The Texas League is a minor league baseball league which operates in the South Central United States. It is classified a AA (double-A) league. The league was founded in 1888 and ran through 1890. It was revived as a class D league in 1902, moved to class C in 1904 where it played through 1910 (except for 1906 as class D again), played at class B until 1920, and finally moved up to class A in 1921. The Texas League, like so many others, shut down during World War II. From 1959 to 1961 the Texas League and the Mexican League formed the Pan American Association. The two leagues played a limited interlocking schedule and post-season championship. In 1971, the Texas League and the Southern League were both down to seven teams. They played an interlocking schedule with the SL known as the Dixie Association. The two league played separate playoffs. Despite the league's name only its four South Division teams are actually based in Texas. The four North Division teams are located in surrounding states of Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri. The League's name is well known due to its association with a particular aspect of the game. A bloop single that drops between the infielders and outfielders has been called a Texas Leaguer since the 1890s, despite no evidence that it originated in the Texas League, or was any more common there than elsewhere.[1] There is a common thread throughout Civil War anecdotes that refer to a game played 30 years earlier in the Sabine Pass area. As the story goes, a union soldier hit a ball over the outfielder's head, leading him into a long chase for the ball which resulted in a bullet wound from a nearby sniper. After the incident, hits were only rewarded for balls that landed between the infielders and outfielders. [edit] Team Moves In recent years the Texas League has witnessed a great deal of change. Teams once known as the Jackson Generals, El Paso Diablos, Shreveport Captains, and Wichita Wranglers have all relocated to new cities and bigger stadiums. [edit] Current teams | Division | Team | MLB Affiliation | City | Stadium | Capacity | | North | Arkansas Travelers | Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim | North Little Rock, Arkansas | Dickey-Stephens Park | 5,800 | | Northwest Arkansas Naturals | Kansas City Royals | Springdale, Arkansas | Arvest Ballpark | 6,500 | | Springfield Cardinals | St. Louis Cardinals | Springfield, Missouri | Hammons Field | 7,500 | | Tulsa Drillers | Colorado Rockies | Tulsa, Oklahoma | Drillers Stadium | 10,997 | | South | Corpus Christi Hooks | Houston Astros | Corpus Christi, Texas | Whataburger Field | 5,400 | | Frisco RoughRiders | Texas Rangers | Frisco, Texas | Dr Pepper Ballpark1 | 10,600 | | Midland RockHounds | Oakland Athletics | Midland, Texas | Citibank Ballpark | 6,669 | | San Antonio Missions | San Diego Padres | San Antonio, Texas | Nelson W. Wolff Municipal Stadium | 9,500 | - 1 Hosting 2009 Texas League All-Star Game
