A Winning History
The Atlanta Crackers were a minor league baseball team that played in the Southern Association from 1901 to 1965. The Crackers were one of the most successful minor league teams in baseball history, winning 17 league championships, second only to the New York Yankees. Originally called the Firecrackers back in 1892, the team was often called the "Yankees of the Minors" because they won the most games in the association. The Crackers played their home games at Spiller Field, which was later renamed Ponce de Leon Park.
The following is an excerpt from a story written by journalist, producer and broadcaster Colin Lacy from "The Atlanta Crackers: A Storied History Of Excellence On And Off The Field".
"Long before the Atlanta Braves, there was a minor league team that played in the heart of Atlanta; the Atlanta Crackers. A historic and beloved team with a reputation for winning baseball.
Two rich histories linked together by one name: the Atlanta Crackers.
From 1901 until the team relocated to Richmond in 1965, the Crackers organization served as a minor league team for the city of Atlanta. After the relocation and seventeen years of dormancy, the Crackers were resurrected as a semi-pro team by current owner and head coach Kevin Meistickle, and are still competing to this day.
Minor League Years: 1901-1965
When asked the question: “What 2 teams have the most championships in the history of organized affiliated baseball?” The first answer is easy for the avid fan: The New York Yankees, but few would guess the Crackers fall in right behind the Bronx Bombers. In their 64 years of play at various levels, the Crackers brought home 17 league championships, which indeed is good enough for second most in the history of affiliated baseball. The Crackers over the years competed in each of the three minor league levels (Single A, Double A, and Triple A) as an affiliate of the Boston/Milwaukee Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, and Minnesota Twins. The name “Crackers” were thought to have been formed from the old Atlanta minor league team, the Firecrackers. Although the name has been criticized over the years, the original Crackers were named because of the meaning of the word “Cracker” in the early 1900’s meaning, “Someone quick and efficient at any task.”
ALL PHOTOS ON THIS PAGE COURTESY SPECIAL COLLECTIONS DEPT, PULLEN LIBRARY, GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY
Brooklyn Dodgers vs Atlanta Crackers, April 8, 1949
On April 10, 1949, the Atlanta Crackers hosted the first game in the state of Georgia in which African-American and white players played in the same game when Jackie Robinson played in front of the largest crowd in Ponce de Leon’s history of 25,221 fans. The games were televised locally and featured both Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella. It was the first integrated professional baseball game in Atlanta. Coincidentally, Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruths’ homerun record twenty-five years to the day after Atlanta’s first integrated professional baseball game, making April 8 an historic day in Atlanta baseball history.
The Original Atlanta Crackers were Minor League Baseball teams based in Atlanta, Georgia, between 1901 and 1965. The Crackers were Atlanta's home team until the Atlanta Braves moved from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1966.
From "The Atlanta Crackers: A Storied History of Excellence on and Off the Field", by Colin Lacy
The Crackers sparked the beginning of numerous Hall of Fame careers like that of Luke Appling, and Eddie Matthews; along with greats such as Tim McCarver, Chuck Tanner, and Tommie Aaron. The organization was the spring board to much more than just on field careers, as legendary broadcaster for the Atlanta Braves, Skip Caray began with the, then, red, white and navy. The broadcast booth would also be graced by the Hall of Fame tones of Ernie Harwell after a history making trade in 1948. The 1981 Ford C. Frick Award (Hall of Fame award for excellence in baseball broadcasting) winner was traded by Brooklyn Dodgers general manager, Branch Rickey, for a player (catcher, Cliff Dapper) to mark the first and only time in the history of baseball that a player was traded for a broadcaster. Atlanta, from 1907-1965, called Ponce de Leon Ballpark home for 58 seasons, and the ballpark saw a number of historical moments as well in the franchise. The Crackers were brought into affiliated baseball by Charles Abner Powell, who is credited with creating, the now common, “rain checks” and “ladies’ day”. After Powell left the Atlanta area, the team was owned by a number of different commercial names like Georgia Railway and Electric Company (which would evolve into the Georgia Power Company), and the Coca-Cola Company.
The Crackers would win their final professional championship in 1962 as a member of the Triple A-International League as an affiliate of the Milwaukee Braves before moving to Richmond in 1965 to become the Richmond Braves.
Notable Members Of The Atlanta Crackers 1901-1965
- Luke Appling, a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame who later played for the Chicago White Sox. An Atlanta Braves coach in 1981 and again in 1984.
- Ralph "Country" Brown (1947–1952), member of the 1950 Southern Association championship team, later played for the Chattanooga Lookouts (1952–1957).
- Bruce Barmes, multiple All-Star and League Champion in minor leagues; uncle of San Diego Padres shortstop Clint Barmes
- Lou Castro
- Leo Cristante, a pitcher who went on to play for the Detroit Tigers and manage baseball teams in both Mexico and Montreal.
- Dick Donovan, pitched for the Crackers in the 1953 and 1954 seasons.
- Art Fowler, longtime major league pitcher and pitching coach.
- Lloyd Gearhart, who later played with the New York Giants.
- Billy Goodman (1944, 1946), a lifetime major league .300 hitter who won the 1950 American League batting title.
- Dutch Jordan
- Eddie Mathews, an inaugural Atlanta Braves player in 1966 and member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Also Atlanta Braves Manager 1972–1974.
- Erskine Mayer, starting pitcher
- Tim McCarver, who went on to become a catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals.
- Bob Montag, who hit 113 home runs, the most of any Cracker and the second-most in Association history.
- Ollie O'Mara, shortstop for the Brooklyn Robins and one-time oldest living Brooklyn Dodger.
- Nat Peeples, the only African-American player in the Southern Association (1954).
- Paul Richards, a catcher and later catcher-manager with the Crackers in the 1930s
- Chuck Tanner, better known as the manager of four different major league teams during the 1970s and 1980s, including the Atlanta Braves from 1986-1988.
- Charley Trippi, former member of the NFL's Chicago Cardinals and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame played one season in 1947.
