When I was asked to edit this book to accompany SABR’s 53rd national convention in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, I thought about what to cover about baseball in Texas, and where it should focus. Naturally the Texas Rangers had to be a part of the story, but I wanted it to show so much more.

From left, Harry Heilmann (HOF), George Burns (1926 AL MVP), Ty Cobb (HOF), Bobby Veach, and Sam Crawford (HOF) in front of the grandstand at Jungle Park, Waxahachie in March 1917. The ballpark site is still used by the local high school baseball team. (Courtesy of the Chapman Deadball Collection)

Some might think that major league baseball debuted in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex in 1972, with the Washington Senators’ reincarnation as the Texas Rangers in Arlington, Texas, but major-league history in the area harkens back to the Deadball Era. Over a century ago, the major leagues flourished in Waxahachie, Texas, in the springtime.

The Detroit Tigers, featuring the legendary Ty Cobb, trained there from 1916 through 1918. The following year, the Cincinnati Reds encamped there before embarking on their 1919 campaign—the one that culminated in a World Series triumph over the infamous “Black Sox.” Ironically, after a year off from hosting spring training, in 1921 Waxahachie switched from the Reds to hosting the Sox. The six-year stretch from 1916 through 1921 was a memorable period for Waxahachie, and today the principal sites utilized by the visiting major league teams still stand as iconic structures serving the community.

Texas hosted spring training for many major league teams from 1903 to 1941.1 The relatively warm weather in March and the ready availability of rail travel were enticing to teams from colder climates. The peak years for spring training in Texas were 1904 through 1922. Thereafter, San Antonio was the only Texas city regularly utilized for spring training. From the 1920s on, the expansion of the railroad and the resulting development boom in Florida lured an increasing number of major league teams—still largely East-Coast-based—to the sunnier Florida climate, which could be reached by rail even more easily than Texas. The newspaper chart at right shows the locations of the major league spring training camps in 1916 when spring training at Texas was at its peak. Texas and Florida each hosted five teams, with the rest scattered across the southern states of Louisiana, Virginia, Georgia, and Arkansas.

In the first two decades of the 1900s, many Texas communities made pitches directly to major league teams to lure them to their towns for spring training. The competition to bring a big-league squad to town for a month or more fueled intense courting. Waxahachie, a small town located 25 miles south of Dallas, was one of the most successful suitors, ultimately enticing three different major league teams to town for a total of five training camps during the period.

Los Angeles Express, March 10, 1916. (Author’s collection)

Intrepid Waxahachie community leaders astutely took advantage of the surge of interest in Texas spring training sites by major league teams in the 1910s. Waxahachie’s flirtation with the big leagues began in earnest in 1915 when representatives of the Waxahachie Chamber of Commerce reached out with a lucrative offer to the Detroit Tigers ownership about the possibility of hosting the team for spring training.2 Texas intrigued the Tigers, and they also had offers from several other Texas communities. During the 1915 offseason, the Tigers dispatched their manager, Hall of Famer Hughie Jennings, and their groundskeeper to Texas to tour the vying towns in North Central Texas.3 They were duly impressed with Waxahachie, which was ultimately the Tigers’ choice. Several reasons, aside from just the warm weather and expansive transit network, lured them to Waxahachie.

The Rogers Hotel as it appeared when the Detroit Tigers stayed there in 1916-18. (Author’s collection)

Foremost was the luxurious Rogers Hotel, which had been completed several years prior in 1912 and was an ideal base for the team. The Rogers was a much nicer and more modern hotel than most communities of Waxahachie’s size could boast, and was located next to a popular natural hot spring. In January 1916, to further entice the Tigers, a 20-square-foot, three- to five-foot-deep pool was installed in the hotel basement with water pumped in from the adjacent hot spring.4 The basement also was modified to include a locker room with 33 lockers and billiard tables for the players. There was even a rooftop garden, visible on the postcard shown at left, available for the player’s relaxation.

A newly constructed ballpark where the Tigers could train was also a key factor in their selection of Waxahachie. The Waxahachie Chamber of Commerce formed and capitalized a stock company, the Waxahachie Athletic Park Association, which in turn agreed to construct a stadium at a cost of $4,000, on vacant land across from the city cemetery.5 The players could walk the three-quarter-mile trip to the stadium alongside the railroad tracks. The stadium was christened “Jungle Park” in honor of the new occupants, the Tigers. A covered grandstand was hastily constructed, and the entire field was enclosed within a wooden fence. A stadium is still located at this site, now known as Richards Park in honor of Waxahachie native Paul Richards, a former major league player and manager, and is the home of the Indians, the Waxahachie High School baseball team.

There was another major benefit of Waxahachie as far as the team owners, if not necessarily the players, were concerned. Waxahachie and its surroundings were “dry,” meaning alcohol would not be a temptation for the players. Combined with the easy rail access to nearby training sites for other major league teams in Marlin Springs (New York Giants), Palestine (St. Louis Browns), and Mineral Wells (Chicago White Sox), Waxahachie’s appeal becomes evident. A full-page article from the 1916 Detroit Free Press (click here to view the full image) extolls Waxahachie’s virtues and compares it—in puffery the locals would be loath to believe—to New York and Paris.6

Waxahachie, in turn, was enamored with the major leaguers and their sojourn in town. Locals feted the players with numerous parties and banquets. Overflow crowds watched workouts and games against visiting teams such as the New York Giants. Many famous Hall of Fame players came to Waxahachie during those years. The 1916-18 Tigers teams that trained in Waxahachie were loaded with future Hall of Famers such as Ty Cobb, Sam Crawford, Harry Heilmann, and Hughie Jennings. The 1919 Reds fielded Hall of Famer Edd Roush. The 1921 White Sox team was also loaded with Hall of Famers such as Eddie Collins, Harry Hooper, Ray Schalk, and Red Faber. Other Hall of Famers who passed through Waxahachie during those years included Tris Speaker, Rogers Hornsby, and Christy Mathewson.

White Sox manager “Kid” Gleason (left), and Hall of Fame pitcher “Red” Faber (right) in front of the Jungle Park grandstand, 1921. (Courtesy of the Chapman Deadball Collection)

After the 1918 season, the Tigers opted to move to Macon, Georgia, for spring training as flooding had heavily damaged the wooden Jungle Park.7 After being spurned by the Tigers, local leaders quickly put the ballpark back in shape and enticed the Cincinnati Reds to switch to Waxahachie as their spring training site for 1919. But despite winning the World Series that year, the Reds opted for Miami, Florida, the following year, bypassing Waxahachie altogether. Texas papers suggested the move was made for a big pile of money and the preference for a locale where, even with the oncoming of Prohibition, booze and fast living thrived.8 The Reds switched late enough in the year that Waxahachie was not able to attract another team in time for spring training in 1920. The White Sox trained in Waxahachie prior to the 1921 season and were the final major league team to do so.

By 1922, wooden Jungle Park was falling into disrepair once again and the White Sox opted to train in Seguin.9 While minor league teams such as the Kansas City Blues trained in Waxahachie in the 1920s, the big-league squads never returned.

For a brief but glorious while over one hundred years ago, Waxahachie was a hotbed of major league baseball. It was quite an accomplishment for such a small city to host spring training for the major league teams. The memory of the baseball stars that passed through town has dimmed with the passage of time, but the structures that accommodated them are still part of the citizens’ daily lives. When you visit the Globe Life Field environs in Arlington this year for SABR 53, remember, there was a time a little more than a century ago when the newest big-league ballpark was in Waxahachie, Texas.

JIM CHAPMAN is a Waxahachie native, Judge of the Ellis County Court at Law No. 1, and the winner of SABR’s 2024 Larry Ritter Book Award for Baseball Photography of the Deadball Era.

Appendix 1

Detroit Free Press, February 6, 1916. Click here to view the full image.

Notes

1. Frank Jackson, “Crossing Red River, Spring Training in Texas,” The National Pastime, No. 26 (SABR, 2006), 85-91.

2. “Notes,” Waxahachie Daily Light, August 26, 1915.

3. “Waxahachie Looks Good to Jennings,” Waxahachie Daily Light, November 15, 1915.

4. “New Camp is a Great One, Best Equipped Park,” Waxahachie Daily Light, March 11, 1916.

5. “Stock Company Will Provide a Ball Park,” Waxahachie Daily Light, December 4, 1915.

6. “Jungaleers’s Training Camp Teeming with Hospitality,” Detroit Free Press, February 6, 1916.

7. “Pallid Hose Will Train for Coming Pennant in Texas,” Moline Daily Dispatch, December 8, 1919.

8. Molten Cobb, “The Stove League,” Austin American-Statesman, December 7, 1919.

9. “Fans Favor the Texas Camping,” The Brookfield Argus and Linn County Farmer, December 27, 1921.

The Arlington Hotel, a spring training hotspot for two decades. (Author’s collection)

From 1900 to 1941 as many as seven major league teams held spring training in Texas. San Antonio was the preferred Texas locale. Marlin, in central Texas near Waco, was second. The Alamo City hosted for 29 seasons; Marlin for 16.1

For nearly 60 years, beginning in the 1890s, Marlin was a popular resort, known for its hot mineral baths. The natural waters were discovered accidentally in 1892 when sinking a new well for drinking water produced a gusher of 147-degree water containing large amounts of sodium, sulfur, magnesium, iron, and other minerals.2

Marlin already had two hospitals and was a regional medical center. The Marlin Sanitarium bathhouse was built in 1896. It and others built in that era attracted thousands of the afflicted, as well as health vacationers. To support these visitors, several first-class hotels were built, including the Arlington and the Falls (the eighth hotel in Conrad Hilton’s chain).

Many patrons came by rail. The Houston and Texas Central Railway (H&TC) had completed its line through Marlin in 1872. A spur of the International-Great Northern (I&GN) came into town in 1900, followed by the Missouri Pacific in 1902.3

The same factors that made Marlin welcoming and accessible to tourists made it attractive to major league baseball clubs. Beginning in 1904, five different major league teams spent all or part of the pre-season in Marlin.

EARLY VISITORS: 1903 TO 1907

In February 1903, Ted Sullivan, representing Charles Comiskey, contacted Marlin about training there in March. Marlin responded favorably and committed to providing suitable grounds for the Chicagos.4 But the window of opportunity was too narrow, as Comiskey wrote the following week that his team could not come in 1903. He did leave the door open for a Marlin visit the following year.

Sullivan returned in December 1903 to meet with locals at the Arlington Hotel, and subsequently the Sox arrived in Marlin on March 7, 1904. With the team were four Chicago newspapermen. The local Marlin Democrat reporter wrote that “a million people will… learn Marlin’s location on the map.”5 The team trained at the “ballpark at the old fairgrounds.”

EAST SIDE FIELDS AT THE FAIRGROUNDS

The “Fair Ground” was east of downtown. The Falls County Fair was held there and included harness racing. The race track had grandstands. The high school used the grounds for track meets. This ball field was called the “east side” field, the “old fairgrounds” field, or the “Comiskey” field, and was used exclusively by visiting teams until 1911.

In December 1904 Comiskey stated the club would not return to Texas, opting for New Orleans in 1905.6 He wrote that he preferred to come back, but could not work out the scheduling with “.the St. Louis men, who had pre-empted training places in Texas.” and wanted a commitment that his club would spend the entire spring in Texas.7

In early February 1905, Arlington hotel management received a telegram from Cardinals manager Charles “Kid” Nichols requesting arrangements to train in Marlin. They responded that the same rates and grounds that Comiskey had used would be available to the St. Louis Nationals. The Cardinals committed the following week to train in Marlin for three weeks. Marlin also received a letter from the Browns expressing interest in training there.8 This fell through, as the Browns trained in Dallas in 1905.

The Redbirds did not return in 1906, but the Cincinnati Reds arrived March 6. The Reds planned to train there for two weeks, spend a few days in San Antonio, and then take an exhibition tour around the state. The following week, Reds business manager F.C. Bancroft said that he loved Marlin as a training site and planned a three-year commitment to train there. The local news reported that the I&GN railroad offered a special price for Marlin fans to travel to Waco to see the Reds play: 75* round trip in coach!10

With growing interest and the potential for multiple teams in Spring 1907, improvements were needed for the East Side Fairgrounds. In January 1907 the local Daily Democrat challenged: “Ball Grounds Must be Fixed Up—Great Opportunity for Publicity of Marlin’s Health Resort.” A second field and enclosed grounds were needed. $200 was being requested from local supporters. The Arlington committed $50. The Reds returned in 1907 and were joined by Connie Mack’s Philadelphia Athletics.11

Mack, along with John Shibe, son of co-owner Ben Shibe, and the Athletics reached Marlin on March 3. They immediately went to work at the east-side grounds.12 The Reds had their entire squad in Marlin by March 11. Upon arrival, Reds management expressed concern to the Arlington that both teams could not be properly accommodated. They were assured of a separate floor at the hotel, separate dining facilities, and the use of a second field at the east-side grounds. As Mack’s men stayed as planned until March 15, things worked out.13 The Reds left Marlin on March 25 for New Orleans. On the way, they stopped in College Station for a game with the Texas A&M squad.14

The Giants at the East Side Fairgrounds, prior to their move to their new park. (Author’s collection)

THE GIANTS COME TO MARLIN

In September 1907 Arlington management received a letter from Texas League representatives in Dallas asking whether Marlin could give the Giants exclusive accommodations for Spring 1908. The letter stated, “It would be much better for you to have the New York team…owing to the great amount of advertising you would get in the New York papers. McGraw would bring about 30 or 35 people with him, including the best sporting writers in the country.”15

Giants’ groundskeeper John Murphy, head gardener at the Polo Grounds, was already in Marlin working the East Side Fairgrounds fields. Murphy said “…it is lucky they sent me ahead, as the grounds had been given up for steers, pigs, and horses…but the field is now in shape, with the infield grassy and the outfield as smooth as a billiard table.”17

The first group of Giants, mostly “yannigans” trying to make the team, arrived in Marlin on February 19, 1908, led by veteran catcher Roger Bresnahan. With them were sportswriters Sam Crane of the New York Journal & American and Sid Mercer of the New York Globe. Crane also authored stories that ran in the local newspaper. Arriving from Los Angeles on Saturday, February 22, McGraw immediately fell in love with Marlin. Crane, writing in the Marlin Democrat, quoted McGraw as saying, “If we do win the flag this year, much of the credit will go to Marlin!” By March 4, McGraw reported that all 29 players were in Marlin, and that “real practice” would start the next day. “Mac” also noted with satisfaction that several members of the squad were much lighter than the previous spring.18

After a good experience at Marlin, the Giants returned in spring 1909. Arlington management was cabled that majority owner John T. Brush would accompany the club. Brush suffered from locomotor ataxia, a progressive disease of the nervous system, and hoped to improve his health by partaking of the curative waters. After just a few days in Marlin, Brush said he was “…deriving a world of benefit from the Marlin water…I will become a walking advertisement for Marlin.” Likewise, sportswriter Crane, ill upon arriving in Marlin, said he was “100 percent better after my first two baths in the mineral water.”19

The Giants continued to train at the East Side Fair-grounds during 1909 and 1910. However, Brush planned to purchase local land for a future permanent spring training facility.20

The Giants walking the railroad tracks, 1913. This is a seldom seen wide-angle view of the team walking to Emerson Park. (Public domain)

EMERSON PARK, THE GIANTS’ PERMANENT FACILITY

Before leaving in late March 1910, McGraw “…took a ride to the outskirts of the town and selected the place for the new ball grounds which the people of Marlin are to present to the New York Giants. The site finally chosen will make a fine large field, being over 400 feet square.” This was to become Emerson Park, the Giants’ spring training home for the rest of the decade.21

On March 7, 1911, the site was deeded to the Giants. A ceremony was held preceding a Giants intra-squad game. Postmaster Dunn R. Emerson, a landowner in south Marlin and baseball booster, made the presentation. Mayor F.S. Heffner went to the pitcher’s mound and pitched to Giants catcher Chief Meyers, with McGraw batting.22

The Giants built a large park, complete with grandstands and bleachers, on this property south of the business district. Fred Snodgrass claimed the park was about two miles (actually round trip) from the Arlington. Twice daily the Giants walked south to the ballpark along nearby railroad tracks.

During January 1912, groundskeeper Murphy warned McGraw of a meningitis outbreak in Texas, reporting cases statewide at 1300, with 518 deaths. After discussion with local health officials, McGraw was convinced that the danger was minimal.23 Christy Mathewson was shortly in St. Louis, on February 28, in charge of 15 Giants players traveling by rail to Marlin. McGraw opened spring workouts on March 1.24

Early 1913 found groundskeeper Murphy back in Marlin. Livestock had grazed on the outfield grass and he again worked to make the field level. Murphy also advised that the Arlington was under new management.25 That spring was rainy with up to three inches falling daily. The Giants resorted to other exercises, including running, handball, and throwing medicine balls.

