Southwest Texas League

The Southwest Texas League was a minor league baseball league that played in the 1910 and 1911 seasons. The Southwest Texas League played as a six–team Class D league and consisted of teams based entirely in Texas.

Southwest Texas League

Sport	Minor league baseball, Class D (1910-1911), Independent (1936)
Founded	1910
Ceased	1911
No. of teams	6
Country	United States
Most titles	1 Brownsville Brownies (1910) Beeville Orange Growers (1911)

History

The Southwest Texas League began play as a six–team Class D minor league in the 1910 season, with all six franchises based in Texas. The league president was B.S. Dickinson. Charter members were the Bay City Rice Eaters from Bay City, Texas, Beeville Orange Growers from Beeville, Texas, Brownsville Brownies from Brownsville, Texas, Corpus Christi Pelicans from Corpus Christi, Texas, Laredo Bermudas from Laredo, Texas and Victoria Rosebuds from Victoria, Texas.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]

In their first season of league play, games began on April, 21 1910. The league was divided into half–seasons, with the Victoria Rosebuds winning the first half and the Brownsville Brownies winning the second half. The league had a total of five no-hitter games in 1910. The first occurred on April 29, 1910, when Henry Trigg of Corpus Christi threw a no-hitter against the Brownsville Brownies in a 1–0 victory. On May 29, 1910, Si Platzer of Bay City threw a no-hitter against Corpus Christi, winning the game 2–0. On June 26, 1910, John Taff, pitching for Brownsville threw the league's third no-hitter of the season, defeating Corpus Christi 1–0. John Taff threw his second no-hitter of the season on July 14, 1910, defeating Beeville 5–0. In a losing effort, Desiderio Hernandez, pitching for Laredo threw the fifth league no-hitter of the season on July 30, 1910, losing to Corpus Christi 3–2. [10][11][12]

Victoria, who won the first half pennant, also had the league's best overall record at 72–45. Brownsville, had the second best overall record at 68–47, winning the second half pennant. Both finished ahead of the 3rd place Bay City Rice Eaters (59–56), followed by Laredo (54–61), Beeville (52–64) and Corpus Christi (42–74), who had been involved in four no-hit games in 1910. Victoria was led by a league leading 28 wins from pitcher Larry Gilbert. In the 1910 Finals, the Brownsville Brownies defeated the Victoria Rosebuds 4 games to 2.[13][8][11][10]

In 1911, B.S. Dickinson continued as Southwest Texas League president and the league played what would be their final season. All six teams returned for the second season of league play During the 1911 season. On May 27, 1911, Will Wehrman, pitching for Bay City threw a no-hitter against the Laredo Bermudas in a 6–0 victory. The Corpus Christi Pelicans surrendered the franchise to the league on July 17, 1911 and the club eventually folded on August 13, 1911 with a 46–70 record. The Victoria Rosebuds disbanded on August 11, 1911 with a 54–59 record. With four teams finishing the regular season, the Bay City Rice Eaters won the first half pennant and Beeville won the second half title. Bay City had the best overall record with a 67–51 record, followed by Brownsville, who finished 2.0 games behind with a 64–52 overall record, Beeville (63–54) and Laredo (55–63).[14][15][16][17]

Based on the split–season format, Bay City and Beeville were scheduled to play in the 1911 finals. It was reported that the league wanted to retrieve the 1910 championship trophy from Brownsville to reuse for the 1911 finals, but Brownsville refused to part with the trophy. The 1911 Finals Southwest Texas League were not held, as the Beeville Orange Growers were awarded the Championship after Bay City refused to play in the finals. It was reported that Bay City was concerned about Beeville fan behavior based on earlier incidents. The league permanently folded after the 1911 season.[14][15][8][16][10][17][18][19]

In 1936, a league named the Southwest Texas League reformed as a four–team Independent League. Eagle Pass, Del Rio, Uvalde and Laredo fielded teams. No league standings or statistics are known.[20]

1910–1911 Southwest Texas League teams

Team name(s)	City represented	Ballpark	Year(s) active
Bay City Rice Eaters	Bay City, Texas	Tenth Street Park[21]	1910 to 1911
Beeville Orange Growers	Beeville, Texas	The ballpark[22]	1910 to 1911
Brownsville Brownies	Brownsville, Texas	Lions Park	1910 to 1911
Corpus Christi Pelicans	Corpus Christi, Texas	Unknown	1910 to 1911
Laredo Bermudas	Laredo, Texas	Laredo Ballpark[23]	1910 to 1911
Victoria Rosebuds	Victoria, Texas	Cardinal Park	1910 to 1911

1910–1911 Southwest Texas League standings

1910 standings

Team Standings	W	L	PCT	GB	Managers
Victoria Rosebuds	72	45	.615	-	Jack Burke
Brownsville Brownies	68	47	.591	3	S.H.Bell / Leo Hellman / Kerr Price
Bay City Rice Eaters	59	56	.513	12	Ed Haralson / John Blakeney / Louis Hamilton
Laredo Bermudas	54	61	.470	17	George Page / Tomlin
Beeville Orange Growers	52	64	.448	19.5	Trapper Longley / J.C. Woessner
Corpus Christi Pelicans	42	74	.362	29.5	Patrick Murphy / Billy Page

1911 standings

Team Standings	W	L	PCT	GB	Managers
Bay City Rice Eaters	67	51	.568	-	Louis Hamilton/Ed Haralson/J.H. Morehead
Brownsville Brownies	64	52	.552	2	O.H. Boston/S.H. Bell
Beeville Orange Growers	63	54	.538	3.5	Ted Schultz/Billy Disch
Laredo Bermudas	55	63	.466	12	John Blakeney/Lucky Wright
Victoria Rose Buds	54	59	.478	NA	Hart McCormick/J. Linebaugh/Jack Burke
Corpus Christi Pelicans	46	70	.397	NA	Henry Hunt/Ed Wicker

[8]

References

1. "Southwest Texas League (D) Encyclopedia and History". Baseball-Reference.com.
2. "1911 Bay City Rice Eaters Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
3. "1911 Beeville Orange Growers Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
4. "1911 Brownsville Brownies Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
5. "1911 Corpus Christi Pelicans Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
6. "1911 Laredo Bermudas Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
7. "1911 Victoria Rosebuds Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
8. "Southwest Texas League - BR Bullpen". www.baseball-reference.com.
9. "TSHA | Texas League". www.tshaonline.org.
10. "Minor League No-Hitters 1910-1919 - BR Bullpen". www.baseball-reference.com.
11. "1910 Southwest Texas League (STL) Standings on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
12. "1910 Corpus Christi Pelicans Roster on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
13. "1910 Southwest Texas League". Baseball-Reference.com.
14. "1911 Southwest Texas League". Baseball-Reference.com.
15. "Southwest Texas League". Baseball History Daily.
16. "The SW Texas League: My Grandfather's World". September 27, 2013.
17. "1911 Southwest Texas League (STL) Standings on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
18. "Beeville Orange Growers: Another Photo Mystery". March 24, 2010.
19. Latcham, Jeff. "Enjoy the citrus quickly". mysoutex.
20. "1936 Southwest Texas League (STL) Standings on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
21. "Tenth Street Park in Bay City, TX history and teams on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
22. "The Ball Park in Beeville, TX history and teams on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
23. "Laredo Ball Park in Laredo, TX history and teams on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.

External links

Baseball Reference