History
Blue Sox History:
July 18, 2013
Hitting and Bench Coach Gerald Covington, sharing some Blue Sox history.
July 1, 2013
This was originally posted on the Fred Horn Industrial league website.
Jesse (Red) Boatfield
In the early 1950’s there was a young man by the name of Jesse “Red” Boatfield who had a true love for the game of baseball. A love so great that he played until after he was by many standards, “too old”. Red played for an independent league and the current Centre Babe Ruth field was their “home” field. Red was a third baseman and pitcher and even hit a the first home run in his league at a new field in Guntersville.
In the late 50’s, Boatfield married and started a family. He traded in his glove over a coach’s jersey. During this time he and a local businessman in Centre organized a Babe Ruth League for 13-15 year olds. This was of great reward to him because he had three sons, all of which played. He worked his job by day and by evening; his dedication was to his players. Two years after starting the league Reds team won the sub-district all-star tournament and advanced to the state. The state tourney was held in Selma, Alabama. Centre was the only team to have African Americans on their team. There were 8 teams total. This created a problem for the tournament committee. They were not going to allow the 2 African American boys to play. Mr. Boatfield informed them that these boys helped them win to get to this level. “They all play or we all go home.” He said. He even took a stand with the hotel manager of the same sort. “They all swim in the hotel pool, or no one does.” Needless to say after a lengthy meeting with the tournament committee, the entire team played, coming in second place in the state. Centre, Alabama made history in Selma in 1969! When asked about facing the evils of racism, Red said simply “I just did the right thing.”
With his health failing Red decided to retire from coaching and simply enjoy his boys playing. They played independent ball with the Centre A’s and the Centre Blue Sox. He never missed many games. Red’s sons David was the first from Cherokee County to sign a baseball scholarship with Jacksonville STATE University and went on to be the inducted into the Cherokee County Hall of Fame. Red wasn’t here to see that, but his sprit and legend lives on in the lives of each player he ever coached.
Written by Faye Kilgore Boatfield. Grandmother to pitcher Jayde Boatfield.
