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Big State League

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Big State League
ClassificationClass B (1947–1957)
SportMinor League Baseball
First season1947
Ceased1957
PresidentWalter Morris (1947–1950)
Howard Green (1951–1955)
Hal Sayles (1956–1957)
No. of teams22
CountryUnited States of America
Most titles2
Corpus Christi Clippers (1955-1956)
Texarkana Bears (1947, 1950)
Wichita Falls Spudders (1949, 1953)
Related
competitions		Texas League

The Big State League was a mid-level, Class B level circuit in American minor league baseball that played for 11 seasons, from 1947 through 1957. Its member clubs were exclusively based in Texas. The Corpus Christi Clippers (1955-1956), Texarkana Bears (1947, 1950) and Wichita Falls Spudders (1949, 1953) each won two league championships.

History

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It saw much change in its 11-year lifetime, with no team serving as a member in every single season. Waco came the closest, serving from 1947 to 1956. The league was known as an offense-oriented circuit.

The league debuted at the height of the short-lived postwar minor league baseball boom, in 1947, with eight clubs, all unaffiliated with Major League Baseball farm systems. Original teams were the: Austin Pioneers, Gainesville Owls, Greenville Majors, Paris Red Peppers, Sherman–Denison Twins, Texarkana Bears, Waco Dons and Wichita Falls Spudders.[1]

Two clubs, Texarkana and Greenville, won more than 100 games in 1947, and four league members exceeded 100,000 in attendance. But beginning in 1953, the Big State League's teams struggled to reach six figures in that category. Only Corpus Christi drew over the 100,000 mark during the league's final five seasons, doing so on two occasions. The league was further weakened when a traditionally strong member, Austin, moved up to the AA Texas League in 1956.

The league began the 1957 campaign with only six clubs: the Victoria Rosebuds, Corpus Christi Clippers, Beaumont Pirates, Abilene Blue Sox, Port Arthur Redlegs and Wichita Falls Spudders.[1] Its ranks were reduced to four when Wichita Falls disbanded in May, while the Port Arthur team moved to Temple that same month before folding in August. Of the surviving teams, Victoria, a Brooklyn Dodgers farm team, outlasted Corpus Christi, Beaumont and Abilene to win the league's last pennant and playoff championship.

J. Walter Morris served as League President from 1947 through 1950, Howard Green, took over from 1951 through 1955 and Hal Sayles was in charge the final two years, 1956–57.[1]

Cities represented

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Standings & statistics

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1947 to 1952

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1947 Big State League
schedule

Team standings Won Lost Pct GB Attend Managers
Texarkana Bears 101 53 .655 - 140,333 Vern Washington
Greenville Majors 100 54 .649 1.0 154,356 Harry Davis, Jr.
Wichita Falls Spudders 92 61 .601 8.0 92,553 Bobby Goff
Paris Red Peppers 80 74 .519 21.0 112,449 Lloyd Rigby
Sherman-Denison Twins 69 85 .448 32.0 81,550 Guy Sturdy
Gainesville Owls 65 87 .428 35.0 60,971 Leroy Gilchrist
Austin Pioneers 55 99 .357 46.0 106,099 Beau Bell
Waco Dons 52 101 .340 48.0 52,577 Red Barkley
Total attendance 800,888

Season highlights
Playoffs: Texarkana Bears beat the Paris Red Peppers 4 games to 0.; Wichita Falls Spudders over the Greenville Majors 4 games to 2.
Finals:Texarkana Bears 4 games to 2 over the Wichita Falls Spudders.
Vern Washington of the Texarkana Bears led all hitters with a .404 batting average. Buck Frierson of the Sherman-Denison Twins led the league in four categories: 188 runs scored, 248 hits, 197 RBI and 58 home runs. Vallie Eaves, Texarkana Bears pitched his team to 25 wins and Nathaniel Love of the Greenville Majors struck out 192 opposing batters. Jim Walkup of the Paris Red Peppers led the league with a 3.72 ERA.[1]

