How I became a Georgia Cracker | Eastern North Carolina Now

   Stan and I recently had a conversation in the comment section about names people use as a pejorative. I made mention of an article I had written about my childhood and becoming a Georgia Cracker. Here is a link to the article and the comment section. A Carpetbagger & Scalawag from Georgia Makes an Apology

    To some the nom de plume "Cracker " is a pejorative term reflecting on the character of the person. I will leave it up to you to research the origin and pick your preference on the meaning. Like everything else in this current world, words can be redefined and appropriated based on the prejudice or objective of the speaker. Even in basic training at Fort Benning when one of my squad members (a black kid named Cylde from Detroit) told me, "How in the hell did a Georgia Cracker get to be a 'Blue Eyed Soul Brother'?" It was my love of Jazz and Motown songs that he could not understand. I took both terms as a compliment and still do.

    I guess, I came by the name by my own choice. I grew up in Little Five Points area of Atlanta, Georgia. We did not have a professional baseball team in the 1950's. But we did have a minor league team. They played at the Ponce De Leon Park less than 2 miles from my house. Google tells me now that it is 1.8 Miles and would take 39 minutes walking. But I could make it in less than 15 minutes on my trusty 20 inch bicycle. I have not worn a uniform in over 48 years but about 60 years ago, I wore the uniform of a baseball player in both person and in my dreams. That is how Georgia Crackers are created.



    There was a railroad track that ran right next to the park. Today it is called the Atlanta Beltline which is a walking and bike trail that meanders through Atlanta. But in 1955 it was in the right field overlooking the baseball diamond where the World Famous "Atlanta Crackers" played baseball. I could ride my bike to the park and climb the hill and watch the game. It was on the best seat in the house but it was free. In 1955 fifty cents was a lot of money for a ten year old boy.



    There was a fence build specifically to prevent free viewing but I think that was to discourage adults from watching the game for free. There was a hole in the fence where us kids could climb through and never be bothered.



    Probably the two most famous names associated with the Atlanta Crackers were

    Charlie Trippi: In 1947, Trippi played one season of minor league baseball with the Southern Association's Atlanta Crackers before joining the NFL. He hit .334 in 106 games. He is most famous for his football days at University of Georgia and later the NFL with the Chicago Cardinals (1947-1955) Trippi was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1959, the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1965, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1968. In 2007 he was ranked #20 on ESPN's Top 25 Players In College Football History list. The football stadium at Pittston Area High School in Pittston, Pennsylvania is named "Charley Trippi Stadium" in his honor. Today he is 95 years old and still says his best memories were at UGA. As a dyed in the wool Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket fan, I guess I will forgive him for that.

Eddie Mathews: In 1950 he hit 32 home runs for the Class AA Atlanta Crackers. He later played for the Braves in all three cities Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta. Then he became the manager of the Atlanta Braves. Mathews is regarded as one of the best third basemen ever to play the game. He was an All-Star for 9 seasons. He won the National League (NL) home run title in 1953 and 1959 and was the NL Most Valuable Player runner-up both of those seasons. He hit 512 home runs during his major league career. Mathews coached for the Atlanta Braves in 1971, and he was the team's manager from 1972 to 1974. Later, he was a scout and coach for the Texas Rangers, Milwaukee Brewers, and Oakland Athletics. He passed in 2001 at 70 years of age.

    To be honest I do not think I ever saw either one of them play. I was just a kid trying to spend a good spring summer day at the park. I promise you, here is one interesting story that repeated by almost every kid and in every movie about baseball, but it is true. My dad was not a sports fan but as a fireman, he often had to work the social events around Atlanta. Somewhere he acquired a baseball signed by Charlie Trippi. Since he was not a fan or even followed baseball, he brought it home and gave it to my brother and I. I had no idea who Charlie Trippi was and did much care. I had a free baseball to play with for a while until it finally came apart from wear. The name Charlie Trippi stuck with me through the years but only as a name on an old baseball. It was not until many years later and even as recent as the last few years that I researched and found out more about this icon of sports in Georgia.

   One of the other players who I am sure I saw but was not aware of at the time was Bob Montag. "He was the most popular player for the Atlanta Crackers in the 1950s. Even when he struck out, as he did frequently, the fans cheered and applauded him. When he retired as player-manager after the 1959 season, he had hit 113 home runs as a Cracker, the most in team history and the second highest in Southern Association League history. Many of them were long, majestic blasts that sailed far beyond the right field fence at Ponce de Leon Ballpark.

   In 1954 Montag hit what he claimed was the longest home run in baseball history. It landed in a coal car passing on the railroad tracks beyond the right field fence at the Ponce de Leon park. A few days later, after the train had gone to Nashville, Tennessee, and back, the conductor asked Montag to autograph the ball, which by that time had traveled more than 500 miles." New Georgia Enclopedia

    So there is my claim to fame and my close brush with immortality on a hill next to the railroad tracks in 1955. The park is gone now but in honor of the memories the tree that stood in center field for many years is still there. It is at the back of a parking lot now and in the memory of a seventy-one year old boy who spent a few afternoons hoping to catch a Bob Montag homerun in far right field.

Here are some pictures for your perusal.