"My grandfather played for the Rebels."
It's a simple statement, yet it caught me by surprise.
It's the connection to the past that reminds us players are more than statistics. They are husbands, fathers, grandfathers, uncles - to people who maybe never even saw them in uniform.
Some family members have stories to share, some are looking for details about loved ones. Or ones never met. Often it's more tall tales than truth, no matter which direction the information flows.
On this occasion, now some years ago, I was baking in the summer sun watching a largely irrelevant game. Alongside me was the wonderful Mrs. K. H. and her family.
Aware of my likely interest in her grandfathers connection with the local club, she followed with "He played with the Rebels and also worked for them in the front office." These statements, humble and unassuming, piqued my curiosity. However it would take quite some time to pull all the pieces together regarding granddads career in baseball.
Now that I have looked deeply into it my assessment is this:
While fully true, it is a complete and total understatement of almost criminal proportions.
I would suggest amending that initial statement to something along the lines of
"My grandfather's the best pitcher in Montgomery, ever. My grandfather was Woodford Parks. Oh, and he also played for the Rebels"
A tall statement indeed. Brash even.
But dare them to find someone, ANYONE, who is better.
WOODFORD PARKS
You haven't heard of him and that's not your fault. The Montgomery Sports Hall of Fame is kept in the basement of the old Advertiser building at the County Archives, literally stored in shoeboxes.
That's where Woody Parks' plaque resides, along with the others, detailing his decades long career as a player and baseball executive in this town. And even it probably doesn't cover many of the details unless it's been written by the guy who puts the Lords Prayer on the heads of pins.
B.I.O.N.
In the 1920's Ripley's Believe It Or Not was on the sports page of the Montgomery papers nearly every day. So was Woodford Parks.
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| Woody Parks, Lanier HS grad 1923 |
Woody pitched his first game in Montgomery in 1919 as a member of the Buffalo Rocks, a youth team sponsored by the drink company of the same name, at the age of fifteen.
By the time of his graduation in 1923 the righthander was the top pitcher at Lanier HS and no stranger to the local diamonds, well known for his blazing fastball and sweeping curve.
Parks said he developed his curve by throwing tennis balls against the wall of his childhood home in Montevallo, then moving to rag balls to improve his control of the pitch with a regular baseball. It was a pitch that would serve him well throughout his career - and beyond.
In 1922, while still pitching for Lanier high school, Parks entered the local amateur league with the Baraca Bible Class team where he won acclaim as a pitcher by hurling a no-hit no run game, against his own Lanier classmates.
Starting about 1923, Woody Parks gets a job at a downtown bank where he would work his way up from cashier to vice president, while still finding time to be one of the areas leading sportsmen.
From this time on, hard as it may be to believe, sports is Woody Parks side hustle.
Parks pitches in the city league for teams such as May & Green Co. and Coca Cola, building a solid reputation as a tough pitcher before settling in with the Acme Roofers.
ACME ROOFERS
If the local league had a Yankees, that team was the Acme Roofers.
Sponsored by, of course, Acme Roofing Co., the Roofers are headed by Earnest O'Connor. O'Connor is the dean of sandlot baseball in the area, organizing youth teams and semi pro clubs as well as having an open line to some major league scouts gives O'Connor a wealth of talent to build the Roofers roster.
From 1930 until the team disbands for good in 1950, the Roofers never finish lower than second in the Dixie Amateur League. Twice the Roofers represent Alabama in the national tournament, finishing fifth and seventh overall against nationwide competition.
Former major leaguers play for Acme, future major leaguers play for Acme. Major league teams schedule spring exhibition games against Acme. The Acme Roofers are simply the best white team in town.
For twenty-two seasons, from 1929 to 1950, Woodford Parks is their ace pitcher.
After watching Parks win 27 games and lose just two for Coca Cola, Ernest O'Connor convinced Parks to vacate the Dopes and join the Roofers. In his first season with Acme, Parks came away with 23 victories and two defeats. The Roofers finish third in 1929 and would never place below second again.
