Texas Baseball Personalities

The following sung and unsung heroes have added to the legend of Texas baseball, and their exploits are being recalled at SABR 24:

DICK BUTLER

Once Dick Butler was introduced at a Fort Worth banquet as “one who first came down to Texas as a representative of the Baseball Commissioner’s Office and has been going down ever since.” Butler has been a league president, a general manager, and for 25 years supervisor of umpires for the American League.

On that first trip to Texas in 1950, Butler had been dispatched to Dallas to investigate a press box incident. Sometimes-excitable Dallas owner Dick Burnett in a fit of anger tore up all press box lines of communication and demanded that the media ignore a particularly poor showing by his team. What went on in the meeting between Butler and Burnett was never revealed, but for the remaining five years of his life, Burnett never repeated his unusual outburst.

A native Kentuckian (Paris), Butler first was special assistant to Commissioner A.B. (Happy) Chandler. In succession, Butler served as president of the South Atlantic League (1953), the Texas League (1954-62), and general manager of the Hunt-Mercer baseball interests of Dallas-Fort Worth from 1963-68. In 1969 he began his quarter-century tenure as American League supervisor for both Joe Cronin and Dr. Bobby Brown.

Tom Vandergriff credits Butler’s powers of persuasion for obtaining Cronin’s commitment to bring the Washington Senators to Arlington as the Texas Rangers. Butler was a high school assistant coach under Blanton Collier, later a famed football mentor for the Cleveland Browns and University of Kentucky. During World War II the longtime Fort Worth resident was athletic director for the Eighth Air Force under General Curtis LeMay.

HAL SAYLES

Sayles played a pivotal role in the brief but exciting “golden era” (1946-50) when minor league baseball flourished in the Lone Star State. Born to considerable wealth (his family name is on one of Abilene’s best-known thoroughfares), he nonetheless opted for a sports writing career.

Without his counsel, coverage, and connections the 1946 Abilene team could not have been energized as a tower of strength in postwar West Texas-New Mexico League competition. He also was behind the scenes in the formation of the Longhorn League, which brought pro baseball to happy fans in such areas as Ballinger, Big Spring, Midland, Odessa, Sweetwater, Vernon, Del Rio, and San Angelo. New Mexico outposts Carlsbad, Artesia, Roswell, and Hobbs (later to gain national fame for its high school basketball teams) also celebrated the advent of the Longhorn League. Sayles was co-owner of the Sweetwater franchise in 1947-48 before ascending to the Longhorn League presidency in 1949. He also presided over the West Texas-New Mexico and Big State Leagues.

MILTON E. PRICE

Scholary Milton Price gave unfaltering leadership to the West Texas-New Mexico League in good years and bad. From the Texas League offices in the old Republic Bank Building in Dallas, he kept alive some seemingly impossible ventures.

The WT-NM League, launched with six clubs in the barren areas of West Texas and Eastern New Mexico, withstood almost insurmountable hardships in its initial year of 1937. The franchises dropped from six to five to four by July 9, but the determined Price moved forward with breakneck speed. The league retooled with relative success until war conditions caused it to succumb temporarily in 1942.

Reorganized in 1946 with franchises in established cities such as Albuquerque and Clovis, New Mexico, and Texas cities Abilene, Amarillo, Borger, Lamesa, Lubbock, and Pampa, the league shared in unprecedented acceptance. Though mostly independent of major league connections, the teams were still objects of intense civic pride under Price’s guidance.

After the 1951 season, the personable Price resigned to devote full attention to his duties as secretary of the Texas League and Alvin Gardner’s business interests. During his 24 years as Gardner’s top assistant, he was considered a TL president-in-waiting, but surprisingly declined the opportunity when Gardner resigned in early 1954.

DAVE PHILLEY

Rightfully Dave Philley (born 5-16-1920, Paris) is remembered as one of the most reliable pinch hitters. The 18-year veteran of eight different clubs ended the 1958 season with eight successive hits off the Phillies’ bench. On Opening Day 1959, he pinch doubled for a major league record ninth consecutive safety. Possessing a great arm and excellent speed, Philley led American League outfielders in assists three times. His all-time average for 1,904 career games was .270, and he later scouted for many years for the Boston Red Sox.

