The Pecan Park Eagle

Rookie Alex Schmelter Leads Houston Babies to Twin Bill Sweep of Richmond Giants, 13-7, 5-2!

October 25, 2009

ON A DAY LIVED IN HEAVEN, BABIES SWEEP GIANTS, 13-7, 5-2.

It was a great day for autmnally roaring vintage base ball at the George Ranch yesterday as the Houston Babies squared off against the local Richmond Giants yesterday, October 24, 2009. Only the date claimed anchorage in the 21st century. Everything else suggested that we had all, finally and at last, found our way through that time warp into the 19th century romper room of baseball’s infancy as the national pastime, when it was a game played without gloves and with abundant fortitude for the contest that needed two words, “base ball,” to describe itself.

SKIPPER BOB DORRILL'S MODEL T STYLE SUITS BABIES TO A T!

Some Babies players arrived for the 10:30 AM scheduled twin bill with the Giants by automobile. They parked their vehicles with the same kind of finely-tuned precision and machine-powered mechanization that goes into their approach to team-victorious vintage 19th century base ball – when no one had even heard of a Model T and most simply laughed at the concept of a horseless carriage!

NEVER LOOK BACK. SOMETHING MIGHT BE GAINING ON YOU.

Four of ten members who attempted coming by bicycle out the Southwest Freeway also arrived, but we’ll take a .400 arrival percentage any day of the week and twice on a perfect Saturday Game Day in October. We tried to get our cyclists, especially, to heed the wisdom of the wonderful Satchel Paige about the danger of looking back. Too bad about the deep sixers we lost. We simply feel fortunate that 40% actually did heed the warning . Had we lost those four players too, we would have faced the perils of renegotiation on our double game contract and possible forfeiture to the Richmond club.

"HAVE YOU HEARD THE GERMAN BAND?" ... EXCERPT FROM "THE PRODUCERS"

Our Houston Area Vintage Base Ball Commissioner, Wee Willie Kaiser, showed up with the missus, the ever sweet and smiling Wilhemina Kaiser, to boost morale and offer his support for the old time ball movement in our region. Commissioner Kaiser is hot on the trail of sponsorship money for new uniform and team equipment, but, so far, he’s only come up with enough cash to pay for the splendid outfit he wore to yesterday’s Babies@Giants twin bill. When asked yesterday how he could justify spending our limited funds on himself, Kaiser replied, “What are you talking about? I have to look presentable when I go calling on potential investors, don’t I?’ We doubt that salty answer will fly far or settle all disgruntlement, but we’ll stay on it for future developments.

A 6 FOR 8 DAY AT THE PLATE & SPARKLING DEFENSE EARNED MVP HONORS FOR ALEX SCHMELTER!

The 13-7, 5-2 victories by the Houston Babies yesterday over the Richmond Giants increased the club’s all time 21st century record to 6-3, as Manager Bob Dorrill also picked up his 6th straight win as the undefeated manager of Houston’s most time-honored base ball club. The Babies came out of mothballs in 2008, but proceeded to lose thieir first three games in 120 years of suspended play by mistakenly taking the field and playing by commitee. Things are much better now with the even keel headed Dorrill at the helm. The man both inspires and steadies the boat ride to happy destiny of vintage baseball triumph.

Bob Dorrill can also thank his grandson for a lot of yesterday’s outcome, as well. 13 year old Alex Schmelter accompanied his grandparents, Bob and Peggy Dorrill to George Ranch yesterday, perhasp, never dreaming that he had a job to perform on the field as well. Well, when we lost those six turned-their-heads cyclists, we needed all the help we could get. Little Alex Schmelter gave the Babies all the hlp they needed and then some. Playing nd base and batting clean up, Alex went 6 for 8 on the day with 2 runs scored and 2 runs batted. He also handled the ball well in the field, getting some key outs and participating in a couple of successful rundown plays. For his efforts, Alex Schmelter was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the entire day by his Babies teammates. What a fine young man and ballplayer this kid is turning out to be. His parents and grandparents have every right to be very proud of him.

FOR ALEX SCHMELTER, IT WAS A TECHNICOLOR MEMORY OF HITTING!

BOB "DOUBLE DUTY" BLAIR PITCHED AND WON BOTH GAMES!

In addition to the outstanding spark the Babies got from young “Alex the Great,” our venerable righthanded “Iron Man,” Bob Blair pitched another games down the corridor of his own personal journey into the Houston Babies Hall of Fame. Blair held the normally hit-raining bats of the potent Richmond Giants to a mere drizzle on the mound in both games, for two more wins on his vintage ball bats. If memory serves, Balir has been the winning pitcher in four of the six games captured by the Babies. He probably could have had them all, but had to miss one of our victorious twin bills a while back. Also, although Bob doesn’t see himself as a hitter, he went 3 for 8 with 2 runs scored on the day and made some meat-slapping stops on liners up the middle on defense. Keep it up, Mr. Blair. McGinnity of the old New York Giants has nothing on you as a contributor to team excellence.

Here’s how the recorded Babies lineup fared yesterday, and special thanks to Brigitte Blair for keeping score and providing us with this data:

(1) Bob Blair, p (3 for 8, 2 runs)

(2) Jimmy Disch, c (2 for 8, 1 run)

(3) Larry Joe Miggins, 1b (6 for 8, 4 runs)

(4) Alex Schmelter, 2b (6 for 8, 2 runs)

(5) Bill Hale, 3b (5 for 8, 2 runs)

(6) John Civitello (6 for 7, 3 runs)

(7) Eric Blair, lf (4 for 7, 2 runs)

(7a) Nate Who, lf (1 for 1, 1 run)

(8) Robert McArthur, cf (4 for 6, 2 runs)

(9) Bob Stevens, rf (1 for 6, 0 runs)

(9a) George Osborne, c (o for 1, 0 runs)

Eric Blair shined in left field, stopping many a long hit with straight on and one bounce out catches. John Civitello was the toughest out of the day, proving again that those dyed-in-the-wool Connecticut boys take to base ball like kids take to candy. Bill Hale earned the Fearless Fosdick Award for handing some of those fierce body-hole-piercing drives down the third base line. Robert McArthur and Bob Stevens manned the other two cow pastures most ably, never allowing a Giant home run to survive on the trail and spoil the day. Larry Joe Miggins was a human baseball trap at first base, and he ended up the day with the red stinging hands to prove it. Last, but not least, Jimmy Disch called a masterful game behind the plate for Bob Blair, and he never came close to a Ray Fosse experience with any of the rosy running big boys of the Richmond Giants arsenal.

