Hagerstown Owls

Professional baseball returned to Hagerstown in 1941 when Oren E. Sterling moved his Sunbury Indians franchise to town and became a Detroit Tigers affiliate.

Outfielder Brinsky and manager Dutch Dorman were selected for the 1941 Inter-State League End of Season All-Star Team.

Trenton Packers pitcher Jack Casey pitched a no-hitter against Hagerstown, but lost the game 3-2.

Hagerstown finished the regular season in first place, 0.5 games ahead of the Wilmington Blue Rocks.

However, in the league championship series, Wilmington captured the title by defeating Hagerstown 4 games to 1.

Norman Shope, who split time between the Owls and the York White Roses, led the league with a 2.65 ERA.

Joe Slotter won 14 games, but set the Inter-State League record with 19 wild pitches during the season.

[14] The Hubs returned to winning form in 1946, finishing in 3rd place 10.5 games behind league leader Wilmington.

[15] The end of the war meant better times for the Inter-State League as well as it expanded from six teams to its original eight with the re-entries of the Harrisburg and Sunbury franchises.

Offensively, the leaders were Tom Mattazrazzo with a .327 batting average and Charles Fitzgerald with 12 home runs.

[16] The Owls qualified for the playoffs, playing in the best of seven game format that had been adopted by the Inter-State League in 1944.

Third baseman Richard Dresser's .317 batting average and overall play were good enough to earn him a sport on the 1947 Inter-State League end of season All-Star team.

Left-handed batter George D'addario was the offensive leader with a .325 batting average and 12 home runs.

In addition to player-managers Rambert, Crumling and Culp, the other players were Boots Poffenberger, Cal Ermer, Hal Keller, Barney Schultz and Babe Birrer.

A bright spot in an otherwise dismal season was the performance of pitchers Eddie Ancherico and Gene Major.

Outfielder Jesse Levan topped the league in batting average (.334) and tied for the lead in runs (171).

[25] Both Levan and Bennett were selected to the Inter-State League End of Season All-Star Team for 1950.

History was made on June 24 in Hagerstown with the first minor league appearance of future Hall of Famer Willie Mays, who was playing for the Trenton Giants.

Appearing in the post-season for the first time since 1946, the Braves won the first round of the playoffs, defeating the Giants 3 games to 1.

Two Hagerstown hitters led the league in batting average (Billy Smith, .373) and RBIs (Pete Perini, 91).

Outfielder Smith and pitcher Bush were selected for the 1951 Inter-State League End of Season All-Star Team.

[29] This marked the fourth time in ten seasons that the Blue Rocks had eliminated Hagerstown.

Robert Jaderland led the league with 113 runs scored, while Clarence Riddle had a league-topping 93 RBIs.

[30] First baseman Riddle, pitcher Giggie and outfielder Joseph Christian made the 1952 Inter-State League End of Season All-Star Team.

[33] Third baseman Blake, catcher Laguna and pitcher Horton were named to the 1953 Piedmont League End of Season All-Star Team.

The name was a reference to the Fairchild C-82 Packet military transport aircraft built in Hagerstown during the 1940s.

[38] Miff Davidson led the Piedmont League in its final season with 103 runs scored and 164 hits.

[39] Davidson also pounded 30 home runs while accumulating a .338 batting average, leading the team in both categories.

The two-time Major League All-Star would help found the Bob Allison Ataxia Research Center at the University of Minnesota in 1990.