The all-time Crossroads baseball team, front row, from left: Curt Walker, Ross Youngs, Jim Busby, Ron Gant, Rocky Bridges and Mike Macha; back row, from left: Oscar “Ox” Eckhardt, Marv Gudat, coach Wayne Graham, Dale Murray, Doug Drabek, Eddie Taubensee and Nolan Ryan.
Sometimes baseball Internet surfing on Google Bay allows us to catch waves that we didn’t see coming. Tonight was on one of those nights for the Pecan Park Eagle sweet board.
We learned that someone at the Victoria Advocate had put together what they described as their (Victoria, TX) Crossroads Baseball Club back in 2012, even publishing their roster picks based upon birthplace crossroad proximity of a few former 20th century big leaguers to Victoria, Texas. We know we could helped them augment that roster with a few they missed, but this was their fun, not ours. The featured artistic rendering is a nice piece of work in itself and we think you may enjoy reading of their selections from the August 26, 2012 edition of the Victoria Advocate.com version of their publication.
With full credit to the Victoria Advocate, what follows here is a summary of the story you may read by accessing the following link:
https://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/2012/aug/26/reader_all_crossroads_0825_186199/
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THE BEST OF THE BEST: The all-time Crossroads baseball team
The Crossroads has produced its fair share of baseball players over the years, several have gone on to play in college, a few from there to the minor leagues. But only a select few have gone on to make a name for themselves at the professional level. They have gone on to be superstars, Hall of Famers, career major leaguers, staff aces and more. They have also been short-lived players getting a small cup of coffee at the pro level, journeymen who donned no fewer than five uniforms in long career and minor league stars in the league’s early years who could never quite make it in the pros. We have sorted through the players born in this area, and determined the best there ever was from the Crossroads at each position.
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NOLAN RYAN . PITCHER
BORN IN REFUGIO, JANUARY 31, 1947
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DOUG DRABEK . PITCHER
BORN IN VICTORIA ON JULY 25, 1962
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DALE MURRAY . PITCHER
BORN IN CUERO, FEBRUARY 2, 1950
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EDDIE TAUBENSEE . C
BORN IN BEEVILLE, OCTOBER 31, 1968
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MARV GUDAT . 1B
BORN IN GOLIAD, AUGUST 27, 1903 (DIED IN 1954)
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ROCKY BRIDGES . 2B/SS
BORN IN REFUGIO, AUGUST 7, 1927
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RON GANT . 2B/OF
BORN IN VICTORIA, MARCH 2, 1965
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MIKE MACHA . 3B
BORN IN VICTORIA, FEBRUARY 17, 1954
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JIM BUSBY . OF
BORN IN KENEDY, JANUARY 8, 1927 (DIED IN 199
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ROSS YOUNGS . OF
BORN IN SHINER, APRIL 10, 1897 (DIED IN 1927)
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CURT WALKER . OF
BORN IN BEEVILLE, JULY 3, 1986 (DIED IN 1955)
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OX ECKHARDT . UTIL.
BORN IN YORKTOWN, December 23, 1901 (DIED IN 1951)
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WAYNE GRAHAM . MGR
BORN IN YOAKUM, APRIL 6, 1936
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The Rest of the Story …
Read the full article at the link identified above for the Victoria Advocate.com subject column, dated August 26, 2012.
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The Pecan Park Eagle appreciates the opportunity to spread the news of this work to a broader population of readers who may care about another of the ways in which we honor baseball excellence in the State of Texas.
Thank you very much, “JH” of the Victoria Advocate.com. Your creation of the Victoria Crossroads All Star Baseball Team is most appreciated,
Sincerely,
The Pecan Park Eagle
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Publisher, Editor, Writer
The Pecan Park Eagle
The Pecan Park Eagle 
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