WHEN JIMMY DISCH SCORED, IT TURNED ON THE TECHNICOLOR!

alex mvp Alex Schmelter (above) received the MVP from his grandad, Babies Manager Bob Dorrill, as Grandma Peggy Dorrill looked on over his right shoulder. Also in the photo, left to right, are Kathleen and Larry Miggins, the former Cardinal and Buff, Babies General Manager Bill McCurdy, plus Bob “Double Duty” Blair and his wife, our Babies scorekeeper, Brigitte Blair.

LARRY MIGGINS & FAMILY WERE THERE TO CHEER THE BABIES TOO!

Former St. Louis Cardinal and Houston Buff Larry Miggins was there yesterday with his lovely wife Kathleen. We see them pictured above with their son and daughter in law, Mr. and Mrs. Larry Joe “Long Ball” Miggins. The Miggins family are the keepers of the flame on the memory and signifiance of the Dick Dowling statue in Hermann Park – and that has been true for forty years. If it were up to me, I would appoint Lerry Miggins as the Patron Saint of Houston’s Baseball Heart too. He’s that purely dedicated to both the science and the poetry of the game. When I asked Larry yesterday how much he enjoyed his first trip to George Ranch to watch vintage base ball, his answer was swift, simple, and unecumbered by any need for interpretation. “I think we’ve all died and gone to Heaven,” Larry answered, with that always Irish smile in his voice.

EVERYBODY WAS HAPPY!

AND IT REALLY WAS A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN BASE BALL HEAVEN!

Next time we have one these playing dates, especially if it’s at the beautiful George Ranch, come on out and play with or watch the Houston Babies in action. Our club is a slice of Houston living base ball history and it is most deserving of your support. You’ll be doing yourself and Houston baseball history too by hooking up with our little tribe of baseball, Houston, and history lovers. Of course, if you want to help us sponsor the purchase of our own authentic Houston Babies uniforms, that will free us from having to borrow the used duds of the Montgomery County Saw Dogs every time we play. If you are interested in sponsoring the Houston Babies, seriously, please contact Babies Manager Bob Dorrill at 281-361-7874.

The Houston Babies: Playing with Heart Since 1888!

Tags: Baseball, culture, History, Houston Babies
Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

“Houston in the 1920s and 1930s” Book is Great!

October 23, 2009

Sloane Houston Some of you know about the Sloane Family. Their photographc gallery at 7616 Fondren in Houston has been offering the visual history of early 20th century Houston for quite a few years through singular prints and now – Story Sloane III has put together, in words and pictures, and through Arcadia Publishing Company, one of the finest quick views of life in Houston during the 1920s and 1930s that’s ever been produced.

The book is available at Brazos Bookstore on Bissonnet in the Rice University area and most probably at the other local chain bookstores too. If you wish to order a signed copy, give Sloane’s a call (713-782-5011) or check them out at their website, http://www.sloanegallery.com/ .

The book offers many photos I’ve never seen anywhere else, and on such chaptered subjects as Main Street; Home Life; Working for a Living; Houstonians at Play; Community Life; Getting Around Town; and Oil.

Oil? Yeah! Remember? We used to be an oil town, but this book isn’t simply another glorification of the oil capitol of the world days. This book features the work of Calvin Wheat and other professional photographers on all aspects of Houston life. As an amateur photographer, I am figuratively blown away by the composition and high technical quality of these works.

I won’t attempt to show you any of the interior shots here due to copyright considerations, but this cover photo of all these school children standing in front of the old Metropolitan Theatre on Main near Lamar will give you a peek at what’s inside – where it simply gets better and better. Sloane even features some photos of our old Houston Buffs Texas League baseball club that even I, a relentless Buffs artifact collector, have never seen. For me, finding any new view on the old Buffs is sort of like finding a new time warp crack trail into full escape into the era depicted. I just love the heck out of that experience of the soul – and I’m also mindful of the fact that old photographs are our time machine into history. – Wouldn’t it have been great if, at least one spirited citizen had been able to take and use a digital camera at San Jacinto in 1836 – or, say, at Gettysburg in 1863? How about a small digital video camera too? While we’re lost in that dream doorway of what might have been, let’s not forget the history of sound, either.

Fortunately, the Sloanes were collecting photos and valuing the history of “our town” for most of the “coming of age” era in 20th century visual-image-capture technology. If you also like this sort of thing, this little book will light up the sky in the park areas of your imagination too. At $21.99, I think it’s well worth the price.

Tags: Books, History, Houston, Photography
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Johnny Keane: A Manager for (Almost) All Seasons.

October 22, 2009

Born November 3, 1911 in St. Louis, Johnny Keane accepted his first minor league managerial job just prior to the start of World War I. – No, wait! – It wasn’t really that early. It just Johnny Keane 02 seems that way. His 17-year minor league playing career (1930-41, 1946-48) as a pretty good hitting middle infielder, however, quickly revealed an even greater talent for leadership. At age 26, Keane was awarded his first managerial assignment from the parent Cardinals as Manager of the Class D Albany, Georgia Travelers. Johnny promptly rewarded the Rickey organization’s judgment of him by reeling off two consecutive first place league pennant winners in Albany in both 1938 and 1939.