L.D. MEYER

Out of service in time play 130 games for the 1945 Cleveland Indians, L.D. Meyer (born 10-6-1915, Waco) battled George Stirnweiss for the AL batting championship. Meyer later suffered through a season-ending slump and batted .292 to Stirnweiss’s .309.

Meyer was a successful manager for Dick Burnett at Gladewater and Dallas. He won the East Texas League pennant and individual batting title for Gladewater in 1950 and later placed three Dallas teams in the first division from 1951-53. In 1953 Meyer’s Dallas Eagles won the TL pennant and the Dixie Series.

Nephew of Hall of Fame TCU coach “Dutch” Meyer, who was one of Roger Maris’s first managers in organized baseball, L.D. (nicknamed “Little Dutch”) Meyer was the prime target for TCU passing great Sam Baugh in football and had a six-year major league career with the Tigers and Indians.

EDDIE ROBINSON

Few Texans, if any, can boast of a more versatile major league career than Eddie Robinson. Appearing in eight games for the Cleveland Indians in 1942, Robinson spent three years in the military before resuming his career in 1946. He would wear eight teams’ uniforms in the majors while playing for the AL in four All-Star Games and two World Series (1948 Indians and 1955 Yankees). For three straight seasons (1959-61) he batted in more than 100 runs. In the DFW area Robinson is remembered as a successful Rangers manager during the Brad Corbett regime. Previously, he served similarly for the Atlanta Braves and longtime friend, Waxahachie’s Paul Richards. Robinson was farm director for both the Astros and Braves and continues to scout. His counsel still is sought on many fronts.

STAN McILVAINE

The distinction of owning both a World Series and Super Bowl ring belongs to Stan McIlvaine, one of the youngest general managers ever to serve in organized baseball.

McIlvaine was trusted aide to Bill Veeck at Cleveland in 1948 when the Indians won their last world title and for Dallas’s Lamar Hunt at Kansas City in 1968 when the Chiefs emerged triumphant in the NFL.

In 1949 Veeck named McIlvaine, then 29, to head Zanesville in the Ohio-Indiana League. Subsequently, the young prodigy was general manager at Dayton, San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Sacramento. Only J. Walter Morris and Bob Tarleton exceeded McIlvaine in number of Texas League affiliations.

Hunt hired the Cleveland-born McIlvaine as an advisor in the construction of Arrowhead Stadium at Kansas City, and he also assisted Ewing Kaufman in the planning of Kaufman Stadium. McIlvaine later served as stadium manager for the Rangers from 1977-85.

PETE RUNNELS

Pete Runnels (born 1-28-1928, Lufkin) was a big man in Texarkana in the summer of 1950. The Bears won the Big State League, and Runnels was their star shortstop. Owner Claude Lee later sold is contract to Washington, which sent Pete to Chattanooga where he hit .350. Runnels was a big leaguer for 13 seasons with AL batting championships at Boston in 1960 (.320) and 1962 (.326).

He also lost the batting crown to Hall of Famer Ted Williams on the final day of the 1958 season but still played defensively with versatility and grace. He performed at all infield positions in the bigs before finishing with Houston in 1964. The Texas Sports Hall of Fame inductee was an All-Star in 1959, 1960 and ’62.

SWEET SIXTEEN

Sixteen pitchers from the Lone Star State have earned 100 or more victories in the major leagues. Danny Darwin of the Red Sox is on a present pace to vault from sixth to third if he maintains his victory pace. Strikeout king Nolan Ryan (Refugio) leads the list with 324 during a record 26 seasons. Chicago Cubs’ no-hit ace Hippo Vaughn (Weatherford) is next with 178. Vaughn also leads the list with five 20-win seasons. The rest of the “century” mark hurlers as of May 20, 1994, includes:

• Schoolboy Rowe (Waco), 158
• Burt Hooton (Greenville), 151
• Fred Marberry (Streetman), 148
• Darwin (Bonham), 145
• Pete Donohue (Athens), 134
• Ray Culp (Elgin), 122
• Greg Maddux (San Angelo), 122
• Gary Bell (San Antonio), 121
• Doug Drabek (Victoria), 114
• Sam Grey (Van Alstyne), 111
• Warren (Rip) Collins (Weatherford), 108
• Fred Norman (San Antonio), 104
• Ray Benge (Jacksonville), 101
• Otto (Tex) Carleton (Comanche), 100