Introduction: Texas is Baseball Country
This article was written by Howard Green
This article was published in Texas is Baseball Country (SABR 24, 1994)
Professional and amateur baseball had been played across the state of Texas for over 100 years before the Houston Colt .45s began play in 1962. The history of baseball in Texas is an extensive one. No other sport can compare in terms of richness of tradition.
Here, the members of the Hall-Ruggles Chapter present for you an overview of that rich history. You will read of Tris Speaker, Rogers Hornsby, Ernie Banks, Joe Morgan, Nolan Ryan, and other Texas-born national greats. And don’t forget the heyday of the Texas League and its teams: the Fort Worth Cats, Dallas, San Antonio, and many other Texas cities. … Add the greatest collegiate and amateur teams, including the formidable University of Texas, and the history becomes even richer. The birth of the Colt .45s, the long struggle to bring major league baseball to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex (specifically Arlington), the new and old stadia of the state, and the colorful people who have built the tradition of Lone Star baseball give an even more delightful perspective to this venerable sport. The Hall-Ruggles Chapter hopes you enjoy these writings and the convention itself.
Larry Ritter once wrote, “If we didn’t have baseball, somebody would have to invent it.” Baseball matters; it’s a national institution. Baseball is where people can rise in an ecstasy of joy or descend into the depths of despair.
The late President Herbert Hoover gave baseball one of its highest compliments when he remarked, “Our voluntary rules of right and wrong as applied to American sports are second only to religion in strengthening the morals of the American people … and baseball is the greatest of all team sports. “
It is with this train of thought that the Hall-Ruggles Chapters welcome many of the 6,900 baseball scholars whose selfless love of our national pastime knows no bounds. SABR honors the city of Arlington, the local chapter, the Texas Rangers, and Texans everywhere by bringing SABR to our doorstep.
May your visit to the Ballpark at Arlington and other locales leave an indelible impression. We extend a Texas-sized welcome to SABR and visitors from throughout the nation! And the Hall-Ruggles Chapter takes great pride and appreciation in the cooperation and sponsorship of SABR 24 by the newspaper which provided the great Flem Hall columns and shouts of encouragement for major league baseball in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Special thanks are extended to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for its role in providing resources to make SABR 24 possible. Hall joined longtime sports editor Bill Rives of the Dallas Morning News to bury the hatchet among newspaper publishers, civic leaders and other corporate entities to ensure the arrival of major league baseball in North Texas. From Arlington Stadium to the ultimate in baseball playgrounds — the Ballpark at Arlington — diamond fans throughout America and in this area especially salute their efforts along with the countless hours devoted by then-Arlington Mayor Tom Vandergriff.
The editors of this anthology wish special thanks to Norma Williams, Marlo Smith, Howard Green, Wayne Poage, Tom Simmons, Jim Reeves, Randy Galloway, Joanne PryorCarter, Ed.D., Cathy Bolton of Tarrant Printing Company, Bill O’Neal, Don Hase, and countless others for their assistance in the publication.