Oak Ridge Bombers

The “Oak Ridge Bombers” name was carried by two different teams that played in the east Tennessee town of Oak Ridge.  The first was a short lived Class D minor league team that played in the Mountain States League in 1948.  After just a couple of month of operation the team was moved north to Hazard, Kentucky where they became the Hazard Bombers.  

The second team, or the “team that lasted” as they were called in a 2009 newspaper article, was a semi-pro team with all African-American players.  This is the team that caught the imagination of the Oak Ridge community.  Formed around 1944, the Bombers lasted until the mid-1960’s. Many of the players for this Bombers team worked for the government making nuclear bombs at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory during the week and then hit the road playing games throughout the southeast on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.  One of the players from that time, James Capshaw, stated “We whupped just about everyone we played.”  Another of their alumni, Eugene Williams, went on to be the winning pitcher in the 1957 Negro League East-West All Star game while playing for the Memphis Red Sox.

The significance and impact of the Oak Ridge Bombers was recognized by the National Park Service who placed a wayside historical marker about the team in Oak Ridge. The Oak Ridge Bombers wayside is located at the Oak Ridge Baseball Complex, 15 Wilberforce Ave in Oak Ridge.