Volume 15 , Issue 26

History of Organized Baseball In Texas

From the Austin History Center, Austin, Texas, we found the following news clipping written sometime between 1910-1915. It mentioned organized baseball in Texas dated from the coming to Austin of the "Joplins," twenty-two years ago (1887). This was an aggregation of players, composed of men who had played in the Western league during the season of 1887.

At the close of the season fifty or more players found themselves in Joplin, Mo., a reshot baseball town; a number of games were matched there a bouts, and in course of time about a dozen of the best players organized themselves into an itinerant club, a band of "soldiers of four tune," as it were.

Gus Sherry belonged to the St. Joseph, Mo., team, he said prior to joining Wichita in the Kansas league. Sherry had signed with Philadelphia before that, but they had succeeded in securing another second baseman, and, as not even the big leagues could stand to see too many men sitting idle on the benches, his services were not required.

Wichita in those days, said Sherry, had on a tremendous boom. It looked like there were 100,000 people there, mostly newcomers, and speculation was rife.

Gus Sherry said, "We had to build our own park, about five miles out, more or less, and walk at that. But I was just out of a brick yard and didn't mind work. The town was growing so fast, though, and prosperity advancing by such jumps, that we had to move the park three or four times, and that got old. But those folks did like good sport, they piled out there by the thousands, in wagons, buggies, a horseback, a foot, and there were the little mule cars, they made an occasional dime, too. They bought us the stovepipe hats and patent leather shoes, treated us like kings; we wed drawing National league crowds and were leading our league when, I think in August, it went under.

"Wichita then took the place of leavenworth in the Western league, composed of Lincoln, St. Jo, Omaha, Wichita, Denver and topeka.

"After the Western league disbanded for the season, about 100 of us found ourselves in Joplin, a great baseball town. I was making for home at St.Louis, but we stayed in Joplin."

Amateur Baseball Prior to 1887

Up to this time baseball in Texas had been almost altogether a local and haphazard affair. The Austin nines would contend with one another, or would play with the smaller towns in this immediate section, or perhaps would occasionally match a series with Waco, or Dallas, or the "Island City" of Galveston, which seems to have been the premier organization in those days. But there was no league organization, no pre-arranged schedule of games. Each series was the result of separate negotiations, and had no relationship to any that preceded or that might follow.

There was the announcement of "the greatest game of baseball ever untested in Austin," taken front he Statesman of October 5, 1887: "The new park of the Athletic Baseball association will be formally opened with a grand match game next Thursday afternoon, between the 'Athletics; and the 'H.I.X.' clubs. The Athletics will play their imported professional battery, Conway and Short. The H.I.X. will also play a professional battery, probably the famous Island City's of Galveston, etc. It was stated that the Athletics were makeing preparations to join the Southern league."

Texas League Organized

The first business managers of the Austin club, E. J. Byrne and C. A. Newning, had represented Austin at the formation of the first Texas League, composed of clubs from Galveston, Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio and Austin. A news dispatch at the time stated that "all the Texas league clubs have been incorporated. EAch club had a paid up capital of $6000, except Galveston, which starts with $12,000 in its treasury. The salaries of players were limited to $1000 for the season. The umpires would be paid $75 per month each. The regular season would open April 1 and close October 31."

Fred W. Turner of Austin was first president of the texas league; vice president, Robert Adair of Houston; secretary-treasurer, Will L. Reynolds of Dallas. C. H. Gensburger, a prominent baseball promoter of the tie, was influential in the formation of the league. The most active friends and financial backers of the Austin club had been Fred W. Turner, Charles Newning, E. J. Byrne, John S. Myrick, George McCarty, pete Lawless, A. L. Teagarden, W. H. Stacy, Walter Bremond, Sam W. French, Sam De Cordova and Del Walker.

The first season of the Texas league started off auspiciously, and Austin made a record that was not bad, though apparently Galveston and San Antonio led her. Toward the last of June the collapse of the league was precipitated by the disbanding of the Fort Worth club for lack of funds.

The truth is none of them had been making money; baseball as an organized sport was not yet on its feet. The financial support was very precarious, as, indeed, so far as Austin was concerned, it had been ever since, with the exception of the two years. 1906 and 1907, when she won the pennant. Four of the gentlemen mentioned above were called upon to pay off a note for $1500 and interest as their contribution to a bad business proposition.

A new association, composed of slabs representing San Antonio, Houston, Galveston and New Orleans, was formed. Most of Austin's players went to San Antonio. But in august Houston came to where she could go no further, and so organized baseball in Texas took a vacation. Next year the Texas league was revived. The men who had formerly played with Austin, most of them went to Houston. Austin, however, secured a crack lineup, among whom were Mike O'Conner, Gus Land, Kittle, Mussey, Bates, Edwards and scott, a left-handed pitcher.

Gus Sherry said, "Our team at Houston included such plays as 'Smiling John' McCloskey, myself, Billy Joyce, Arthur Sunday, Frank Welkert, Pat Flaherty, Kit Peoples and Charles Isaacson. Welkert, I remember, pitched nine games in succession and won all. He was hit all right, but he had perfect support."   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

---