Also early in 1913, Olympic hero and Native American Jim Thorpe negotiated with McGraw to play for the Giants. Sealing the deal “by long distance telephone,” Mac ordered Thorpe to Marlin. He arrived shortly and impressed with his batting power. One clout landed “beyond the tennis courts in far left field.”26 McGraw used Thorpe at first base and in the outfield”27 Thorpe played parts of six seasons with the Giants.

In a unique Fall appearance, the Giants played the White Sox on November 3, 1913, at Emerson Park, part of an exhibition swing prior to the teams’ World Tour. Marlin fans lobbied McGraw to put Mathewson in the pitcher’s box, but Matty was ill. Jeff Tesreau pitched the “home team” to an 11-1 thrashing of Comiskey’s men. The teams went on to Los Angeles, then sailed for Japan, India, Egypt, France, and England. Fortunately for the travelers, the Great War had not yet started. They sailed from England back to New York aboard the Lusitania—some 15 months before the ship would be sunk by a German U-boat.29

Baseball gossip in early 1914 concerned “raids” by the Federal League. The Feds claimed 175 players from major league rosters. Rumors swirled that Mathewson, Tesreau, and Snodgrass might jump. Once McGraw returned from the World Tour and was able to talk to his men (several of whom did not travel overseas) he was generally able to retain their services by inking multiyear contracts.30

New groundskeeper Henry Fabian made his first visit to Marlin in early 1914. John Murphy had passed away in September and Fabian was in his first year as the Polo Grounds head gardener. Fabian reported that Emerson Park’s pitching rubber was twelve inches too far from home plate!31 The pitchers were grateful for this discovery. In December 1914, the Marlin ballpark was deeded to the Giants.32 The property was controlled by the Giants organization until the 1970s.33

The local newspaper was now affiliated with the Associated Press, so World War reports dominated the news. But the Giants continued to be big local news. The Giants’ party numbered 62 on the Arlington register by late February 1915.34 Training was often interrupted during Spring 1915 due to cold weather. As a result, the Giants sent their “colts” on a 17-day barnstorming tour through Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Virginia, finally arriving at the Polo Grounds.35

Ted Sullivan returned to Marlin in early 1916. He was the featured speaker at the Orpheum Theater for “World Tour of the Giants and White Sox,” a lecture and film about the recent global tour.36 Deciding not to retire, Mathewson signed for another year and led the first contingent of Giants headed for Marlin. McGraw arrived from Havana with Crane, Mercer, and a “moving picture crew.”37

The highlight of Spring 1916 was an exhibition game with the Tigers. Detroit trained in nearby Waxahachie and visited Marlin to close out training. Several Tigers, including manager and McGraw buddy Hughie Jennings, joined the Giants for their Farewell Ball held at the Arlington. The next day, Friday March 24, the Giants defeated the Tigers, 4-1. Over 2,000 fans from throughout Central Texas watched the game at Emerson Park.38

With the nation nearing war in early 1917, the Giants returned for their tenth spring in Marlin. Groundskeeper Fabian arrived early after visiting his son at Texas A&M. Improvements were underway at Emerson Park, including construction of batting cages, more grandstand seating, and piping of water to the field. The Marlin Commercial Club was funding some of this work, as Port Arthur and Corpus Christi attempted to lure McGraw to the Texas Gulf Coast.39

RIMES PARK

Needing more pitching for 1917, McGraw had nineteen hurlers in camp. To provide space for everyone, plus accommodate exhibition games, improvements were made to a semi-abandoned ballfield called Rimes Park.

With America’s full involvement in the Great War, questions arose about the status of professional baseball for 1918. Traveling to New York in January, Marlin’s Dr. N.D. Buie visited McGraw and Giants secretary John Foster. Dr. Buie was assured the Giants would return to Marlin, although wartime considerations might dictate a later arrival and shorter stay.40

Consequently, the Giants arrived in Marlin on March 11, 1918. As in 1917, both Emerson and Rimes Parks were needed. Emerson was used for batting, fielding, and general workouts by the entire team, while Rimes was used by the pitchers and for exhibition games. A highlight of that Spring was a game with the Army Air Service aviators from Waco’s Rich Field. After defeating the airmen 14-11 at Rimes, McGraw was flown back to Waco for dinner with the commanding officers.41

(Monte Cely)

SPRING TRAINING MOVES AWAY

Spring training and the regular season were curtailed in 1919. “Giants not Coming Here” lamented the Marlin Democrat on February 3, 1919. The Marlin Commercial Club had received a letter from Foster that expressed the club’s utmost regret that they would not return to Marlin that year. The 1919 major-league season was limited to 140 games, with spring training prohibited until March 22. Those restrictions, plus the lack of training opponents in Texas, forced the Giants to seek other arrangements.42

The Giants spent the spring of 1919 at the University of Florida campus. Although Foster’s letter had said the Giants would only skip one year in Marlin, when they returned to Texas in 1920 it was to San Antonio. In December 1919 The New York Times reported, “For many years the Giants had a training camp at Marlin…McGraw has chosen San Antonio because it affords better hotel facilities and a better ballpark…”43

A contingent of Giants players returned briefly to Marlin in late February 1923. Pitchers and catchers reported early in the care of coaches Hughie Jennings and “Cozy” Dolan. The Kiwanis Club held a luncheon in the team’s honor, and New York writer Crane waxed nostalgic about past days in Marlin. After two weeks, they joined the rest of the team in San Antonio. As the Giants were leaving the Arlington, a group of White Sox and manager Kid Gleason arrived in the hotel’s lobby. The Chicago group planned to spend a week in Marlin and then travel to Seguin.44

The Giants batterymates left Marlin, this time for good, on March 2, 1923.45 The Chicago group left on March 8. This marked the end of major league spring training in Marlin. Improved transportation and civic investments were drawing more teams to Florida. By 1941, only the St. Louis Browns and Boston Braves trained in Texas, spending their last spring at San Antonio.46

Today, nothing remains of Marlin’s three early twentieth-century ballfields. The Emerson Park site was converted into a housing project, and the Fair-grounds and Rimes locations were redeveloped for other uses. However those railroad tracks still exist, and a visiting baseball fan can easily envision Giants players of the past century walking to spring training in Marlin, Texas.

MONTE CELY is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research, and has previously written articles about baseball’s Cy Young Award, as well as co-authored a research study on SABR’s baseball reminiscence programs. He grew up playing baseball in Staunton, Illinois, a town about the size of Marlin, Texas. He is a fan of the St. Louis Cardinals, having attended his first game with his Dad in 1959 (against the Giants!) Monte and his wife Linda reside in Round Rock, Texas, about 90 miles south-west of Marlin.

Acknowledgments

Many thanks to librarians Dale Kling and Gail Woodward at the Pauline & Jane Chilton Memorial Public Library in Marlin, Texas. Thanks also to librarians Alisha Bell and Hannah Kubacak at the Waco-McLennan County Library Genealogy Services department. All these librarians provided great assistance in locating and accessing primary source materials. Thanks to Mark Pelzel at the Marlin Democrat newspaper office for his advice as to sources. Finally, thanks to my wife Linda for her many hours in helping locate online resources, viewing microfilm, and reviewing drafts of this paper.

Notes

1. Frank Jackson, “Crossing Red River—Spring Training in Texas,” The National Pastime #26 (SABR, 2006): 85-91; A summation of the author’s findings from Daily Democrat (Marlin, Texas) issues (1903-23) and from The New York Times issues (1907-23).

2. Gerald McLeod, “Day Trips—Marlin,” Austin Chronicle, February 18, 2005, www.austinchronicle.com, accessed September 3, 2023.

3. “About Marlin, Texas,” www.marlintx.net, accessed September 4, 2023.

4. “Want to Come to Marlin—Chicago League Team Wants to Train Here,” Daily Democrat (Marlin, Texas), February 9, 1903: 1.

5. “They Like Marlin Weather—A Fine Lot of Fellows are Comiskey’s Men,” Daily Democrat (Marlin, Texas), March 8, 1904: 1.

6. Chicago Tribune, December 31, 1904, online at www.pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune, accessed February 3, 2008.

7. “White Sox Not to Visit Marlin,” Daily Democrat (Marlin, Texas), January 5, 1905: 1.

8. Daily Democrat (Marlin, Texas), February 13, 1905: 1.

9. “The Cardinals Arrive—Reach Marlin in Special Car, Twenty-seven Strong—Manager Nichols Sees Grounds and Likes Them,” Daily Democrat (Marlin, Texas), March 6, 1905: 1.

10. “Bancroft in Love with Marlin—Best Training Ground He Ever Saw— Three-year Contract,” Daily Democrat (Marlin, Texas), March 16, 1906: 1.

11. “Ball Grounds Must Be Fixed Up!,” Daily Democrat (Marlin, Texas), January 5, 1907: 1.

12. “Athletics Are Here—Famous Quaker City Team in Training,” Daily Democrat (Marlin, Texas), March 4, 1907:1.

13. “Connie Mack Says This Town Best Place On Map—Ganzel Is Better Pleased and Reds Will Stay,” Daily Democrat (Marlin, Texas), March 6, 1907: 1.

14. “Reds Bid Good Bye to Marlin—Leave for New Orleans with Stop at A&M,” Daily Democrat (Marlin, Texas), March 25, 1907: 1.

15. “New York Ball Team May Come—Dallas Manager Says They Can Be Secured for Marlin,” Daily Democrat (Marlin, Texas), September 26, 1907: 1.

16. “Giants Plan for Spring Training—New York Nationals to Thaw Out Next March at Marlin Springs, Texas,” The New York Times, December 22, 1907: 1S.

17. Peter Morris, Level Playing Fields: How the Groundskeeping Murphy Brothers Shaped Baseball (University of Nebraska Press, 2007): 102.

18. “McGraw’s Team Complete—More Players Report to Marlin Springs— Regulars Win Game,” The New York Times, March 4, 1908: 3S.

19. “Giants Talk for Marlin,” Daily Democrat (Marlin, Texas), February 26, 1909: 1.

20. “Eastern Newspapers Reflect Sentiment to Town’s Great Advantage,” Daily Democrat (Marlin, Texas), February 26, 1909: 1.

21. “Eastern Newspapers Reflect Sentiment to Town’s Great Advantage,” Daily Democrat (Marlin, Texas), February 26, 1909: 1.

22. “Marlin Presents Giants with Park,” The New York Times, March 8, 1911: 8.

23. “The Meningitis Record—For State Since January 1,” Daily Democrat (Marlin, Texas), February 14, 1912: 1.

24. “Giants All Report at Marlin Camp—38 Players Round Out Squad— Matty and Rube Look Good,” The New York Times, March 2, 1912: 9.

25. “Sun Will Shine on Giants in South Land,” The New York Times, January 21, 1913: 24.

26. “Wet Day Spoils Practice—Rain Follows One of Best All-around Days Yet,” Daily Democrat (Marlin, Texas), March 12, 1913: 3.

27. “Giants Return Home: All Will Be Seen in Games with Yale at Polo Grounds To-day,” The New York Times, April 9,1913:10.

28. Charles Alexander, John McGraw (Viking, 1988): 167.

29. John McGraw, My Thirty Years in Baseball (Boni & Liveright, 1923; Bison Press reprinting, 1995): 248.

30. “Mathewson Halting—Considering Federal’s Boston Offer,” Daily Democrat (Marlin, Texas), February 25, 1914: 1.

31. “Grounds Keeper for Giants Here—Much Work is Needed,” Daily Democrat (Marlin, Texas), January 30, 1914: 2.

32. “Giants’ Christmas Gift—Citizens of Marlin Present Deed in Training Park,” The New York Times, December 20, 1914: 3S.

33. Frank Jackson, “Crossing Red River—Spring Training in Texas,” The National Pastime #26 (SABR, 2006): 88.

34. Daily Democrat (Marlin, Texas), February 27, 1915: 2.

35. “Colts Start Touring—Leave Marlin at Midnight on Exhibition Trip With Extra Strong Lineup,” Daily Democrat (Marlin, Texas), March 24, 1915: 2.

36. “Giants vs. White Sox at the Orpheum Theater—Tomorrow,” Daily Democrat (Marlin, Texas), February 1, 1916: 4.

37. “Giants Hold First Try-out—McGraw Puts Fledglings Thru Lively Paces While Old Players Limber Up,” Daily Democrat (Marlin, Texas), February 28, 1916: 2.

38. “Giants vs. Tigers—Baseball Game at Emerson Park,” Daily Democrat (Marlin, Texas), March 25, 1916: 4.

39. “Points on Building City—Ten Reasons Why Every Citizen Should be Member of Commercial Club,” Daily Democrat (Marlin, Texas), March 6, 1917: 4.

40. “New York Giants Coming—National League Pennant Winners Will Reach Marlin Next Week,” Daily Democrat (Marlin, Texas), January 3, 1918: 2.

41. “McGraw Takes Air Trip—Giants Defeat Aviators from Waco Before Many Spectators,” Daily Democrat (Marlin, Texas), March 26, 1918: 2.

42. “Giants Not Coming Here—Secretary Writes That Team Will Have to Skip One Year,” Daily Democrat (Marlin, Texas), February 3, 1919: 3.

43. “Pick Camp for Giants – N.Y. Nationals Will Train at San Antonio Next Spring,” The New York Times, December 7, 1919: 3S.

44. “White Sox Reach Marlin—Chicago Players Mingle with Giants Here for Conditioning,” Daily Democrat (Marlin, Texas), February 28, 1923: 3.

45. “Two Sessions at Marlin—Giants’ Battery Men Helped by Ideal Weather,” The New York Times, March 3, 1923: 12.

46. Frank Jackson, “Crossing Red River—Spring Training in Texas,” The National Pastime #26 (SABR, 2006): 91.

Gardner Park, Dallas Texas (Dallas Morning News)

The Armistice of November 11, 1918, ended the fighting in World War I, but for Black soldiers like O’Neal Pullen—a professional baseball player from Texas who served in the segregated 509th Engineer unit in France—the fight for freedom continued at home.1 Returning to a nation gripped by racial fear and hostility, he and other Black veterans faced threats of violence and exclusion despite their service.

This tension fueled the “Red Summer” of 1919, marked by riots and 77 lynchings, of which 11 were Black veterans.2 Amid this turmoil, the Texas Negro Baseball League (TNBL) became a vital institution, providing hope and unity for Black communities across the Lone Star State.3 Its legacy reflected the broader struggle for equality and set the stage for the formation of the Negro National League (NNL) in 1920.

1919 SEASON OPENER

The Dallas Express served as the voice of the Black community, prominently featuring a Frederick Douglass quotation—“The Republican Party is the ship, all else the sea”—under its masthead.4 Its pages were filled with the latest civil rights concerns, local activities, and sporting news, including the pre-season meeting of TNBL officials in Dallas on February 11.5

Represented at the table were the leaders of the Austin Black Senators, Beaumont Black Oilers, Dallas Black Giants, Fort Worth Black Panthers, Galveston Black Pirates, Houston Black Buffaloes, San Antonio Black Broncos, and Waco Black Navigators. It was announced that many clubs expected to bolster their rosters with former players returning from military service.6

The season opener at Gardner Park on Easter Sunday, April 20, featured a Dallas victory over Waco, 5-2.9 “Before a crowd of fully 3,500 enthusiasts, the Dallas Black Giants copped the opening game of the Texas League season,” reported the Express. “The big crowd that packed Gardner’s stadium was thrilled with echoes of sweet music during the process of the game by Alexander’s Jazz Band. Popular airs whifted through the air to the delight of fandom.”10

There’s a saying in Texas, “If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute, it’ll change.” It appears this was also true of team rosters for the 1919 TNBL season.

RUBE FOSTER SCOUTS IN DALLAS

Absent from the opening-day lineup were star pitcher “Lefty” Brown and catcher James Brown (no relation). In early April, Rube Foster, the Chicago American Giants manager, arrived in Dallas to scout prospects. He watched the Black Giants in action and afterward signed the Brown battery. The Chicago Defender enthusiastically covered the scouting declaring, “No one in the world knows better how to pick a player than ‘Rube.’… (“Lefty”) Brown looks a winning type of ball player and room just had to be made for him.”11

It’s uncertain if Foster was less impressed with future star Mackey or if Dallas management prevented him from advancing his career up north. Whatever dynamics unfolded, Mackey’s time in Dallas ended abruptly. He left the Black Giants in early May and signed with the Waco Black Navigators.12 Pitcher Andy Cooper would never appear in a Black Giants box score for the season. More changes were on the horizon for the TNBL.

