James W. “Jimmy” Moore was born on a small farm near Bemis, Tennessee. He earned an athletic scholarship to Union University, where he starred in basketball and baseball. At the end of his junior year, he signed a professional baseball contract, and his career carried him to the Philadelphia Athletics, where he played for the great Connie Mack. As an Athletic, Moore played on the 1930 world championship team and on the losing squad in the 1931 World Series. Moore was the first player to ever report to a club by airplane! How times have changed! He spent fourteen years in professional baseball, largely in the American Association and the International League. He retired from baseball in 1935 and returned to Memphis, where he entered the transportation business, becoming general manager and executive vice president of the Yellow Cab Company. Besides making it to the major leagues, Moore will also be remembered as the sixteen-year Memphis and Shelby County Commissioner who was most responsible for building the Memphis International Airport, Mid-South Coliseum, and Memorial Stadium and for bringing the Liberty Bowl to his city. His contribution to sports was recognized in 1970 when he was given the Distinguished American Award by the Memphis Chapter of the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame.
