THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 14, 1996 TAG: 9602140083
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Tom Robinson
LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
Today we revisit Norfolk professional baseball in 1948, when men were men and the Norfolk Tars stunk out the joint.
We do this at the behest of Jimmy ``Pigeon'' Jobst of Mack, Ohio, the centerfielder for a team that lost only 10 more games than it won but was scorned by local fans.
Pigeon homed in the other day, out of the blue. A one-page letter arrived at the office, addressed to whomever it concerned, seeking a favor:
``Just wondering if after 48 years some of the old fans would write,'' it read in part. ``Just print my name please in your sports (section) and ask them to drop me a line.''
Pigeon played one season at long-gone Tar Park in the Class B Piedmont League. The Tars were among the New York Yankees' many farm teams and apparently not a Yankee priority. Late that season, in which the Tars went 65-75, a Virginian-Pilot reader blasted the Tars' play and their operation.
``And of all the bum deals, the dollar admission to the grandstand,'' he harrumphed in a letter. ``We don't mind that so much, but we do like to get our money's worth. ...
``My wife is just as good a fan, but we had to stop going to the games. We would leave the park so disgusted we would not speak to each other for days, and we'd paid $2, too.''
Jobst, I guess, was guilty by association. However, reached at his home this week, Jobst said he won the Tars' most popular player contest that season.
``I wanted to play and gave it my all,'' said Jobst, 72, explaining his popularity. ``It was unfortunate I got hurt.''
Jobst said he was beaned in spring training in '49 and didn't play for two years. He quit after the '51 season and was a plumber in Ohio until 1982, when he crushed his left hand while laying pipe.
These days he said his life is full with family and friends in Mack, near Cincinnati. Over the years, he said he's kept in touch with people in other cities in which he played but never floated his name here.
``It's almost 50 years since I was there,'' Jobst said. ``I was going to wait to write, but then I thought, two more years, maybe I won't be here.''
Jobst - who got his nickname from raising pigeons during the war - has never been back to Norfolk. Said he doesn't remember much about it. He does recall, however, being warned to stay away from downtown.
``With the Navy there, there were too many guys wanting to fight,'' Jobst said. ``They were afraid the ballplayers would get hurt.''
Know what couldn't hurt? I think the Tides should revive their Oldtimers Day and fly the Pigeon into town this summer. Let him feast his eyes on Harbor Park, marvel at how things have changed.
They can reach him at 6954 Sandal Court, Mack, Ohio, 45248.
You could reach him there, too. by CNB