HONORING THE TROOPS

That Spring, the White Texas League owners in Dallas and San Antonio announced a contest to rename the teams to honor returning troops. The Dallas Giants became the Dallas Marines, and the San Antonio Broncos became the San Antonio Aces, inspired by the famed flying aces of the war.13 The Black teams followed suit, but by mid-season the Black Giants rejected the “Marines” name, calling it “jinxy” after experiencing bad luck, both on and off the field.14

DALLAS TEAM JAILED

In late May, the Black Giants faced racial injustice in San Marcos. While waiting at a train station for the arrival of the Waco Black Navigators, the entire team was arrested by Hays County Sheriff George M. Allen, who was known to have ties to the Ku Klux Klan. They were charged with vagrancy, a common pretext for targeting Blacks in the Jim Crow South.15 Sheriff Allen’s actions were typical of the systemic racism of the time and aligned with the Klan’s statement published in the San Marcos Record just two years later, “We believe in White Supremacy and we believe that White men should keep White men’s places.”16

FIRE-SALE IN WACO

In early June, the financially struggling Waco team sold its top talent to San Antonio, including Mackey, Henry Blackmon, “Crush” Holloway, Robert “High-pockets” Hudspeth, Namon Washington, Walter “Steel Arm” Davis, and Morris Williams.17 The Dallas Express would later select Blackmon (a 165th Regiment veteran) and Davis for their honorary All-Star team for the 1919 season.18 Powered by their new talent, the Black Aces won 16 of their next 18 games and began to draw crowds larger than their White counterparts.19 The San Antonio Evening News celebrated their skill: “It is a well known fact that the negro ball players play just as good if not better ball than some of the regular professional clubs which play through the country.”20

REGULAR SEASON MATCH-UPS

Throughout the regular season, the Black Giants and Black Aces faced off 10 times, with San Antonio winning the series 7 games to 3.21 Among those victories for the Black Aces was the annual Juneteenth Celebration game at Gardner Park.22 For the regular season, San Antonio outscored Dallas 29 to 19, averaging a score of roughly 3-2 per game.23 With a stronger offense and consistent pitching, the Black Aces proved themselves the better team heading into the postseason. San Antonio manager L.W. Moore was also praised for his leadership and strategic baseball mind, earning him the nickname “the Black Connie Mack.”24

This season also showcased future Hall of Fame catcher Riley Mackey’s distinctive vocal catching style, which years later contributed to his nickname “Biz” for giving opposing batters “the business.” The San Antonio Evening News noted, “Did you ever hear a magpie chattering and jabbering? Well, Riley Mackey (no, he is not Irish), is the epitome of ‘jaberation.’ There is not a second when he is behind the bag that he is not chattering and jabbering, exhorting his teammates to show a ‘little pepah ou’ dere.’”25

CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

The standings published by the San Antonio Evening News on September 9 were used to select the top two teams for the TNBL championship series, though a few games remained. The Black Aces led with a commanding .818 winning average (45-10 record), followed by the Waco Black Navigators (.765, 13-4), who disbanded after 17 games, and the Dallas Black Giants (.750, 51-17).26

Table 1. Texas Negro Baseball League Standings, 1919 Season27

League Park, located on the south side of San Antonio, hosted the five-game championship series a few weeks later.28 The season-long rivalry intensified as Dallas bolstered its roster with Beaumont stars, including catcher O’Neal Pullen, pitcher Charlie Hunter, and two former Black Giants players—Bob Bailey and William Ross, a veteran with the 165th Regiment who played ball with the Camp Travis nine.29

The only roster change for the Black Aces was the absence of third-baseman Henry Blackmon. Despite receiving a lot of ink in the pre-series press, the all-star infielder did not appear in any postseason games. The reason for his absence was not reported. Namon Washington and Bob McClure filled in at the hot corner.30

The San Antonio Evening News captured the excitement building up to the series:

GAME 1: Thursday, September 25, 4:30 PM

Under the warm Texas afternoon sun—82 degrees with light winds—the series began with a 1-0 victory for the Black Aces. Although game details weren’t published, the score suggested a pitching duel and set a competitive tone for the series. According to the scant reports in the press, “several thousand fans, black and white” packed the ballpark.32 Special trains brought in fans from Luling, Lockhart, and Austin.33 The San Antonio stadium was ready for the crowd, as it seated 6,160 spectators in the grandstand, with an additional 600 in the bleachers. It was an intimate setting, as the ballpark featured the league’s smallest outfield, measuring just 270 feet to left and 280 to right.34

GAME 2: Friday, September 26, 4:30 PM

The Black Giants evened the series with a narrow 2-1 victory. Pitcher Ross, the ringer from the Black Oilers with a 14-6 season record (including a 19-strikeout game against Galveston), delivered a stellar performance. He outdueled the Black Aces’ “Steel Arm” Davis, who boasted a 26-2 record with 10 shutouts for the season. Ross’s veteran composure secured Dallas their first win, tying the series at 1-1.

GAME 3: Saturday, September 27, 3:30 PM

The Black Aces took control of the series with a dominant 8-1 victory. Bob McClure delivered a stellar performance on the mound, allowing just four hits, while the San Antonio offense capitalized on Charlie Hunter, tallying 11 hits, including doubles by Johnny Jones and Andrew Wilson. Dallas’s lone highlight came from Robert Sloan’s triple. The decisive win put the Black Aces ahead in the series, 2-1. The score:

Batteries: Hunter and Pullen; McClure and Mackey.38

GAME 4: Sunday, September 28, 3:00 PM

A dramatic Sunday doubleheader closed the championship, with the Black Giants securing a 2-1 win in the first game. Connie Rector’s stellar pitching stifled the Black Aces, while 31-year-old Morris Williams (veteran from the 370th Infantry) took the loss.39 A decisive home run by Pullen in the 4th inning sealed the victory. Surprisingly, the Aces committed five errors. There were no grumblings in the press about the uncharacteristically sloppy defense, but it’s not farfetched to think that it occurred under the influence of San Antonio’s management to ensure a game 5. Nonetheless, the win tied the series at 2-2, setting up an intense winner-take-all finale. The score:

Batteries: Rector and Pullen; Williams and Mackey.40

GAME 5: Sunday, September 28, approx. 4:50 PM

The series finale was an unforgettable offensive showdown, with the Black Aces rallying to claim a thrilling 7-5 victory. San Antonio’s starter, “Steel Arm” Davis, struggled early, giving up a triple and two singles in the first inning that quickly put the Black Giants up, 20. With only one out, manager Moore pulled Davis and sent Mackey to the mound, resulting in a four-player defensive shuffle (reflected in the box score, see page 18). Davis moved to center field and later had his moment of redemption at the plate.

Dallas extended their lead with a run in the 3rd and two more in the top of the 5th, building what seemed like an insurmountable 5-0 advantage. Then, as the San Antonio Evening News aptly reported, “the Aces got really busy” in the bottom of the 5th.

Wilson and Davis started with singles, but Ross eliminated Wilson at third base on Washington’s fielder’s choice. After Washington stole second and Hudspeth was walked intentionally, McClure stunned the crowd and pitcher Ross with a clutch single that drove in Davis and Washington (Score: 5-2). Holloway followed with a booming double that brought Hudspeth and McClure home (Score: 5-4). When Mackey stepped up and singled, Holloway raced across the plate to tie the game at 5-5.

The drama reached its climax in the bottom of the 8th. With the score still tied, Davis came to bat with two on. According to the Evening News:

Davis stood proudly on base while Dorn and Wilson scored the go-ahead runs. The Evening News described the electrifying scene: “The fans went wild…the shouts, yells, screams, and joyous laughter… shattered the air at the park when this event happened.”

From there, Mackey shut the door on Dallas with dominant pitching, sealing the win and the championship for the Black Aces. The San Antonio Evening News declared, “Nothing could stop the Black Aces…Mackey put on the clamps and held (Dallas) at his mercy.”42

With the 7-5 victory, the San Antonio Black Aces were crowned champions of the 1919 Texas Negro Baseball League season.43 See the final-game box score at right.44

SERIES SUMMARY

The 5-game series at League Park was a fierce and tightly contested battle that showcased the spirit and talent of early Black baseball in Texas. The Black Aces outscored the Black Giants 18-10, but each game brought intense competition, from pitchers’ duels to the explosive finale. Standout performances on both teams highlighted the grit and skill of these players.

Series standouts include (statistics based on three available box scores):

DALLAS BLACK GIANTS

• O’Neal Pullen: Dallas’ offensive leader, hitting .500 (6-for-12) with one run scored and steady defensive work behind the plate, recording 21 putouts and one assist.
• Robert Sloan: A reliable hitter with a .417 average (5-for-12) and three runs, complemented by flawless fielding.
• William “Bolegs” Curtis: Anchored first base with 30 error-free putouts, boasting a 1.000 fielding percentage.
• Bob Bailey: Sparked the offense with a team-high four runs, adding four putouts and six assists at second base.
• William “Nacogdoches” Ross: Delivered a key pitching performance in Game 2, earning the win with a strong showing on the mound to help even the series at 1-1.
• Connie Rector: Pitched a crucial Game 4 victory, outdueling the Black Aces and securing a 2-1 win to tie the series 2-2, with sharp control and poise on the mound.

SAN ANTONIO BLACK ACES

• Bob McClure: Dominated at the plate with a .600 average (6-for-10), scoring once and delivering key defensive plays with six putouts and two assists. Also the winning pitcher of Game 3.
• Robert “Highpockets” Hudspeth: A defensive rock with 33 putouts and a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage, while hitting .364 (4-for-11) and scoring twice.
• Christopher “Crush” Holloway: Contributed consistently with a .333 average (4-for-12) and one run, adding three putouts and nine assists on defense.
• Riley Mackey: A pivotal player, batting .300 (3-for-10) with three runs scored. He excelled with 17 putouts, four assists, and strong relief pitching that secured the Aces’ championship run.

TEXAS TURMOIL: THE 1920 EXODUS

The 1920 season brought upheaval for the champion Black Aces, marked by legal disputes and a significant loss of talent. Ownership of the franchise was contested, with S.C. Perkins and J.J. Maclin eventually prevailing over former owner L.W. Moore after a lengthy legal battle. However, this victory was quickly overshadowed by the departure of several star players, including Mackey, Hudspeth, Holloway, Williams, Washington, and Davis, who left to join the Indianapolis A.B.C.s.46

September 28 Championship Game Box Score

SCORE BY INNINGS

SUMMARY: Innings pitched by Davis: one-third. Runs allowed by Davis: 2. Hits off Davis: 3. Two-base hit: Pullen. Three-base hit: Sloan. Stolen bases: Washington, McClure, Holloway, Williams. Sacrifice hit: Dorn. Strikeouts: Ross 4, Mackey 5. Bases on balls: Ross 2, Mackey 1. Double play: Bailey to Curtis. Wild pitch: Ross. Time of game: 2 hours. Umpire: Taylor.

This exodus was reportedly facilitated by a connection between former Black Aces owner Charles Bellinger and C.I. Taylor, owner of the A.B.C.s, possibly as political payback against Perkins and Maclin for stealing the franchise from Moore. The departure of these key players not only weakened the Black Aces but also significantly bolstered the A.B.C.s as they prepared for the inaugural season of the NNL.47

CONCLUSION

Rube Foster’s founding of the NNL in 1920 was a watershed moment in American history, offering Black ballplayers a premier stage to showcase their talents, resist segregation, and foster an independent baseball community. Drawing inspiration from abolitionist Frederick Douglass, much like the Dallas Express but adding his own flair, Foster famously declared the new league’s motto: “We are the ship, all else the sea.”

The creation of the NNL was both a response to the racial violence of the “Red Summer” of 1919 and a peaceful form of protest, providing financial independence and self-expression for Black Americans. Texas, home to the exceptional talent of the TNBL, played a vital role in this new era. The league elevated the game nationwide and ensured Texas’s talent could no longer be ignored.

However, the NNL’s success came at a cost to Texas baseball. Just as the integration of the American and National Leagues would later deplete the Negro Leagues, the national spotlight of the NNL drew Texas’s best players. Of the 20 players associated with the 1919 TNBL championship, 17 eventually received offers to play in the Major Negro Leagues (See Table 2 below). Between 1920 and 1947, Texas lost much of its top-tier talent, and Black baseball in the state never returned to its pre-1920 caliber.

Despite this, Texas’s legacy in Black baseball remains undeniable. As of 2025, 37 individuals have been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame for their contributions in Negro Leagues baseball. Remarkably, eight of them—22 percent—were born in Texas, including Andy Cooper, Rube and Willie Foster, Louis Santop, Hilton Smith, Willie Wells, “Cyclone” Joe Williams, and James Raleigh “Biz” Mackey—former star of both the Dallas Black Giants and the San Antonio Black Aces.

This proud Black baseball legacy stands as a powerful testament to Texas’s enduring influence on the history of the National Pastime.

BILL STAPLES JR. of Chandler, AZ, joined SABR in 2006 and specializes in Japanese American and Negro Leagues baseball history. Born in Troy, New York, and raised in Texas, he considers himself a “Yankee-Texan” with family ties to both the early NY-NJ League and the Texas Negro Leagues. He attended Plano East Senior High, Austin College (Sherman), and the University of North Texas (Denton), where he played for the “Mean Green” Eagles baseball club. His walk-up song is “Pride and Joy” by Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble. His favorite Willies are Mays and Nelson. Learn more at billstaplesjr.com.

Table 2. 1919 Texas Negro Baseball League Player Profiles—Dallas and San Antonio Dallas Black Giants

San Antonio Black Aces

Notes

1. O’Neal Pullen’s military service: Ancestry.com. “U.S., Army Transport Service, Passenger Lists, 1910-1939.” Record No. 10142687, Neal Pullen, Private First Class, Company C, 509 Engineers (Colored), Service No. 282,426, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61174/records/10142687.

2. David F. Krugler, 1919, The Year of Racial Violence: How African Americans Fought Back (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014), 42.

3. The term “Colored” was commonly used by the Texas press to describe the Black professional baseball league in 1919. At the time, influential national leaders, such as Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois, advocated for “Negro” as a dignified and respectful term to describe Black Americans. It was seen as a step away from the derogatory implications of other terms, including “Colored.” The word “Negro” gained widespread acceptance within the Black community, especially during the early 20th century, as leaders used it to foster unity, pride, and recognition of shared heritage. Therefore, the word “Negro” is used instead of “Colored” throughout this article to describe historical Black baseball in Texas.

4. Dallas Express, January 11, 1919, 1; The Republican Party was originally a progressive force, founded in 1854 to oppose slavery’s expansion and champion equality. Under leaders like Abraham Lincoln, it advanced civil rights through the Emancipation Proclamation, the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, and promoted infrastructure and educational reforms to modernize the nation.

5. “Base Ball,” Dallas Express, February 15, 1919, 4.

6. “Base Ball.”

7. Ancestry.com. “Lee R Jones in the 1920 United States Federal Census.” Accessed February 10, 2025. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6061/records/2229536O.

8. Future Baseball Hall of Famer James Raleigh Mackey had not yet earned the famous moniker “Biz” and during his early career was known as “Riley,” presumably a southern pronunciation of his legal middle name. One of the earliest, if not the first, references to the ballplayer “Biz” Mackey appeared in 1923. See: “Winters Sets Black Sox Down With Lone Bingle As Mates Bombard Sykes:…W Rollo Wilson,” Pittsburgh Courier; June 2, 1923, 6.

9. Gardner Park, located south of the Trinity River on the northeast corner of Jefferson and Colorado Streets, opened on March 6, 1915, with an exhibition game between the Dallas Colts and New York Giants. Christy Mathewson threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Sources: Opening date: “METRO PAST,” Dallas Morning News, March 6, 1990, 16A; Location: “Baseball Season Will Open here Wednesday,” Dallas Morning News, February 20, 1916, 48.

10. “Base Ball,” Dallas Express, April 26, 1919, 10.

11. “American Giants Open Sunday,” Chicago Defender, April 12, 1919, 11.

12. “Diamond Flashes,” Dallas Express, May 10, 1919, 5.

13. “How About That New Nickname?” San Antonio Evening News, April 23, 1919, 8; “‘Aces’ Gaining in Club Name Contest,” Dallas Morning News, March 26, 1919, 19.

14. “Black Giants Here,” San Antonio Light, July 3, 1919, 9. Author’s note: Since the Dallas players rejected the “Marines” nickname and Black newspapers like the Dallas Express continued to use “Black Giants” while only the White press used “Black Marines,” this article refers to the team as the “Black Giants” throughout.

15. “Baseball Team Jailed for Vagrancy,” Austin American-Statesman, May 30, 1919, 2.

16. Texas Historical Commission. Ulysses Cephas. San Marcos, TX: Texas Historical Commission. Accessed Jan. 25, 2025. https://sanmarcostx.gov/DocumentCenter/View/18969/Ulysses-Cephas—Texas-Historical-Commission-PDF.

17. “Black Aces Sign Fast Players; Off to Dallas,” San Antonio Express, June 8, 1919, 30.

18. “Suggestion of an All Star Team in Texas,” Dallas Express, August 30, 1919, 8.; Henry Blackmon’s service record retrieved from “United States, Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917-1940”, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPC3-KV6V: Wed Mar 06 18:11:11 UTC 2024), Entry for Henry Blackmon, 16 January 1919.

19. “Black Aces Book Three Games Here,” San Antonio Express, July 3, 1919, 16.

20. “Black Aces are Ready for Dark Marines,” San Antonio Evening News, July 2, 1919, 15.

21. Season stats compiled by author. See: https://bit.ly/1919_TNBL.

22. “Black Giants Drops Three in a Row,” Dallas Express, June 21, 1919, 12.

