ANSON COUNTY — “We are going to talk some ball today,” promised Lorenzo Steele Sr., a former professional baseball player who grew up in Morven, as well as N.Y.
Steele says his love for baseball came naturally to him, though his Uncle Herman, who lived in Washington, D.C. and played professional baseball, made a huge impact on him as a young man. Growing up with his grandparents and aunts in Morven, Steele looked forward to visits from his uncle where all the guys would gather around and play ball.
Steele says his love for the sport didn’t go unnoticed for long — his family became aware of his passion for the game when he was about eight or nine years old. He recalls playing ball during recess, even arriving before the start of school so he could play.
“When I was around eleven years old my grandfather saw my interest in baseball and guess what he did? He went and formed a team!”
Steele says at first the team wasn’t very experienced, but after the war a lot of veterans would come by, play for a while, and share their talent. “As we grew, we developed a fulltime team for Morven,” remembers Steele. The team played against Ansonville, Polkton, and Deep Creek.
In 1949, Steele’s mother invited him to stay with her in N.Y. There, Steele experienced one of the most momentous and memorable moments of his life, attending the 1949 World Series. Playing in the final game were greats such as Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, and Don Newcombe.
The World Series lasted from Oct. 5-9 that year, was played at Yankee Stadium, and ended in a NY Yankees win over the Brooklyn Dodgers.
He said, “I remember all the players. Mother gave me a special World Series button to remember the day.”
As he grew older and other interests such as basketball and football entered Steele’s life, his Uncle Herman stuck close to his nephew, making sure he stayed with his first love of baseball.
“Wherever I went I carried a baseball and a glove,” says Steele. “But no matter what, my mother made sure I was at church before I played ball. She made me go to school.”
Steele’s Uncle Herman had continued to play baseball professionally during this time, playing with the Hornets in the Bronx, and Steele played with a team called the Bronx Clowns.
When Steele was 18, he was scouted by the Pittsburg Pirates. He said, “I had a long day and had been out the night before with a girlfriend and I didn’t make it. I was okay with the failure. I took it in a respectful way and went home and practiced all the harder.”
After graduation, Steele was drafted to serve in the Korean War. At the sign in office, a recruiting officer asked Steele if he had graduated high school and could he read and write. Aghast, Steele exclaimed that of course he could. Leaning over close, the officer replied, “There is no promotion opportunity for a black man in the navy. With your skills you would do better serving in one of the forces.”
Without a look back, Steele left the office and went around the corner to sign up with the Air Force. Stationed in Sampson, N.Y., Steele says he learned his best lessons on discipline while there. Though the air force was a mix of nationalities, he said he did experience some racism. He noticed all the black air men were being required to clean the cafeteria, which Steele says was a difficult and nasty job due to it entailing cleaning up grease. After one member complained, the situation was rectified.
After serving in the military, Steele came back to the Bronx and picked back up where he left off- playing with the Bronx Clowns. After he aged out, Steele continued to play, only now he began focusing on softball.
Jimmy Williams who used to play for the Clowns, now played for the Warriors, and he decided they needed Steele on their team, so one day he approached the team manager for the Warriors, “Birdland” Warren Suttles. Birdland was hesitant to add the largely untested softball player to the team, but when Williams volunteered his spot on the team to Steele, Birdland figured who couldn’t lose and added Steele’s name to the roster. With Steele added to the team, the Warriors won two championships in the first two years. He ended up playing with the Warriors from 1964 until 1990.
During his time with the Warriors, Steele played in tournaments in New Jersey, Connecticut, and Canada. In 1982 they won the regional advances and advanced to the national tournament in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., where they came in 16th place in the Fast Ball league which included players from all over the world. Steele’s last tournament was in 1990 in Illinois.
Professionally, Steele also became a teacher and administrator in N.Y. With their parents getting older in age, Steele’s wife begged him to move the family to Morven.
After the family settled in, Steele couldn’t help himself and started managing a little league team that even had one young lady registered on its roster. Called Morven Community Action, Steele soon began co-managing the team with Daniel Gatewood.
“We played most of the counties in North and South Carolina,” remembers Steele proudly.
He adds, “The community had to come together to work on a park, a place for the kids to play. We did that thanks to the efforts of the community’s churches and town council members at the time.”
