As head coach of the East Carolina baseball team between 1954 and 1962, James Mallory transformed the Diamond Bucs from an upstart, post-WWII club into a powerful championship contender at the regional and national levels. Along the way, Mallory racked up the highest winning percentage in Pirate baseball history with a 161-60 (.729) record. Between 1959 and 1961, the Pirates won the North State baseball championship three years in a row. In 1961, Mallory’s squad also won the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Championship, East Carolina’s first national baseball championship. The win was especially astounding because Mallory’s team consisted of only 13 players (and one of them injured) when it met Sacramento State and won, 13-7.
In the 1961 championship competition, Mallory’s team played an African-American squad, the Grambling State College Tigers, before defeating Sacramento State for the championship. In doing so, Mallory’s team became one of East Carolina’s first to compete against an African-American team. In addition to raising Pirate baseball to national prominence, Mallory’s championship team contributed to the ongoing transformation of intercollegiate baseball competition away from the Jim Crow athletic world of the 1950s and toward desegregated and then integrated play with the 1960s. In recognition of his outstanding achievements, Mallory was inducted into the ECU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1978.
A native of Lawrenceville, Virginia, Mallory graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, completing both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree. At UNC, Mallory also played football and baseball. After graduating, Mallory played major league baseball, in 1940 and 1945, with the Washington Senators, the Saint Louis Cardinals, and the New York Giants. During WWII, he served in the Air Force. Following the war and another round of professional play, Mallory coached at Catawba College, Burlington High School, and Elon College before joining the faculty at East Carolina in 1952. During his five seasons at Elon, Mallory posted a 28-18-3 record coaching football and led the baseball team to three straight conference championships, 1949-1951. In recognition of his work, Mallory was inducted into the Elon Hall of Fame in 1985.
In addition to coaching, Mallory was named dean of men in the fall of 1959. In 1962, Earl Smith succeeded Mallory as head baseball coach. A decade later, in 1973, Mallory, still dean of men and a dedicated Pirate, returned as interim baseball coach following the resignation of head coach Earl Smith. The next year, following Mallory’s interim service, George Williams assumed responsibilities as Pirate baseball coach. During Mallory’s final year coaching, the Pirates compiled a 16-8 record overall with a 10-4 record in the Southern Conference. Mallory retired as dean of men in 1985 after 34 years of service at ECU. As a coach and an administrator, Mallory was one of the outstanding faculty at East Carolina in the decades following WWII as the campus began to grow intercollegiate teams in football, baseball, and basketball in tandem with the appearance of substantial numbers of male students, many of whom arrived with GI Bill funding.
Sources
- “13 Unlucky?” East Carolinian. Vol. 36, no. 29. June 22, 1961. P. 4. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/38700
- Boyd, Richard. “Sports Review: A Story of Courage by the National Champions.” East Carolinian. Vol. 36, no. 29. June 22, 1961. P. 4. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/38700
- “Coach Jim Mallory and his 1961 NAIA Champions.” East Carolinian. Vol. 36, no. 29. June 22, 1961. P. 4. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/38700
- Edwards, Roger. “Mallory returns to coaching Pirates; another banner season appears near.” Fountainhead. February 15, 1972. P. 5. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/39672
- “George Williams To Be New East Carolina Pilot.” Rocky Mount Telegram. May 31, 1973. P. 4C.
- Hickman, Sam. “Pirates Defy Odds In Championship Run.” ECUPirates.com. April 25, 2011. https://ecupirates.com/news/2011/4/25/Pirates_Defy_Odds_In_Championship_Run.aspx
- “James Mallory.” ECU Athletics Hall of Fame. https://ecupirates.com/sports/2016/7/7/hallfame-james-mallory-html.aspx
- “Jubilant Bucs with Grambling Coach R. W. E. Jones.” Buccaneer. 1962. P. 355. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/15313
- “Mallory Assumes Duties Of Counsellor, Disciplinarian.” East Carolinian. Vol. 35, no. 1. September 17, 1959. P. 1. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/38636
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Citation Information
Title: James Baugh "Jim" Mallory, III
Author: John A. Tucker, PhD
Date of Publication: 7/22/2019