Founders

John J. McCloskey…
The founder of the Texas League in 1887 at the age of 26. A player, manager and league organizer for six seasons beginning in 1888. He was instrumental keeping interest in baseball alive in the region through the end of the 19th century. He played for and managed first place finishers in 1889 and 1892. He managed clubs in five Texas League cities, Austin-San Antonio, 1888; Houston 1889-90, 1892; Dallas 1897-98 and Beaumont 1919.

Mike O’Connor…
He played 13 years in the league beginning in 1888 (Fort Worth 1888, 1890; Austin 1889, 1898-99, 1905; San Antonio 1892, 1896-97; Sherman-Dallas 1895; Denison 1896; Corsicana 1902-03; Paris 1904; Waco 1905). A terrific hitter, he finished the 1896 season with a .395 average in 114 games. He also managed the great 1902 Corsicana club that won 27 consecutive games and finished 88-23. He was on two first place clubs, Dallas in 1895 and Corsicana in 1902 and two pennant winners, San Antonio in 1897 and Corsicana in 1902.

J. Doak Roberts…
He was twice president of the Texas League (1904-06 and 1920-29). Roberts assisted in the revival of the league in 1902. He helped construct a powerful Houston club that won league titles in 1909, 1912 1913 and was co-champion in 1914. He served the league for over 27 years. He was the managing director of the powerful Corsicana club in 1902 that still holds the record for highest winning percentage in a single season.

Dick Butler…
Dick Butler was the Texas League President from 1955-63, 1965 and 1969. Butler helped guide the league through the difficult era in minor league that saw a sharp decline in attendance across the country for most of the years of his tenure. Butler helped keep the league together by finding new cities for the league when the larger league locations left the departed for Triple-A or because of segregation laws. Butler was instrumental in helping push for the agreement with Major League baseball that reclassified the minor leagues in 1962 and standardized the working agreements for all minor league clubs. Butler also negotiated the three-year pact between the Texas League and the Mexican League that led to an interlocking schedule, a joint all star game and a year-end championship series for the 1959-1961 seasons. The Pan-American Association helped breath new life into both leagues, creating added fan interest in on both sides of the border. After leaving his position with the league in 1963, Butler helped bring Texas League baseball back to Fort Worth in 1964 and to Arlington in 1965, running the Dallas-Fort Worth club for a number of years. He was also named the Sporting News Double-A Executive of the Year in 1965. Butler was also named interim president of the league for brief periods in 1965 and 1969.

Executives

Went Hubbard…
Went Hubbard has been influential in the success of the franchise in Tulsa, as well as a respected voice in matters concerning the direction of the Texas League for nearly 20 years. Hubbard bought the Tulsa club in late 1986. Under his direction, he funded numerous renovations of Drillers Stadium, including one that saw the addition of a second tier. In 2002, the Drillers became the first Texas League team to draw more than 300,000 fans for ten consecutive years. During his tenure, the Tulsa club was twice the recipient of the Bob Freitas Award as the top Double-A club. The Tulsa club also was named the winner of the John H. Johnson Award in 1999. The Johnson award recognizes a club’s long term stability and contribution to their community and to baseball.

Dick Burnett…
He owned the Dallas Eagles from 1948 to 1957. Burnett was one of the most flamboyant promoters of the post-World War II era. His Dallas Eagles drew over 54,000 to the Cotton Bowl on opening day in 1950 with an ‘Old Timers Day” that featured seven present or future Hall of Famers. He also installed the first organ in a Texas League ballpark. His signing of Dave Hoskins in 1952 led to the integration of the Texas League. Under his leadership, Dallas finished in first place in 1952, 1953, 1955 and 1957.

J. Alvin Gardner…
Serving as the top executive from 1929 until 1954, Gardner had the longest tenure as president in league history. He began his Texas League career at Wichita Falls in 1920, building clubs that won league titles in 1927 and 1929 and winning the Dixie Series in 1927. After that season, Gardner was elected to succeed Doak Roberts.

Paul LaGrave…
A former Texas League infielder, LaGrave earned his fame as the director of Fort Worth from 1916 to 1929. Working with Jake Atz, he helped construct the Fort Worth dynasty that finished in first place from 1919 through 1925, winning six consecutive TL titles and five of six Dixie Series, an event that along with Walter Morris, he is credited with formulating.