23. Season stats compiled by author.

24. “A Dozen Black Aces Sure Make Winning Hand,” San Antonio Evening News, September 12, 1919, 11.

25. “A Dozen Black Aces Sure Make Winning Hand.”

26. “Standings in the Texas Colored League,” San Antonio Evening News, September 9, 1919, 9.

27. Sharp-eyed readers may notices the number of wins and losses is not balanced. Unlike today, when each team in a league plays the same number of games, this was not the reality in 1919 Texas Black baseball. These numbers reflect what was reported on September 9, 1919 in the clipping that can be seen here: https://bit.ly/1919_TNBL.

28. League Park (formerly known as Block Stadium) was located on the southside of San Antonio, at the corner of South Presa, Carolina and Labor Streets. Source: “The day (March 31, 1922) that Babe Ruth knocked it out of the park in San Antonio,” Memories of San Antonio, March 31, 2022. https://memoriesofsanantonio.com/2022/03/31/the-day-that-babe-ruth-knocked-it-out-of-the-park-in-san-antonio/.

29. “Mistah Steel Arm Davis HappySon of Ham, Loses Pitching Duel to Ross,” San Antonio Evening News, September 27, 1919, 11; William Ross military record: FamilySearch. “William Ross, Military Service, 29 April 1918.” Texas, World War I Records, 1917-1920. Accessed February 11, 2025. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV18-NQXJ.

30. “Mistah Steel Arm Davis Raps Out Double Which Wins Negro Ball Title,” San Antonio Evening News, September 29, 1919, 9.

31. “A Dozen Black Aces Sure Make Winning Hand.”

32. “Black Aces Take First Series Game,” San Antonio Evening News, September 26, 1919, 11.

33. “State Baseball Bugs Entrain for ‘Santone’ for Negro Title Tilt,” San Antonio Evening News, September 26, 1919, 11.

34. Field dimensions and seating capacity for League Park (originally called Block Stadium) in 1915: “Texas League Ball Parks,” The Houston Post, September 5, 1915, 17.

35. “How the Black Oilers Have Set the Pace for 1919,” Dallas Express, August 30, 1919, 8.

36. “A Dozen Black Aces Sure Make Winning Hand.”

37. “Mistah Steel Arm Davis HappySon of Ham, Loses Pitching Duel to Ross.”

38. “Black Aces Ready for Final Games,” San Antonio Express, September 28, 1919, 27.

39. Morris Williams military service: Ancestry.com, “U.S., Army Transport Service Arriving and Departing Passenger Lists, 1910-1939, record for Morris Williams, 7 April 1918, Departure Place: Newport News, VA, Ship: President Grant, Residence: Seguin, Tex., Service Details: Corporal, Company, Lc 370th Infantry, U.S.N.G., 93rd Provisional Division,” https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61174/records/4846249.

40. “Mistah Steel Arm Davis Raps Out Double Which Wins Negro Ball Title.”

41. “Mistah Steel Arm Davis Raps Out Double Which Wins Negro Ball Title.”

42. “Mistah Steel Arm Davis Raps Out Double Which Wins Negro Ball Title.”

43. “Mistah Steel Arm Davis Raps Out Double Which Wins Negro Ball Title.”

44. Adam “Black Cat” Williams, 3b, was incorrectly listed as “Adams, 3b” in the published box score. Since all other players are referenced by their last names, it’s been corrected here for consistency. Also, the last name of San Antonio left fielder Grant Dorn was published as “Don” and has been corrected here for posterity.

45. Championship series stats compiled by author. See: https://bit.ly/1919_TNBL.

46. Bill Staples, Jr. “Black Giant: Biz Mackey’s Texas Negro League Career.” Black Ball: A Negro Leagues Journal 1, no. 1, Spring 2008 (McFarland, Jefferson, NC), 102-105.

47. Staples.

The phrase “flashing the leather” is a common saying in baseball. These words are used to acknowledge an excellent play made in the field by a defensive player. Of course, the leather is symbolic of the players’ baseball glove. While this catchphrase may reference a defensive play in baseball, “flashing the leather” is a way of life in Nocona, Texas.

Nocona is located approximately 88 miles north-west of Dallas and eight miles from the Oklahoma border. The city is named after Comanche Indian Chief Peta Nocona. It was founded in 1887 and incorporated in 1891.2 Situated in Montague County, Nocona has a rich history in manufacturing; however, homemade products became a booming success in Nocona—in particular, leather goods.

The Nocona Boot Company was founded in 1925 by Enid Justin. The tradition of making legendary and stylish boots in Nocona is carried on today by Fenoglio Boots.3 Enid was the daughter of H.J. Justin, who started making boots in Spanish Fort on the Red River in Montague County in 1878. After the elder Justin’s death in 1918, Enid’s brothers wanted to move the company to Fort Worth. However, Enid was against the relocation, but in 1925, the Justin Boot Company did move to Fort Worth. Enid then started the Nocona Boot Company.4

Nocona Leather Goods Company was founded in 1926 by Cadmus McCall and T.B. Wilkes. The company produced handbags, wallets, and various other leather goods. However, when the stock market crashed in 1929, demand for wallets and handbags plummeted. Bob Storey, who worked for an oil company, arrived in Nocona in 1931. McCall was also the president of the local bank that took control over the leather plant.5 Storey fell in love with McCall’s daughter, Mary. When the oil company that employed Storey wanted to relocate him to Louisiana, he did not want to end his relationship with the young lady, and McCall installed him as the manager of the leather factory.

Noting the change in the nation’s demographics, the company correctly predicted that there would be a need for sporting goods out West. In 1932, they began to manufacture baseball gloves and footballs, and in 1934, when applying for a patent changed the branding on their gloves from Nocona to Nokona, spelled with a “k” because the patent office would not let a city’s name be trademarked.6 Today their line includes not only baseball gloves, but also softball gloves, uniform belts, and other accessories.7

Most Nokona gloves sport an embroidered geometric logo, but the red “retro” logo of a Native American is available as a custom option. (Nokona.com)

Most Nokona gloves are made from cowhide or steerhide, but some are made from kangaroo leather, with other exotic leathers available in their catalog.8 A tannery in Milwaukee sends the leather in smooth, butter-soft sheets. Another in South Dakota sends bison. The kangaroo skin is sent from Australia for their Nokonaroo model. The goal is a mitt or glove that is soft and pliable and needs no breaking in by the customer.9

The side of a cow measures approximately 25 square feet, enough for four or five gloves.10 To manufacture one glove, it may take 4½ to 5 feet of leather. For each glove, up to 25 pieces are cut by hand using a set of custom dies. Over 2000 cutting dies are in use in the factory.11 One of the only automated parts of the process is the embroidery of the logo, which is done by machine, but all the rest of the stitching and welting is done individually by skilled sewers.

The most important step in producing a glove is stitching. It may take a worker up to two years to learn to sew a first-class glove. An experienced sewer can turn out a dozen gloves a day.12 Two thirds of the cost for a Nokona baseball glove—typically $500 to $750, but ranging from $250 for a “My First Nokona” model up to $1,200 for some of the exotic leathers13—is labor. Each glove at Nokona must be hand-laced. Rob Storey— Bob’s grandson, who is vice president of the company today—says that a machine has yet to be invented that can lace a glove.14 Webs are also woven by hand.15

When the main part of the stitching is done, the glove is inside out. Each finger must be inverted, stretched onto a hot iron (shaped like a giant metal hand), have its lining fitted, and then be resewn. Next, the new gloves are pounded with a mallet until they are smooth. A petroleum jelly with the consistency of peanut butter is applied as an adhesive between the lining and the outer shell of the glove, and then the lacing is done, with over 120 holes for the tensile-strength leather cord to be stitched through.16 The finished glove is then “broken in,” pounded in the pocket and moisturized with lanolin. “Up to forty different labor operations go into making a glove,” says Storey.17

Many of the gloves have a red label stitched to the wrist strap with the words “American Made” and “Nokona Since 1934.” In 2014, the company switched from a logo depicting a Native American with two feathers in his hair to a modern, minimalist logo of square (or diamond) with two parallel lines, meant to invoke the original.18 The “retro” logo is still available as a custom option.

One service that Nokona provides its customers is that they will rebuild and recondition their older gloves for a nominal fee. “It’s the greatest thing I’ve ever heard, and I’m a dealer,” said Randy Jatzlau of Budget Sporting Goods in Houston.19

While there are many stories and theories about how to break in a glove, Storey tells one interesting tale. A customer claimed a brand new mitt was defective and had returned it. Storey said that the customer had oiled the glove, wrapped it around a ball and put it in the microwave to dry. As a result, the material in the laces turned to plastic.20

During World War II, through a government grant, Nokona Baseball Gloves provided gloves and mitts to servicemen, whether they were stationed in Fort Hood, Texas, or Iwo Jima, Japan.21 Veterans wrote to Bob Storey, telling him what it meant to have an American-made glove delivered from Texas to them while they were so far from home. Troops played the American game of baseball wherever they were stationed. To survive the cold in the trenches, some soldiers in Europe ended up burning their gloves for heat.22

In 1988, another military contract came Nokona’s way. The contract was to manufacture headgear straps and carry bags for night vision apparatus worn by helicopter pilots used in the Gulf War.23

Nokona does not do a big-money business with player endorsements, but back when the Fort Worth Cats were a AA team of the Brooklyn Dodgers (1946-56), the team had an agreement where a player would give his signature to Nokona and in exchange receive two free gloves. Dick Williams, Chico Carrasquel, and Carl Erskine were some of those players who signed on with Nokona. These signatures would be stamped in the pocket. Today, MLB players such as Michael Kopech and Ryan Pressly lend their names and images to Nokona products including gloves and belts.24

That may have been true in Beringer’s day. But times have changed. The leather used now is not as durable as it was in past years. It would be a joke to say they don’t make cows like they used to, but that’s exactly the case. “Nowadays a steer comes out of a feedlot by the time it’s a year-and-a-half old. Which means we’re using 1½-year-old leather in our gloves instead of material that’s seven years old,” said Jim Storey, one of Bob’s sons.26

As a result, one glove today may make it through one season, maybe two. One alternative is to choose kangaroo leather, which is lighter and four times stronger than cow, but it’s also more expensive. But people buying Nokona ball gloves are not looking for a bargain price. “Our niche in the market is sentiment,” said Rob Storey, Bob’s grandson. “People want the best and they want American.”27 The other American glove companies like Wilson and Rawlings began offshoring their operations in 1960, leaving Nokona now the last manufacturer of gloves still in the United States.28

Hollywood has also made calls to Nokona. In the 1951 biopic movie Jim Thorpe—All-American, the production company (Warner Bros.) ordered 10 snub-nosed footballs from Nokona to be used in the movie.29 In Field of Dreams (1989) and A League of Their Own (1992), replica vintage Nokona baseball gloves were used in the production of each movie.30

Nokona Gloves is a family-run business that treats their employees like kin. Bob Storey’s sons, Jim and Bob, also led the company, before passing the reins on to Rob. On July 18, 2006, a fire broke out, engulfing Nokona’s 75,000 square foot factory in flames that blazed for two days. The fire was believed to have begun in the shipping department and spread quickly. About 80 firefighters from eight fire departments battled to extinguish the fire, nearly depleting the city of its water supply. The cost of the damage was an estimated $5 million (around $8 million in today’s dollars).

Rob Storey vowed to rebuild the plant. “The building wasn’t the company,” said Storey. “The employees were the company.”31 Although their work hours were irregular during rebuilding, not one employee missed a paycheck and the entire staff of over 40 people were paid for all 51 days they were out of work.32 The factory had to move into the old Nocona Boot Co. building. It was a makeshift setup, but it was the only building large enough to accommodate the space Nokona needed. (Eventually, in 2017, the old boot factory became the permanent home for Nokona gloves.) The fire was a major setback, and in 2010 Nokona was forced into bankruptcy. Another sporting goods company, Cutters, bought a majority stake in Nokona, and aided them in modernizing their marketing and focusing the business on direct sales of ball gloves, revitalizing the company.33

In 2018, Nokona launched its online custom glove store, which allows a customer to custom-build a glove by dictating every aspect, including the color, type of leather, and stamping on each element of the glove’s style, lining, webbing and more. At the same time, they launched a line of accessories called ShowBelts, referencing “the Show” as a nickname for Major League Baseball, custom designing belts to MLB player preferences. Nowadays when you see players wearing anything other than the standard-issue uniform belt— for example, Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen wearing snakeskin or Bryce Harper’s belt sporting his player number on his belt’s keeper loop—you can be sure that custom belt was manufactured by Nokona.34 The belts are also fully customizable, just like the gloves. In 2024, Nokona announced that All-Star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals would be the brand ambassador for ShowBelts, and in 2025 they added Pittsburgh pitching phenom Paul Skenes.35

In 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nokona Gloves started manufacturing face masks. They came in three different styles: form-fitted, draw string, and woven.36

Today, Nokona produces gloves that come in all varieties and colors. Baseball, softball (fast pitch or slow pitch), Little League, and of course left-handed gloves and mitts. A quick check in a Dallas-area sporting goods store reveals that Nokona gloves retail between $300-$400, while Rawlings and Wilson models can be purchased for as low as $150.

The evolution of baseball gloves has generated many additions from the flat mitt with no fingers to the high-tech variations available today. One thing that has not changed, though, is the thrill of picking out that first glove.

“That was my first glove, and I still have it today,” said Nolan Ryan of his Nokona. “The reason it was so meaningful to me is that… I was the last of six kids. We didn’t have a lot of disposable income, so it was very big when I got to go down and pick out my own glove.”37

Nokona brings these memories, like the one expressed by Nolan Ryan, to thousands across the country and beyond. The smell of the leather, the rubbing in of the glove oil, the pounding of the pocket, are personal acts that connect us to the game of baseball. We’re fortunate that this element of our National Pastime still has a home in America.

JOSEPH WANCHO resides in Westlake, Ohio. He has been a SABR member since 2005 and he serves as co-chair of the Baseball Index Project. He is an occasional contributor to various SABR research committees.

Notes

1. Kirk Bohls, “An Old Glove Story,” Austin American-Statesman, July 16, 2006: C9.

2. City of Nocona, Texas website, https://cityofnocona.com/home, accessed January 22, 2025.

3. Nocona Chamber of Commerce website, https://www.nocona.org/heritage/leather-goods.html, accessed January 22, 2025.

4. Helen Fenoglio, “Miss Enid Justin’s Story: From Catalog Sacker to Boot Factory,” Wichita Falls Times, December 15, 1968: 15C.

5. 1930 United States Census, Ancestry.com.

6. Barbara Green, “Nokona building fits new purpose like a glove,” Wichita Times Record, February 25, 2018: 21.

7. Nokona Chamber of Commerce website.

8. “Exotic,” online catalog page features ostrich, alligator, giraffe, elephant, and shark skin. https://nokona.com/product-category/ballgloves/exotic/, accessed April 2, 2025.

9. Jim Fuquay, “Nokona runs hand-on-game,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, September 9, 1990: 4-2.

10. Mark McDonald, “Family Takes Pride in Making Ball Gloves,” Sunday Oklahoman, March 7, 1993: B9

11. Brian Schildhorn, “How a Nokona Baseball Glove is Made,” Bloomberg News, September 13, 2018, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2018-09-13/how-a-nokona-baseball-glove-is-made-video, accessed April 7, 2025.

12. McDonald, “Family Takes Pride.”

13. “Ballgloves,” https://nokona.com/ballgloves/baseball/, accessed April 2, 2025.

14. McDonald, “Family Takes Pride.”

15. Ann DeFrange, “Labor of Glove: Factory Makes Baseball Memories,” The Oklahoman, May 15, 1994: 22.

16. Bohls, “An Old Glove Story.”

17. Schildhorn, “How a Nokona Baseball Glove is Made.”

18. “Our Story: A New Look for a New Generation,” Nokona Ball Gloves website, https://nokona.com/our-story/, accessed April 7, 2014.

19. John Austin, “Leather and Laces,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, October 25, 2003: 10C.

20. DeFrange, “Labor of Glove.”

21. In 2023, Fort Hood, named after a Confederate general, was renamed after General Richard Edward Cavazos, the first American Mexican four-star general; Mark McDonald, “Family Takes Pride in Making Ball Gloves,”: B9.

22. DeFrange, “Labor of Glove.”

23. Jim Fuquay, “Nokona runs hand-on-game,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, September 9, 1990: 4-1.

24. “Pros,” Nokona company website, https://nokona.com/pros/, accessed April 7, 2025.

25. Austin, “Leather and Laces.”

26. Carroll Copelin, “The Business of Baseball,” Wichita Falls Record News, May 8, 1986: C1.

27. DeFrange, “Labor of Glove.”

28. Jeff Miller, “Inside America’s Last Domestic Manufacturer of Baseball Gloves,” Texas Monthly, June 3, 2024, https://www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entertainment/nokona-last-domestic-baseball-glove-manufacturer/, accessed April 7, 2024.

29. Dick Collins, “Nokona Leather Firm Colors Baseball Gloves,” Wichita Falls Times, November 16, 1952: 4B.

30. “Our Story.”

