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Southwest Texas League

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Southwest Texas League
ClassificationClass D (1910–1911)
Independent (1936)
SportMinor League Baseball
First season1910
Ceased1911
PresidentB.S. Dickinson (1910–1911)
No. of teams6
CountryUnited States of America
Most titles1
Brownsville Brownies (1910)
Beeville Orange Growers (1911)

The Southwest Texas League was a minor league baseball league that played in the 1910 and 1911 seasons. The Southwest Texas League played as a six–team Class D level league and consisted of teams based exclusively in Texas. The Brownsville Brownies and Beeville Orange Growers teams won the two league championships.

History

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The Southwest Texas League began play as a six–team Class D level minor league in the 1910 season, with all six franchises based in Texas.[1] The league president was B.S. Dickinson. Charter members were the Bay City Rice Eaters from Bay City, Texas,[2] Beeville Orange Growers from Beeville, Texas,[3] Brownsville Brownies from Brownsville, Texas,[4] Corpus Christi Pelicans from Corpus Christi, Texas,[5] Laredo Bermudas from Laredo, Texas[6] and Victoria Rosebuds from Victoria, Texas.[7][8][9]

In their first season of league play, games began on April 21, 1910. The league was divided into half–seasons, with the Victoria Rosebuds winning the first half and the Brownsville Brownies winning the second half.[10] The league had a total of five no–hit games in 1910. The first occurred on April 29, 1910, when Henry Trigg of Corpus Christi threw a no–hitter against the Brownsville Brownies in a 1–0 victory.[11] On May 29, 1910, Si Platzer of Bay City threw a no–hitter against Corpus Christi, winning the game 2–0.[12] On June 26, 1910, John Taff, pitching for Brownsville threw the league's third no–hitter of the season, defeating Corpus Christi 1–0. John Taff threw his second no–hitter of the season on July 14, 1910, defeating Beeville 5–0.[13] In a losing effort, Desiderio Hernandez, pitching for Laredo threw the fifth league no–hitter of the season on July 30, 1910, losing to Corpus Christi 3–2.[14]

Victoria, who won the first half pennant, also had the league's best overall record at 72–45.[15] Brownsville, had the second best overall record at 68–47, winning the second half pennant. Both finished ahead of the third place Bay City Rice Eaters (59–56), followed by Laredo (54–61), Beeville (52–64) and Corpus Christi (42–74), who had been involved in four no–hit games in 1910. Victoria was led by a league leading 28 wins from pitcher Larry Gilbert. In the 1910 Finals, the Brownsville Brownies defeated the Victoria Rosebuds 4 games to 2.[8][10]

In 1911, B.S. Dickinson continued as Southwest Texas League president and the league played what would be their final season. All six teams returned for the second season of league play During the 1911 season. On May 27, 1911, Will Wehrman, pitching for Bay City threw a no-hitter against the Laredo Bermudas in a 6–0 victory.[16] The Corpus Christi Pelicans surrendered the franchise to the league on July 17, 1911 and the club eventually folded on August 13, 1911 with a 46–70 record. The Victoria Rosebuds disbanded on August 11, 1911 with a 54–59 record. With four teams finishing the regular season, the Bay City Rice Eaters won the first half pennant and Beeville won the second half title. Bay City had the best overall record with a 67–51 record, followed by Brownsville, who finished 2.0 games behind with a 64–52 overall record, Beeville (63–54) and Laredo (55–63).[17][18][19]

Based on the split–season format, Bay City and Beeville were scheduled to play in the 1911 finals. It was reported that the league wanted to retrieve the 1910 championship trophy from Brownsville to reuse for the 1911 finals, but Brownsville refused to part with the trophy.[18] The 1911 Finals Southwest Texas League were not held, as the Beeville Orange Growers were awarded the championship after Bay City refused to play in the finals.[20] It was reported that Bay City was concerned about Beeville fan behavior based on earlier incidents. The league permanently folded after the 1911 season.[8][18][19][21]

In 1936, a league named the Southwest Texas League formed as a four–team Independent League. Eagle Pass, Del Rio, Uvalde and Laredo fielded teams. No league standings or statistics are known.[22]