Over the course of his 17 seasons as a manager in the St. Louis Cardinals minor league system (1938-41, 1946-58), Keane won 4 league championships and lost 8 other playoff appearances. He had a losing record in only 5 seasons. His winning touch in the minors (1,357 wins, 1,166 losses) finally won him a place on the coaching staff of the Major league Cardinals in 1959, where he remained until he replaced Solly Hemus as manager on July 6, 1961. It is a note of irony that Solly Hemus had first played for Johnny Keane when the latter led the 1947 Houston Buffs to the Texas League title and Dixies Series championship.

In Johnny Keane’s fourth year at the Cardinal helm, he came under fire as the Cardinals seemed to be fading in the stretch of the 1964 National League pennant race. It soon became the worst kept secret in town that the club planned to bury Keane’s St. Louis managerial career at year’s end.

A funny thing happened on the way to the funeral.

With some considerable help from Phillies manager Gene Mauch and his misuse of pitchers, the NL’s 1st place Philadelphia club pulled the arguably biggest el foldo job in history over the last two weeks as the Cardinals got hot neough to catch them at the wire for the National League pennant. Now the talk of firing Keane went dark as he then led the club to an exciting seven-game World Series victory in 1964 over the fabled frequent Big Show flying New York Yankees.

Now, before Cardinals owner August Busch could disengage his foot from the brake pedal on a policy reversal and offer Keane a new contract extention with the Cardinals, the New York Yankees and Johnny Keane had a notice of their own, one that called for a quick media conference. The Yankees announced that they were firing Yogi Berra and hiring Johnny Keane as their new manager for 1965.

I suppose Keane found some revenge for the Cardinals’ lack of faith in him through this move, but further validation of his abilities as a mentor would be unavailable in New York. The talent bank at New York was pretty much bankrupt by 1965 as the once great Mickey Mantle played out in emptiness the four bad last seasons of his career. They were the years that never should have been. All Mantle did from 1965 to 1968 was roughly drop his career batting average below .300 lifetime while adding a few meaningless home runs to his already assured Hall of Fame career, but Keane would not be around long enough to see even half of that period of demise.

After leading the Yankees to a 77-85 record and 6th place finish in 1965, Keane and the Yankees got off to a horrendous 4-16 start in 1966, prompting yet another exercise in the Yankees’ quick trigger finger response policy. On May 7, 1966, the Yankess fired Johnny Keane, replacing him with former Yankee manager Ralph Houk.

Johnny Keane’s managerial record had come to an end at sge 54. He went back to his home in Houston and private business, but that didn’t last long. On January 6, 1967, Johnny Keane suddenly passed away from a heart condition at age 55. Whoa again! Less than three years after winning the National League Manager of the Year Award, Johnny Keane was gone.

Johnny Keane was loved by the old time baseball community members in Houston who remembered him as either a fellow player or manager. I use the past tense here because most of those who remember Johnny Keane are also now gone. He was a long-time winner with a quick and fast memory for what appeared to him as acts of short term, underhanded disloyalty.

As a manager, Johnny Keane did the five things that I think any winning manager must do: (1) he was a good judge of talent; (2) he managed his pitchers well; (3) he treated his players with respect; (4) he publicly covered for his players; and (5) he took responsiiblity for the outcome of his own decisions. He apparently did not, however, adjust to the change in cultures he experienced when he moved from the Cardinals to the Yankees. As a disciplinarian, his style worked with Cardinal youngesters and veterans there who knew him well. When he moved to New York, however, the proud Yankees did not like the little man who apparently came there to tell the proud Yankees what to do. The Yankees read his authoritative style as disrepect for their proud heritage and ability. Going from the laid-back style of Yankee legend Yogi Berra to the more militant mode of outsider Keane didn’t help matters either. Besides, many of the Yankees felt that Yogi had gotten a raw deal in the post-1964 World Series firing and weren’t about to be open to taking on the man who had defeated them as the Cardinal mentor. As a result, Johnny Keane either never had or quickly lost control of the Yankees in 1965. There was no way that the situation could hold up for a second full year after the club’s horrible 1966 start.

Johnny Keane’s signature was one of the few autographs I ever collected directly as a kid. It was about 1950 and Keane was actually playing in one of those post-season “All Star Games” that President Allen Russell liked to stage at Buff Stadium. Keane and some of his random teammates were having a beer in the clubhouse at game’s end when they opened the door for us kids to greet the players coming out. All I had was a scoring pencil so I grabed a loose paper cup and tore it open flat for Johhny to sign, which he did. – Wish today I had saved it. I used to think back in 1947 that Johnny Keane was the smartest man in the world and, who knows, maybe he was.

Johnny Keane had an ancient Buffs connection. He played a few games for the 1934 Buffs, then returned for three full seasons as a player from 1935-37, batting .265, .272, and and .267. He even had a few times at bat during his three (1946-48) managerial years with the Buffs. Somewhere along the way, Johnny Keane fell in love with Houston and made it his adopted home town – and I’m glad he did. I just wish he could’ve hung around longer, but it was not to be.

Tags: Baseball, Houston Buffs, St. Louis Cardinals
Posted in Baseball, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Willard Brown: A Late-in-the-Day Buff!

October 20, 2009

Willard Brown was one of those older, out-of-the-shadows players who glanced his way through organized baseball during the early days of its desegregation. He got there in time to leave one very indelible mark, but not early enough to use all of his abilities in their prime form, and not late enough to find any real place for himself in the major leagues among a more receptive crowd of accepting white teammates. No indeed. An older Willard Brown got there playing for a team that still overflowed in 1947 with some old school white racists.

Born on June 26, 1915 in Shreveport, Louisiana, Willard Brown grew up playing and loving baseball. He even got to spend some time as a kid serving as bat boy for the Kansas City Monarchs while they went through spring training in Shreveport. By 1934, the 19 year old hustling, power-slugging outfielder signed to play for the Negro Minor League Monroe (LA) Monarchs His progress quickly pulled him up the ladder. By 1936, he signed to play for the Negro Major League legends, the Kansas City Monarchs. Brown played continuously for the KC Monarchs from 1936 to 1943, establishing himself as the most prolific home run hitter in Negro League history, exceeding even the feats of the better known slugger, Josh Gibson. Gibson, in fact, was so enamored by Brown’s power, that he gave him the nickname of “Home Run” as the word-tarp on his baseball identity. Brown also hit for a high average during this early period, posting marks in the mid .340-.350 range.