Jim Paul…
As the owner of the El Paso Diablos from 1974-97, he was one of the most innovative promoters of the modern era. He was also one of the most decorated minor league operators, winning numerous national and Texas League awards. In addition, Jim also helped revive the minor leagues with the founding of the El Paso Seminars, helping to spread progressive ideas and sharing knowledge within the baseball community.

William Ruggles…
He was the historian of the Texas League. He published numerous league history books beginning in 1931. An employee and statistician of the league from 1920 until 1964. Ruggles was also a long-time sports writer and later sports editor of the Dallas Morning News. His research of the early years of the Texas League is essential to our understanding of the founding and the origins of this league.

Bill Valentine…
He began his career in the league as an umpire (1954-60), returning as a broadcaster (1969-75), then, since 1976, has been the General Manager of the Arkansas Travelers. Along with Jim Paul, he led the revival of minor league baseball as an innovative promoter. He has also received numerous league and baseball awards including Texas League Executive of the Year five times. Has more than 40 years service in the league, including the last 29 as the chief executive of the Travelers.

Executive/Player/Manager

Bobby Bragan…
As player/manager of Fort Worth from 1948-52, he guided Fort Worth to the Dixie Series in 1948, won 100 games in 1949 and guided the Cats to five consecutive winning seasons. One of the top defensive catchers in the history of the league, Bragan still holds the record for fewest stolen bases allowed in a season (6) and holds the shares the record for fewest passed balls in a season (0). After a career as a Major League manager, he returned to the league as President. He resigned to become the President of the Minor Leagues.

Umpire

Wilson Mathews…
He is considered the finest umpire in the early years of the league. He was in the league during the period 1899-1917, 12 of those years as an umpire.

Manager

Jake Atz…
The manager with most seasons (21) and wins (1,565) in league history. He guided the Fort Worth Panthers for 16 consecutive seasons (13 complete). During that period Fort Worth had their record breaking run of pennants and first place finishes from 1919 through 1925. He led the Panthers to 109 victories in both 1922 and 1924. His clubs won Dixie Series championships in five of the six in which they competed.

Tim Ireland...
In six Texas League seasons, Ireland’s regular season was 593-440, with a .554 winning percentage, one of the best in league history. He also had a post-season record of 24-13, .648. He guided three El Paso, Tulsa and Frisco to the league championship series, winning titles in El Paso and Frisco, in 1994 and 2004 respectively.

Ellis Hardy...
Hardy led Waco from 1911 through 1918, winning league championships 1914-16. He has the highest winning percentage of all Texas League managers with a .573 mark and an overall record of 593-440.

Al Vincent...
Vincent led his team’s to post-season play in eight of his 12 seasons, compiling a record of 50-36, which includes a victory in the 1946 Dixie Series when Dallas swept Atlanta 4-0. Vincent managed 1,879 games in the Texas League, winning 974.

Players

Del Pratt…
Pratt came to the Texas League at the age of 38 to play for and manage Waco. In 1927, at the age of 40, Pratt became the first Texas League batter to win the Triple Crown. A dangerous hitter throughout his TL career, Pratt hit .374 in 1930 at the age of 43. A great contact hitter, Pratt rarely struck out, going down on strikes just 24 times in 562 at-bats in his big 1927 season. In his four seasons as a regular for Waco, Pratt struck out just 71 times in 1988 at bats. He managed in the league for nine, largely futile seasons, leading, for the most part, second division clubs.

Jim Galloway...
Galloway may have been the best switch hitter in the history of the Texas League, finishing his career in the League with a .316 batting average, 112 home runs and 662 RBI’s in 12 seasons, seven of which were full seasons. One of the outstanding players in the 1920’, Galloway his over .300 in six of his seven full seasons.

George Whiteman...
A member of the great 1906 Cleburne club, Whiteman played over 1,400 games over 11 seasons in the League. During his career at Waco 1905, Cleburne 1906, Houston 1907-08, 1911-13, 1921-22, Wichita Falls/Galveston 1923 and Galveston in 1924, Whiteman gathered more outfield assists than any other player in the history of the loop.

Howie Fitzgerald...
Fitzgerald, who played for Wichita Falls 1924-30, Fort Worth 1931 and San Antonio 1932, hit over .300 six times, finishing his career in the League with a .308 average. He is fourth all-time in runs scored with 812 and tied for sixth place with 437 career extra-base hits.

