Glass, Carl Lee "Butch"

Born in Lexington, KY, Carl L. Glass was a left-handed pitcher, outfielder and first baseman. He first played with the Memphis Red Sox in 1923 and ended his playing career with the Cincinnati Tigers in 1936. While in Memphis, Carl and Ophelia Glass were boarders on Stephens Place Street, according to the U.S. Federal Census. Lovie Ophelia Johnson was born in 1898 in Tennessee. The couple married in Crittenden County, AR, on November 26, 1927, according to their marriage record on p. 307 of the Arkansas Bond for Marriage License Book [online at FamilySearch.org]. This was Carl's second marriage; his first wife was Lillian M. Bivens, according to the Arizona County Marriage Records (Ancestry).

After his baseball playing career, Carl L. Glass was manager of the Lexington Hustlers Baseball Team. The team played 57 games in 1948 with a record of 38 wins, 15 loses, and 4 ties. Gene Ballard played third base, Beaver Dam Mason was shortstop, Bobby Flynn played second base, Chuck Settle was catcher, Scoop Brown played first base, Dooley Berry in centerfield, John Ballard in right field, and Lewis Givens in leftfield. The team played at Blue Grass Athletic Park in Lexington, KY. The newcomers to the team in 1949 were "Toots" Castle, A. D. Lewis, and Charley Carter. 

Carl L. Glass helped organize and develop athletic programs for African American men and boys in Lexington, KY. In 1942, he was one of the organizers of the athletic club in the Chandler Normal School building. There was a boxing and a baseball program. Osborne Price and William Foster were two of the first to enroll in the boxing program. Both were Golden Gloves winners. Ernest Collier had also been a Golden Gloves boxer. He had helped Carl L. Glass to know David S. Moore, a little boy who lived across the street from Glass on Douglas Avenue. Glass would take Moore to the gym to watch the Golden Gloves boxers workout. The little boy would grow up to be a winning boxer know as Davey Moore. He died from injuries in the boxing ring in 1963. After his death, journalist John McGill came to Douglas Avenue to interview the neighbors. Carl L. Glass was one of the few on the street who remembered Davey Moore as a child. 

Also in 1942, Carl L. Glass served as secretary of the newly formed Lexington Softball League at the Charles Young Center. The games were played in Douglass Park. In 1946, Carl L. Glass coached the Kentucky Veterans Baseball Team. All of the team members and Carl L. Glass were WWII veterans. One of their games was against the Cincinnati White Sox. The game was played in Paris, KY. [Carl L. Glass was also a veteran of WWI.]

Carl L. Glass was a scout for the Baltimore Orioles in 1969. He helped establish the Lexington Orioles Baseball Team at the 3rd Street Community Center in Lexington, KY. The new team was to compete in the pony league and was part of the Baltimore Orioles scouting program. The team players were screened as potential draftees for the farm team of the Baltimore Orioles. While serving as a scout, Glass also continued to play in special event games such as the 1969 exhibition softball game between the Magnificent 12 Social Club and the Old Timers. He also continued coaching. In May of 1972, he was manager of the Cardinals, a small fry baseball team that played in Douglass Park in Lexington.

Carl Lee Glass was active in the community up to the time of his death in October of 1972 in Lexington, KY. He was the son of John and Sally Glass, and the husband of Blanche Glass. He was a retired employee of the Lexington Signal Depot. Carl L. Glass in buried in the Lexington Greenwood Cemetery. 

For more see "Hustlers to open '49 season against Chivos here today," Sunday Herald-Leader, 04/17/1949, p.15; "Louisville, Cincinnati Nines scheduled against Athletics, Hustlers here today," Sunday Herald-Leader, 07/04/1948, p.7; "Bucks are tough foe for Hustlers," The Lexington Leader, 08/11/1948, p.6; "Colored Notes: Under the direction of Carl Glass ...," The Lexington Leader, 03/18/1942, p.15; "Colored Notes: Baseball game today at Paris ...," Sunday Herald-Leader, 04/21/1946, p.9; John McGill, "Time Out," The Lexington Herald, 03/28/1963, p.13; "Oriole's to sponsor local baseball team," Lexington Leader, 03/18/1969, p.7; "Magnificent 12 set to meet Old Timers," The Lexington Leader, 08/12/1969, p.12; "Douglass Small Fry Rosters," Sunday Herald-Leader, 05/28/1972, p.31; Ancestry; The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues, by J. A. Riley; Carl Glass at baseball-reference.com; see Carl (Butch) Glass in the "Obituaries" in the Lexington Herald, 10/20/1972, p.2; Rich Copley, "Documentary shows how Hustlers became legends," Lexington Herald-Leader, 02/14/2003, Weekender, p.11.

* Additional information from Yvonne Giles:

Bluegrass Athletic Club incorporated November 1, 1945. 
(Incorp Book 16, 38,39,40. Fayette County Clerk's Office, Lexington, KY)
Incorporators: Ovan Haskins, William Hughes, Theophilious Hogue, R.T. Curd, J.R. Dalton, J.H. Jackson, Robert Hamilton McClaskey, Ernest Marshall.