Western Carolinas League (1964-1966)
Tombstone
Born: 1964
Affiliation Change: 1967 (Rock Hill Indians)
First Game: April 24, 1964 (L 5-2 @ Gastonia Pirates)
Last Game: August 24, 1966 (L 3-2 @ Salisbury Astros)
Western Carolinas League Champions: 1965
Stadium
Ownership & Affiliation
Owner:
Major League Affiliation: St. Louis Cardinals
Attendance
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Source: Lloyd Johnson & Miles Wolff, Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (Third Edition) (Durham, NC: Baseball America, 2007), 527-535
Background
The Rock Hill Cardinals were a South Carolina-based Class A farm club of the St. Louis Cardinals for three seasons in the mid-1960’s.
During the summer of ’64 Rock Hill boasted twin pitching aces who dominated the Western Carolinas League. 21-year old Jim Cosman (12-1, 1.19 ERA) hurled complete games in 10 of his 17 starts and struck out 143 batters in 121 innings. 19-year old southpaw Steve Carlton was equally good (10-1, 1.03). Both would be in the Majors by 1966. Carlton was elected to Cooperstown in 1994.
Another future Hall-of-Famer arrived in 1965 in 31-year old field manager Sparky Anderson. Carlton and Cosman moved up the ladder and Rock Hill fell back to last place in the eight-team loop during the season’s first half. But a 2nd half run earned the Cardinals a berth in the best-of-3 WCL championship series against the Salisbury Astros in August 1965. Rock Hill swept Salisbury two games to none to earn an unlikely crown.
Future Major League stars Willie Montanez and Mike Torrez played for Rock Hill in 1966. After the 1966 season, the Cleveland Indians replaced the Cardinals as Rock Hill’s parent club.
In Memoriam
Manager Spark Anderson (Rock Hill ’65) died on November 4th, 2010 after battling dementia at age 76. Anderson was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in the class of 2000 for his extraordinary achievements as a field manager. New York Times obituary.
Pitcher Jim Cosman (Rock Hill ’64) passed away on January 7, 2013 at age 69.
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