Russ Burns…
He was a 10-year league veteran with four clubs (Beaumont 1946-47; Tulsa 1947-51; Dallas 1951; Oklahoma City 1952-55). He led the league in RBI’s four times, while driving in 100 or more runs in six of his seven full seasons in the loop. He led the league in homers once, hitting 20 or more in a season five times.

Paul Easterling…
One of the greatest of league hitters, Easterling was a 13-year TL veteran, playing with five clubs (Beaumont 1929-33; Tulsa 1934; Oklahoma City 1935-37; Houston 1938; Oklahoma City-Shreveport 1939; Shreveport-Dallas 1940; Dallas 1941). The Texas League career leader in games, runs, hits, extra-base hits, total bases, doubles, home runs and RBI’s. Paul played on three pennant winning clubs and one Dixie Series winner.

Ed Knoblauch…
An 11-year Texas League player with five teams (Houston 1942, 1946-48; Houston-Shreveport-Tulsa 1949; Tulsa 1950-51; Dallas 1951-54; Beaumont 1954-55; Dallas 1955). He was a strong-armed center fielder who hit over .300 in eight of his 11 seasons. He is first or second in seven Texas League all-time hitting categories.

Clarence “Big Boy” Kraft…
Kraft played seven seasons in Fort Worth (1918-24) on the great teams of the early 1920’s. He was the top home run hitter of his era, setting the, then, league mark for homers in 1924 with 55. He drove in 196 runs in 1924. The total is still a single-season league record. He hit 150 of his career 170 home runs in his final four TL seasons.

Pat Newnam…
A 20-year TL veteran, nine as a manager and one as an umpire (San Antonio 1907-08, 1929; Houston 1909-18; Beaumont 1921; Galveston 1922-23; Umpire 1924). He played on pennant winners in San Antonio in 1908 and Houston in 1909, 1912, 1913 and 1914. He stole a league best 422 bases in his career. He also led the league in home runs with 18 in 1908.

Homer Peel…
A 14-year league veteran with four clubs (Houston 1924-26, 1928, 1930-32; Fort Worth 1936-38; Shreveport 1939-40; Oklahoma City 1941-42). He led the league in numerous hitting categories, including batting average in 1937 with a .370 average. Has the top career bating average in league history with a .325 mark. He is in the top five for career batters in eight areas, while he is second all-time in extra-base hits and doubles. He played on two first place clubs, two pennant winners and two Dixie Series winners.

Bobby Stow…
He was a 10-year veteran of the league, the first eight with Fort Worth from 1915-20 (Dallas 1921-24; Shreveport 1923). He is rated as possibly the greatest shortstop in league history. He led the league in fielding percentage six times. He also led the league in stolen bases five times, twice with consecutive seasons of 70 and 71.

Arch Tanner…
He played 14 seasons in the Texas League (Waco 1912-19; Wichita Falls 1920-25). He was a good fielding and hitting shortstop during his first ten years in the league. He led the league in fielding percentage twice at shortstop. Also led the league in hits in 1915 and doubles in 1914. He is in the top 10 in nine all-time TL hitting categories, including third in hits with 1,555.

Pitchers

George Payne…
A consistent winner in all eight of his Texas League seasons. He pitched for four first place clubs and two pennant winners. Payne is fifth in league history with 153 wins, fifth in shutouts with 24, seventh with 157 complete games and eighth with 366 games pitched. He won 20 games twice, led the league in complete games in 1929 with 28 and innings pitched in 1931 with 321.

Gus Johns…
Johns was one of the important contributors on the great Fort Worth clubs of the early 1920’s. The curve balling left hand pitcher won 20 or more games three times and led the league in ERA twice between 1921 and 1925.

Eddie Donalds…
One of the finest right hand pitchers of the early years in the league. In his first season in the loop he produced one of the finest seasons in league history, winning 30 while losing only four games.

Joe Martina...
Martina, who was one of the most popular figures while with the Beaumont club, holds the Texas League career record for strikeouts with 1,412. He is also third in career wins with 158 and fifth in career ERA with a 2.93 mark. Martina’s two best seasons in the league came in back-to-back years with Beaumont when he was 28-13 with a 2.14 ERA in 1919 and 20-14 with a 2.88 ERA in 1920.

