At the end of World War II, it was an easy argument to make that the 
Washington Nationals had the worst farm system in the major leagues. In 1947 Washington had the fewest number of minor league affiliates (6) and scouts (3) of any big-league organization. The on-field ramifications of having such a weak farm system had become rapidly apparent: after finishing one game shy of the American League pennant in the last wartime season of 1945 and a respectable fourth in 1946, the Nats dropped like a stone into seventh place in 1947. The wartime boom and postwar bump in play and attendance both turned into busts that season.
Belatedly, Clark Griffith sought to remedy that weakness by appointing his former star third baseman and manager, Ossie Bluege as Farm Director, with instructions to increase the number of farm teams, scouts and players under contract. Bluege immediately set to his task, expanding the Washington system to 11 affiliates and 7 scouts for 1948. One of Bluege’s goals was to establish a Class D affiliate in the Middle Atlantic region in order to develop local talent. The semi-pro Virginia League, stocked with college players and already heavily scouted by the majors, looked to Bluege like a good place for a Washington farm club. Indeed, several other big-league organizations – including the Yankee and Cardinal “chain gangs” – were seeking to turn the Virginia League into a full-fledged professional circuit. This soon came to pass and the six-team league – with the Nats farm in Emporia, a Yankee farm in Blackstone, a Cardinal farm in Lawrenceville, and independents in Suffolk, Franklin and Petersburg – began play in the spring of 1948.
“I negotiated with Washington and convinced them to put a team in Emporia,” recalled Eugene Bloom in an interview with this writer in the fall of 1995. Bloom (1918-2001), an Emporia retailer who was part owner of the semipro team in town, was then installed by Griffith as the business manager of the new Emporia professional franchise, which adopted the parent club’s nickname of Nationals. “I also introduced them to a very close friend [who] they hired to be general manger of the team here,” Bloom continued. Bloom’s friend, Howard Fox, would go on to a lengthy career in the front office of the parent club, eventually becoming president under Calvin Griffith after its move to Minnesota. A highly decorated WWII veteran (Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, Purple Heart), Bloom founded the Emporia-Greensville Industrial Development Corporation and had a hand in founding several Emporia institutions: the Little Senators little league, the Virginia Peanut Festival and what would become Southern Virginia Regional Medical Center.
Bluege, Bloom and Fox named longtime Washington farmhand Morris “Smut” Aderholt Emporia’s player/manager. Aderholt, a Wake Forest product, had cups of coffee in Washington from 1939-41 and was a regular with the Dodgers and Braves in 1944-45. With a roster made up mostly of youngsters aged 17-22 from Virginia and the District of Columbia, the Nats initially struggled. A 63-74 record, only good enough for a fifth-place finish, still put Emporia 24 games ahead of last-place Lawrenceville. The 32-year-old Aderholt led the Virginia League in hits (185), home runs (31) and batting average (.394).
Nineteen forty-nine would bring a marked improvement in the Nats’ fortunes. The team’s 67-55 regular season record was good enough for third place and a playoff berth, as four of six teams in the league qualified for the postseason. Emporia would take the second-place Petersburg Generals to the full seven games in the best-of-seven series before losing. Petersburg would go on to win the league championship by defeating first-place Franklin in six. John Garrison would lead the VL in home runs (25) and finish second in hits (175) while leading the club with a .340 average. New catcher Bob Oldis showed great promise behind the plate and batted .285.
The 1950 season began in tragedy as pitchers Bert Roseberry (11-9 with the club in 1949) and Ralph Fraser were killed in an automobile accident during spring training on April 15, two weeks before opening day. Fraser, the son of turn-of-the-century big league hurler Chick Fraser, had been touted as a strong prospect. Eugene Bloom remembered Roseberry’s and Fraser’s deaths as being a blow to the club, but a greater blow was being dealt by way of the Nats’ opponents and their talent base. “The two independent teams used ball players on the way down and the pro teams had to send players from C and B leagues to compete. That doomed the league for the pros as the affiliated teams lost sight of their roles in player development,” said Bloom.
Even with their rivals stocking their rosters with higher-level talent, the Nats more than rose to the challenge. John Garrison again led the VL in hits (170); middle infielder Roy Dietzel was third (156) and led the VL with 121 runs scored. Pitcher Melvin Doxtator led the league in wins and, at 20-12, was the only 20-game winner. Emporia finished the regular season in first place with a 71-57 record, then dispatched of the Hopewell Blue Sox in the first round of the playoffs 4-1. That set up a rematch with Petersburg, this time for the league title. The Nats gained revenge, winning 4 games to 2 to claim the league championship.
Ossie Bluege and the Washington front office saw the writing on the wall in terms of player development and ended its affiliation with Emporia after the 1950 season. For 1951 Washington would move its Class D affiliation to Roanoke Rapids, NC in the Coastal Plain League. Emporia would maintain an independent franchise but the renamed Rebels, stripped of Washington talent, would fall to the basement with a 39-78 record. The last incarnation of the Virginia League disbanded after the1951 season. The Roanoke Rapids Jays would serve as a Nationals farm club for two seasons tuntil the Coastal Plain League was disbanded in 1952.
Emporia players promoted to Washington
Roy Dietzel
Bob Oldis
Buck Varner
Former Washington players assigned to Emporia
Morris Aderholt
The original version of this article appeared in the Spring 1997 issue of Nats News, the newsletter of the Washington Baseball Historical Society. It has since been updated for accuracy and additional statistical information.
