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MORNING STAR
✳ MAY 11 - 17, 2006
SEAFORD’S BASEBALL HISTORY: 1946-1949 WERE THE YEARS OF THE EAGLES - FIRST IN A SERIES
Minor League baseball was major pastime for people in this area By Mike Lambert This is the first installment of a series of six articles that I am going to write about a short and exciting period of time in Seaford’s rich baseball history. For those of you who remember the Seaford Eagles; sit back and enjoy the memories and for those of you who have never heard of this team, I believe that you will find reading about the Eagles and this wonderful era very enjoyable. Beginning in the spring of 1946 and ending after the 1949 season, the Seaford Eagles Baseball Club was a class “D” professional minor league baseball team that represented Seaford as a member of the
Eastern Shore Baseball League (ESL). Other teams from Delaware that participated in this league were the Milford Red Sox, Rehoboth Beach Pirates and the Dover Phillies. The Maryland clubs entered in the Eastern Shore League were the Salisbury Cardinals, Centreville Orioles, Easton Yankees, Cambridge Dodgers and the Federalsburg A’s. The Centerville club was a member of the Eastern Shore League only in 1946 (and won the ESL championship). While the Milford and Dover teams played from 1946-1948, and Rehoboth Beach from 1947-1949. Each of the other teams played in all four seasons that the Eastern Shore League existed.
The centerpiece of the Seaford Eagles display at the Seaford Museum is a rare Eagles uniform, which was given to Mike Lambert. Photos by Ronald MacArthur
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In early 1946 the Seaford Baseball Club was incorporated and shares of stock were sold at $10 each with many of the prominent local businessmen in charge of selling the stock and promoting the ball team. A contest was held to select a team moniker and the lucky winner (Arnold Spicer) received a free pass to all of the home games during the exciting inaugural season. The Seaford Eagles operated as an independent minor league baseball team for the 1946 season. During the 1947 and 1948 seasons, the Eagles had a working agreement with the National League New York Giants, and in 1949 the Eagles were a farm club of the Philadelphia Phillies. Seaford’s home games were played in a newly-constructed ballpark on Middleford Road, where Soroptimist Park is now located. During those four seasons, there were many ballplayers that traveled to and through Seaford to play professional baseball, and a few of these young men ultimately married local ladies and made Seaford their permanent home. There were also a number of Eastern Shore natives who saw action with various teams in the Eastern Shore League, including Seaford. With a variety of former major league players as well as future major league players on the Seaford Eagles roster at one time or another, the Seaford Baseball Club was a big hit with the local citizens. From years of researching the Eagles, interviewing many former players and becoming enamored with them all; I have realized two things about this wonderful era.
The local citizens totally embraced their ball team, and those men who wore the Seaford Eagles uniform genuinely loved to play the game of baseball. The next installment of this series will cover the inaugural 1946 season of the Seaford Eagles baseball club. E-mail questions or comments to seafordeagles@comcast.net
Mike Lambert adds the finishing touches to a Seaford Eagles baseball display at the Seaford Museum. The display is open during museum hours which are 1 to 4 p.m. on Thursday - Sunday (special requests are also considered). The museum is located on High Street in downtown Seaford.
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