The Pecan Park Eagle

THE 1950 HOUSTON BUFFS: BACK ROW (L-R) Charlie Kress, Tom Westcott, Johnny Blatnik, Bob Stephenson, DIck Bokelmann, Elroy Joyce, Mel McGaha, Hisel "Pat" Patrick, Jerry Witte, Vern Rapp, and Les Fusselmann. FRONT ROW: Vann Harrington, Joe Presko, Don Stephens, Marty Garlock, Bob Hoch, Pete Mazar, Bud Hardin, Lou Ciola, Fran Haus, and Bennie Borgmann, Manager.

Yesterday I received this wonderful team photo of the 1950 Houston Buffs from Floyd and Sandra Vaughan. It is a late season photo of the guys during the short period they wore shorts to supposedly escape the heat as they also worked through Team President Allen Russell’s brain a new old way to boost attendance. Mosquito bites and cherry bumps from sliding in the dirt soon put an end to the not-so-grand experiment in creative mid-20th century marketing.

1950 just turned out to be one those barrel-scraping years when it came to assignments by the parent St. Louis Cardinals. The Cards had loaded AAA Rochester, New York with talent enough for a first place finish in the International League and Columbus, Oho of the AAA American Association with the studs for a third place playoff qualifier. All Houston could muster was the guys who could take them to a last place, 61-93 finish in the AA Texas League.

Here are close-ups of the players in this photo, starting our way left to right from the back row and then continuing in the front row. I remember most of these like the back of my hand, Two or three of the players featured here were only around long enough to have their pictures taken in short pants. The photo features 20 players and Manager Bennie Borgmann. The active roster in those days was 19.

Charlie Kress, 1B; Tom Westcott, CF; Johnny Blatnik, OF. (Yep. That's the Oshman's Sporting Goods ad hanging over the left field line scoreboard.

Kress was Houston’s lefty first sacker. Jerry Witte joined the club in June 1950 and promptly started pounding out 30 homers with a .249 BA on the season as the Buffs’ righthanded first baseman. Chuck Kress batted .297 with 12 HR; Tommy Westcott was all speed. He batted .222 with 5 HR in 1950., once beating speedy Bob Marquis from Beaumont in a 90 feet dash from home to first in a pre-game race at Buff Stadium that also played to the growing television audience.

Bob Stephenson, 3B; DIck Bokelmann, P; Elroy Joyce, P; Mel McGaha, LF.

Bob Stephenson played in only 59 games, batting .178 with 0 HR. Dick Bokelmann was an ace knuckle-balling relief pitcher with a 6-7, 4.15 ERA. In 1951, “Bokie” would hit a 10-2 mark with a 0.74 ERA with the Buffs that would finally catapult him to a 3-4, 4.90 three-year mark with the parent Cardinals. Elroy Joyce posted an 8-11, 3.34 record as a starter with the 1950 Buffs, but he never saw any big league time. Mel McGaha was  versatile guy who batted .269 with 3 homers at Houston before his 1950 promotion to Columbus. During the 1960s, in addition to some coaching and scouting time for the Astros, McGaha also had a couple of brief managerial treks with Cleveland and Kansas City.

Hisel "Pat" Patrick, P; Jerry Witte, 1B; Vern Rapp, C; Les Fusselmann, c.

Hisel “Pat” Patrick put up a 2-12, 4.80 ERA mark as a starter and never saw the light of day in the majors; Jerry Witte followed 1950 with a 38 HR year for the ’51 Buffs. His 50 HR mark for the 1949 Dallas Eagles remains as one of the highest totals in Texas League history. Jerry saw MLB time with the St. Louis Browns in ’46-’47. Vern Rapp batted .188 with 4 HR as a back up catcher; he later saw MLB managerial service with both the Cardinals and Reds. Les Fusselmann was the first string catcher with a .284 BA and 3 HR.

Vann Harrington, RF-3B; Joe Presko, P.

Vann Harrington, RF-3B, was the guy with magic stick in late innings. In 1950, Vann was the “Steady-Eddie” guy who did his quiet part to keep the fans from giving up on the future. His .296 BA in 145 games flew as “Flag Hope” for better days ahead. “Little Joe” Presko was a right-handed  finesse pitcher who was also all about heart and hope for blue skies over Houston baseball. Presko was the man among our 1950 Buff starters, racking up a 16-16 record and a 3.14 ERA that would get him to the majors by 1951 for a six-season run and a career MLB mark of 25-37, with a 4.61 ERA.

Don Stephens, P; Marty Garlock, P; Bob Hoch, P; Pete Mazar, P.

None of these fellows saw MLB time. Stephens was 2-6, 3.73 in 1950; Garlock went 8-9, 3.28; Hoch was 2-5, 3.31; and “Lefty Pete” Mazar came in at 8-15, 3.73. Mazar got that many losses by being with Presko and Bokelmann, the three best pitchers on the club. The better you are, the more chances you get to win or lose. Mazar had been 15-10 with a 2.53 ERA for the 1948 Buffs.

In a minor league career that spanned from 1941 to 1954, Pete Mazar won 100 games. Now deceased, as is his wife, the descendants of Pete Mazar are in possession a record album that contains the transcription of first Houston Baseball Honors Banquet of 1947.

Bud Hardin, SS; Lou Ciola, P; Fran, Haus, 2B; Bennie Borgmann, Manager.

Bud Hardin, SS, was one of those “good field/no hit” guys. In 143 games for the 1950 Buffs, he batted .221 with 0 homers. His MLB future came down to three games for the 1952 Cubs, 1 hit, and a .143 career MLB BA. Lou Ciola posted a 4-5, 4.59 mark in 47 games for the ’50 Buffs. Ciola came to the Buffs as a WWII (1-3, 5.56 ERA) 1943 pitcher for the Philadelphia A’s. Fran Haus, 2B,  batted .242 with 3 HR for the 1950 Buffs.

Manager Bennie Borgmann was a career .304 minor league hitter. He took over the Houston Buffs early in the year from a fellow named Kemp Wicker.  Maybe WIcker possessed the psychic powers to see what was coming and begged out.  I don’t know. He left so early that I don’t even recall him being there.

1950 also was the season in which well known players like Wally Moon and Danny Gardella passed briefly through the roster turnstile. Lucky for bothe men, neither stayed long enough to be forced into play as short-pants ballplayers.

Hope you have enjoyed a closer look at some of the faces you normally don’t see as well in team photos online. Thanks again to Floyd and Sandra Vaughan for making this little 1950 exposition possible. I will protect and treasure this photo for as long as I live and do all I can to make sure it ends up in the company of other seriously protected historical artifacts.

As a slightly expanded note here. That is another goal I m hoping that our SABR Chapter will pursue in conjunction with the publication of our book on Houston’s early baseball history. We need to develop a plan for the collection and preservation of Houston’s precious baseball artifacts.

Have a nice weekend, everybody. Go, Texans! And Go Sam Houston State!

Tags: 1950 Houston Buffs

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