Jack Allen: Baseball in the Land of ‘Gushers’ and Cowboys

Jack Allen (Tartleton State University Athletics)

 

Jack Allen, former head coach at Ranger College and Tarleton State University, is a member of the National Junior College Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame (inducted 1986) and the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame (inducted 2000). Allen served as head coach for 23 years at Ranger College (1963-85) and an additional 13 seasons (1990-2002) as head coach at Tarleton State University. He coached at the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) levels in Texas. By highlighting the life of Coach Allen, this paper seeks to spotlight intercollegiate baseball in Texas from the 1960s to the end of the twentieth century, especially at Ranger College and Tarleton State University.

EARLY LIFE AND INFLUENCES

Jack Allen was born and raised in Ranger, Texas, about 85 miles west of Fort Worth. The town derived its name when members of the Texas Rangers law enforcement agency camped nearby sometime in the 1870s. By 1879, a tent city had been created, which was gradually replaced with wooden and brick houses and business buildings until it had a population of nearly a thousand. The town drastically changed in October 1917 when the oil well known as McClesky No. 1 came in as a “gusher” and brought about an oil boom. With other oil wells producing, an estimated 30,000 residents called Ranger home by the early 1920s.1 With such an energetic population, a minor league baseball team— the Ranger Nitros—was formed to compete in the Class D West Texas League, 1920-22.2 However, the oil soon dried up and the population rapidly declined to 6,208 by the 1930 census.

Jack Allen was born July 28, 1935. He played baseball at Ranger High School, from which he graduated in 1953, and then pitched for the local American Legion team known as the Eagles. He graduated from Ranger Junior College in 1956 and then signed a professional contract to play in Mexico. He stated that “after three years of that league, I decided I better go back and finish my education.” He finished his undergraduate degree in Physical Education at Sam Houston State in 1963.3

Immediately upon graduation, he became the first baseball coach at Ranger College. His salary of $3,014 a year required him to also serve as an assistant for football and basketball, and teach five classes.4

Reflecting back on his career, Allen stated that the three most influential figures to teach him about life and baseball were his father, his high school coach Stubby Warden, and college coach Andy Cohen.5 Cohen played for the New York Giants 1926-29, managed the Philadelphia Phillies for one game in 1960, and became the head coach at the Texas Western College in 1963.6

RANGER COLLEGE

Ranger Junior College opened in 1926 and remained a small junior college offering two-year degrees. It became known as an athlete’s college. Allen coached at Ranger College for a total of 23 seasons, compiling an 814-399 record, winning nine conference championships, seven regional championships, and four state championships. The peak of his tenure came during the mid-1970s when he took his team to the NJCAA World Series in 1973, 1975, 1976, and 1978.7

Ranger defeated Gulf Coast Community College of Panama City, Florida, to win the national championship in 1973. The team’s star, Donnie Moore of Lubbock, Texas, pitched thirty innings with an ERA of 1.20. He also set a tournament record for pitching victories, going 4-0 during the series, and finished the season with an 18-1 record. Moore was named the most valuable player and would go on to have a 13-year career in the majors.8

Allen’s team would once again travel to Grand Junction, Colorado, in 1978 and win a championship. But the trip to Grand Junction would not be solely about baseball. The day before the championship game against Yavapai College from Prescott, Arizona, it was expected the team would take batting and infield practice. Jack, however took his team up into the mountains and had a picnic. He did not want them even thinking about baseball. He said that “you can grind the players every day, but you have to give them a break every once in a while.”9

He had high hopes for returning to the NJCAA World Series in 1983. Players slated for the squad included Jim Morris, future pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays, and Ellis Burks, who went on to have an eighteen-year major league career. Both were taken in first rounds of the 1983 MLB amateur drafts, Burks in the regular draft and Morris in the secondary draft.10

During this period of winning championships, Allen was also busy with other endeavors. Beginning in 1973, he worked as a part-time scout for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and San Diego Padres. He was elected mayor of Ranger and served a four-year term starting in 1977.11 Also in 1977, he managed the McAllen Dusters of the Lone Star League (Class A) during the second half of the season, which lasted from June through August.12

Jack retired from Ranger College in 1985. He was elected to the NJCAA Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1986. Reflecting back on his retirement, he stated that “retiring was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done.” However, Allen’s retirement would not last for long because he “missed the association with the kids and [he] missed the competition.”13

PERSONALITY AND REPUTATION

Jack had developed a stellar reputation as a “baseball guy,” with contacts throughout Texas and the United States.14 How respected was Jack? “If he told scouts, ‘There is a kid who had the ability to play major league baseball,’ somewhere in the draft that kid would get drafted.”15 “If he gave you a recommendation, you could guarantee that athlete would be able to play somewhere.”16

