The Barbarossa Baseball Team – 1914

Did you know West Monroe had a baseball team? In 1933, the above photo was published in the Ouachita Citizen. It was asked if anyone recognized the players. All they knew was that it was a baseball team called Barbarossa, and they played in West Monroe. Within a week, the public had given the answers. There were still players alive that could identify the team members. They were: Hooter Averette, McNeely Morrison, Percy Duty, Howard Pilkinton, J.B. Mitchell, Moat Bryant, Horace Fluker, Fred Browning, Lannie Averette and Jimmy Mason. Hooter Averette and McNeely were pitchers. Barkham and Webb were managers of the team and Kopec Webb and his donkey were the mascots of the team. Unfortunately, they never matched the names with the photograph! According to articles at the time, the team played in the city league on Sunday afternoons at Forsythe park.