[edit] Current team rosters [edit] Complete list of Texas League teams (1902-) [edit] League Champions and Award Winners (1915 to Present) [1] | Year | Champion | Player of the Year | Pitcher of the Year | | 1915 | Waco Navigators | | | | 1916 | Waco Navigators | | | | 1917 | Dallas Submarines | | | | 1918 | Dallas Submarines | | | | 1919 | Shreveport Gassers | | | | 1920 | Fort Worth Panthers | | | | 1921 | Fort Worth Panthers | | | | 1922 | Fort Worth Panthers | | | | 1923 | Fort Worth Panthers | | | | 1924 | Fort Worth Panthers | | | | 1925 | Fort Worth Panthers | | | | 1926 | Dallas Steers | | | | 1927 | Wichita Falls Spudders | | | | 1928 | Houston Buffaloes | | | | 1929 | Dallas Steers | | | | 1930 | Fort Worth Panthers | | | | 1931 | Houston Buffaloes | Dizzy Dean, Houston | | | 1932 | Beaumont Exporters | Hank Greenberg, Beaumont | | | 1933 | San Antonio Missions | Zeke Bonura, Dallas | George Darrow, Galveston | | 1934 | Galveston Buccaneers | Charlie English, Galveston | Ash Hillin, San Antonio | | 1935 | Oklahoma City Indians | Rudy York, Beaumont | | | 1936 | Tulsa Oilers | Les Mallon, Dallas | | | 1937 | Fort Worth Cats | Ash Hillin, Oklahoma City | | | 1938 | Beaumont Exporters | Dizzy Trout, Beaumont | | | 1939 | Fort Worth Cats | Nick Cullop, Houston | | | 1940 | Houston Buffaloes | Bob Muncrief, San Antonio | | | 1941 | Dallas Rebels | Rip Russell, Tulsa | | | 1942 | Shreveport Sports | Dick Wakefield, Beaumont | | | 1946 | Dallas Rebels | Hank Schenz, Tulsa | Prince Oana, Dallas | | 1947 | Houston Buffaloes | Al Rosen, Oklahoma City | Clarence Beers, Houston | | 1948 | Fort Worth Cats | Irv Noren, Fort Worth | Harry Perkowski, Tulsa | | 1949 | Tulsa Oilers | Herb Conyers, Oklahoma City | Joe Landrum, Fort Worth | | 1950 | San Antonio Missions | Gil McDougald, Beaumont | Wayne McLeland, Dallas | | 1951 | Houston Buffaloes | Jim Dyck, San Antonio | Bob Turley, San Antonio | | 1952 | Shreveport Sports | Billy Hunter, Fort Worth | Hal Erickson, Dallas | | 1953 | Dallas Eagles | Joe Frazier, Oklahoma City | Don Fracchia, Beaumont | | 1954 | Houston Buffaloes | Frank Kellert, San Antonio | John Andre, Shreveport | | 1955 | Shreveport Sports | Ray Murray, Dallas | Red Murff, Dallas | | 1956 | Houston Buffaloes | Ken Guettler, Shreveport | Bert Thiel, Dallas | | 1957 | Houston Buffaloes | Jim Frey, Tulsa | Tommy Bowers, Dallas | | 1958 | Corpus Christi Giants | Mike Lutz, Corpus Christi | Joe Kotrany, Dallas | | 1959 | Austin Senators | Carl Warwick, Victoria | Carroll Beringer, Victoria | | 1960 | Tulsa Oilers | Chuck Hiller, Rio Grande Valley | Jack Curtis, San Antonio | | 1961 | San Antonio Missions | Phil Linz, Amarillo | Larry Maxie, Austin | | 1962 | Tulsa Oilers | Cap Peterson, El Paso | Gordie Richardson, Tulsa | | 1963 | Tulsa Oilers | Jim Beauchamp, Tulsa | Camilo Estevis, Albuquerque | | 1964 | San Antonio Bullets | Joe Morgan, San Antonio | Chris Zachary, San Antonio | | 1965 | Albuquerque Dodgers | Leo Posada, Amarillo | Ken Nixon, Austin | | 1966 | Arkansas Travelers | Tom Hutton, Albuquerque | Fred Norman, Dallas-Fort Worth | | 1967 | Albuquerque Dodgers | Nate Colbert, Amarillo | John Duffie, Albuquerque | | 1968 | El Paso Sun Kings | Jim Spencer, El Paso & Bill Sudakis, Albuquerque | Santiago Guzman, Arkansas | | 1969 | Memphis Blues | Bobby Grich, Dallas-Fort Worth & Larry Johnson, Dallas-Fort Worth | Bill Frost, Amarillo | | 1970 | Albuquerque Dodgers | Mickey Rivers, El Paso | Jim Flynn, Albuquerque | | 1971 | Arkansas Travelers | Enos Cabell, Dallas-Fort Worth | Wayne Garland, Dallas-Fort Worth | | 1972 | El Paso Dodgers | Randy Elliott, Alexandria | Dave Freisleben, Alexandria | | 1973 | Memphis Blues | Hector Cruz, Arkansas | Frank Tanana, El Paso | | 1974 | Victoria Toros | John Balaz, El Paso | Randy Wiles, Arkansas (left-hander) & Dennis Eckersley (right-hander), San Antonio (cowinners) | | 1975 | Midland Cubs/Lafayette Drillers (co-champs) | Gary Alexander, Lafayette | | | 1976 | Amarillo Gold Sox | Willie Aikens, El Paso | | | 1977 | Arkansas Travelers | Karl Pagel, Midland | | | 1978 | El Paso Diablos | Bobby Clark, El Paso | | | 1979 | Arkansas Travelers | Mark Brouhard, El Paso | | | 1980 | Arkansas Travelers | Tim Leary, Jackson | | | 1981 | Jackson Mets | Steve Sax, San Antonio | Alan Fowlkes, Shreveport | | 1982 | Tulsa Drillers | Darryl Strawberry, Jackson | Jeff Bittiger, Jackson | | 1983 | Beaumont Golden Gators | Mark Gillaspie, Beaumont | Sid Fernandez, San Antonio | | 1984 | Jackson Mets | James Steels, Beaumont | Calvin Schiraldi, Jackson | | 1985 | Jackson Mets | Billy Jo Robidoux, El Paso | Juan Nieves, El Paso | | 1986 | El Paso Diablos | Steve Stanicek, El Paso | George Ferran, Shreveport | | 1987 | Wichita Pilots | Gregg Jefferies, Jackson | Dennis Cook, Shreveport | | 1988 | Tulsa Drillers | Jeff Manto, Midland | Blaine Beatty, Jackson | | 1989 | Arkansas Travelers | Ray Lankford, Arkansas | Andy Benes, Wichita | | 1990 | Shreveport Captains | Henry Rodriguez, San Antonio | Anthony Young, Jackson | | 1991 | Shreveport Captains | John Jaha, El Paso | Paul McClellan, Shreveport | | 1992 | Wichita Wranglers | Troy O'Leary, El Paso | Dan Smith, Tulsa | | 1993 | Jackson Generals | Roberto Petagine, Jackson | Ben Van Ryn, San Antonio | | 1994 | El Paso Diablos | Tim Unroe, El Paso | Sid Roberson, El Paso | | 1995 | Shreveport Captains | Johnny Damon, Wichita | Steve Bourgeois, Shreveport | | 1996 | Jackson Generals | Bubba Smith, Tulsa | Keith Foulke, Shreveport | | 1997 | San Antonio Missions | Mike Kinkade, El Paso | Steve Woodard, El Paso | | 1998 | Tulsa Drillers | Tyrone Horne, Arkansas | Jose Jimenez, Arkansas | | 1999 | Wichita Wranglers | Adam Piatt, Midland | Eric Gagne, San Antonio | | 2000 | Round Rock Express | Keith Ginter, Round Rock | Bud Smith, Arkansas | | 2001 | Arkansas Travelers | Jason Lane, Round Rock | Tim Redding, Round Rock | | 2002 | San Antonio Missions | Chad Tracy, El Paso | Kirk Saarloos, Round Rock | | 2003 | San Antonio Missions | Justin Leone, San Antonio | Travis Blackley, San Antonio | | 2004 | Frisco RoughRiders | Ryan Shealy, Tulsa | Jeff Francis, Tulsa | | 2005 | Midland RockHounds | Andre Ethier, Midland | Jason Hirsh, Corpus Christi | | 2006 | Corpus Christi Hooks | Alex Gordon, Wichita | Matt Albers, Corpus Christi | | 2007 | San Antonio Missions | Chase Headley, San Antonio | Josh Geer, San Antonio | | 2008 | Arkansas Travelers | Kila Ka'aihue, Northwest Arkansas | Vincent Mazzaro, Midland | | 2009 | Midland RockHounds | TBA | TBA | [edit] See also [edit] Sources - "Baseball in the Lone Star State: Texas League's Greatest Hits," Tom Kayser and David King, c.2005
[edit] References [edit] External links
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