31. Kevin Robbins, “With Bare Hands and Heavy Hearts, Nokona Will Rise Again,” Austin American-Statesman, July 23, 2006: C1.

32. Kat de Naoum, “Nokona: The Last American Manufacturer of Baseball Gloves is Here for the Long Haul,” Thomas Business Insights, June 25, 2024, https://www.thomasnet.com/insights/nokona-the-last-american-manufacturer-of-baseball-gloves/, accessed April 7, 2025.

33. Kat de Naoum, “Nokona: The Last American Manufacturer of Baseball Gloves is Here for the Long Haul.”

34. Paul Lukas, “The Company that’s Revolutionizing MLB Belts,” Inconspicuous Consumption, August 30, 2023, https://www.inconspicuous.info/p/the-company-thats-revolutionizing, accessed April 7, 2024.

35. “Nokona Announces ShowBelts Partnership with All-Star Shortstop Bobby Witt Jr.” PR Newswire, https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nokona-announces-showbelts-partnership-with-all-star-shortstop-bobby-witt-jr-302260619.html, September 27, 2024;”Nokona Adds to the Star-Studded ShowBelts® Roster,” PR Newswire, February 14, 2025, https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nokona-adds-to-the-star-studded-showbelts-roster-302377376.html, accessed April 7, 204.

36. Lauren Roberts, “Nokona Ball Gloves Starts Making Masks,” Wichita Falls Times Record News, April 30, 2020: 1A.

37. Tim Madigan, “Leather and Laces,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, August 7, 2008: L3.

A top Texas high school, semipro, and college pitcher, Pete Donohue excelled with the Cincinnati Reds for several years before his effectiveness fell off, possibly due to overuse. (SABR-Rucker Archive)

Pete Donohue pitched 100 years ago and his career is worth exploring, as he was one of the mainstays of the Cincinnati Reds pitching staff in the 1920s. His accomplishments are notable, even in a short career. He was born in Athens, Texas, in the eastern part of the state. He became a North Side High School pitching star in Fort Worth, where he pitched in 31 games, and won 24 of them.1 He also excelled at the semipro level. Pete led the Athens Hornets, a semipro level baseball team, to district titles, going 25-5, with a 1.75 ERA and 175 Ks, winning All-District and All-State honors.2 He then pitched for Texas Christian University (TCU), going 29-4 and hurling four no-hitters, before he signed with Cincinnati. His TCU coach, Kid Nance, taught Pete the change-up, which he used with great success.3

According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Pete’s record over five years in school and semipro pitching was 107-17.4 The Reds gave Pete a $5,000 signing bonus as an amateur free agent in 1920. Pete told the Dallas Morning News that he was swayed to sign with them because they seemed to care about him: “[T]hey took a real interest in me. The other club representatives seemed to be only interested in my alleged pitching powers. It seemed to me that they only wanted me as a chattel to win games for them. They only wanted me as a bolt or a rod or a can to go into the old machinery. But the Cincinnati folks showed an interest in Pete Donohue.”5 By 1921, at the ripe age of 20 years old, he was hurling for Cincy. From then until 1926, he was a key member of the Reds rotation, which also featured Dolf Luque and Eppa Rixey, whom “the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame dubbed the ‘most successful and durable staff in Reds history…the Big Three.’”6

The following table shows his pitching stats from 1921 through 1926.

Table 1. Pete Donohue Pitching Stats from 1921 through 19267

Table 1 demonstrates Donohue’s significant accomplishments over this six-year time period. He was a 20-game winner three times in four years, with 1925 being his best season, featuring his best ERA, best ERA + , best WAR, and he led the league in games started and complete games. He was good in 1926, too, as he led in wins, games started, and shut-outs (5). In 1925 and 1926 he bore the heaviest workload of any pitcher, leading the league both seasons with 301 and 285 2/3 innings respectively. The 1925 season is worth special emphasis, not only because 2025 is 100 years since his best season, but also because various sources listed Pete as one of the top moundsmen in the NL that year. For example, the 1926 Sporting News Record Book lists Donohue as the fourth best NL pitcher for 1925, with only three hurlers having better ERAs than him.8 The Hidden Game of Baseball rates him as the second best NL hurler, behind only Dolf Luque.9 And the 2006 ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia ranks Pete second only to Luque in pitcher wins.10

1. April 18 at Redland Field: A 4-hitter against the Pirates where Pete went 2-for-4, with a double, triple and 3 RBIs, in a 12-2 win.
2. April 25 at Sportsman’s Park: A 3 hitter against the Cardinals, resulting in a tight 3-1 triumph.
3. July 3 at Forbes Field: An 8-0, 4-hit whitewash of the Pirates, with Pete going 2-for-3.
4. September 13 at Cubs Park A 5-hitter against the Cubs, a 5-2 victory.

Pete was a fairly good hitter, especially for a pitcher, as exemplified on May 22, 1925, when he went 5-for-5, with a homer and three RBIs. He batted .294 for that season, and even garnered a vote or two for NL MVP (with 4 total points, good for 15th on the list, one slot below Dolph Luque, who had 5 points). Interestingly, of the 21 players receiving at least one vote for MVP that year, Donohue had the second highest WAR (7.0), topped only by the MVP winner, Rogers Hornsby, who led the league with 10.2 WAR.

Table 3 shows how the team performed during Donohue’s six strong seasons. Hall of Famer Edd Roush was the main offensive threat in 1925. He batted .339, with 28 doubles, 16 triples, 8 homers and 83 RBIs. Curt Walker was solid, batting .318, with 22 doubles, 16 triples and 71 RBIs. Rube Bressler weighed in with a.348 BA and 61 RBIs.

Table 3. Cincinnati Reds 1921–192512

This team’s strength is underscored by their achievements in the standings from 1922 to 1926. They finished 2nd in 1922, 2nd in 1923, 4th in 1924, 3rd in 1925, and a close 2nd in 1926, two games behind the Cardinals. Cincinnati had a big improvement over 1921, as the Reds jumped from 70 wins and 6th place to 86 wins and 2nd place in 1922. Some of that was due to a stronger offense, but Donohue’s emergence as a strong pitcher also played a part. After this season, Pete and some other Reds went on a Midwest barnstorming trip, where he pitched in a 6-1 victory, and many of Edd Roush’s fans were present.13

The 1925 season saw Luque, Rixey, and Donohue finish 1-2-3 in pitching runs, park adjusted pitching runs, and normalized ERA. Rixey and Donohue were tied for 2nd in percent of team wins, and Pete was ranked 2nd in the NL in pitchers overall.15 Also, Luque, Donohue, and Rixey were in the top four in Opponents OBP, ERA and adjusted ERA. The Big Three were also 1-2-3 in Pitcher Wins, according to the 2006 ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia.

In 1926, the Cincy boys finished a mere two games behind the pennant winning Cardinals.16 Donohue pitched well down the stretch, hurling three shutouts in September, even though they fell short.17

Pete Donohue was dubbed one of “The Big Three” in the Reds rotation, along with Eppa Rixey and Dolf Luque. (SABR-Rucker Archive)

After Donohue’s 588 2/3 innings pitched 1925-26, whether due to injury or illness, his performance dropped substantially and he was never the same again. Pete’s nephew, Jim Pemberton, reported “[Pete] told me he’d been spiked and nearly died of blood poisoning. They’d actually given him up, but he came back. But after that, he favored the injured leg and ruined his pitching motion.’”18 Donohue also claimed that he was overworked, but a 1927 article in the Cincinnati Enquirer reported he had also been hit by a batted ball in the ankle during batting practice, causing him to miss three weeks of the season.19 After a few subpar years, he was traded to the Giants. He then went to Cleveland, and ended up in Boston. He also made minor league appearances, finally retiring in 1933.

He remains one of the few Reds pitchers to have three or more 20-win seasons. Noodles Hahn had four such seasons, and Paul Derringer did as well. Pete Donohue deserves to be better remembered for his accomplishments.

STEVE KREVISKY has been a professor of mathematics at Connecticut State Community College, Middlesex Campus, for many years. His students get used to him bringing baseball into classes to make it more interesting for them. He is also President of the Smoky Joe Wood SABR chapter, which has periodic meetings, chapter breakfasts, and trips to local minor league games. He has been attending SABR’s annual conventions for many years, going back to his first convention in Chicago in 1986. He has been a frequent presenter, has published articles in the journals, and has also been on seven teams that won the trivia championships over the years! He looks forward to returning to Texas for this year’s convention. He is in a simulation/fantasy league, and looks forward to that committee meeting as well as seeing old friends there!

Additional Sources

Carter, Craig. Daguerreotypes 8th Edition. New York: Sporting News, 1990.

“Pete Donohue.” Retrosheet. Accessed April 22, 2025. https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/D/Pdonop102.htm

Sugar, Bert Randolph and Ken Samelson. The Baseball Maniac’s Almanac. New York: Sports Publishing, 2023.

Notes

1. Bill Nowlin, “Pete Donohue,” SABR BioProject, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/pete-donohue/, accessed April 22, 2025.

2. Nowlin, “Pete Donohue.”

3. Nowlin, “Pete Donohue.”

4. Fort Worth Star-Telegram, June 12, 1921: 11.

5. Nowlin, “Pete Donohue.”

6. Nowlin, “Pete Donohue.”

7. “Pete Donohue,” Baseball Reference, https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/donohpe01.shtml, accessed April 22, 2025.

8. Paul Rickart, The Sporting News Record Book for 1926 (St. Louis: CC Spink, 1926), 8.

9. John Thorn and Pete Palmer, The Hidden Game of Baseball (New York: Doubleday, 1985), 344.

10. Gary Gillete and Pete Palmer, The 2006 ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia (New York: Sterling Publishing, 2006), 1544.

11. “Giants Return Home: All Will Be Seen in Games with Yale at Polo Grounds To-day,” The New York Times, April 9, 1913: 10.

12. Thorn and Palmer, The Hidden Game of Baseball, 340-345.

13. Thomas Barthel, Baseball Barnstorming and Exhibition Games, 1901-1962 (Jefferson: McFarland Publishing, 2007).

14. John Thorn and Pete Palmer, The Hidden Game of Baseball, 341.

15. Thorn and Palmer, The Hidden Game of Baseball, 342.

16. Thorn and Palmer, The Hidden Game of Baseball, 345.

17. Nowlin, “Pete Donohue.”

18. Nowlin, “Pete Donohue.”

19. Jack Ryder, “Winning Streak Narrowly Escapes Ruin ad Reds Win, 11-10,” Cincinnati Enquirer, July 27, 1927, 9; Nowlin, “Pete Donohue.”

Luis Olmo played for Guayama against Enid in 1940. By 1943, he and Enid shortstop Red Barkley were teammates on the Brooklyn Dodgers. (National Baseball Hall of Fame and Library)

The town of Enid, Oklahoma, had minor-league baseball in the early twentieth century, with such teams as the 1922 Enid Harvesters in the Class C Western Association.1 They did well at first—a 104-27 record— but after going 80-65 in 1923, they folded in 1924 due to poor attendance. Enid’s baseball glory would instead come in the realms of semipro and college baseball. Enid was a hotbed of semipro excellence from 1935 through 1945—with 1935 to 1941 considered the “Golden Age”—thanks to sponsorship by oil companies such as Eason and the Champlin Refining Company, located in Enid. Four Enid semipro teams won National Baseball Congress (NBC) tournaments in Wichita, Kansas, including the 1937 Enid Eason Oilers, the 1940 and 1941 Enid Champlin Refiners, and the 1945 Enidairs, a World War II Army Air Field ball-club. Located 120 miles south of Wichita, Enid was runner-up in the 1938, 1943, and 1944 events.2 More recently, Enid has become the host for some of the twenty-first century’s top collegiate baseball. Since 2009, Enid has been home to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II World Series at David Allen Memorial Ballpark, with its open seating capacity of 3,000.3

This article’s dual purpose recognizes Enid’s semi-pro teams of a bygone era and its relevance in hosting a collegiate World Series through—at least—2028.

ENID EASON OILERS AND DUNCAN HALLIBURTON CEMENTERS: 1935-39 POWERHOUSES

The Enid-Duncan rivalry was akin to Boston Red Sox-New York Yankees. Duncan, Oklahoma, captured the 1936 and 1939 NBC semipro crowns while Enid won the 1937 laurels. The first NBC tournament in Wichita—which has hosted the event continuously from 1935 through 2025—featured the Bismarck (North Dakota) Churchills, headlined by Satchel Paige, as one of 32 teams from 24 states. Enid lost two of three games in the double-elimination series while second-place Duncan finished 6-2, losing to the Churchills (3-1 and 5-2), paced by Paige’s four wins and 66 strikeouts in 39 innings.4 Quincy Trouppe, Paige’s teammate, noted it was a “fun tournament, players took it seriously, and promoter Ray Dumont did a fine job.”5

In the 1936 NBC, Enid topped Bismarck (8-2) — sans Paige and other Negro Leaguers who had other obligations—but was eliminated by Duncan, 15-4. Then Enid won seven straight Wichita contests to take home the 1937 NBC trophy. In the semifinals, Buford, Georgia eliminated Duncan, before Enid’s Bus Talley— ex-House of David hurler—bested Buford, 7-4.6

In August 1938, Enid lost the title game, 5-4, to the Buford Bona Allens. The All-Tournament Team included Silverton, Oregon, shortstop Johnny Pesky, and Eddie Waitkus, first baseman for Lisbon Falls, Maine.7 A bad omen for the 1939 Enid Champlin Refiners—the same team but now sponsored by oil baron H.H. Champlin—was three straight pre-Wichita tournament losses to Buford on the Refiners’ home turf. Enid was eliminated by eventual NBC champion Duncan, 5-3, after losing their opener to Mount Pleasant, Texas.8 Duncan traveled to Puerto Rico for the September 1939 Semipro World Series and was defeated, four games to two, by the Guayama Brujos, 1938-39 Puerto Rico semipro league champions.

TWO NBC CROWNS AND 1940 SEMIPRO WORLD SERIES TITLE FOR ENID CHAMPLIN REFINERS

Enid claimed back-to-back NBC titles in 1940 and 1941 plus a September 21-October 1, 1940, Semipro World Series win—four games-to-three—versus 1939-40 Guayama. The Refiners qualified for Wichita in 1940 by edging the Stillwater (Oklahoma) Boomers, 7-6.9 They won the NBC under skipper Nick Urban, and star hurler Vince Cauble, whose four wins in Wichita— including a 5-1 finale versus the Mount Pleasant Cubs—tied Satchel Paige’s 1935 win total. Enid lost two tune-up games to Duncan, on September 7-8, 1940, before traveling to Puerto Rico in mid-September by ship. The Refiners copped Game Seven, 7-5, with a four-run rally in the ninth. Guayama’s Juan Esteban “Tetelo” Vargas got a Gold Medal for going 16-for-24.10 Guayama player Luis Olmo and Enid shortstop Red Barkley were later teammates on the 1943 Brooklyn Dodgers.11

On October 10, 1940, 300 baseball fans honored the Refiners in Enid’s Oxford Hotel. The Global Semipro Championship trophy was presented to H.H. Champlin.

Ray Dumont instituted the Designated Hitter (DH) rule for the 1941 NBC, 32 years before the 1973 American League, and established a 20-second time limit between pitches, seven-plus decades ahead of Major League Baseball.12 Red Barkley, a Childress, Texas, native and MVP of the 1941 NBC, played for the 1937 St. Louis Browns and 1939 Boston Bees, pre-Brooklyn. Enid’s 7-0 record included topping the Waco, Texas, Dons, 9-3, for the title. Monty Basgall, Enid’s second baseman, played 200 combined games with the 1948, 1949, and 1951 Pittsburgh Pirates. Enid declined a trip to Puerto Rico in 1941 to defend their Global title versus the Caguas Criollos since four of their key players worked in defense industry jobs.13

ELLIS “COT” DEAL, TWO-TIME NBC MVP AND THREE-TIME ALL-AMERICAN

Cot Deal, born in Arapaho, Oklahoma, 100 miles southwest of Enid, was stationed at Enid Army Flying Field as a physical instructor. The Enid Army Flying School Enidairs were three-time NBC finalists, second in 1943 and 1944, and 1945 champs. On August 29, 1943, Deal lost the title game, 5-3, to Cecil Travis and the Camp Wheeler Spokes from Macon, Georgia. An NBC record 12,000 fans saw Deal allow seven hits. He was named to the semipro All-American team.14 In 1944, the Enidairs were upended, 5-4, by the Sherman Field Flyers for the Gold. Deal’s grand slam versus Sioux Falls Army Air Field propelled the Enidairs to the finals. He was 10-1 on the mound for the 54-18 Enidairs, with a .371 batting average, pre-NBC tournament, before being voted 1944 MVP in Wichita.15 The 1945 Enidairs went 7-0 as Deal played the outfield in all seven games and pitched stellar relief twice. He became a two-time Wichita MVP and three-time All-American. “I was glad to serve my country and polish my baseball skills,” said Deal. “Enid’s Vance Air Force Base trains world-class pilots for our Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and allies.”16

ENID’S TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY COLLEGIATE BASEBALL COMEBACK

Semipro baseball in Enid waned from the end of World War II until 1999. A catalyst for jump-starting Enid’s amateur baseball story, which went decades without a first-class baseball stadium, was the building of David Allen Memorial Ballpark. The downtown ballpark opened on September 14, 1999. The stadium is a successful public-private partnership involving the non-profit ballpark association, Enid, its public schools, and Northern Oklahoma College (NOC). The outfield fence is classic brick, and measures 328 feet down the left-field line, 390 feet to center, and 300 feet down the right-field line.17 In addition to high school and semipro games, the ballpark has hosted the Connie Mack League, NJCAA Division II World Series, and Division II NJCAA Regional baseball events. The May 24-31, 2025, World Series was its 16th Classic.

