Nov 12, 2021
by Bob Rusher
Bob Rusher remembers summer days of friends riding bicycles from their homes in Spencer to Newman Park, where they watched Salisbury’s minor league baseball team practice. That was in the 1950s, and the Salisbury Pirates were a farm team for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Spencer kids would catch foul balls hit over the Newman Park fence by the players and every now and then a player would give one of the local kids a broken bat.
Newman Park was home field to the Salisbury Pirates, and Bob also remembers his dad taking him to their games, when he was too young to ride a bike to the field to watch practices.
“Baseball was the most important thing in Salisbury in the summer,” Bob says. “People would come early to the games, and the stadium and bleachers on the left and right of the field would be packed.” Cars would be parked bumper to bumper. People would bring chairs and watch from the banks around the field.”
Looking back on those idyllic summers of growing up with baseball, Bob Rusher, CEO of Rusher Oil Co. Inc. of Salisbury, says that Newman Park is unique in the state. His family supports the current $10 million fund-raising effort by the community and Catawba College to renovate Newman Park.
The baseball park is 95 years old now, and grandstands, restrooms, locker rooms, the press box, concession space, bullpens, and batting cages are in need of an uplift. For the playing field, synthetic turf is being added, and corrective measures are being taken to prevent flooding after heavy rain, requiring significant upkeep and loss of playing time, and to add grade to the outfield, resulting in a shorter back wall.
“Newman Park has a special place in my heart,” Bob says. “There’s a certain feel to it that you don’t get at a modern baseball field. It’s one-of-a- kind in the state. It reminds me of Fenway Park in Boston.”
A graduate of Catawba College, Class of ’59, Bob is encouraged about the plans to bring new life to Newman Park. “It’s important to the college and the community,” he says. “It’s an asset.” Once the renovation is complete, he hopes that the park will be more widely used for special events so that everyone can enjoy it. The renovated park is considered a smart economic tool for Rowan County. The improvements will bring baseball fans here for high school playoffs, private tournaments, baseball camps, the Wood Bat League, and more, as well as Catawba College and the American Legion teams and fans. The new entertainment deck can be used for special events.
Bob first played at Newman Park as a 12-year-old kid, a member of the Spencer American Legion Team, meeting their arch rival, the Salisbury American Legion Team, on Salisbury’s home turf.
As a student at Catawba, 1955-’59, he played short stop or second base all four years at Newman Park under coaches Myron Richards and Harvey Stratton and never missed a game.
His junior year, he was hired as coach of the Spencer American Legion Team, and he became the first Rowan County American Legion coach, when the Spencer and Salisbury teams consolidated in the early ’60s.
After graduating from Catawba, he became baseball coach at West Rowan High School for four years, and during those years, he brought a championship team to Newman Park.
“My second year at West, we won the state championship, and we won it at Newman Park playing Cherryville. We had to play at a neutral field,” he says. That 1961 West Rowan team has gathered at his home for a reunion, one member coming from California to attend. Bill Hall, who grew up in Cleveland, was on that team. Bill Hall says he was encouraged to attend Catawba by Coach Rusher. Another team member, Barry Moore of Woodleaf, became a Major League pitcher for the Washington Senators.
While at Catawba, Bob met his wife, the former Joan Trexler, who was a majorette. After graduating, she became a teacher. They have four children: Bobby Jr., Joseph, Lori, and Kristia. A granddaughter, Lillie Rusher, is a freshman at Catawba and has a scholarship to play soccer.
Bob was recruited to play basketball at Catawba by Coach Earl Ruth, who later became a U.S. Congressman. Coach Ruth came to East Spencer High School to watch Bob play, and Bob ended up meeting him by pulling his car out the mud after the game. He played two years of basketball at Catawba, but baseball remained his true sport.
He majored in health and physical education with minors in biology and history. “I ended up making my living doing something else, but Catawba taught me a lot more than what’s in the books. I learned character, commitment, culture, and confidence. Sports also did a lot to help me be a competitor.”
When his dad, Worth Rusher, who worked for the Amoco Oil Co. was offered a distributorship position in Salisbury, Bob offered to stop teaching and help him build the business. “He and I started Rusher Oil Co. together,” he says. “We had service stations and later changed them to convenience stores, distributing petroleum fuel.” Today, the company has a chain of 20 Rushco convenience stores operated by sons Bobby and Joey Rusher and located in Rowan, Davidson, Davie, Iredell, Cabarrus, and Mecklenburg counties.
Bob is looking forward to more baseball summers to add to his memories of catching foul balls over the fence at Newman Park for the Salisbury Pirates. The Pirates played in Salisbury from 1945-1952 as part of the North Carolina State Minor League. They weren’t the only farm team to call Salisbury and Newman Park home during the years 1902-1968. The names of those farm teams and their boys of summer are part of the legend of Newman Park — The Salisbury-Spencer Twins, the Salisbury Colonials, the Salisbury Bees, the Salisbury Giants, the Salisbury Rocots, the Salisbury Braves, the Salisbury Dodgers, the Salisbury Astros, and the Salisbury Senators, who ended the era in 1968.
