Muscle Sholes from the Smyth County News and Messenger, February 27, 1999
Glade Spring resident and local baseball legend Lloyd C. "Leo" "Muscle" Sholes, 82, died Tuesday, Feb. 23, in the Johnston Memorial Hospital, Abingdon. Although a native of Camden on Gauley, W. Va., Sholes grew up in Parkersburg, W. Va., and spent most of his life in East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. According to family members, a sportswriter watching Sholes hit home run after home run during batting practice gave him the nickname "Muscle" Sholes, after Muscle Shoals, Ala. This nickname stuck with him throughout his life.
Sholes began his career in 1937 with Monessen of the Pennsylvania League and remained an active Minor League player until 1955 when he played for Kingsport, a member of the Appalachian League. Sholes put his athletic career on hold for four years to serve his country during World War II, attaining the rank of Sergeant in the U. S. Army.
Over the 14 years Sholes played Minor League baseball, he built a career batting average of .337, with 362 HRs and 1,529 RBIs. He is 10th on the all-time Minor League home run list. The highlight of Sholes career came while a player in the Carolina League, with Reidsville, N. C.
Sholes was named Rookie of the Year in the Carolina League. In 1949, he hit 55 HRs, still a Carolina League record. His best single game came that year against league rival Greensboro. Sholes hit 3 HRs and had a fourth hit that bounced off the top of the fence back into the field, barely missing another homer. The St. Louis Browns called Sholes up to the Majors late in that season, but he turned down the opportunity due to family concerns. Sholes finished his Minor League career with the Kingsport Cherokees of the Appalachian League. However,, Sholes did not give up the game. He spent several years playing semi-pro baseball with the Saltville Alkalis of the Burley Belt League.
Sholes also served many years as a volunteer baseball coach at Patrick Henry High School in Emory. In addition, he was often asked by friends and former teammates to teach batting seminars at various schools and colleges around the region. Sholes attended the Rock Springs Presbyterian Church. He was a retired employee of Olin Corporation.
Glade Spring Mayor Roy Miller said Sholes was a wonderful fellow and an asset to the community.
"I’ve know Muscle Sholes a long time," Miller said. "I used to love to watch him play ball for the [Saltville] Alkalis. We got up a team over here in Glade Spring back then and we’d play the Alkalis occasionally. Muscle was always losing our baseballs for us. I have a lot of respect for Muscle. He was a good family man. I taught some of his family, thought a lot of them; they’re good people. Muscle was always willing to talk to anyone about baseball, always willing to help any young player improve their hitting."
Herbert "Chub" Arnold played and coached for the Alkalis and is an unofficial historian of the team. He remembered Sholes fondly.
"Muscle and I just seemed to have a special relationship, we were close from the time he first came here," Arnold said. "Everybody talks about his hitting, not many remember, but he was the very best first baseman I ever saw play. Ever. He was a real showman, too. Kids loved him. He liked to show off for them and he always had time for them. He loved kids, too, and it showed. I will miss my buddy a lot."
Sholes is survived by his wife, Helen Perry Sholes; a daughter, Yvonne Sholes Archer, Church Hill, Tenn.; four sons Gregory T. and Timothy M. Sholes, Glade Spring, Ronald L. Sholes, Church Hill, Tenn., and Gary L. Sholes, Kingsport, Tenn.; two sisters, Lucille Duvall and Garnett "Chloe" Powers, both of Vienna, W. Va.; two daughters-in-law, Melissa Sholes, Church Hill, Tenn. and Stella Sholes, Glade Spring; one son-in-law, Michael Archer, Church Hill, Tenn.; eight grandchildren; three great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.
Funeral services took place 2 p.m., Friday, Feb. 26, in the D. R. Henderson Funeral Home, Saltville. The Rev. Bob Thorton officiated and the Hardy Roberts VFW Post 7328 conducted military rites. Entombment followed in the Mount Rose Mausoleum, Glade Spring. Memorial contributions may be made to the Glade Spring Volunteer Lifesaving Crew. The D. R. Henderson Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.