Enid is heavily invested in its World Series, 2009 to 2025, hosting players and coaches for meals, assigning Little League “cheerleaders and buddies” to participating teams, and educating participants about Enid’s baseball history. All Junior College (JUCO) team coaches, players, and fans are a boon to the local economy in terms of week-long hotel stays, purchases of meals, fuel, souvenirs, and other incidentals. Players are transported to David Allen via motorcoach. Tommy Graham, a 2024 East Central (Mississippi) Warriors bus driver, noted: “Enid’s hospitality is great—they support the World Series and visiting teams. I drove the Warriors from Memphis, Tennessee, to Enid. They got to Memphis from Decatur, Mississippi.”18

Enid’s 12-team World Series is a double-elimination format. The LSU-Eunice Bengals won their sixth title since 2009, and eighth overall, including 2006 and 2008. They eliminated St. John’s River (Florida) in the semifinals, 6-5, before defeating Brunswick (North Carolina), 9-3, in the finals. Brunswick edged East Central, 2-1, in the other semifinal.19 LSU-Eunice is 48-12 in 11 NJCAA Division II World Series. Table 1 lists the 2009-2024 JUCO winners.

INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR: 2024 ENID REGIONALS

The eight-team 2024 Enid Regionals, held May 9-13, preceded the May 25-June 1 World Series. South Arkansas Community College from El Dorado won it. Player rosters were set at 30, the same as for Enid’s World Series. The event had an international flavor since 18 of Western Oklahoma State’s 30-player roster were Latino—from the Dominican Republic (7), Puerto Rico (3), Colombia (2), Aruba, Curacao, and Panama with three others via the Bronx, Miami, and Texas.20 This tournament attracted visitors like Jhamil Rivera Sr., from Canóvanas, Puerto Rico, who came to Enid to watch his son, Jhamil Jr., play for Western Oklahoma. He flew from Puerto Rico to Dallas, then to Oklahoma City, then rented a car to drive to Enid.21 The other seven teams mainly had players from Arkansas, Florida, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Jorge Colon Delgado, Cot Deal, Tommy Graham, Luis Olmo, Jhamil Rivera Sr., and Quincy Trouppe.

Sources

Player data from Baseball Reference.

Notes

1. Lloyd Johnson and Miles Wolff, The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, Third Edition (Durham, NC: Baseball America, 2007), 286.

2. The Free Library. S.v. “Semipro baseball’s golden era (1935-1941): a tale of two cities.” Located at: https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Semipro+baseball%27s+golden+era+(1935-1941)%3a+a+tale+of+two+cities.-a0157255634, acccessed January 7, 2025.

3. “Welcome to David Allen Memorial Ballpark,” NJCAA Division II Baseball World Series Program (Enid, OK: David Allen Memorial Ballpark, 2024), 3.

4. Dean A. Sullivan, Middle Innings: A Documentary History of Baseball, 1900-1948 (Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1998), 157-60.

5. Quincy Trouppe, in-person interview, New York, June 1991. Trouppe was fluent in Spanish, having played in Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela.

6. Official Guide National semipro Baseball for 1938 (Wichita, Kansas: National Semipro Baseball Congress, 1938), 14.

7. Official Guide National semipro Baseball for 1939 (Wichita, Kansas: National Semipro Baseball Congress, 1939), 14. Pesky later starred for the Boston Red Sox and became famous for Fenway Park’s “Pesky Pole.” Waitkus may have loosely inspired Bernard Malamud’s 1952 book The Natural, later made into a 1984 film starring Robert Redford.

8. Bob Burke, Kenny Franks, and Royse Parr, Glory Days of Summer: The History of Baseball in Oklahoma (Oklahoma City, OK: Oklahoma Heritage Association, 1999), 40-41.

9. Official Guide National semipro Baseball for 1941 (Wichita, Kansas: National Semipro Baseball Congress, 1941), 120.

10. Thomas E. Van Hyning, “Enid, Oklahoma’s Baseball Links: Late Nineteenth Century to the 21st Century (Part II),” beisbol101.com, May 19, 2024, https://beisbol101.com/enid-oklahomas-baseball-links-late-nineteenth-century-to-the-21st-century-part-ii/, accessed January 7, 2025. This was a five-part series.

11. Luis R. Olmo, in-person interview, Santurce, PR, December 1991.

12. Travis M. Larsen, “Ahead of the Curve: A History of the National Baseball Congress Tournament in Wichita, Kansas, 1935-2005,” (Hays, KS: Fort Hays State University, 2006), 31. Master’s Theses 2208, https://scholars.fhsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3207&context=theses, accessed January 8, 2025.

13. Burke, Franks, and Parr, 49.

14. Gary Bedingfield, “Cot Deal,” Baseball in Wartime, March 6, 2008, https://www.baseballinwartime.com/player_biographies/deal_cot.htm, acccessed January 8, 2025.

15. Bedingfield, March 6, 2008.

16. Cot Deal, telephone interview, January 25, 1992. Deal had a storied 1950-54 Puerto Rico Winter League and minor-league playing career before becoming the Houston Colt 45s’ first pitching coach (1962-64); managing the 1968 and 1969 Oklahoma City 89ers; returning as 89ers coach/interim manager, 1979-82; serving as the Houston Astros 1983-85 outfield coach and defensive coordinator.

17. “Welcome to David Allen Memorial Ballpark,” 3.

18. Tommy Graham, in-person interview, Enid, OK, May 29, 2024.

19. Author’s scorecards, May 31 and June 1, 2024. The author resided in an Enid RV Park, from mid-April to mid-June 2024, and attended the eight-team Regional Tournament and 12-team World Series.

20. NJCAA Baseball 2024 Region II, Division II Tournament Program, 7.

21. Jhamil Rivera Sr., in-person conversation, Enid, OK, May 10, 2024.

Fort Hood’s Student Regiment Team, from the September 23, 1943 issue of The Hood Panther. (Courtesy of tankdestroyer.net) 

When searching “Camp Hood Baseball,” three words come up often: Jackie, Robinson, and court-martial. Numerous articles have been written about Robinson’s time at Camp Hood—many about his August 1944 court-martial after refusing to move to the back of a non-segregated bus1—but far, far less attention has been paid to the baseball actually played at the camp. This article intends to rectify that oversight. Camp Hood featured a full baseball league, with a skillful mix of pro, semipro, and amateur players, as well as multiple segregated Black teams which formed their own ecosystem in the camp and surrounding areas.

Initial construction for Camp Hood was completed in September 1942, and the camp was quickly used to begin training Tank Destroyer (TD) Battalions.2 These Battalions were formed, unsurprisingly, with the goal of destroying Axis tanks and other armored vehicles during World War II. As Army members and their families moved in, they increasingly needed facilities for recreation and non-military uses. Sports at Camp Hood exploded in popularity; by September 1943, an estimated $75,000 had been spent on 140 softball fields, 15 baseball diamonds, a dozen tennis courts, two swimming pools, and more smaller recreation areas than the camp newspaper could be asked to count.3

The baseball diamonds played host to a camp-wide baseball league that ran throughout the summer, featuring 15 teams and weekly standings reports in the Hood Panther, the camp newspaper. Many games were reported on, and I have reconstructed as much of each roster as possible. Teams were divided by military units and split into “A” and “B” Leagues, reminiscent of the AL and NL. The victors of each league, based on win percentage, faced off in a three-game series to decide the year’s champion. The A League consisted of the Student Regiment, the Academic Regiment, the 605th, 635th, 651st, 652nd, and 825th Tank Destroyer Battalions, and the 520th Ordnance Company. The B League consisted of the 113th Cavalry Regiment, the Officer Candidate School, the 744th Tank Battalion, and the 603rd, 650th, 653rd, 656th, 657th, and 801st Tank Destroyer Battalions.

By May 27, the season was underway. The first games were reported in the May 27 edition of the Hood Panther, which ran every two weeks until becoming weekly in early July 1943.4 The Panther was an invaluable resource for my research, and almost all my data on rosters and games come from it. To open their season, the Officer Candidate School (OCS) played against the 520th Ordnance Company, winning, 6-5, on five hits.5

The exact status of this game in the standings is questionable; the 520th only begins appearing in standings at the end of July, with a 0-0 record.6 The early season was marked by a feeling-out process, in which teams were formed and disbanded as games were played and reported on inconsistently, and with indeterminate effects on standings. It was only in July, when the paper began running weekly, that games were more well-reported and overall standings were published semi-regularly.

Several teams disbanded early in the season, or joined the season late and did not substantially affect the standings. These teams include the previously-mentioned 520th Ordnance Company, the 744th Tank Battalion, and the 603rd and 656th Tank Destroyer Battalions. The 744th team withdrew prior to June 8, replaced with the 657th Tank Destroyer Battalion. Their final record was 2-1; their one loss came at the hands of the 801st TD Battalion, 11-9.7 The 520th Ordnance Company officially joined the standings at the end of July, but (excluding the previously mentioned game) only played their first games in mid-August; the final reported record was 0-4.8 The 656th TD Battalion also only played games in late August, with a final published record of 0-3, with no further information.9 The 656th was eventually deployed to Europe, serving in the Rhineland and Central European campaigns.10

The 603rd Tank Destroyer Battalion fared much better than its other late-joining compatriots. By August 26, the team had accumulated 4 wins and 1 loss, including a win over the high-performing 113th Cavalry Regiment.11 The team unfortunately fell at the end, losing out to the OCS in a three-game series to determine the B League champion.12 They went on to play another game against the 635th TD Battalion after the season had concluded.13 The baseball roster included Pvt. Bud Giannini (RF), Pvt. Bill Christopher (P), and “Babe” Goforth (P).14 The Battalion landed in France in July 1944 before fighting in the Battle of the Bulge in the winter of 1944-45. The Battalion would also help to liberate Buchenwald concentration camp on April 11, 1945.15

The 650th, 651st, 652nd, and 653rd TD Battalions all had middling, but full, seasons; their games were largely unreported except where they played the top teams, and their roster info is near non-existent. The two notable games are a 651st win over the 652nd, 7-3, early in the season, and a 17-0 trouncing of the 651st by the Camp Training Brigade.16 The only players noted are from the 651st: Cpl. Jack Jiacomini (P) and Pvt. Savage (C).17 The 650th, 651st, and 653rd were all reorganized into other units; The 652nd served only in the US, guarding and escorting German POWs.18

The Academic Regiment also had little luck during their season, albeit with a few interesting games. The first came in the week before July 29, when they suffered a hefty 22-2 loss to the 635th Tank Destroyer Battalion.19 The second was a victory over the McCloskey Hospital team, played in Temple.20 This game (among others) indicates that off-camp games were not unheard of, even outside of specific events.

The 605th TD Battalion began the season strong, winning three out of their first four games to sit second in the A League.21 However, the wheels quickly fell off; their first loss, to the 635th TD Battalion, came off four home runs.22 The 605th failed to win a single game over the next month, falling to 3-4 and out of contention.23 The unit later served in the Rhineland and Central European campaigns. Regrettably, no information on the baseball roster is provided in any sources, however the 605th Tank Destroyer Battalion website— created and maintained by families of those in the unit—has a wealth of information, including a step-by-step look at the entire unit history.24

The 801st Tank Destroyer Battalion had a season middling in results, but with a number of standout games. Their final reported record was 6-7, but the newspaper tells some further stories.25 They held close contests with some of the high performing teams, including a victory over the 657th TD Battalion, and a tight 3-2 loss to the 113th Cavalry Regiment.26 Towards the end of August, however, the team was falling short; an early August loss to the OCS left the team needing a spark.27 They tried to fan the flames of competition before a game with the 603rd, with the 801st Drum and Bugle Corps playing the team into the game. Unfortunately, the grand entrance seemed to have the opposite effect—the 801st lost, 19-0.28

As the season came to a close, the needs of the Army clashed with the 113th Cavalry Regiment’s baseball schedule. While the unit departed Camp Hood the week after August 26, the baseball team stayed behind to make a last gasp at the Camp Championship.29 The 113th had a very strong season, with a 14-3 record just before playing a final game against the OCS team, also 14-3, to determine who would play the 603rd for the B League title.30 The 113th had beaten the OCS recently: a 7-0 win the week before August 5 and an 8-2 victory off 10 OCS errors a week later.31 T-5 Walter Wlazlek started for the 113th and went three scoreless innings before leaking two runs in the fourth. In the fifth, however, the dam burst, with four additional runs coming off Wlazlek and his replacement, Cpl. John Hubiak, the game ending, 6-2, along with the 113th’s season.32 The unit eventually served in the European Theater, seeing action in Normandy, Northern France, the Rhineland, and Central Europe.

THE SEMIPRO TOURNAMENT TEAMS

From July 15 through August 8, the Texas State Semi-Pro Tournament was played.33 The tournament was also open to military teams, and this drew three participants from Camp Hood: the 657th and 635th Tank Destroyer Battalions, and the Student Regiment Team.

The tournament also welcomed a number of teams and players from other military bases, including some bona-fide professional players.34 In all, the estimated value of the contracts of players in the tournament was greater than $1,000,000 (approximately $18,250,000 inflation-adjusted).35 This included The Fort Worth Army-Air Field, featuring Dutch Meyer and Clyde “Rabbit” McDowell; Camp Wallace, featuring Bruce Divers; San Marcos, featuring McLee Baker.36 The tournament winner would be Waco Army-Air Field, featuring Buster Mills, Hoot Evers, Ernest Nelson, Birdie Tebbetts, and Sid Hudson.37

The Camp Hood Teams interrupted their normal seasons to participate in the tournament. The 657th TD Battalion had a middling performance in both their season and the tournament. They ended 5th in the B League, as well as suffering a difficult 8-1 no-hit defeat at the hands of Jack Smiley and the Camp Wallace team in the semipro tournament.38 The 657th’s colleagues performed much better in the tournament. The 635th would eventually fall in the A League to the Student Regiment at the end of the season but would finish with an impressive 13-2 record.39 The team also made quite a bit of noise in the semipro tournament. Pvt. Bob Shepard pitched the first no-hitter in the tournament’s history (about a week before the above-mentioned Smiley performance), leading the team to an 18-0 win over the Bryan Navigators.40 They would eventually bow out of the tournament at 1-2 but would be awarded the tournament’s Sportsmanship Award due to their cheering section.41 The 635th landed at Omaha Beach on D-Day before participating in campaigns in Northern France, the Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe.42 The Student Regiment also managed to pull out a victory, defeating the San Marcos Flying School, 1-0, off the pitching and batting of Herb Karpel, before falling, 8-3, to the Houston Shipbuilders.43

THE “WORLD SERIES”

At the end of the season, the winners of the A and B Leagues faced each other. Emerging from the A League was the Student Regiment, a collection of students now in the military and including an impressive lineup with genuine professional-level talent. From the B League came the Officer Candidate School, a collection of prospective officers and those who trained them. Both teams had dominated their respective leagues but were set on a three-game series to decide the champion of the 1943 season.

The highlights of the Student Regiment lineup come from two players in particular: T-5 Herb Karpel (P) and Pvt. Henry Stram. Karpel, the team’s ace, was in the Yankees farm system before beginning his military service. He would make several solid performances during the 1943 season and eventually be called up to the Yankees in 1946. There, he would pitch 1.2 innings across two games, giving up two runs. Perhaps more time in the league could have steadied him out, but he never received the opportunity; he languished in AAA until his retirement. Hank Stram has a far more interesting and fruitful story. He never made it to the majors, but after playing football and baseball for Purdue he became a professional football coach, going on to coach the 1960-62 Dallas Texans of the AFL, just before the team became the Kansas City Chiefs. The team won three AFL Championships and a Super Bowl in Stram’s 15 years with them. He went on to be inducted into both the Chiefs and Pro Football Halls of Fame.44

The OCS won an overwhelming majority of their games. The roster consisted of no major-league talent, but some players had amateur and semi-pro experience: David Madison (P) had played previously at LSU, James Newberry played at Texas A&M, and Al Scanland had played football at Oklahoma St. and was selected in the 1943 NFL Draft.45 The graduates of the school would become Second Lieutenants before being distributed across the Army.46 Of players on the team, 2nd Lt. James Newberry, 2nd Lt. Al Scanland, and Cpl. John Scroggins would be killed in action in Europe.47

Game One saw Karpel, the Studes’ ace, hold the OCS to a measly two hits to preserve a 7-0 victory for the Student Regiment.48 Game Two saw the series draw even when the OCS’s David Madison held the Students scoreless in a 5-0 rout, forcing a winner-take-all Game Three.49 Before a crowd of 7,500, Karpel once again took the mound for the Student Regiment, facing off against 2nd Lt. Therone Botoher for the OCS.50 The OCS got off to a strong start, with a pair of singles forcing one man across the plate in the top of the third.51 Karpel quickly regained his composure to shut down the Candidates for the inning.52 Help arrived in the bottom of the fourth, with two runs scoring for the Studes and knocking Botoher out, with the OCS bringing in Madison to attempt to clean up the game.53 Madison stemmed the bleeding in the fourth, but gave up one in the fifth, the game ending in a 3-1 Student Regiment victory off only six hits allowed by Karpel.54

THE “NEGRO LEAGUE” TEAMS

Segregated Black units also formed their own baseball teams at Camp Hood. While they did not play in the A or B Leagues or the semi-pro tournament, they did play fairly consistently against each other and competition outside of Camp Hood. Two teams were particularly represented in the Panther articles: the 827th and 829th Tank Destroyer Battalions.