1948 Season Big State League
schedule

Team standings Won Lost Pct. GB Attend Managers
Sherman-Denison Twins 94 51 .648 - 117,046 Jose Rodriquez
Wichita Falls Spudders 84 62 .575 10.5 130,138 Marcus Carrola
Waco Pirates 82 64 .562 12.5 82,762 Buster Chatham
Austin Pioneers 79 67 .541 15.5 163,666 Prince Oana
Gainesville Owls 69 77 .473 25.5 80,479 Babe Peebles / Jackie Reid
Paris Panthers 62 85 .422 33.5 72,636 Homer Peel
Texarkana Bears 60 83 .420 33 70,508 Ed Borom
Greenville Majors 52 93 .359 42.5 67,334 Buddy Hancken / Nat Love
Total attendance 784,569

Season highlights
Playoffs: Sherman-Denison Twins 4 games Austin Pioneers 1 ; Wichita Falls Spudders 4 games Waco Pirates 0
Finals:Sherman-Denison Twins 4 wins Wichita Falls Spudders 3 wins.
Vern Washington of the Texarkana Bears again led the league in hitting, this time with a .384 average. Donald Cena of the Waco Pirates scored 142 runs to lead that stat. The trio from Wichita Falls Spudders of Paul Brotherton with 218 hits, Jack Bradsher, with 152 RBI and Albert McCarty with 32 HR, led those departments. Thomas Finger of the Wichita Falls Spudders had 21 wins to lead all pitchers and Glenn Blackwood who split time with the Greenville Majors and the Wichita Falls Spudders led the league with 176 strikeouts. Rafael Rivas of the Sherman-Denison Twins had a 2.33 ERA.[1]

1949 Big State League
schedule

Team standings Won Lost Pct GB Attend Managers
Wichita Falls Spudders 90 58 .608 - 128,400 Jack Bradsher
Texarkana Bears 86 61 .585 3.5 96,522 George Archie
Austin Pioneers 86 62 .562 4.0 188,193 Prince Oana
Waco Pirates 76 72 .514 14.0 95,825 Buddy Hancken
Sherman-Denison Twins 70 78 .473 20.0 77,474 Lloyd Brown / Pete Appleton
Greenville Majors 66 82 .446 24.0 58,500 Red Davis
Gainesville Owls 59 89 .399 31.0 66,544 Ray Taylor / Lon Goldstein
Temple Eagles 58 89 .395 31.5 72,624 Barney White / Homer Peel
Total attendance 784,082

Season highlights
Playoffs:Waco Pirates over the Wichita Falls Spudders 4 games to 2; Texarkana Bears over the Austin Pioneers 4 games to 1.
Finals: Waco Pirates 4 games to 1 over the Texarkana Bears.
Frank Saucier of the Wichita Falls Spudders led the league in hitting with an average of .446 and his teammate Al McCarty scored 132 runs. Frank Carswell of the Texarkana Bears had the most hits with 229 and also led in RBI with 145. Conklyn Meriwether of the Greenville Majors had 27 HR. 3 pitchers had an even 20 wins: Elwood Moore and George Estock of the Austin Pioneers and Sidney Peterson of Wichita Falls Spudders. William Pierro of the Waco Pirates struck out 275 batters and John Whitehead of the Sherman-Denison Twins led with a 2.73 ERA.[1]

1950 Big State League

Team standings Won Lost Pct GB Attend Managers
Texarkana Bears 93 51 .646 - 83,604 George Archie
Gainesville Owls 82 63 .566 11.5 56,890 James Adair
Wichita Falls Spudders 80 66 .548 14.0 103,439 Hack Miller
Temple Eagles 74 70 .514 19.0 105,081 Lou Finney
Greenville Majors 75 71 .514 19.0 50,511 Bill Gann
Waco Pirates 72 76 .486 23.0 85,173 Buddy Hancken
Sherman-Denison Twins 54 91 .372 39.5 48,762 Homer Peel
Austin Pioneers 52 94 .356 42.0 116,941 Prince Oana / David Sarver
Total attendance 650,401

