The Tobacco State League played an important role in eastern North Carolina for five summers (1946-1950), giving small-town communities a chance to be a part of professional baseball and offering a return to normalcy after World War II. Years later, the names of the players were spoken with reverence, their exploits the subject of impassioned discussion. This book tells the story of the short-lived league and the clubs who entertained fans on dusty ball fields under dim lights, including the Lumberton Auctioneers, Rockingham Eagles, Warsaw Red Sox, Sanford Spinners and Wilmington Pirates.

Hundreds of major leaguers - including the Hall of Fame's Hank Greenburg, Johnny Mize, Rod Carew, Carl Yastrzemski and Joe Morgan - got their starts in North Carolina, where baseball has been a fixture in the state for nearly 100 years - in Charlotte and Durham (whose Bulls were in the 1988 film ""Bull Durham"") as well as Red Springs and Snow Hill. Following an historical statewide overview, year by year summaries and histories are provided in this work for each of the 72 towns, from Albemarle to Zebulon. Notable players and club records are listed for each year, and the causes for the rise and fall of baseball in the different towns are discussed. Biographies of 20 prominent minor leaguers are included, as is an appendix of nearly 2,000 major leaguers who played for a North Carolina team. The state's Negro League and textile league histories are also related in it.