The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1532241
48 ■ THE WOLFPACKER tridge, who spent 16 seasons as a catcher in the earliest versions of the major leagues. Near the end of his playing ca- reer, he was a player-manager for Clark Griffith's Washington Senators, com- piling a 1-18-1 record to start the 1904 season before being relieved of his duties. Players ran the program in 1907, and one of them, Frank Martin Thompson, took over as head coach from 1908-11. The Raleigh native and two-sport star helped produce NC State's best early teams, including one of the most amaz- ing feats in the history of college base- ball in North Carolina. Thanks to future major leaguer Dave Robertson and a roster of speedy team- mates, like Tal Stafford, D.W. Seifert and Harry Hartsell, on March 25, 1911, the State team beat the major league Philadelphia Nationals (Phillies), 6-4, at Riddick Stadium and went on to win a Southern Intercollegiate Association championship. In 1912, after Thompson bolted to coach both baseball and football at rival Wake Forest, NC State football coach Eddie Greene took over the baseball program for a season, followed by Fred Anderson. Alums Stafford and Hartsell coached the program through the Spanish flu pandemic and World War I, with a one-year service by Bill "Willy" Fetzer, whose tenure at NC State was short — he and his brother left to coach football and baseball at North Carolina. Despite having a part-time staff, State's baseball team produced occa- sional good results with capable players. Robertson became a transformative fig- ure in the history of NC State athletics when he was signed by John McGraw of the New York Giants after striking out a college-record 23 Guilford batters in 1911, becoming the school's first profes- sional athlete. A two-sport standout, Robertson was an excellent pitcher until he broke both shoulders in a football game against Bucknell. He lost his pinpoint control but was converted to play first base and outfield as a professional and led the National League in home runs in both 1916 and '17. Robertson opened the doors for other players like pitchers Bill Evans and George Murray and outfielder Dick Burrus. Murray went from playing on the pandemic-decimated 1918 football team that lost to Georgia Tech, 128-0, to joining Babe Ruth and the New York Yankees in the 1922 World Series against the New York Giants. The Charlotte na- tive had been a star pitcher for Staf- ford's team for four seasons. Burrus signed to play with the Phila- delphia Athletics in 1920. In 1925, the Hatteras, N.C., native batted .340 in 152 games with the Boston Braves, the high- est average ever recorded by a former NC State baseball player in the majors. Once Doak established a footing at the school in the mid-1920s, the pro- gram regularly produced major league players, mainly pitchers. Johnny Lan- ning pitched for 11 seasons in the ma- jors, and Kemp Wicker played in four World Series for the Yankees and the Giants in his four big-league seasons. Shortstop Jimmy Brown was the first professional star produced by Doak, even though he only played one season with State's Red Terrors. He spent seven seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, had his career interrupted by World War II and played one season with the Pi- rates. During the war, Doak stepped down to run his boys camp in northern Wake County, leaving the program in the hands of football coaches Williams "Doc" Newton and Beattie Feathers for consecutive seasons. When the war ended, the school made an effort to im- prove its athletics, beginning with the hiring of former Detroit Tigers pitcher Vic Sorrell, then added basketball coach Everett Case and swimming coach Wil- lis Casey. Coach Sam Esposito (left) recruited a trio of pitchers who would go on to spend more than a decade in the major leagues, including Tim Stoddard (right). PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS NC State Baseball Coaches George "King" Kelly 1902 Cleveland Douglas Welch 1903-04 Malachi J. Kittridge 1905-06 Unknown 1907 Frank Thompson 1908-11 Eddie Greene 1912 Fred Anderson 1913 Harry Hartsell 1917-18, 1921-23 Tal Stafford 1919 Bill "Willy" Fetzer 1920 Charles "Chick" Doak 1924-39 Williams "Doc" Newton 1940-44 Beattie Feathers 1945 Vic Sorrell 1946-66 Sam Esposito 1967-87 Ray Tanner 1988-96 Elliott Avent 1997-present