Brown returned to the Monarchs in 1946, picking up where he left off. Early in the ’47 season, however, Brown received an offer from organized (previously all white) baseball to become one of the first two black players to join the roster of the old St. Louis Browns of the American League. (For those who don’t know, the Browns moved to Maryland in 1954 where they continue to play baseball by their rechristened name, the Baltimore Orioles.) In July 1947, Willard Brown joined fellow Negro Leaguer Hank Thompson as the first two blacks to play for the St. Louis Browns. Sadly, the two black pioneers were not exactly welcomed with open arms by some of the white Brownie players. When Willard Brown borrowed a teammate’s bat and then quickly belted out an inside the park gapper for the first home run of any kind in the American League by a black player, the white player who owned the bat was supposedly so enraged that he destroyed the bat to keep Brown from using it again. I can neither recall nor easily find the name of the offended white player who allegedly acted out this stupid play of self destruction, but, if you know for certain who it was, please add that information below as a comment on this article.

As for the act itself, stupid is as stupid does, I guess. In my book, there’s nothing dumber than the behavior that follows from the minds of those who act impulsivlely upon the feelings spawned by raw, ignorant racism.

Almost needless to add, Willard Brown was a most unhappy camper in the company of a team that wallowed in losing and racial contempt. After U841883ACME hitting .179 in 21 games with the Browns, Willard Brown left the big leagues and returned to the familiar confines of his more comfortable life among the Monarchs in Kansas City. That winter of 47-48, Brown went to Puerto Rico and batted .432 with 27 homers and 86 RBI in only 60 games, earning for himself yet another nickname as Ese Hombre or – “That Man”.

Brown won the Puerto Rican Winter League Triple Crown during the 1949-50 season. He also produced his only “hit for the cycle” game of his career somewhere around this period. Brown also hit .374 for the ’48 Monarchs, producing one of his best-ever seasons, even at this late date in his career.

By 1950, the 35-year old Brown was ready to play out the rest of his days again in organized ball, and this time, most of his tenure would be invested in the Texas League. After hitting .352 for Ottawa of the Class C Border League in 1950, Willard sort of quasi-retired, hitting a short-time .167 for Jalisco-Nuevo Laredo of the indepemdemt Mexican League in 1951.

After staying away in 1952, Brown joined Dallas of the AA Texas League in 1953 and promptly hit .310 with 23 HR and 108 RBI over the whole year. In 1954, Brown started for Dallas, but was then dealt to the Houston Buffs during the summer, batting .314 with 35 homers and 120 RBI for both clubs over the season. Playing right fielld and slugging like the big stick he always was, Brown joined forces with Ken Boyer and Bob Boyd to lead the Buffs to the 1954 Texas League championship.

Brown returned for another year as a Buff in 1955, hitting .301 with 19 HR and 104 RBI. He followed that season by hitting .299 with 14 HR and 73 RBI at Austin, San Antonio, and Tulsa of the Texas League. Brown dipped down to Class A Topeka for one final year, batting .294 with 3 homers and 14 RBI in 1956. Over the course of his five minor league seasons (1950, 1953-56), Willard Brown did better than OK for a man playing it out from age 35 to age 41. He batted .309 with 95 HR and 437 RBI during that late-in-his-baseball-life era, and that’s some pretty fair country hitting for anyone playing pro ball at any age.

Aftter baseball, Willard Brown retired from baseball to his adopted home in Houston where he worked as a steeler until his retirement from all work. He had an apparently happy life in retirement, staying in touch too with several of the guys he called teammates, foes, and friends from his Texas League days. Sadly, he slipped into Alzheimers Disease in 1989.

Willard Brown passed away in Houston on August 4, 1996. He was 81.

On July 30, 2006, Willard Brown was one of twelve former Negro Leaguers who were posthumously inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown.

Tags: Baseball, History, Houston Buffs, St.. Louis Browns
Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

Some Great Team Names.

October 18, 2009

Among all the great controversial names ever assigned to minor league baseball clubs, I have to go with the Tampa Smokers as my all time favorite venture into the future of political incorrectness. Of course, it came about in the early twentieth century, during the era in which Tampa, Florida was reknowned for its cigar products, but that kind of explanation probably cuts little ice with the 2009 Surgeon General or his/her legion of anti-smoking lobbies. As a puritanical culture, we still aren’t that forgiving of people found guilty of past addictions, even those that once held their ground as the social norm. I was a smoker for a long, long time, and although I wouldn’t recommend it today to any young person that wants to save his or her lungs, I never became one of those holier-than-thou ex-smokers who enjoyed either beating-up-on or lauding-my-abstinence-over those folks who still smoke. Anyone who really ever went through breaking the tobacco habit, I think, will not soon forget what it was like to be trapped there. It was the toughest bad habit that I ever had to break, bar none, and I didn’t get out early, easy, or without God’s Help. That’s how I see it, anyway.

I also recall my two earliest social models for smoking in the first place: (1) The Blue-Purple Haze Belchers included all those fans at Buff Stadium who laid out that blanket of haze from the stands to the field on a windless summer night; and (2) The Holy Smokers, all those men, including my own dad, who raced to the front door of church each Sunday morning after Mass for the sake of starting a cigarette-smoking bonfire outside the building’s front steps. In the end, I hold only myself responsible for getting into smoking. It was only when, years later, and because of God’s Power and my willingness to change that Divine Intervention got me out from under the blue haze of a lifetime smoking habit. Now I’m just grateful it happened, even though I know it would still be so easy to go back to a nicotine-addiction pull that some say is stronger than crack cocaine. One day at a time, with God’s Help, that won’t happen.

