By William “Skip” Deegans
This week’s photo of Alderson’s community baseball team was probably taken around the turn of the 20th century. Presumably, the band shown in the front was their pep band. As the photo suggests, baseball teams were not integrated. Communities with enough African-Americans often had their own teams as did Alderson. Baseball was popular in the Greenbrier Valley. In addition to Alderson, there were teams in Lewisburg, Ronceverte, Union, and Hinton. The Lewisburg field had covered bleachers – an indication of the support for the sport. Harry Moran, who pitched for the Lewisburg team in 1908-09, went on to the major league and played for the Detroit Tigers.