Season highlights:
Playoffs: Texarkana Bears over Temple Eagles 4 to 2; Greenville Majors over Wichita Falls Spudders 4 to 2.
Finals: Texarkana Bears over Greenville Majors 4 to 2.
Frank Carswell of the Texarkana Bears was the leading hitter with an even .400 average. His teammate Lou Fitzgerald scored 138 runs and their teammate Milan Vacelich had 144 RBI. The Waco Pirates slugger John Powers busted 39 four baggers. Junior Bunch had 19 wins for the Temple Eagles. The strikeout leader, Jodie Phipps of the Texarkana Bears struck out 173 batters. Carmen Ferullo of the Wichita Falls Spudders led the league with a 2.89 ERA.[1]

1951 Big State League
schedule

Team standings Won Lost Pct GB Attend Managers
Gainesville Owls 89 58 .605 - 50,771 Hal Van Pelt
Temple Eagles 88 60 .595 1.5 112,022 Bill Herring / Jack Bradsher
Sherman-Denison Twins 79 68 .537 10.0 60,059 Bill Capps
Austin Pioneers 75 72 .510 14.0 147,161 Thomas Jordan
Waco Pirates 75 73 .507 14.5 61,371 Walt Tauscher
Texarkana Bears 71 77 .480 18.5 57,640 Prince Oana /
Joe Phipps / Gabby Lusk
Wichita Falls Spudders 66 82 .446 23.5 73,415 Bruce Ogrodowski / Cecil McClung
Tyler East Texans 47 100 .320 42.0 41,541 Hal Epps /
Joe Kracher / Gale Pringle
Total attendance 604,100

Season highlights:
Playoffs:
Gainesville Owls 4 games, Austin Pioneers 2; Sherman-Denison Twins 4 games, Temple Eagles 1.
Finals: Gainesville Owls 4 games, Sherman-Denison Twins 1.
Les Goldstein of the Temple Eagles led all hitters with a .376 average and his teammate Frederick Bell had 216 hits. Bobby Phillips of the Wichita Falls Spudders scored 128 runs and Dean Stafford of the Sherman-Denison Twins led the league in both RBI, with 151 and home runs with 32. Lee Roy Jones of the Austin Pioneers and George O'Donnell of the Waco Pirates had 22 wins each and Robert Upton of the Gainesville Owls led in strikeouts with 209 and also with an ERA of 2.54.[1]

1952 Big State League
schedule

Team standings Won Lost Pct GB Attend Managers
Temple Eagles 85 62 .578 - 101,906 Salty Parker
Tyler East Texans 84 63 .571 1.0 73,337 Bill Capps
Texarkana Bears 82 65 .559 3.0 79,275 Tony York
Austin Pioneers 81 66 .551 4.0 149,601 Thomas Jordan
Paris Indians 79 68 .537 6.0 77,761 Red Davis
Wichita Falls Spudders 77 70 .524 8.0 95,240 Frank Mancuso
Longview Cherokees 71 76 .483 14.0 59,913 Clem Hausmann / Lou Fitzgerald
Waco Pirates 29 118 .197 56.0 32,966 Tedd Gullic
Total attendance 669,999

Season highlights:
Playoffs: Austin Pioneers 4 games, Temple Eagles 1; Tyler East Texans 4 games, Texarkana Bears 2.
Finals: Tyler East Texans 4 games, Austin Pioneers 0.
Bob Van Enman of the Wichita Falls Spudders led in hitting with a .387 average. His teammate Billy Queen scored 157 runs while Buck Frierson of the Paris Indians had 222 base hits. Roy Sanner of the Texarkana Bears had 165 RBI and Dean Stafford of the Paris Indians /Tyler East Texans busted 47 home runs. John Andre of the Austin Pioneers led the league with 25 wins and Gale Pringle of the Tyler East Texans had 164 strikeouts and a 2.93 ERA.[1]

1953 to 1957

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1953 Big State League
schedule

