During the Great Depression, baseball thrived in small textile mills throughout North Carolina. Each mill had its own team. In 1935, a number of mill owners saw an opportunity to promote the town's favorite pastime as well as the possibility of making money in hard times. The owners formed the Independent Carolina Baseball League, hereafter known as ICBL, in 1935.
Francis Garrou, Sr. (1877-1937) came with the Waldensians, who immigrated from Italy to Valdese, North Carolina in the 1890s. Garrou’s nephew was Albert Francis Garrou (1893-1978).
Owners of the Valdese Manufacturing Company, the two men helped organized the Valdese Textiles, who played in the Independent Carolina League.
The 1936 Valdese Textiles, Carolina League Playoff Champions
Front row, sitting, left to right: Selby Keller (CF), Tolar Ransome (3B), Julius Parise (batboy), Chuck Nalbock (2B), Cline Lee (2B). Second row, kneeling: Louis “Babe” Viau (SS), Bob Hall (P), Coyt “Red” Murray (C), Woodrow “Woody” Rich (P). Back row, standing: “Buzz” Phillips (P),Ory Brannon (OF), “Pick” Biggerstaff (OF, MGR), Claude Crapps (1B), Mack Arnette (3B), Ernest “Red” Evans (P), Jim Lyle (P).
“Mitch” Church was a Valdese businessman and a member of the Valdese Textile Baseball team's Board of Directors. Church also owned a recreation parlor in Valdese that offered bowling, pool, and a sandwich shop.
At one time, baseball ruled as America’s pastime. In 1936, a number of textile owners combined their passion for the sport with their desire to make money and formed the North Carolina Independent League. In the pursuit of winning, the owners began hiring professional baseball players, thus incurring the wrath of the major baseball teams, and the President of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, Judge William G. Braham, who identified each of the teams in the newly formed ICBL as an outlaw league.