Dick Whitworth...
Whitworth pitched 12 complete seasons in the Texas League and holds the record for the most games pitched with 435. He is also tied for third in career wins with 158. A good fielding pitcher, Whitworth was also durable, pitching 170 complete games. He was on one first place club and three pennant winners. Whitworth’s career was as follows: Houston 1926-28; Fort Worth 1929-34, Tulsa 1935, Oklahoma City 1936, Oklahoma City/Fort Worth 1937, Fort Worth/Dallas 1938.

Joe Pate…
A 21-year veteran of the league as a pitcher and umpire (Dallas 1912-13; Fort Worth 1914, 1918-25, 1927-28; Shreveport 1931; Umpire 1933-39), Pate won a total of 195 games, second all-time in league history. Twice he won 30 games as a member of the great Fort Worth teams in the 1920’s. After his pitching career ended, he returned to the league as an umpire for seven complete seasons.

Paul Wachtel…
He spent 13 seasons in the Texas League, mostly with Fort Worth (Fort Worth 1918-28; Houston 1929; Dallas-Waco 1930). He is number one in career victories in league history with 231. He is also first, all-time, in complete games (242), shutouts (32) and total innings pitched (3,177). Wachtel won 20 or more games six times during his Texas League career.

Player/Pitcher/Umpire

John “Ziggy” Sears...
After his playing career, which included stops in Fort Worth (1918-27), San Antonio (1927), Shreveport (1928) and Waco (1928), Sears joined the Texas League umpire staff in 1929, where he stayed until called to the National League in 1935. Among the special accomplishments of Sears’ career, the most notable may have been his 11 RBI game on May 19, 1925 versus San Antonio. Sears is in the career top 10 in many offensive categories including runs (883, 3rd), hits (1,492, 5th), extra-base hits (444, 5th), total bases (2,176, 5th), singles (1,048, 7th), doubles (307, tie 3rd) and RBI’s (664, 7th).

Milt Steengrafe…
He had one of the longest careers in the Texas League, eight years as a pitcher and 15 years as an umpire (Beaumont 1924; Shreveport 1925; Wichita Falls 1927-31; Wichita Falls-Shreveport-Tyler-Fort Worth 1932; Umpire 1938-42, 1946-1955). He compiled a 95-76 record on the mound in the 1920’s and 1930’s, leading the league in winning percentage in 1928 with a 22-8 record (.733). Was the longest serving league umpire in league history, working all 15 Texas League seasons between 1938 and 1955.

Player/Pitcher

Dode Criss…
Criss may have been the league’s best all-around player. In seven seasons in the loop (Cleburne 1906; Houston 1912-17) he had the highest batting average in the league three times (though he did not have enough at-bats to qualify for the batting title in any of those seasons), while compiling a career average of .321, accomplished entirely in the dead ball era. He was also 81-40 as a pitcher, mostly for Houston. Amazingly, Criss pitched three no-hitters (two of nine innings, one of five innings) in his career.

Single Season/Short Career

Adam Piatt…
Piatt became just the second Triple Crown winner in league history when he accomplished the feat in 1999. Piatt put together one of the finest offensive seasons in league history when he led or tied eight different offensive categories.

La Vel Freeman…
Freeman had outstanding back-to-back seasons, a rarity in modern minor league baseball for a young player. In 1987 produced one of the highest batting averages in league history. Freeman is the only player to have more than 200 hits in a single Texas League season in 50 years. He also has the highest single season batting average since 1925 when Danny Clark of San Antonio hit .399.

Sid Fernandez...
Sid Fernandez is one of just two Texas League pitchers that have won the pitcher’s “Triple Crown”, leading the league in wins, ERA and strikeouts. The league’s Pitcher of the Year in 1983 while pitching for the San Antonio Dodgers, Fernandez produced 13 wins, 209 strikeouts and an ERA of 2.28. Additionally, he is the last Texas League pitcher to strike out as many as 200 batters in a single season.

Al Rosen...
Rosen, third baseman for the Oklahoma City Indians in 1947, had one of the finest individual seasons in league history. In his one season in the League, Rosen led in batting (.349), hits (1860, doubles (47), extra-base hits (83), RBI’s (141), total bases (330), slugging percentage (.619) and on-base percentage (.437). Among the outstanding single games during the year were a four double performance on April 16 and an eight RBI game on June 29. Rosen was elected as the player of the year following the 1947 season.