Even though he was known as being ornery, tough, and crusty, he was offered the opportunity to work in professional baseball where he also had developed many friendships. One afternoon in the 1970s, Chip Davis, a local umpire, received a call to come over to Jack’s home. When Davis arrived, Allen was sitting on the front porch with Whitey Herzog and Billy Martin, talking baseball.17 Another longtime friend was Bobby Bragan, the former Brooklyn Dodger, and manager of the Fort Worth Cats and the Atlanta Braves, among other teams. Bragan in the early 1990s established a foundation to encourage youth to stay in school and go to college. In the years that Allen coached at Tarleton State, Bragan would drive to home games and set up a tent with memorabilia for a silent auction in order to raise funds for his foundation.18

While he may have been “tough and crusty,” Allen was a very talented speaker who had the ability to get an audience to relax, blending his messages with humor that allowed listeners to feel a bond with him. He received various invitations to speak to local groups: After winning national junior college coach of the year in 1973, he was invited to speak before the Rotary Club in Nocona, Texas.19

A common remembrance of all who knew him was his love of cigars and chewing tobacco, which he would smoke and chew at the same time. When Jim Morris (the ballplayer portrayed in the Disney movie, The Rookie) first met Coach Allen, he described him as “short [with] a cigar in one cheek and a wad of chew in the other.”20 During Allen’s tenure as a coach, the NJCAA and NAIA had no rules against tobacco use. However, in 1994 the NCAA prohibition of tobacco products came into effect while Allen was at Tarleton. While the rules changed, he did not.21

TARLETON STATE UNIVERSITY

Tarleton State University is located 40 miles southeast of Ranger in Stephenville. Stephenville is the self-proclaimed “Cowboy Capital of the World.” The university traces its history back to 1899 when it opened as John Tarleton College. Baseball was one of the earliest sports at the college, with intramural games starting in 1899 and the first intercollegiate season in 1904.22 The sport was dropped in 1928. Jesse “T-Bone” Winters was the most prominent player during this period. Winters was a right-handed pitcher who totaled five years in the major leagues playing for the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Phillies, compiling a record of 13-24.23

Baseball made a comeback in 1950 and was led by Cecil Ballow, a former all-conference shortstop at Texas A&M and member of the Southwest Conference championship team of 1942. Ballow was the Dean of Men at Tarleton when he was tasked with resurrecting the baseball program in 1950. Ballow coached until 1960 when he led Tarleton to the second-place finish at the 1960 National Junior College Finals in Grand Junction, Colorado. The following year, Tarleton was designated a four-year college and changed its nickname from the “Plowboys” to the “Texans.” In 1969, baseball was once again discontinued for “financial considerations.”24

Baseball remained absent from Tarleton until 1988. The rebirth of the intercollegiate game was part of the guiding vision of Dr. Barry B. Thompson who, with increasing enrollment and new infrastructure, decided that baseball should be brought back for the 1988 season. He had in mind Jack Allen as coach. But this was not to be, as Lee Driggers was hired to be the new coach.25

Athletic director Joe Gillespie had interviewed Allen, but he also interviewed Driggers, who was coming off a second state high school championship at Brenham High School. Knowing that a new program would require hands-on work with facilities, he felt that Driggers had more energy to accomplish the task versus the recently retired Allen. Gillespie recalled that “We were looking for someone to do it themselves. My mentality was that I am the head coach—you do it yourself. I was head coach of track and field, when we had a cinder track, and it was up to me to line the track for the meets. I expected it would be the same for the baseball coach.”26

Driggers did a great job the first year. A new field, named after Cecil Ballow, was built and dedicated on March 5, 1988. However, after the first year, Driggers received an offer from a Division I institution and left. Bill Clay was brought in to place him, but for a number of reasons, he was let go after one year.27

Two years after the initial interview, Allen was hired with 60% of his responsibility allocated to coaching baseball and 40% to teaching activity courses such as golf. Upon being hired, Gillespie recalled that Allen “was very gracious, calling and thanking” him for the opportunity. Gillespie acknowledged that he had made a mistake, but Allen was not a man to hold a grudge. As to the upkeep, building, and improvements needed on the field, Allen explained that “I’m not going to do it myself, but I’m going to get it done.”28 He did so with the hiring of his assistant Trey Felan, who would weld fencing, maintain the field, and create a locker room from an old chicken coop that was on site.29

Allen guided the team through becoming a member of the NAIA and qualifying for the national tournament in his second season in 19 92.30 One member of this team was Chad Fox, whom Allen converted from a third baseman to a pitcher. Fox was invited to the 1992 Olympic trials and went on to win a World Series ring with the Florida Marlins.31

Allen also led the Texans into the NCAA era and to the top of the conference with the school’s first NCAA regional tournament appearance in 1998, and the first Lone Star Conference division championship the following season. He went 418-309-3 and won two Lone Star Conference South Division titles and two outright conference championships. He garnered his 1,200th overall collegiate coaching victory against Eastern New Mexico University.32

Following Allen’s thirteen years at Tarleton as head coach, his assistant Trey Felan held the post for six years, and then his former pitcher Bryan Conger for ten. Allen assisted Conger for two years. Thus he made a direct impact on the program for 29 out of his last 37 years.