Those were the days, my friend! Oh, and let’s just get back to baseball nicknames. In case you’re wondering, that Tampa Smokers jersey, and many others, is still available to fans through a little company called Ebbets Field Flannels. I have no personal stake or profit interest in “EFF” beyond the fact that I have been a customer in the past, but I think you may find their offerings of interest. The website link is http://www.ebbets.com/

At any rate, here are a few of my other favorite great names in minor league baseball. Some are there because they are iconic. Some rank up there on my personal favorite list. And others are simply there because they struck me as amusing. You may have some of your own. If you do, please feel free to list them as comments on this article. The more the merrier.

Some of My Favorite Great Minor League Team Names: The Durham Bulls, Hollywoood Stars, New Orleans Pelicans, San Francisco Seals, Sioux Falls Canaries, Sweetwater Swatters, Wilson Bugs, York Prohibitionists, Racine Malted Milks, Hannibal Cannibals, Vancouver Horse Doctors, Kalamazoo Kazoos, Waterbury Frolickers, Grand Forks Flickertails, Albany Nuts, Moose Jaw Robin Hoods, Salina Insurgents, Jackson Convicts, Victoria Rose Buds, Muscatine Buttonmakers, San Jose Prune Pickers, St. Paul Apostles, Freeport Pretzels, Zanesville Infants, Bridgeport Orators, Chattanooga Lookouts, Houston Babies, Toledo Mud Hens, San Antonio Missions, Beeville Bees, Hammond Berries, North Wilksboro Flashers, Saginaw Wa-Was, and, last but not least, the always unforgettable Orange Hoo-Hoos.

My All Time Favorite Minor League Team Name: (What else?) The Houston Buffaloes/Buffs.

Don’t forget to add your own favorites in the comment section below.

Tags: Baseball, culture, History, Houston Buffs
Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

The Great 1931 Houston Buffs!

October 17, 2009

1931 Buffs

The Houston Buffs won 108 games in 1931 on their way to capturing first place by 14 games over runner-up Beaumont. Only the 1922 and 1924 Fort Worth Cats ever won more games in a single Texas League season. The Cats did it by posting 109 wins in each year of those two championship seasons.

Popularly selected as #42 on the list of Minor League Baseball’s 1oo Greatest Teams, the ’31 Buffs were the cradle of several players who would soon after go star as the backbone of the 1934 World Champion St. Louis Cardinals, the club that becamebetter known to entire baseball world as The Gashouse Gang. Few have forgotten the names and major league feats of pitcher Dizzy Dean and outfielder Joe Medwick – and only a handful more need to be reimnded all these years later of the pitching star that was Tex Carleton. It still doen’t hurt, every now then, to recall all the major parts of the whole that went into the making of a champion, so today, we bring you a brief look at the 1,starting lineup and star pitchers of the 1931 Buffs:

Starting Lineup

Ed Hock, 3b (age 32, BL/TL, .299, 0 HR, 42 RBI): The speedy Hock was an anomaly, a rule-breaker that few of us have seen in our lifetime, a lefthanded throwing third baseman. I even have trouble simulating a vision of Hock making routine plays in my mind. Oh, I can see him diving toward the line pretty well to stop balls headed down the line, allright; I just can’t see him getting up and making a throw to first. Hock made 31 errors for Houston in’31 and he had a .936 fielding average. When he first switched from outfield to shortstop at Oklahoma City in 1925-26, Hock made 74 and 68 errors consecutively, so, I guess his fielding record at Buff Stadium in 1931 marks improvement.

Carey Selph, 2b (age 29, BR/TR, .322, 3 HR, 88 RBI): Selph posted the Buffs’ second highest average. His ability to hit for average and in the clutch with men on base was a key to the ’31 championhsip season. He also had good range on defense and showed a native ability for knowing what to do in the field. In other words, Selph was “baseball smart.”

Homer Peel, lf (age 28, BR/TR, .326, 7 HR, 95 RBI): Peel finished with the highest team batting average. His ability as a contact hitter paired with Selph in producing baserunners and clutch hitting with other ducks on the pond.

Joe Medwick, cf (age 19, BR/TR. .305, 19 HR, 126 RBI): This guy was ripped long before anyone ever heard of LA Fitness and, in 1931, he had the glow of future stardom written all over him. Medwick led the Texas League in both homers and runs batted in during the ’31 season. He almost got stuck with the nickname “Muscles” until a female fan wrote Houston Post sportswriter Lloyd Gregory that she loved Medwick, even if he did walk like a duck. She even admitted to thinking of him as “Ducky” Medwick. Gregory agreed with the lady and published the story of Medwick’s new name.. He also started describing the young phenom as Ducky Medwick in his game stories. – It stuck. The rest is history.

Guy Sturdy, 1b (age 32, BL/TL, .295, 3 HR, 49 RBI): Sturdy was “Old Reliable” on defense at the most-outs bag and a steady bat in the lineup.

Earl L. Smith, rf (age 40, BB/TR, .272, 1 hr, 19 RBI): Only played 67 games before moving up to Columbus. He was replaced by Jim Sanders, who also subbed for Medwick in center on rare occasion.

Jim Sanders, rf-cf (age 29, BL/TL, .278, 1 HR, 40 RBI): Taking over for Smith, Sanders was a veteran minor leaguer who hit pretty well and did no harm in the field.

Hal Funk, c (age 31, BR/TR, .254, 1 HR, 50 RBI): Funk’s major contribution was his ability to handle and get the most out of a very young Dizzy Dean, but the other pitchers liked him as well. How many times do we see a championship club that doesn’t have a catcher who holds the confidence of a talented, but sometimes temperamental pitching staff? I can’t think of too many.

Tom Carey, SS (age 24, BR/TR, .240, 2 HR, 36 RBI): “Good Field/Mediocre Hit.” Yuong Carey got the job done in the field, anchoring the middle infield defense well in tandem with the more veteran Selph.

Pitchers:

Dizzy Dean (age 21, BR/TR, 26-10, 1.53 ERA): Dizzy was brilliant and Houston loved him. His 26 wins and 303 strikeouts led the Texas League in 1931 and his 1.53 ERA tied him with Whitlow Wyatt of Beaumont for the lowest mark in the league.

George Payne (age 42, BR/TR, 23-13M 2.75).

