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Washington and Lee University isn’t the first college that comes to mind when one thinks of professional sports. W&L did have its moment in the football sun in the first half of the 20th century topping the Southern Conference twice and earning an appearance in the Gator Bowl, and in the 1970s it was a NCAA Division I lacrosse powerhouse.
But sports as a paying career for W&L grads? Never.
Well, hardly ever. In fact, a dozen W&L alumni earned a living in pro baseball — most only for a while, and none became a Most Valuable Player or won a World Series ring. Nevertheless, their stories are colorful and entertaining.
And Neely Young, a W&L graduate and Lexington resident, proves it in a new “Rockbridge Epilogue.” His article, “Washington and Lee in the Baseball Bigs,” is available free at www.HistoricRockbridge. org.
The W&L ballplayers ranged from John Haldeman, who was conscripted for one game in 1877 from the sidelines, where he worked as a newspaper reporter, to Thomas “Lefty” George, who cashed his last baseball paycheck at the age of 57 after a 32-year pro career. Young’s article is illustrated with photos of the W&L Russell Dixon “Rusty” Peters, a Roanoke native, studied at W&L for two years beginning in 1934, then became an infielder for the Philadelphia Athletics. He played pro ball until 1947, when he became a winter-team manager.
diamond masters, mostly from W&L yearbooks or from baseball memorabilia.
The author is the grandson of the late Harry K. “Cy” Young, longtime athletic and alumni executive at W&L. Young holds a doctorate in history and is the author of two books that explore the political, social and cultural history of slavery in Rockbridge: “Ripe for Emancipation: Rockbridge and Southern Anti-Slavery From Revoution to Civil War” and “Trans-Atlantic Sojourners: The Story of an Americo-Liberian Family.”
Harry Moran of the class of 1912 had the distinction of playing pro baseball while attending W&L. His career as a pitcher included a year with Ty Cobb and the Detroit Tigers, Thomas “Lefty” George attended W&L in 1908. He pitched professionally for the Cleveland Naps in 1912. (Photo from the Library of Congress)