Team standings Won Lost Pct GB Attend Managers
Wichita Falls Spudders 85 58 .594 - 71,247 Whitey Wietelmann
Tyler East Texans 81 63 .563 4.5 50,273 Bill Capps
Texarkana Bears 78 68 .534 8.5 89,604 Chuck Hawley
Waco Pirates /
Longview Cherokees		 77 68 .531 9.0 32,646 Buster Chatham
Temple Eagles 72 73 .497 14.0 66,341 Salty Parker / Len Goldstein
Greenville Majors/Bryan Majors 70 77 .476 17.0 30,051 Jim Adair / Clyde McDowell
Austin Pioneers 69 77 .473 17.5 73,229 Al Unser
Paris Indians 48 96 .333 47.5 40,658 Red Davis
Total attendance 454,049

Season highlights:
Waco moved to Longview, May 22; Greenville moved to Bryan, June 25.
Playoffs: Wichita Falls Spudders 4 games, Longview Cherokees 0;Tyler East Texans 4 games, Texarkana Bears 1.
Finals: Wichita Falls Spudders 4 games, Tyler East Texans 3.
Albert Neil of the Wichita Falls Spudders led five different offensive categories: .356 BA, 185 hits, 126 runs, 137 RBI and 39 home runs. Pat Scantlebury of the Texarkana Bears won 24 games and struck out 177. Jodie Phipps of the Bryan Majors had a 2.19 ERA.[1]

1954 Big State League
schedule

Team standings Won Lost Pct GB Attend Managers
Waco Pirates 105 42 .714 - 79,201 Jack Paepke
Tyler Tigers 92 55 .626 13.0 56,361 Salty Parker
Corpus Christi Clippers 87 60 .592 18.0 97,255 Bill Capps
Austin Pioneers 79 67 .541 25.5 85,119 George Hausmann
Galveston White Caps 73 73 .500 31.5 34,205 Chase Riddle / Henry Robinson
Bryan Indians /
Del Rio Indians		 53 93 .363 51.5 34,217 Ray Taylor /
Al LaMacchia / Chuck Hawley
Harlingen Capitals 53 94 .361 52.0 47,825 Earl Caldwell / Sam Harshaney
Temple Eagles 44 102 .301 60.5 31,673 Fred Martin /
Fred Campbell / Robert Moyer
Total attendance 465,856

Season highlights:
Bryan moved to Del Rio, July 28.
Playoffs: Waco Pirates 4 games, Austin Pioneers 2; Corpus Christi Clippers 4 games, Tyler Tigers 1.
Finals: Waco Pirates 4 games, Corpus Christi Clippers 3.
Dean Stafford of the Galveston White Caps and the Corpus Christi Clippers led the league in hitting with a .362 average, hits with 212, had 171 RBI to go with 38 home runs. John Wilkinson of the Temple Eagles and Corpus Christi Clippers scored 151 runs. James Vitter of the Corpus Christi Clippers had 23 wins, while Gayle Pringle of the Tyler Tigers struck out 212 with a 2.58 ERA.[1]

1955 Big State League
schedule

Team standings Won Lost Pct GB Attend Managers
Corpus Christi Clippers 93 48 .660 - 102,788 Connie Ryan
Waco Pirates 74 69 .517 20.0 53,961 Stan Wentzel
Texas City Texans 71 67 .514 20.5 35,402 Bones Sanders
Port Arthur Sea Hawks 64 74 .464 27.5 71,063 Lou Fitzgerald /
Earl Perry / Jack Bumgarner
Harlingen Capitals 65 79 .451 29.5 55,418 Ford Garrison
Austin Pioneers 58 85 .406 36.0 50,536 George Hausmann
Tyler Tigers 36 37 .493 NA 26,443 Jodie Phipps
Galveston White Caps 28 30 .483 NA 19,600 Jodie Beeler
Total attendance 415,211