The 829th “Black Panthers” were reported to have won two games, one against the Trucking Battalion and one against the 827th.55 They also lost two against competition outside of camp, but those were the team’s only two losses by August 12.56 No 829th players are named in the articles. The unit only served in the continental US before being disbanded in March 1944.57

Before serving in the European Theater, the 827th Battalion more regularly caught the eyes of the authors of the Panther, with 10 games explicitly mentioned.58 These include victories throughout the year against the Trucking Battalion and the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion, as well as draws to the 614th (11-1159)and the 758th Tank Destroyer Battalions (6-660). All units mentioned thus far were explicitly Black Battalions, though some were headed by White officers. Outside of the camp, the 827th played the Temple All-Stars and Marlin All-Stars, semipro teams from those towns.61 I could find no evidence of the racial makeup of those teams, including in the Marlin Democrat.

One Camp Hood team, most likely the 827th, also played and defeated the Dallas Green Monarchs, a Black semipro team.62 The last game we know the 827th played, however, is exceptional. Reported in the Panther, the 827th played Camp Hood’s Student Regiment.63 This is the only game I could find evidence for where a White unit played a Black one. It is, to an extent, the “exception that proves the rule”: racism’s longstanding hold on American life and baseball were still firmly in place. But it also illustrated the start of a wider sea-change across American culture. In 1945, the OISE All-Stars, an integrated team, would win the GI World Series in a defeated Germany.64 The next year, Bob Feller and Satchel Paige would lead a “Major League vs. Negro League” barnstorming tour, before finally Camp Hood’s own—or perhaps disowned—Jackie Robinson would break the segregation barrier in 1947.

Rosters and other details regarding Camp Hood baseball can be found in the online appendix.

ANDREW JETT is a lifelong Texas Rangers fan who graduated from Trinity University with a Bachelor’s of Political Science in 2023. Since then, he has volunteered with Retrosheet rectifying discrepancies in play-by-play data of the 1911 and 1910 MLB seasons and worked to deduce play-by-play for Negro Leagues games based on newspaper stories. He currently works at the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum. This upcoming fall, he will begin a Master’s program in Holocaust Studies at Royal Holloway in London.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Aaron Jett, Anne Hanisch, and the Eisenhower Presidential Library for their assistance in my research.

Notes

1. Erin Clancey, “United States v. 2LT Jack R. Robinson,” National World War II Museum, accessed February 17, 2025, https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/united-states-v-jack-r-robinson.

2. Frederick L. Briuer, “Fort Cavazos: History, Significance, and Community Impact.” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed February 17, 2025, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/fort-hood. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.

3. PFC Keith Quick, “On The Ball,” Hood Panther, September 16, 1943, 8, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_26_Vol._1_9-16-43.pdf.

4. “OCS Baseball Nine Defeats Ordnance,” Hood Panther, May 27, 1943, 8, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_13_Vol._1_5-27-43.pdf; “Panther Now Published On Weekly Basis,” Hood Panther, July 8, 1943, 1, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_16_Vol._1_7-8-43.pdf.

5. “OCS Baseball Nine Defeats Ordnance,” Hood Panther, May 27, 1943, 8, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_13_Vol._1_5-27-43.pdf.

6. “Baseball Standings,” Hood Panther, July 29, 1943, 8, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_19_Vol._1_7-29-43.pdf.

7. “Baseball Standings,” Hood Panther, July 8, 1943, 8, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_16_Vol._1_7-8-43.pdf.

8. “Baseball Standings,” Hood Panther, August 26, 1943, 8, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_23_Vol._1_8-26-43.pdf.

9. “Baseball Standings,” Hood Panther, August 26, 1943, 8, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_23_Vol._1_8-26-43.pdf.

10. “656th Tank Destroyer Battalion,” tankdestroyer.net, accessed February 12, 2025. https://tankdestroyer.net/units/battalions600s/292-656th-tank-destroyer-battalion/.

11. “Baseball Standings,” Hood Panther, August 26, 1943, 8, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_23_Vol._1_8-26-43.pdf; “Undefeated in Eight Games,” Hood Panther, August 19, 1943, 8, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_22_Vol._1_8-19-43.pdf.

12. “OCS Nine Wins 3 To 1 From 603rd in Seventh,” Hood Panther, September 2, 1943, 8, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_24_Vol._1_9-2-43.pdf; “OCS Nine Wins ‘B’ League Title; Post Series Starts Friday Night,” Hood Panther, September 9, 1943, 8, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_25_Vol._1_9-9-43.pdf.

13. “635th Wins From 603rd,” Hood Panther, September 30, 1943, 8, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_28_Vol._1_9-30-43.pdf.

14. “OCS Wins 3 To 1 From 603rd,” Hood Panther, September 2, 1943, 1, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_24_Vol._1_9-2-43.pdf; “OCS Nine Wins 3 To 1 From 603rd in Seventh,” Hood Panther, September 2, 1943, 8, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_24_Vol._1_9-2-43.pdf; PFC Walter H. Glaser, “OCS Nine Wins ‘B’ League Title; Post Series Starts Friday Night,” Hood Panther, September 9, 1943, 8, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_25_Vol._1_9-9-43.pdf.

15. “603rd Tank Destroyer Battalion,” tankdestroyer.net, accessed February 12, 2025. https://tankdestroyer.net/units/battalions600s/198-603rd-tank-destroyer-battalion/.

16. “651st Bn. Ball Club Victors,” Hood Panther, July 22, 1943, 5, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_18_Vol._1_7-22-43.pdf; “Training Brig. Wins 17 to 0 Game From 651st Battalion,” Hood Panther, September 9, 1943, 8, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_25_Vol._1_9-9-43.pdf.

17. “651st Bn. Ball Club Victors.”

18. “652nd Tank Destroyer Battalion,” tankdestroyer.net, accessed February 12, 2025. https://tankdestroyer.net/units/battalions600s/240-652nd-tank-destroyer-battalion/.

19. “635th Team Back In Race,” Hood Panther, July 29, 1943, 7, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_19_Vol._1_7-29-43.pdf.

20. “Academic Team Wins 6 To 2 From Hospital,” Hood Panther, July 29, 1943, 8, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_19_Vol._1_7-29-43.pdf.

21. “Baseball Standings,” July 8, 1943.

22. PFC Keith Quick, “On the Ball,” Hood Panther, July 8, 1943 8, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_16_Vol._1_7-8-43.pdf.

23. “Baseball Standings,” August 5, 1943.

24. See https://www.605tdb.com/.

25. “Baseball Standings,” Hood Panther, August 26, 1943, 8, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_23_Vol._1_8-26-43.pdf.

26. “801st Baseball Team Wins From 657th 7 to 6,” Hood Panther, July 29, 1943, 8, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_19_Vol._1_7-29-43.pdf; “113th Wins Again,” Hood Panther, July 29, 1943, 7, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_19_Vol._1_7-29-43.pdf.

27. “OCS Team Wins 7-0 From 801st,” Hood Panther, August 5, 1943, 8, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_20_Vol._1_8-5-43.pdf.

28. “Undefeated in Eight Games,” Hood Panther, August 19, 1943, 8, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_22_Vol._1_8-19-43.pdf.

29. “113th Team Stays Here But Loses,” Hood Panther, September 2, 1943, 8, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_24_Vol._1_9-2-43.pdf.

30. “Baseball Standings,”August 26, 1943. “113th Team Stays Here But Loses.”

31. “113th Cavalry Adds Another Win To List,” Hood Panther, August 5, 1943, 7, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_20_Vol._1_8-5-43.pdf; “113th Cavalry Defeats OCS Regiment Players,” Hood Panther, August 12, 1943, 7, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_21_Vol._1_8-12-43.pdf.

32. “113th Team Stays Here But Loses.”

33. “Semi-Pro Tourney Opens at Waco,” The West News, July 16, 1943, 9, https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth589773/m1/9/.

34. “Semi-Pro Tourney Opens at Waco.”

35. “Semi-Pro Tourney Opens at Waco.”

36. “Texas Semi-Pro Opener Tonight,” Abilene Reporter-News, July 22, 1943, 9, https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1757685/m1/9/; “Camp Hood Teams Set New Records in Semi-Pro,” Hood Panther, August 5, 1943, 8, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_20_Vol._1_8-5-43.pdf; “No Hitter Features Semi-Pro Tourney,” Abilene Reporter-News, July 29, 1943, 11, https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1635806/m1/11/.

37. “Waco Fliers Win,” Abilene Reporter-News, July 24, 1943, 2, https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1635801/m1/2/; PFC Keith Quick, “On the Ball,” Hood Panther, July 29, 1943, 8, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_19_Vol._1_7-29-43.pdf; “Waco Nabs Texas Semi-Pro Title,” Abilene Reporter-News, August 9, 1943, 7, https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1635817/m1/7/.

38. “Baseball Standings,” August 26, 1943. “Camp Hood Teams Set New Records in Semi-Pro,” Hood Panther, August 5, 1943, 8, https://tankde-stroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_20_Vol._1_8-5-43.pdf.

39. “Baseball Standings,” August 26, 1943. “Studes Win ‘A’ League,” Hood Panther, August 26, 1943, 7, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_23_Vol._1_8-26-43.pdf.

40. “No Hitter Features Semi-Pro Tourney.”

41. Quick, “On The Ball.”

42. “635th Tank Destroyer Battalion,” tankdestroyer.net, accessed February 17, 2025. https://tankdestroyer.net/units/battalions600s/222-635th-tank-destroyer-battalion/; Gene Smith, “Kansans retrace their steps from Omaha Beach to Austria,” Topeka Capital-Journal, June 3, 1984. https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/635th-Top-Cap_Jnl_Article.pdf.

43. “Student Nine Wins Opener In Semi-Pro,” Hood Panther, July 29, 1943, 8, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_19_Vol._1_7-29-43.pdf; Quick, “On the Ball.”

44. “Hank Stram,” Sports Reference, accessed February 17, 2025. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/StraHa0.htm; “1987 I Hank Stram I Coach,” Chiefs Hall of Honor, accessed February 17, 2025. https://www.chiefs.com/hallofhonor/players/hankstram.

45. “OCS Team Wins 7-0 From 801st,” Hood Panther, August 5, 1943, 8, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_20_Vol._1_8-5-43.pdf; “James Newberry,” Baseball’s Greatest Sacrifice, accessed February 17, 2025, https://www.baseballsgreatestsacrifice.com/biographies/newberry_james.html; “1943 NFL Draft,” Sports Reference, accessed February 17, 2025, https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1943/draft.htm.

46. “Sport Stars to Get Bars,” Hood Panther, November 4, 1943, 8, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_33_Vol._1_11-4-43.pdf.

47. “James Newberry,” Baseball’s Greatest Sacrifice, accessed February 17, 2025. https://www.baseballsgreatestsacrifice.com/biographies/newberry_james.html; “38th Armored Infantry Battalion Deaths in Europe,” 7thArmdDiv.org, accessed February 17, 2025. https://www.7tharmddiv.org/38deapho.htm; “Cpl. John Paul Scroggins,” findagrave.com, accessed February 17, 2025. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/62987595/john-paul-scroggins.

48. “Student Regt. Camp Champs Defeats OCS Nine, 3 To 1, In Last Tilt,” Hood Panther, September 16, 1943, 8, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_26_Vol._1_9-16-43.pdf

49. PFC Keith Quick, “Two Baseball Squads Finish Unusual Season,” Hood Panther, September 23, 1943, 8, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_27_Vol._1_9-23-43.pdf.

50. “Student Regt. Camp Champs Defeats OCS Nine, 3 To 1, In Last Tilt,” Hood Panther, September 16, 1943, 8, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_26_Vol._1_9-16-43.pdf.

51. “Student Regt. Camp Champs Defeats OCS Nine, 3 To 1, In Last Tilt.”

52. “Student Regt. Camp Champs Defeats OCS Nine, 3 To 1, In Last Tilt.”

53. “Student Regt. Camp Champs Defeats OCS Nine, 3 To 1, In Last Tilt.”

54. “Student Regt. Camp Champs Defeats OCS Nine, 3 To 1, In Last Tilt.”

55. “The ‘Black Panthers’ Win Baseball Game From Trucking Bn.,” Hood Panther, August 12, 1943, 7, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_21_Vol._1_8-12-43.pdf; “829th Bn. Ball Club Victors,” Hood Panther, July 15, 1943, 8,. https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_17_Vol._1_7-15-43.pdf.

56. “The ‘Black Panthers’ Win Baseball Game From Trucking Bn.”

57. “829th Tank Destroyer Battalion (AA),” tankdestroyer.net, accessed February 14, 2025. https://tankdestroyer.net/units/battalions800s/287-829th-tank-destroyer-battalion/.

58. “827th Tank Destroyer Battalion (AA),” tankdestroyer.net, accessed February 17, 2025. https://tankdestroyer.net/units/battalions800s/285-827th-tank-destroyer-battalion-aa/.

59. “827th and 614th Teams Battle To Tie,” Hood Panther, September 2, 1943, 8, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_24_Vol._1_9-2-43.pdf.

60. “827th Ties With 758th,” Hood Panther, September 23, 1943, 8, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_27_Vol._1_9-23-43.pdf.

61. “827 Bn. Club Beats Temple Team, Truck. Bn.,” Hood Panther, July 15, 1943, 8, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_17_Vol._1_7-15-43.pdf; “827th Loses Two Games,” Hood Panther, August 19, 1943, 8, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_22_Vol._1_8-19-43.pdf.

62. Elgin Hychew, “Monarch Face Army in Three Gamer at Rebel,” Dallas Express, June 19, 1943, 10, https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1760037/m1/10/.

63. “827th Loses Two Games,” Hood Panther, August 19, 1943, 8, https://tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs2/CHP_Issue_22_Vol._1_8-19-43.pdf.

64. John Rosengren, “GI World Series of 1945 Featured Diverse Heroes of the Diamond,” National Baseball Hall of Fame, accessed February 17, 2025. https://baseballhall.org/discover/gi-world-series-of-1945-featured-diverse-heroes-of-the-diamond.

Sponsor Herbert L. Kokernot Jr. and manager Tom Chandler view the Alpine Cowboys practice at Kokernot Field in 1956. (Courtesy of Rick Herrscher)

Thanks to a successful, quiet, unassuming, and very generous rancher named Herbert Kokernot, the most remote part of the great state of Texas, sometimes referred to as Far West Texas, has a rich baseball history. Alpine, Texas sits about 25 miles southeast of the Davis Mountains and about 80 miles north of Big Bend National Park. It’s the land of cactus, desert willows, mule deer and javelinas, and, surprisingly enough, baseball.

Alpine has about 6,000 residents with the nearest commercial airport about three hours away, whether one chooses the Midland-Odessa Airport or El Paso. It is the seat of Brewster County, the largest by far of Texas’s 254 counties with almost half as many square miles (6,169) as people (about 9,500). Marfa, better known because of the mysterious Marfa Lights and as an art haven, 25 miles to the west, has all of 1,600 people and is the county seat of neighboring Presidio County. Fort Davis, population 855 and the county seat of Jeff Davis County, lies 25 miles to the northwest.

