WEAVERVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — For one afternoon in the spring of 1900, a young pitcher from Reems Creek stood on a Major League Baseball field.
His name was Richard Jerome “Rome” Chambers.
On May 7, 1900, the 24-year-old left-hander took the mound for the Boston Beaneaters against the New York Giants. Boston had built a comfortable lead when Chambers entered the game in the sixth inning in relief.
It was his first major league appearance. It would also be his last.
The Giants rallied against the rookie pitcher, scoring five runs over the final four innings. Chambers struck out two batters, but Boston held on for an 18-11 victory.
His outing was brief, and it was historic.
Chambers is believed to have been the first native of Western North Carolina to play in Major League Baseball. At the turn of the 20th century, the National League was the country’s only recognized major league, and fewer than 200 players would wear a major league uniform that season.
For four innings, one of them came from the Reems Creek valley north of Weaverville.
Born Aug. 31, 1875, Chambers was the son of Robert W. Chambers and grew up in the close-knit farming community along Reems Creek. Baseball was still a young sport, but Chambers quickly established himself as one of the area’s best players.
He attended Weaverville College, where he became known as a standout left-handed pitcher.
Chambers eventually signed with the Boston Beaneaters, one of baseball’s premier clubs and the franchise known today as the Atlanta Braves. His opportunity came against New York, facing veteran players on one of the sport’s biggest stages.
He never appeared in another major league game.
Long before televised games, multimillion-dollar contracts and year-round scouting, a young man from the mountains of Western North Carolina earned a place among the best baseball players in the country, if only for one afternoon.
After his time in professional baseball, Chambers returned to Western North Carolina.
He settled in Asheville, where he worked as a deputy tax collector for Buncombe County. Friends and neighbors knew him not as a former major leaguer but as a familiar face in the community.
His future, however, was cut short.
After an illness that lasted about 13 weeks, Chambers died on Aug. 30, 1902, one day before his 27th birthday.
Following funeral services, he was carried back to Reems Creek and buried in the Chambers family cemetery.
More than 120 years later, his resting place remains tucked away in the family cemetery. Time has taken its toll on the burial site, and historians who visited it in 2006 reported that his individual marker had become unreadable.
The records of his life remain clear.
They tell the story of a young pitcher from Reems Creek who stood on a major league mound at a time when almost no one from Western North Carolina could imagine such an opportunity. His career lasted just one game.
His place in the region’s history has lasted much longer.
