

“Lyons Park had a very good playing field,” Brightwell said.  “The stands were not good, but it was one of the best fields I’ve ever seen.”

“I remember hitting one over the centerfield wall, which was about 434 ft.,” Cox said.  “That wind had to be blowing!”

Bill Tolar, the city clerk of Cedar Grove, said that he spent most of his summer nights as a boy at Lyons Park.

“We stayed outside and didn’t have enough money to buy a ticket,” Tolar said.  “If they fouled a ball over the fence, you get free admission.”

Tolar and his friends couldn’t afford to get in the park, so they would either jump the fence or gather foul balls.

“We stayed behind the backstop,” Tolar said.  “When they fouled the ball off, it got in the dark, you would just see that white ball.

“It looked like something from outer space, there it was.  We’d run, take off and get it.”

The peak of baseball was 1955. 

The team reached the .500 level just once more before the final year of existance in 1961.

One year after the Fliers folded, so did the entire Alabama-Florida League.

“Televison hit this area in 1955,” Brightwell said.  “There was just too many other things to do.  I don’t believe Babe Ruth would draw out there then.”

The Panama City team changed major league affiliations numerous times. 

But during Brightwell’s career, the Fliers were the farm team for the Detroit Tigers.

Alabama-florida-league.com Contributed To This Report.

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