Allen passed away on May 27, 2016. Dozens of former players attended his funeral and honored him, each placing a baseball in his casket. Said Lonn Reisman, “Jack Allen was a great baseball coach and just an outstanding gentleman, and in every area of his life demonstrated that he was a true hall of famer.”33

JARROD D. SCHENEWARK, PhD was born in Southern California and grew up listening to Vin Scully. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Connecticut. While at Connecticut, he was a member of the university football team. He earned a master’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley, working with Dr. Roberta Park and focusing on the history of exercise science and sport. He was awarded a PhD in Kinesiology from the University of Texas at Austin in 2008. His wife is from Boston, and all seven of their children cheer for the Red Sox.

 

Acknowledgments

The author wishes to thank Steve Simpson for providing the inspiration for the topic and valuable support in the various interviews that made this paper possible.

 

Notes

1. Noel Wiggins, “The History of Ranger, Texas: From Oil Boom to Modern Day,” Texas State Historical Association. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/ranger-tx, accessed January 12, 2025.

2. Mark Presswood, “Professional Baseball Had an Early Start in Small Towns,” Texas Almanac 2008-2009, 189-91. https://www.texasalmanac.com/drupal-backup/images/almanac-feature/Minor_League_in_Texas-TxAlm0809.pdf, accessed January 20, 2025.

3. Jeromya Beltman, “Allen Celebrates 30 Years of Coaching Baseball,” The J-TAC, November 2, 1995. https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth141862/m1/6/, acessed January 12, 2025.

4. Beltman.

5. Beltman.

6. Gary Gillette and Pete Palmer, The 2006 ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia (New York: Sterling Press, 2006) 916-17.

7. “RHS Class of 1953,” Ranger Exes Memorial. http://www.rangerexesmemorial.com/yrs50-77.htmt1953, accessed May 16 2025.

8. 1974 NJCAA Baseball World Series Official Program. https://jucogj.org/documents/2018/2/22//1974.pdf?id=33, accessed January 15, 2025.

9. Lonn Reisman, personal interview, January 17, 2025.

10. Morris was the fourth pick, Burks the 20th. Jim Morris, The Oldest Rookie: Big Leagues Dreams from a Small-Town Guy (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 2001).

11. “RHS Class of 1953.”

12. “McAllen Dusters,” Baseball Reference. https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/McAllen_Dusters, accessed January 16, 2025.

13. Beltman.

14. Joe Gillespie, personal interview, January 28, 2025.

15. Reisman interview.

16. Victor Sauceda, personal interview, January 28, 2025.

17. Byron Anderson, personal interview, January 27, 2025.

18. Reisman interview.

19. Edgar Hays, “Jack Allen, Ranger College Ball Coach, Will Speak at Rotary Club,” Nocona News, December 27, 1973. https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1493621/m1/3/. Accessed January 12, 2025.

20. Jim Morris, The Oldest Rookie: Big Leagues Dreams from a Small-Town Guy (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 2001).

21. Steve Simpson, personal interview, January 28, 2025.

22. Christopher Guthrie, John Tarleton and His Legacy: The History of Tarleton State University, 1899-1999 (Tapestry Press: Acton, MA).

23. 2022 Tarleton Texan Baseball Media Guide. https://tarletonsports.com/documents/2022/2/25//Tarleton_Baseball_Media_Guide_2022_small.pdf?id=4593, accessed January 28, 2025.

24. Christopher Guthrie, John Tarleton and His Legacy: The History of Tarleton State University, 1899-1999 (Tapestry Press: Acton, MA).

25. Gillespie interview.

26. Gillespie interview.

27. Gillespie interview.

28. Gillespie interview.

29. Trey Felan, personal interview, January 20, 2025.

30. Michael Marbach, “Fox Selected for 1992 U.S. Olympic Tryouts,” The J-TAC, September 26, 1991. https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth141757/m1/5/, accessed January 28, 2025.

31. 2022 Tarleton Texan Baseball Media Guide.

32. Jacob Withee, Correspondence with Author, January 28, 2025.

33. Brad Keith, “Tarleton Hall of Fame Baseball Coach Jack Allen Passes Away,” The Flash Today Erath County, May 28, 2016, https://theflashto-day.com/2016/05/28/tarleton-hall-of-fame-baseball-coach-jack-allen-passes-away/. Accessed January 12, 2025.