Season highlights:
Galveston withdrew June 12; Tyler withdrew July 1.
Playoffs:Corpus Christi Clippers 4 games, Harlingen Capitals 1; Waco Pirates 4 games, Texas City Texans 3.
Finals: Corpus Christi Clippers 4 games, Waco Pirates 0.
Lynn Vandehey of the Texas City Texans led the league with a batting average of .377 and also led in total hits with 195. The Corpus Christi Clippers trio of Ed Charles with 135 runs scored, Dean Stafford with 159 RBI and Keith Little hit 47 home runs to lead those categories. Rene Vega of the Corpus Christi Clippers had 28 wins and a 2.69 ERA. Don Rowe of the Waco Pirates had 226 strikeouts.[1]

1956 Big State League
schedule

Team standings Won Lost Pct GB Attend Managers
Corpus Christi Clippers 83 57 .593 - 112,625 Sibby Sisti
Port Arthur Sea Hawks 78 62 .557 5.0 57,117 Lloyd Gearhart / Al Barillari
Waco Pirates 78 62 .557 5.0 39,096 Monty Basgall
Wichita Falls Spudders 76 64 .543 7.0 60,891 Danny Ozark
Abilene Blue Sox 73 67 .521 10.0 83,700 Alfred Evans
Lubbock Hubbers/Texas City Texans 59 81 .421 24.0 53,900 Bill Krueger / Jay Haney
Beaumont Exporters 57 83 .407 26.0 35,000 Ford Garrison
Victoria Eagles 56 84 .400 27.0 35,639 James Basso /
Lou Fitzgerald / Stubby Greer
Total attendance 477,968

Season Highlights:
Lubbock transferred to Texas City July 8; Beaumont moved to Texas City July 2, and returned, July 8.
Playoffs:Corpus Christi Clippers 4 games, Wichita Falls Spudders 1.; Port Arthur Sea Hawks 4 games, Waco Pirates 3.
Finals:Port Arthur Sea Hawks 4 games, Corpus Christi Clippers 3.
James Kirby of the Port Arthur Sea Hawks was the league's leading hitter with a .358 average and 190 hits. Joe Christian of the Corpus Christi Clippers scored 119 runs with 142 RBI. Danny Ozark of the Wichita Falls Spudders homered 32 times and tied with Rudolph Mayling of the Abilene Blue Sox in the home run category. Leverette Spencer of the Port Arthur Sea Hawks had 21 pitching victories and a league best 2.37 ERA. Ramon Salgado with the Waco Pirates and Herman Greene of the Corpus Christi Clippers also had 21 pitching wins. Evans Killeen of the Abilene Blue Sox had 236 Strikeouts to lead the league.[1]

1957 Big State League
schedule

Team standings Won Lost Pct GB Attend Managers
Victoria Rosebuds 75 49 .605 - 42,378 Lou Rochelli
Corpus Christi Clippers 69 58 .543 7.5 56,871 Joe Just / Jack Wilkinson
Beaumont Pirates 61 63 .492 14.0 56,342 Monty Basgall
Abilene Blue Sox 61 66 .480 15.5 29,995 Burl Storie
Port Arthur Redlegs /
Temple Redlegs		 48 56 .461 NA 25,484 Al Barillari
Wichita Falls Spudders 4 26 .013 NA 2,558 Jack Wilkinson / Jodie Beeler
Total attendance 214,628

Season Highlights:
Playoffs: In a shortened format, the Victoria Rosebuds beat the Corpus Christi Clippers 4 games to 1.
Wichita Falls withdrew May 23.
Port Arthur (20-15) moved to Temple May 30. Temple withdrew August 20.
Tony Washington of the Beaumont Pirates led the last year of the league in hitting with a .356 average. He also led with 179 hits. Nate Peeples of the Corpus Christi Clippers scored 116 runs and had 99 RBI to lead those categories. Don Miles of the Victoria Rosebuds hit 28 home runs. In the pitching finalie, Chris Niclosi of the Victoria Rosebuds had 21 wins and 208 strikeouts and Dave Wickersham of the Beaumont Pirates had a 1.95 ERA to lead the league.[1]

References

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  • Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, editors: The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997.
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Lloyd Johnson; Miles Wolff, eds. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (Third ed.). Baseball America. ISBN 978-1932391176.
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