Ike Boone, San Antonio, 1923…
In 1923, Boone battered Texas League pitching, leading the league in hitting (.402), runs (134), hits (241), doubles (53 and RBI’s (135). That year, he became the only modern TL player to hit over .400. He also established a league record with a 35 game consecutive hitting streak.

Ken Guettler, Shreveport 1956…
In 1956, Guettler hit a league record 62 home runs, scored 115 runs and drove in 143 runs.

Dave Hoskins, Dallas 1952 and 1958…
He was the first African-American player to play in the Texas League. In 1952 he led the league with 22 wins, had a 2.12. ERA, an over all record of 22-10 and a league leading 280 innings pitched. After spending time in the Major Leagues, he returned to Dallas in 1958 going 17-8.

Red Murff, Dallas, 1953-55…
After going 27-28 in the two seasons prior to 1955, Murff had one of the best seasons by a Texas League pitcher in the post-World War II era. In 1955, Murff was 27-11 in 43 games, posting a league best ERA of 1.99. He also led the league with 28 complete games. No pitcher in the Texas League has won as many games in one season since Murff’s 27 in 1955. In the long history of the league there are just 16 other occasions when a pitcher has won as many as 27 games in a single season.

Howie Pollet, Houston 1940-41…
Pollet was 20-7 and 20-3 in his two seasons at Houston. In 1941 he led the league with a 1.16 ERA. Only one other pitcher, Walt Dickson at 1.06 in 1916, has had a lower ERA in league history.

Texas League Players in the Baseball Hall of Fame

Willard Brown…
Elected to Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006. Willard “Home Run” Brown was one of the pioneering African-American players in the Texas League. Born in 1911 or 1915, according to different sources, Brown was at the end of a productive career when he arrived in the Texas League in 1953. The slugging outfielder lived up to his nickname with four solid seasons in the league, pounding 91 homers and driving in 405 runs while playing for Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Tulsa and Austin.

Dennis Eckersley...
Eckersley, one of the newest members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, was the Texas League right-handed Pitcher of the Year in 1974 when he was 14-3 for the San Antonio Brewers. That season, Eckersley led the loop in wins, winning percentage (.824), strikeouts (163), while completing 10 of his 23 starts.

Dizzy Dean…
Was 34-12 in two TL seasons at Houston, 26-10 in 1931 with 303 strikeouts. Returned to the League briefly in 1940 to Tulsa where he was 8-8, drawing huge crowds across the league. He was the league's first Player of the Year in 1931.

Hank Greenberg…
At Beaumont in 1932, Greenberg led the league with 123 runs and 39 home runs. He hit .290 and had 131 RBI’s. He was the Texas League Player of the Year in 1932.

Chick Hafey…
At Houston in1924, Hafey hit .360 with 39 doubles, 9 home runs, 90 RBI’s and a league leading 20 triples.

Willie McCovey…
At Dallas in 1957, McCovey hit .281 with 21 doubles, 9 triples, 11 home runs and 65 RBI’s. He also had a three home run game and a three triple game during that season.

Joe Medwick…
At Houston in 1931 and 1932, he twice hit over .300 and had a total of 93 doubles, 18 triples, 45 home runs and 237 RBI’s. He hit .354 in 1932, while leading the league in home runs (19) and RBI’s (126) in 1931.

Joe Morgan…
At San Antonio in 1964, he was the league Player of the Year, hitting .323 with a league leading 42 doubles and 90 RBI’s for the league champion Bullets.

Brooks Robinson…
At San Antonio in 1956, he led the league in fielding percentage at third base. He hit .272, with 28 doubles and 74 RBI’s.

Al Simmons…
At Shreveport in 1923, Simmons hit .360 with 58 extra-base hits and 90 RBI’s.

Tris Speaker…
At Houston in 1907, he led the league with a .314 batting average.

Don Sutton…
At Albuquerque in 1965, Sutton had the best winning percentage with a 15-6 record (.714).

Billy Williams…
At San Antonio in 1959, Williams batted .318 in 94 games with 22 doubles, 7 triples, 10 home runs and 79 RBI’s.