Tex Carleton (age 25, BB/TR, 20-7, 1.90 ERA).

Elmer Hanson (age 36, B?/T?, age 36, 16-7, 1.81): I seem to remember a newspaper article that described Fowler as a righthander, but I cannot be sure.

Jesse “Pete” Fowler (age 32, 15-8, 2.40).

The above five pitchers accounted for exactly 100 of the Buffs’ 108 wins in 1931. Eight Buffs were subsequently named to the 13-man end-of-season Texas League All Star Team. These included: pitchers Dean, Payne, and Carleton, plus position players Self, Hock, Peel, Medwick and Funk.

In the end, the pitching, hitting, and defense was certainly good enough to carry the ’31 Buffs to complete victory under manager Joe Schultz, but the club fell a game short, losing the seventh game of the Dixie Series to the Birmingham Barons after sailing through the Texas League straight away championship and then winning the Shaughnessy Playoffs for their well-deserved pennant.

Sometimes the best of teams can’t win ’em all because some other club happens to be better at a given moment in time. And when that moment in time happens to be Game Seven of the last series in the season, for better or worse, destiny takes a hand.

We’ve a long history of surviving this kind of disappointment in Houston and we will never give up the belief that is always inspired by a great team like the 1931 Houston Buffs: Our day will come!

Tags: Baseball, History, Houston Buffs
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

A Tale of Two World Series Rings.

October 16, 2009

I’m not really sure when major league baseball clubs started handing out World Series rings to the members of their winning teams, but I do recall reading somewhere that the 1927 New York Yankee players received special wrist watches for their slightly other-planet accomplishments. By the 1940’s, however, the practice of awarding especially designed World Series rings had taken over, and probably had been in place for several years.

Circumstances recently put me in contact with images of two different rings from two very different eras. The pictures speak fairly well for themselves about one measure of how much things have changed over the time. WS RING SLB 1944

The above shot of a 1944 St. Louis Browns World Series ring came to me from Wayne Williams of Colorado, one of my friends in the St. Louis Browns Historical Society. Wayne got it from a guy who somehow acquired it somewhere in the wide, wide world of memorabilia collecting. It supposedly belonged originally to the team doctor. The gold ring bears the Browns’ crest and it contains no rare jewels on its scaled-to-everyday-wear sized body. The Browns lost the ’44 World Seris to their hometown rival Cardinals, four games to two. The ring was properly inscribed for what it was, an “American League Championship” ring. Since the Browns only won this single time over the entire course of their 52-year history (1902-53), the 1944 ring is especially meaningful as the triumph of patience over self pity.

2008 Philadelphia Phillies World Series Ring

WOW! Look at that recent Phillies World Series ring on my finger in the above photo! My hands aren’t that big, but the size of this thing made me feel like a Hobbit or something. The ring belongs to Gene Diaz, Director of Media Relations for the Houston Astros. Gene was a long-time employee of the Phillies organization before accepting the upgrade spot he now holds down for the Astros. Gene brought the ring with him to a presentation he made at our September 2009 SABR meeting downtown at Molly’s Pub. In contrast to the “plain and simple” Browns ring, the Phillies ring brings new color and definition to the phrase “big and fancy.” It’s golden oversized body feels more like a bowling ball that you soon wish to put down before it takes your whole arm away, but it glitters while you wait for relief. I think it contains 103 diamonds, one for each of however many games the Phillies actually won in 2008. -What do they do to top this thing if the Phillies win it all again this year?

What if these two clubs actually squared off against each other at Time Warp Field to play a World Series against each other? We’d have that delicious match up that nobody ever dreams of, the 1944 Browns versus the 2008 Phillies! – Oh well! Based upon ring design differentials, and what we can know of speculatively about a pairing of these two clubs from a talent standpoint, I would venture this prediction about the outcome of a best four of seven Series:

Blingville 4 – Bluesville 0.

Tags: Baseball, History
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Murderers’ Row: The ’27 Yankees.

October 15, 2009

Yankees 27 003

Above (Left to Right): Miller Huggins, Manager; (1) Earle Combs, CF; (2) Mark Koenig, SS; (3) Babe Ruth, RF; (4) Lou Gehrig, 1B; (5) Bob Meusel, LF; (6) Tony Lazzeri, 2B; (7) Joe Dugan, 3B; (8) Pat Collins, C; Herb Pennock, P.

In my mind, at least, they are the unarguably most legendary, fabled, iconic, colorful, and especially productive baseball team in all of major league history. Whether you like the New York Yankees or not, it’s hard to argue that any team anywhere ever bore more lustre and bluster than the 1927 version of the Bronx Bombers because, simply put, the team dubbed rightly so as Murderers’ Row is the only one that ever featured an out of this world one-of-a-kind slugger in his prime named George Herman “Babe” Ruth.

I’m not suggesting that the Babe Ruth of 1927 would certainly out-produce a guy like Albert Pujols if the former were teleported to 2010 with all of the talent he possessed in 1921 or 1927 intact, but I wouldn’t bet against it either. If the Babe had to adjust to the baseball culture of this early 21st century era, I’m betting he could do it, even if he had to spend these winter months at the Betty Ford Clinic getting ready for 2010, but that’s all speculative and unprovable.

Yankees 27 002 What is demonstrable is the fact that Ruth accomplished things in 1927 that no other hitter, including Prince Albert, could ever hope to top. 1927 was the season that Babe Ruth broke his own season home run record by hitting number 60 on the last day of the season. It was a record that turned the digit “60” into an iconic number for baseball’s most glamorous power statistic, and, thirty-four years later, it converted 61* (asterisk included) into the new record for Roger Maris, who needed 162 games to best by one homer what Babe Ruth had done in 154 contests.

There isn’t much that can be added to what’s already been written about Babe Ruth’a recording-breaking, phenomenal 1927 season. His 60 homers alone were more than any of the other seven clubs in the American Leaguue could muster as whole teams.