RECORD SCORELESS INNINGS STREAK
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| 57 Innings Scoreless Streak |
Parks dominance among local pitchers is evidenced by his amazing string of 57 scoreless innings tallied at the end of the 1928 season and carrying well into 1929.
Stats for the city league are meticulously kept but not meticulously distributed, yet the scoreless string is discussed as a matter of fact among local sportswriters for the next fifty years. It is without a doubt the stingiest pitching in Montgomery history.
The Thirties
The depression sometimes prevents the Roofers from fielding a team,
Parks plays for the Montgomery Capitals and Coca Cola - where he pitches
them to league titles.
Parks is called to take the hill to start games often. And when the team needs a reliever on his off-day, they count on Woody Parks for the last few innings.
And he wins games. Often. By the close of the 1930's decade he is credited with more than 300 victories in the city league.
In 1931 the Roofers make their first visit to the amateur National Tournament in Cincinnati, finishing fifth overall. Parks himself said that if the Roofers team had one more pitcher they would have won it all.
A perennial All Star, Woody Parks is chosen for many tough assignments - such as a 1933 exhibition tilt pitting Dixie League All Stars against the Toledo Mud Hens and starter Carl Mays.
Parks pitches the Roofers to the city title in 1939, with a shutout, to close out the decade on top.
TENNIS ON THE SIDE
Woodford Parks, not content with being the top pitcher in town, makes regular appearances on the local tennis courts. Parks is a fierce opponent, at one point ranked second in the city and garnering more sports page headlines. Detailed reports in the newspaper of the 1932 city singles championship matches include Parks witty banter with the crowd during his sets.
Though Woody loses the title match two years in a row, after the second defeat Charlie Sellers, who had just beaten Parks for the trophy declares the competition "too tough" and retires on the spot.
THE 40's
Woody shows no signs of slowing in 1940, authoring a July no-hitter at West End Park against the Selma team, one of three no hitters in his career. "Old Reliable" pitches to contact facing Selma, striking out just two in the gem. A few weeks later he hurls a two-hit shutout against the Bradford Mill club.
The Roofers win the league but lose in the playoffs in 1940. They are determined not to be stopped the following year, taking the 1941 city title.
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| 1941 Parks Notes in Roofers Win |
1942 is Woody Parks twentieth season and he is widely regarded as one of greatest moundsmen seen in Montgomery. However Woody's biggest pitching assignments still lay ahead of him.
WW2
The wartime years offer new opportunity.
Parks is in contact with Chattanooga's Clyde Engle, owner of the
Lookouts. When the Lookouts move to Montgomery in mid-1943, Parks is
available and wartime player shortages open a roster spot.
THE "WOODY PARKS" RULE
The city
league alters its charter to allow players to sign with pro teams and
not have to surrender their amateur status or quit their city league
teams, essentially creating the Woody Parks rule, as Woody is the only player to take advantage of or be affected by the new clause.
In 1944
Woody continues to pitch professionally for Chattanooga when the Lookouts return to
their mountain home. Parks wins two and loses one while pitching for the
Noogas when they are in Bham, Nashville, Atlanta or New Orleans. These are easy train hopping
day trips that allow Woody to keep his day job as a bank teller as well
as maintain his spot on the Acme team.
And play some tennis.
And golf too, as Woody begins entering local tournaments. But we are getting ahead of ourselves.
THE TOUGH GET TOUGHER
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| 1944 Gunter Kaydets |
New entries into the city league included the Maxwell Bombers, The Selma Flyers of Craig Field and the Gunter Kaydets.
The only non-military team in the city league is the Acme Roofers, due in part to wartime player shortages.
LEGENDARY BOMBERS STAFF
The Maxwell Bombers field one of the best teams in local history during those wartime years, included on their staff are three pitchers who either had already or would go on to toss big league no hitters.
So deep was the Maxwell pitching that the team went to a six-man rotation comprised entirely of past or future major league players. With pitchers like Mel Parnell and Royce Lint on the hill, the Bombers were instant contenders.
The Bombers and Roofers are quickly tabbed as rivals and mix it up as rivals do. Animosity rose between the clubs, boiling over in 1943 and carrying on through two more seasons, the fireworks featured accusations of game throwing and heated league meetings.
