Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Over 50 years ago, Fulton made Kitty League History

If you can't remember, or you're too young to know, here's a bit of Kitty League baseball history with the Railroaders. In 1951, The Railroaders won Fulton their first Kitty League pennant. Fulton went on to win the pennant for the next two years, a feat never before accomplished in the 50 year history of the League. The Kitty folded in 1955, before being revived again 50 years later to the present day KIT League. The Fulton Railroaders won the first pennant in 1951, and in 1952 and 1953 the team played under a different name. What name did Fulton's team use thru 1955? Do you know any other names the team used during it's history with the Kitty League? What was the name of the ball field in Fulton at that time? Post your answers here on this blog entry.

8 comments:

  1. I remember as it was yesterday Hoghead, I was just a rookie at stokin coal,we went from railroaders to Lookouts on that 3 pete season, We never had rain outs back then ,we would soak the infield with gas ,light it to burn it dry and put out sand,talk about Fire It Up Dude!! dont think the EPA would like that now.... I hope we get it fired up in O town tonight I hear we are having trouble with them gready Oilers tonight
    Roll Train

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  2. Hi Hoghead,

    I enjoy reading your blog. Keep up the good work!

    To answer your questions, Fulton went by the nickname of the Lookouts during the last two years of the Kitty League (1954-55). The club had a working agreement with the Chattanooga Lookouts, hence the nickname. Other names Fulton teams went by include Colonels (1911), Railroaders (1923-24), Eagles (1936-37), Tigers (1938-42), Chicks (1946-47), and back to Railroaders (1948-1953).

    The ballpark was called Fairfield Park from 1936 until 1953. After winning 3 consecutive Kitty League pennants, the Fulton community built a new concrete block grandstand and outfield wall for the 1954 season. It was called simply Fulton Ballpark.

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    1. I have a photo of a Fulton baseball team which looks to be from the era of either the Colonels, Railroaders, Eagles or Tigers (my hunch is more likely the Eagles/Tigers time frame). Is there any e-mail address I could send to in hopes of identifying more precisely?

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    2. Send a copy of the photo to dunkerj@bellsouth.net and I'll check with several of the owners to see what I can do.

      John D - Railroaders webmaster

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  3. The team name change over the years may have been to take advantage of used uniforms available from some other teams. I heard that was true of changing to the Lookouts. Maybe in other changes too.

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  4. Actually, the Fulton team became the Lookouts in 1952 as I have found a Fulton Daily Leader dated May 5, 1952 with an entire multi-page section entitled "Fulton Lookouts Baseball Edition"

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  5. Awsome, wish we got that much attention in the paper now,maybe when we win back to back pennants these guys will get more attention.course there will have to be a little more sports room from all the mudslingin

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  6. Hoghead,

    You're right that they became the Lookouts in '53.

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