For many fans in the 1940s and 1950s, it wasn't the exploits of major leagues that made baseball so popular. It was the local minor league heroes-often lacking the talent or luck to make it to the majors-who dominated their thoughts of baseball.

One of these players was Eddie Neville. A gutsy, left-handed pitcher from the sandlots of Baltimore, Neville made his mark on the minor league towns he played in, particularly Durham, North Carolina, where he is still the winningest pitcher in the history of the Durham Bulls. His story is one of Class D pennant races and winters spent in the...