Blast from the past: baseball bat has historical meaning in Lufkin
LUFKIN, TX (KTRE) - A lot of attention is being paid to baseball in the Lufkin area after the recent success of Little League baseball and several East Texans playing on the professional level. The truth is that baseball has deep roots in the Pineywoods.
In 1839, Abner Doubleday invented the game in Cooperstown, NY and as America entered the 20th century, baseball saw it's popularity grow. Almost 100 years later Lufkin was introduced to Pitser Garrison. While he would go on to a successful law career and gain the title of Mayor for the city of Lufkin, Garrison first found success on the Diamond.
"When I got to meet with him and talk to him, he would talk about playing the game on a bigger stage while he was still young," Mike Maberry said. "This was before you had all the distractions of modern life. Baseball was really big."
In 1934, Garrison would play for the Lufkin Lumbermen, a semi-professional baseball team. It was part of a league that had multiple teams around East Texas and western Louisiana.It was in that time that Garrison was given a special gift. The world-famous Louisville Slugger company made just one bat with the signature of the future mayor of Lufkin.
"I was called by Louisville Slugger," Garrison said on tape. "They would either offer you a new set of golf clubs or $15. I took the $15."
That may not seem a lot know but in the 1930s, $15 was a good deal.
"They went around to all the minor leagues and asked for rights to the signature just in case one of them ever got big.," Maberry said.
Maberry is a baseball fan and has been involved his entire life. In high school he was part of the only Lufkin baseball team to win a state title. Maberry has numerous items that he considers collectables. One of those is the bat belonging to Garrison.
"I was driving one day and I pulled over when I saw an estate sale going on," Maberry said. "I walked up and saw the bat and said, 'Good grief, that is a Louisville Slugger with his name on it."
While discussing the bat, Maberry pulled out is found and found a digital copy of an interview he did with Garrison.
"He knew I had the bat," when I asked him about it."
All these years later the bat is still in a very similar condition as it was when Garrison stopped playing baseball."
Even when he was done playing professionally he would still play with either baseball or softball.
"He told me that when he nearly broke it just broke his heart," Maberry said. "He never tried to fix it like they would do back in those days."
The fields the Lumbermen used to play on are all gone. The main field is now covered by Pineywoods Community Academy. There is no video evidence of the time in Lufkin where baseball was king. That is what makes the bat so special. The bat keeps history alive and that is something Maberry cherishes.
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