Baseball had been played in Alpine and the Big Bend area since the late nineteenth century with the soldiers at Fort Davis squaring off against cowboys from local ranches, especially on the Fourth of July. By the turn of the century, Alpine had a town team which played against teams from Fort Stockton, Marfa, Marathon, Fort Davis, Pecos, and Sanderson. With the arrival of the Orient Railroad in Brewster County around 1910, the local club became known as the Orient Team for a few years. Later they were called the Alpine Blues, and then the Vaqueros.1

Around 1945 a man named C. West, reputed to be a former big-league pitcher, moved to Alpine, opened the Texas Cafe and organized a local baseball team called the Alpine Cats. Fitted with new uniforms, the Cats won 11 of 12 games and attracted the attention of Herbert J. Kokernot Jr. Generally known as “Mr. Herbert,” he was the wealthy scion of the sprawling Kokernot O6 (pronounced “oh six”) Ranch, which covered some 320,000 acres in Brewster, Jeff Davis, and Pecos Counties. Kokernot had played baseball in high school at the San Marcos Baptist Academy and later as a .300 hitting infielder for the Alpine Independents town team.2 To say he had a passion for the game would be an understatement. Before the 1946 season began, Kokernot had donated land for a ballpark for the Cats and he oversaw the construction of a somewhat makeshift ballpark with wooden planks, chicken wire, a corrugated tin roof, and the O6 brand on the wooden fences.3

Kokernot was soon all in and bought the Cats that summer, renaming the team the Cowboys and outfitting them with new uniforms. Herbert Kokernot Sr. had long ago turned over the running of the O6 Ranch to his son and lived in the more civilized San Antonio. On the father’s annual visit to Alpine that summer, Herbert Jr. told his dad—who cared little for baseball—about his purchase of the ballclub and drove him by the ballpark. Days later, when Herbert Sr. was about to board a train back to San Antonio, he turned and looked his boy in the eye and said, “Son, if you’re going to put the O6 brand on something, do that thing right.” He then climbed on the train and left.4

That was all the encouragement Herbert Jr. needed. He decided to start over with a new ballpark and picked a spot just west of the Sul Ross State College campus. Herbert Jr. spared no expense, spending an estimated $1.25 million on Kokernot Field, which opened in May 1947. The ballpark had a completely roofed, concrete, 1,200-seat grandstand, with wooden seats with individual arm and was rests, faced with local reddish-brown stone. On a visit to Georgia, Kokernot had admired the state’s rich, red clay, and so ordered enough for the infield and had it shipped to Alpine by boxcar. Real Bermuda grass covered the playing field. The stone outfield wall was adorned with the O6 brand, with center field a daunting 430 feet from the plate.

Mr. Herbert also paid attention to detail, commissioning decorative iron baseballs from a San Antonio metalworks and having red stitches painted on them. They were hung in clusters over the stone entrance gates.5 A rose garden led to the concession stand which sported a red Spanish tile roof and was framed by pewter bats.6 Gardeners planted flowers and ivy outside the park and the outfield walls were painted bright blue, making Kokernot Field appear to be a baseball oasis in the middle of its arid surroundings.7 One writer describe the decor as “Early Cooperstown.”8

Kokernot outfitted the team with new uniforms with the O6 brand on the sleeve and soon sought to bring in talented semiprofessional players from throughout the state, rather than rely on those available locally. Soon the team became mostly college players, including a number from Sul Ross. His goal was to qualify for the National Baseball Congress Tournament in Wichita, Kansas, which annually attracted the best semiprofessional teams in the country. In 1947, the Cowboys won 20 of 26 games and also won the Sixth Annual Southwestern Semiprofessional Baseball Tournament in El Paso, thus qualifying for Wichita. Mr. Herbert chartered a Pullman for the team to travel in style. After four wins in the Wichita tournament, they lost to the Florida Railroaders in their first bid for a national championship.9

Tom Chandler of Baylor was a stalwart on the first Cowboys teams. He developed a close relationship with Kokernot and in 1952 began a very successful run as coach of the team.10 Together they recruited college stars including Adrian Burk and Larry Isbell of Baylor, and Yale Lary of Texas A&M, later an all-pro defensive back with the Detroit Lions. Later in the decade, future major leaguers Carl Warwick of TCU and Rick Herrscher of SMU played for the Cowboys, as well as other Southwest Conference stars like SMU’s Tommy Bowers and Larry Click and Jerry Mallett of Baylor.

Sul Ross had a strong NAIA baseball program, winning the national championship in 1957, held at Kokernot Field, and many of their top players suited up for the Cowboys in the summer, including Norm Cash, who went on to a stellar major league career with the Detroit Tigers.11

Kokernot and Chandler developed nationwide baseball contacts and in 1957 were called by Milwaukee Braves scout Gil English about a high school farm boy from North Carolina’s Tobacco Road area who threw very hard but was a raw talent. The Cowboys had never had a high schooler, but were convinced to give this one, whose name was Gaylord Perry, a shot. Perry, however, had flunked his English class that spring, and had to somehow make it up to be eligible for his senior year. The team arranged for Perry to take a correspondence course from Texas Tech to make up the course.12

Manager Chandler initially told Perry not to throw too hard in response to Perry’s concern that he might hit someone because he was so wild.13 In a game against the Sinton Oilers, Perry was getting knocked around until he asked Chandler, “Can I just throw harder?” Chandler said yes, and Perry was pretty much untouchable for the rest of the summer.14

Perry’s off-the-field problem, passing English, persisted. Willowdean Chandler, Tom’s wife, was Perry’s correspondence course tutor, but the lack of a workbook hindered his progress in the course. Mrs. Chandler took to filling in the answers to his assignments—careful not to answer them all correctly—and then sending them in. The final exam posed a problem, however, because it had to be taken in front of a high school principal. It turned out that Chuck Ellis, the principal of Marathon High School, 25 miles east of Alpine, loved the Cowboys baseball team, so he and his wife and Chandler and Willowdean took the exam for Perry while in the car driving to a road game.15

Under NCAA rules, college athletes were not allowed to be paid for playing their sport in the summer, so Kokernot hired the players for $400 a month to work on his ranch, while they played baseball for the Cowboys ostensibly for free. One of the typical jobs was killing jackrabbits, which were a plague on the ranch. The players used old Jeeps and drove through the prairie armed with .22s and even pistols, chasing the rabbits down until the critters tired and stopped.16

Kokernot Field (Courtesy of Rick Herrscher)

In 1955, the big local event was the filming of the movie Giant in Marfa, 25 miles away. The movie starred Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean, and included a 19-year-old Dennis Hopper. During the shooting, it was arranged for the Alpine team to visit the famous house set and meet the actors. Doyle Stout, one of pitchers for the Cowboys, had a conversation with James Dean in which Dean asked. “What do you guys do here for excitement?” Stout replied that hunting jackrabbits from the hood of his car, armed with 35-inch baseball bats, was one of his favorite pastimes. Dean thought that sounded great, and a couple of days later joined some of the ballplayers, “yelling, cursing, and swinging and having a great time, although he didn’t hit a lot of rabbits.”17

Mr. Herbert was nothing if not generous with his players and annually donated bushels of scholarships to enable students to attend Sul Ross. He often rewarded players for home runs or well-pitched games with a $50 or $100 bill and hosted frequent barbecues at his ranch for the entire team. In the early years of the Cowboys, the players stayed at the Holland Hotel in downtown Alpine and just signed for their meals; Mr. Herbert took care of all their food and lodging. However, after Larry Isbell, a high-profile player from Baylor, abused the practice by buying a new set of tires for his car and a trolling boat on Kokernot’s credit, the players were relegated to the dorms at Sul Ross.18

Kokernot, ever the baseball enthusiast, also sometimes enlisted major league teams to play spring training exhibition games in Alpine, beginning with a Cubs-Browns tilt in 1949, played before a sellout crowd.19 In 1951, Satchel Paige and the St. Louis Browns took on the Chicago White Sox as a reported 6,000 fans from all over the area crammed into Kokernot Field. Mr. Herbert announced that he would pay $100 to the player on each team who got the most hits, plus other cash prizes for most total bases, strikeouts, and assists.20 Paige, who pitched one inning of the game, remarked to Kokernot before the game how much he liked his white Stetson. By the time of the postgame barbeque at the O6 ranch, Kokernot had arranged to pass out white cowboy hats to the entire Browns team.21

In 1953 the Browns and Cubs again played at Kokernot Field as Mr. Herbert handed out $1,900 in “bonuses” for top performances, including $500 to the Browns for the winning the game.22 In early April 1956, another jammed house saw Ernie Banks blast two home runs over the left-field fence during a Cubs-Orioles exhibition game that the Cubs won 16-4.23 In the third inning, an Air Force fighter jet, probably stationed in Del Rio, zoomed over the field at about 500 feet, causing some, like Cubs pitcher Russ Meyer and umpire Stan Landes, to dive for cover.24

Newcombe never forgot Mr. Herbert’s generosity and left tickets for him for Game Seven of the 1955 World Series.25 Of course, Johnny Podres, who had just turned 22, famously pitched the Brooklyn Dodgers to their first World Championship in that game with a 2-0 shutout over the New York Yankees. Afterwards, Kokernot managed to push his way up to Podres in the Dodgers clubhouse. Mr. Herbert told Podres he wanted him to come to Alpine to pitch sometime, and when he whispered a figure in Podres’ ear, he got the lefty’s attention.26

The opportunity probably came sooner than expected. In 1956, the Cowboys fielded a very strong team behind such stalwarts (and future big leaguers) as Rick Herrscher of SMU and Jacke Davis of Baylor and qualified for the National Baseball Congress Tournament in Wichita. Teams often used ringers in Wichita and the Cowboys made a real splash by adding Podres—who was then in the Navy—and future National League Rookie of the Year Jack Sanford, who was also in the service. Podres flew to Wichita and struck out seven in four innings in an eventual 23-2 Cowboys victory, while also going 4-for-5 at the plate.27 Podres later recalled that Mr. Herbert paid him $1,000 to pitch, plus $100 a strikeout.28

Jack Sanford also pitched and won a game for the Cowboys in Wichita, but protests ensued, and the military leaves of both players were canceled. The Cowboys ended up finishing third in the tournament.29

For years Kokernot planned to add lights to the field, so people with weekday jobs could attend games, and he visited ballparks around the country to find the best lighting available. He was ready to have them installed before the 1958 season, telling his contractor, “I want lights better than Yankee Stadium.” When the lights were switched on before the Cowboys’ first game of 1958, a tilt against the Dyess Air Force Base Sonics, the crowd gasped and cheered as 435,000 watts bathed the field.30

Before the game, Mr. Herbert visited the Cowboys’ dugout and offered a $100 bill to the first player to hit a home run under the lights. The result was that everyone swung from the heels, with few making good contact and no one hitting a homer. In fact, it took several games before Gene Leek of the University of Arizona finally sent one out of the park.31

Aerial view of Kokernot Field in the early 1950s. (Courtesy of Rick Herrscher)

Those ‘58 Cowboys were a juggernaut, led by future major league pitcher Joe Horlen and his shortstop brother, Bill, from San Antonio. They finished the summer with a 45-5 record—with Horlen going 12-1—and again qualifying for the National Baseball Congress tournament in Wichita. There the team advanced to the championship game, but fell to the Drain, Oregon, Black Sox in a nail-biting final, 8-7, to finish second.32

In 1959, with it becoming more difficult for the Cowboys to find semipro and military teams in the region to play, Kokernot, perhaps against his better instincts, entered into a working agreement with the Boston Red Sox to field a team in the Class D Sophomore League. Mr. Herbert insisted that the team be called the Cowboys and refused to permit the typical outfield fence advertising signs favored by minor league teams.33 Alpine was the smallest city in affiliated baseball and literally half the town, 2.500 people, turned out for the opener, an 18-1 shellacking of San Angelo.34 It was a precursor of the season to come as the team won 88 games against just 34 losses. Led by Don Schwall, who won 23 games, and Chuck Schilling, who batted .340, the Cowboys at one juncture won 15 games in a row and topped their four-team division by a whopping 34 games. Just two years later with the Boston Red Sox, Schwall would be named American League Rookie of the Year while Schilling would place fourth in the balloting.35

The 1960 club, led by future American League All-Star Jim Fregosi—who later called Kokernot Field the best ballpark he ever played in36—won the regular season by six games with a 76-52 record before losing the playoffs to Hobbs, two games to one. Mel Parnell, the former Red Sox ace, was sent to manage the ‘61 club, but before the season was out, Boston announced it would not renew its working agreement. That was fine with Mr. Herbert, who lamented how the Red Sox treated the players, buying and selling them like cattle.37

Kokernot Field then became the home park to Sul Ross, and when Sul Ross dropped baseball in 1968, to the Alpine High School Fighting Bucks. But the field gradually fell into disrepair until Sul Ross restarted its baseball program in 1984. The school leased the park and put $150,000 into its refurbishment.38 Mr. Herbert consented to throw out the first pitch for the Lobos’ first game in 16 years. Kokernot passed away in 1987, at age 87, leaving behind a beautiful ballpark, plus a legacy of generosity, kindness, and love for the game of baseball.

Mr. Herbert’s paean to the great game in Far West Texas thus lives on.

C. PAUL ROGERS III is president of the Ernie Banks-Bobby Bragan (Dallas-Fort Worth) SABR Chapter and the co-author of four baseball books, including The Whiz Kids and the 1950 Pennant written with his boyhood hero Robin Roberts, and Lucky Me: My 65 Years in Baseball authored with Eddie Robinson. He is also co-editor of SABR team histories of the 1951 New York Giants and the 1950 Philadelphia Phillies as well as a frequent contributor to the SABR bio and games projects. His real job is as a law professor at SMU where he was dean of the law school for nine years and has served as the university’s faculty athletic representative for 38 years.

Notes

1. Betty L. Dillard and Karen L. Green, “Beeves and Baseball: The Story of the Alpine Cowboys,” The Journal of Big Bend Studies (Vol. 11, 1999): 172.

2. Dillard and Green, 173-75.

3. Nicolas Dawidoff, “The Best Little Ballpark in Texas (Or Anywhere Else),” Sports Illustrated (July 31, 1989).

4. Dick Sheffield, “A Field of West Texas Dreams,” Boston Sunday Globe, March 21, 1999: A12; Dawidoff.

5. Dillard and Green, 177.

6. William M. Adler, “Just Imagine: the Kokernot Yankees,” New York Daily News, February 20, 2000: 1245.

7. Dillard and Green, 177.

8. Ray Buck, “Love Field,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, June 29, 2003: 48.

9. In 1948 the Cowboys made it back to Wichita, only to exit the tournament early. When Mr. Herbert learned that the team from Glen Ridge, New Jersey was out of funds and stranded, he charitably offered them the hotel rooms being vacated by Alpine and paid their expenses for the balance of the tournament. Glen Ridge, dubbed the New Jersey Cowboys, finished the tournament in fourth place. Dillard and Green, 178; Buck, 48.

10. Tom Chandler went on the become the highly successful baseball coach at Texas A&M University, where in 26 years, he won five Southwest Conference championships and was named Coach of the Year seven times. He was elected to the Texas A&M Athletic Hall of Fame in 1991.

11. Dawidoff.

12. David Vaught, Spitter—Baseball’s Notorious Gaylord Perry (College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 2023): 69.

13. DJ Stout, The Amazing Tale of Mr. Herbert and His Fabulous Alpine Cowboys Baseball Club (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2010): 147.

14. Sheffield, A12.

15. Stout, 147; Vaught, 70-71.

16. Robert L. McCartha, Texas Heat, Chicago Fire: The Remarkable Life of Joe Horlen(North Charleston, SC, 2017): 57-58.

17. Stout, 159.

18. Interview with Rick Herrscher, January 21, 2025; Sheffield, A12.

19. The Cubs won 7-6 as Roy Smalley hit a home run for the Cubs and Al Zarilla and Gerry Priddy hit for the circuit for the Browns. L.A. McMaster, “Browns Find Baseball In Alpine, Tex., Costs Plenty to Kokernots,” St Louis Post-Dispatch, April 1, 1949: 36.

20. The White Sox won 3-1 with two runs in the bottom of the eighth to break a 1-1 tie. “3,000 See Chisox Victory At Alpine,” San Angelo Standard-Times, March 31, 1951: 4.

21. Dawidoff; Dillard and Green, 185.

22. The final score was 9-4 behind 16 hits by the Browns. L.A. McMaster, “Browns Collect 16 Hits, A 9-4 Victory and $1330 In Big Payoff With Cubs,” St Louis Post-Dispatch, April 3, 1953: 33.

23. Chuck Whitlock, “Chicago Cubs Slaughter Baltimore Orioles, 16-4,” El Paso Times, April 6,1956: 34.

24. “Cubs Rout Orioles, 16-4, At Alpine’s Kokernot Field,” San Angelo Standard-Times, April 6, 1956: 19; Stout, 175.

25. Sheffield, A12.

26. Dawidoff.

27. Stout, 179.

28. Dawidoff.

29. Stout, 179.

30. Stout, 202.

31. Stout, 213.

32. McCartha, 59-60.

33. “Kokernot To Skip Fence Signs,” El Paso Times, January 25, 1959: 34.

34. Dawidoff.

35. In other words, both would jump from Class D to starring roles in the Major Leagues in just two years.

36. Dawidoff.

37. Stout, 235. Seventeen year-old Dalton Jones, who played nine years in the big leagues, was on the ‘61 Cowboys, who finished 62-63, good for fourth place in the six team Sophomore League.

38. Mark Rogers, “Field of Dreams,” Odessa American, October 16, 1989: 9; Buck, 48.

39. Bill Rogan, Life Ain’t the Same in the Pecos League (Self-published, 2020).

40. http://pecosleague.com/pecosleague.asp?page=2.