1910–1911 Southwest Texas League teams

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Team name(s) City represented Ballpark Year(s) active
Bay City Rice Eaters Bay City, Texas Tenth Street Park[23] 1910 to 1911
Beeville Orange Growers Beeville, Texas The ballpark[24] 1910 to 1911
Brownsville Brownies Brownsville, Texas Lions Park 1910 to 1911
Corpus Christi Pelicans Corpus Christi, Texas Unknown 1910 to 1911
Laredo Bermudas Laredo, Texas Laredo Ballpark[25] 1910 to 1911
Victoria Rosebuds Victoria, Texas Cardinal Park 1910 to 1911

Standings & statistics

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1910 Southwest Texas League

Team standings W L PCT GB Managers
Victoria Rosebuds 72 45 .615 – Jack Burke
Brownsville Brownies 68 47 .591 3.0 S.H.Bell /
Leo Hellman / Kerr Price
Bay City Rice Eaters 59 56 .513 12.0 Ed Haralson /
John Blakeney / Louis Hamilton
Laredo Bermudas 54 61 .470 17.0 George Page / Tomlin
Beeville Orange Growers 52 64 .448 19.5 Trapper Longley / J.C. Woessner
Corpus Christi Pelicans 42 74 .362 29.5 Patrick Murphy / Billy Page
Player statistics
Player Team Stat Tot Player Team Stat Tot
Jack Burke Victoria BA .294 Larry Gilbert Victoria W 28
Louis Hamilton Bay City Runs 75 Roy Morton Brownsville SO 173
Jack Burke Victoria Hits 125 Roy Morton Brownsville Pct .850; 17-3
James Sheffield Victoria SB 94

1911 Southwest Texas League

Team standings W L PCT GB Managers
Bay City Rice Eaters 67 51 .568 – Louis Hamilton /
Ed Haralson / J.H. Morehead
Brownsville Brownies 64 52 .552 2.0 O.H. Boston / S.H. Bell
Beeville Orange Growers 63 54 .538 3.5 Ted Schultz / Billy Disch
Laredo Bermudas 55 63 .466 12.0 John Blakeney / Lucky Wright
Victoria Rosebuds 54 59 .478 NA Hart McCormick /
J. Linebaugh / Jack Burke
Corpus Christi Pelicans 46 70 .397 NA Henry Hunt / Ed Wicker
Player statistics
Player Team Stat Tot Player Team Stat Tot
A.G. Knaupp Victoria BA .289 Ezequiel Ramos Larado W 20
George Harper Corpus Christi Runs 66 Buddy Napier Brownsville SO 213
Lou Vetter Beeville Hits 121 Raymond Stubbs Beeville Pct .750; 15–5
Harry Sweet Bay City HR 9

[8]

References

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  1. ^ "Southwest Texas League (D) Encyclopedia and History". Baseball-Reference.com.
  2. ^ "1910 Bay City Rice Eaters Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
  3. ^ "1910 Beeville Orange Growers Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
  4. ^ "1910 Brownsville Brownies Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
  5. ^ "1910 Corpus Christi Pelicans Roster on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  6. ^ "1910 Laredo Bermudas Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
  7. ^ "1910 Victoria Rosebuds Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
  8. ^ a b c d Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (Third ed.). Baseball America. ISBN 978-1932391176.
  9. ^ "TSHA | Texas League". www.tshaonline.org.
  10. ^ a b "1910 Southwest Texas League (STL) Standings on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  11. ^ "1910-04-29 Southwest Texas League". Corpus Christi Caller-Times. April 30, 1910. p. 1 – via newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "The Victoria Advocate - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
  13. ^ "John Taff, "Double No-Hitters for Pinehot"" (PDF). Diamonds in the Dusk (447).
  14. ^ "1910-07-30". Laredo Weekly Times. August 7, 1910. p. 7 – via newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "1910 Southwest Texas League". Baseball-Reference.com.
  16. ^ "Southwest Texas League". Baseball History Daily.
  17. ^ "1911 Southwest Texas League". Baseball-Reference.com.
  18. ^ a b c "The SW Texas League: My Grandfather's World". September 27, 2013.
  19. ^ a b "1911 Southwest Texas League (STL) Standings on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  20. ^ "Beeville Orange Growers: Another Photo Mystery". March 24, 2010.
  21. ^ Latcham, Jeff (21 December 2018). "Enjoy the citrus quickly". mysoutex.
  22. ^ "1936 Southwest Texas League (STL) Standings on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  23. ^ "Tenth Street Park in Bay City, TX history and teams on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  24. ^ "The Ball Park in Beeville, TX history and teams on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  25. ^ "Laredo Ball Park in Laredo, TX history and teams on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
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