Although many of us like to remind that Babe Ruth’s 1921 offesive season was superior overall to his individual 1927 season total output, there’s no argument that the total Yankees result in the latter season was simply the greatest season to come along when it came down to winning with power, winning by a big margin, and winning by a runaway few laps in the final standings. The ’27 Yankees both had it all and did it all.

For the first time in big league history, the ’27 Yankees became the only club through that date to come along with two players that hit over 45 home runs for the same club in the same season. Ruth’s 60 HR were strongly matched and supported by Lou Gehrig’s 47. Tony Lazzeri added 18 HR of his own to the ’27 hitting assault, good enough for third place on the Yankees. And had it not been for teammates Ruth and Gehrig, Tony Lazzeri would have led American League in home runs over the course of the ’27 season.

Yankees 27 001

Babe Ruth hit his 60th HR on September 30, 1927 off Tom Zachary of the Washington Senators Senators before a sparse crowd at old Yankee Stadium, which was then only cpncluding its 5th season of operation. Fas weren’t crazy for records so much in those days. Besides, the Yankees had long since wrapped up the American League pennant by that final day and were simply playing out the string against the lowly Sens. Besdies too, Rut already owned the HR record at 59. By hitting 60, he would just be mocing up he own mark by one digit. It’s no big deal. Right?

Ruth also batted .356 with 164 RBI in 1927, but, hey, after all is said and done, the 1927 Yankees still were not all Ruth, It takes more than one killer to build a Murderers’ Row and the Yankees had such a group. Earle Combs was the leadoff man and a .356 hitter on the year. His 231 hits and 23 triples led the American League in 1927. Mark Koenig batted 2nd, hitting a steady .285 for the year. The came Babe Ruth in the 3rd spot. The following year, this batting order would be used to determine the major numbers that went on the backs of each Yankee player in 1928. Lou Gehrig batted 4th, hitting .373, with league-leading marks in 52 doubles and 175 RBI. Bob Meusel batted 5th, hitting .337 with 47 doubles and 103 RBI. Then came the number 6 man, Tony Lazzeri, who, in addition to his 18 homers, also batted .309 with 102 RBI. Jumping Joe Dugan batted a steady .269 in the number 7 hole; and catcher Pat Collins batted .275 in the number 8 spot.

The ’27 Yankees also featured a pitching staff that was a Murdererrs’ Row in its own right. Look at these names and number – and give them all the awe they each deserve: Waite Hoyt 22-7, 2.63 was good enough to lead the American Legaue in wins and lowest ERA in ’27; Wilcy Moore, 19-7, 2.28 didn’t have enough innings to qualify for the ERA title, but his 13 saves would have tied him for the league lead in that category with Garland Braxton of Washington had baseball bothered to keep track of that record in 1927; Herb Pennock went 19-8 with a 3.00 ERA; Urban Shocker went 18-6, 2,84; Dutch Ruether was 13-6, 3.38; and George Pipgras went 10-3 with a 4.11 ERA.

The 1927 New York Yankees finished the season with a record of 110 wins and 44 losses for a winning percentage of .714. Thier killer record put them in first place in American League, a full 19 games ahead of the 2nd place Philadelphia Athletics and a blow-away 59 games up on the 8th and last place Boston Red Sox. Then the ’27 Yankees went out and swept the Pittsburgh Pirates, four games to zip, in the World Series. No wonder so much of the world, especially the part that is Boston, hates the Yankees, but that still doesn’t take away the title earned by the ’27 Big Apple club!

Murderers’ Row. – Any questions about the operational definition of that term?

Tags: Baseball, culture, New York Yankees
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Houston Buffs: Octavio Rubert, P, 1951.

October 14, 2009

Octavio Rubert 2 The 1951 Texas League Champion Houston Buffs didn’t finish 13 1/2 games in first place by accident. Like most good teams, they had a pitching staff that got them there. Fortified by knuckleball ace Al Papai (23-9, 2.44), lefty rookie phenom Vinegar Bend Mizell (16-14, 1.96), veteran righty Fred Martin (15-11, 2.56), Mike J. Clark (10-7, 2.78), relievers Dick Bokelmann (10-2, 0.79) and Jack Crimian (1-2, 0.90), the ’51 Buffs needed few other pieces to be as about as complete a staff as any winning club could ever hope to unfold, but they had that extra “umphh” arm too!

26-year old Cuban righthander Octavio Rubert brought a record of 19-5, 2.28 to the banquet table in that special ’51 season, and it came too with much Latin color and playing field gusto. The tremendously popular Rubert not only knew how to pitch, he also knew how to use all of his God-Given gifts and life conditions to best advantage in his pitching craft. You see, he had this special left eye, one that could’ve worked against him, but not as Rubert used it.

Rubert had a blind and wandering left eye. I always thought it was just an abnormality in his natural eye, but teammate Larry Miggins says it was actually a glass eye, one that Rubert could actually manipulate in the socket as he saw fit while he worked the mound. The stories are quietly legend about how Rubert used the eye to hold first base runners close to the bag. An unsuspecting opponent could reach first base and be fine as per normal – until he started to take his lead on Rubert. Then he’d look over to the mound and see the pitcher in the stretch position, but also looking straight at him.

WHOA! – And that was pretty much the intended message that Octavio Rubert hoped to be sending.

Unfortunately, 1951 was Rubert’s last really good minor league season. Octavio returned to go 9-9, 4.50 for the last place 1952 Buffs, but then he won only 13 final games in his last three seasons of organized ball (1953-55). Over the course of his ten seasons in American baseball (1946-55), however, Octavio Rubert compiled a career minor league record of 123 wins and 65 losses, with a an Earned Run Average of 2.53.

The game was different then because of the reserve clause, but you do have to wonder as you examine Rubert’s first three season stats in the Class C Florida International League (1946-48). The guy went 58-25 over that period, with an ERA that hovered around the two runs per game mark. You wonder how a pitcher that productive could simply be held back to success at that level and not move up faster, even with the acknowledged abundance of fully controlled other pitchers in the farm system hopper.