The Bombers accused the Roofers of throwing games versus Kilby Prison to alter the playoff matchups.
Then the Roofers accused the Bombers of rescheduling league games without approval. The league prexie ruled for the Roofers in a highly charged league meeting, then saw that decision over-ruled by the league committee. As a response, the Roofers quit the league in protest of Maxwell's demand that their Bombers can "schedule games as they see fit or the league can go to hell."
All good fun!
AFTER THE WAR
The end of hostilities meant the Acme Roofers were back to being the team to beat in the city league and Woody Parks their top hurler.
In 1949, Parks tossed eight straight victories for Acme and winds up the year by signing with Dothan for three games at the tail end of the season. The forty-five year old moundsman is called "banker-baseball pitcher" hired to help Dothan make a late season push towards the playoffs. Parks helps by throwing a one-hitter in his debut, but takes the loss in one of his most memorable games.
THE 1950s
The Acme Roofers folded in 1950 as Acme's company president fell into ill health. Parks keeps rolling, pitching for teams in the city league and across the area. A THIRTY year veteran, Woody has lost a little off his fastball but is still baffling hitters with his curves.
Some of the hitters he is now facing are the sons of hitters he faced in the past and soon Woody begins to help their grandkids too, helpng organize little league teams across the city. Also active in the Civitan club, Woody and his wife are both popular features on the social scene.
1950 finds Woody Parks pitching for the Union Springs Springers of the Conecuh River League as well as the Langston Finance Company in the city loop.
1952
In January, Parks and two of his semi-pro stalwart companions headed out to Bruce Park. They wanted to make sure they "got the first baseball workout of the year". Later that summer he would throw both ends of a doubleheader, winning both games for Langston Finance. Asked after the second game how he felt, Woody replies "Good enough to go seven more innings!" and indeed Woody pitched for Langston through 1956.
In 1955 Woody Parks is among those feted at a meeting of Montgomery baseball Old Timers, including former Rebels players and MLB stars. Its likely Parks is the only active player among this group, and Woody, seated on left, will toss an opening day shutout against Kilby Prison just a few weeks after this photo is taken.
In 1957 the Montgomery Rebels front office adds Woody Parks as team secretary under Mac McWhorter and Earnest O'Connor.
THE 1960s
During the 1967 All-Star festivities in Montgomery, Woody Parks took to the hill at Paterson in an Old Timers Game. Parks was credited with 1 1/3 hitless innings after being teased with a rocking chair left for him near home plate.
In 1969 Parks is asked to return to baseball, helping to guide the Montgomery Rebels alongside his old skipper Earnest O'Conner as a member of the front office, taking over as General Manager of the team.
THE 70's
Woodford Parks begins the decade as the Rebels General Manager, having retired from banking. Parks handles the change to a new position with ease, applying his financial skill to his baseball knowledge with results that, if you have been paying attention, are easily predicted!
Slowing down isn't easy for Woody Parks. In 1973 he is named "Golfer of the Week" in a piece that humbly mentions he can beat anyone.
1975 - Woody Parks is brought out of retirement again, not to pitch, but as a front office assistant for the Montgomery Rebels. He is replaced but brought back yet again in 1978 to sort through the large stack of unpaid bills that built up during his absence.
In the 1980s Woody Parks continues to pop up on the sports page often, promoting senior tennis and other family sporting events around Montgomery.
In 1982 Parks is back on the hill at Paterson as a pitcher, this time tossing for an Old Timers team facing high-school All Stars.
In 1991 Woodford Parks is inducted into the Montgomery Sports Hall of Fame on the strength of his long baseball career as both a player and executive.
When Woody Parks passed away in 2002, just before Opening Day, he was buried with full baseball honors, wearing his Montgomery Rebels uniform.
It is always exciting to explore the stories of lives lived fully, and few are filled with as much baseball adventure, excitement and civic service as that of Woody Parks. If anyone has more information, baseball or otherwise, I encourage you to share it below, as I am sure much is missed in this biography.
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