Ocatvio Rubert 4 The 6’0″ , 160 lb. Cuban also enjoyed several good seasons with Almendares in the Cuban Winter League prior to the 1959 government takeover by Fidel Castro. He was inducted into Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in Miami, Florida in 1997. That organization went into into some kind of suspended status following 1998 due to political tensions between Cuban-American residents and their homeland of origin, but it’s still quite a statement about the abilities of Octavio Rubert that he even got there.

Ocatvio Rubert is listed among the living at age 84 in 2009. I have no idea where he now lives nor what he’s been doing since baseball. When I am able to learn something, I’ll write about it here. In the meanwhile, I’ll settle for the gratitude that this talented young Cuban immigrant was once such a great contributor to the success of our hometown Buffs.

Tags: Baseball, Houston Buffs
Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments »

A Playoff Memory: Texas League, 1951.

October 13, 2009

The Shaughnessy Playoff System is the invention of Frank Shaughnessy, the General Manager of the minor league Montreal Royals back in the early ’30s as a device for giving the top four teams in an undivided league a chance to play each other for the league championship in an established format of games. The system was first deployed after the 1933 baseball season in the International League. It soon spread in popularity throughout baseball and into other sports as a way to create broader support among fans of several teams at season’s end. In other words, the post-season playoff system spread the hope and pumped the gate as though it were an offer that could not be refused.

The most common schedule format was to pair the Number 4 team against the Number 1 team – and the Number 3 team against the Number 1 team in Round One. With home team advantage going to the higher rank team, a best four games of seven series in each case determined which two teams advanced to Round Two, or league championship series – with the highest ranked team from the regular season again receiving the home club advantage in the scheduled of a final series based on the best four wins of seven format.

Buffs 1951

Here’s how the 1951 Houston Buffs made out in the Texas League Playoffs and the Dixie Series Championship that followed. The Buffs finished first in 1951 with a record of 99-61. They opened as hosts to the Beaumont Roughnecks, who tied with the Fort Worth Cats for fourth place place with records of 84-77. Beaumont won the nod as a playoff team by defeating Fort Worth, 4-2, on the road in s one-game playoff for the number four slot in the Shaughnessys. – The third place Dallas Eagles (85-75) took on the second place San Antonio Missions (86-75) in the other first round game. For purposes of brevity, we will only follow the Houston path here.

ROUND ONE, GAME ONE: BEAUMONT @ HOUSTON, Tuesday, 9/11/51: When Vinegar Bend Mizell came down with a mysterious sore throat and had to be hospitalized at nearby St. Joseph’s, manager Al Hollingsworth of the Buffs started veteran righthander Fred Martin. Beaumont Manager (and future first manager of the Houston Colt .45’s) Harry Ctaft started former Buffs star Clarence Beers. – Beers beat the Buffs, 4-1, as catcher (and future Buff) Frank Mancuso led the Roughnecks with three key hits.

Beaumont led Houston in the Series, 1 game to none.

ROUND ONE, GAME TWO: BEAUMONT @ HOUSTON, Wednesday, 9/12/51: Righthander Octavio Rubert starts for Houston, but he is quickly knocked out. Things look bad, but reliever Jack Crimian comes in to hold the Buffs close as the they chip away at a 4-0 Beaumont lead. With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the 8th, Jerry Witte enters the game as an aging and tired pinch hitter. Witte singles to left center, plating two runs that put the Buffs ahead to stay by 5-4.

Beaumont and Houston are tied, 1-1, in games won.

ROUND ONE, GAME THREE: HOUSTON @ BEAUMONT, Friday, 9/14/51: With Mizell still in the hospital, knuckleball ace Al Papai starts for Houston against Beaumont’s Hal Schaeffer. Papai loses a pitching duel by the score of 1-0.

Beaumont leads Houston, 2-1, in games won.

ROUND ONE, GAME FOUR: HOUSTON @ BEAUMONT, Saturday, 9/15/51: Still no Mizell. The troubled Buffs turn to the right hander Loel Passe nicknamed Black Mike Clark because of his deep-set eyes and matching dark mood. Clark black moods Beaumont, shutting them out, 2-0, to square the Series and guarantee its return to Houston.

Beaumont and Houston are tied games won, 2 games each.

ROUND ONE, GAME FIVE: HOUSTON @ BEAUMONT, Sunday, 9/16/51: With Mizell still out, Fred Martin starts again. He holds Beaumont down as Houston rips through several Beaumont pitchers. Jerry Witte leads the Buffs’ hitting attack by going 3 for 5 with a homer. Buffs win, 7-4.

Houston now leads Beaumont in the Series, 3 games won to 2.

Meanwhile, San Antonio has defeated Dallas in seven games and awaits the winner between Beaumont and Houston.

ROUND ONE, GAME SIX: BEAUMONT @ HOUSTON, Monday, 9/17/51: There is no day off as the Series shifts back to Buff Stadium. Ocatvio Rubert of Houston and Hal Schaeffer of Beaumont hook up in a pitchers’ duel that goes into the bottom of the 8th tied at 1-1. Larry Miggins breaks it up with a two-run homer shot over the left field wall off Schaeffer to put the Buffs ahead to stay by 3-1. Jack Crimian comes in to put Beaumont down in the ninth and the Buffs have advanced to the final round.

Houston wins the Series with Beaumont, 4 games to 2.

ROUND TWO, GAME ONE: SAN ANTONIO @ HOUSTON, Tuesday, 9/18/51: Al Papai mystifies the Missions by the consecutive final score of 3-1. Larry Miggins again homers. This time, it’s a no-doubter to far left field that provides the final tally of the evening.

Houston leads San Antonio in games won, 1-0.

ROUND TWO, GAME TWO: SAN ANTONIO @ HOUSTON, Wednesday, 9/19/51: Mike Clark starts against Hoot Gibson of San Antonio. Paced by Jerry Witte’s two-run double, the Buffs jump Gibson for a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first. With some late relief help again from Jack Crimian, the Buffs hold on to take a 4-3 second victory over San Antonio at Buff Stadium. I was there for that one. My dad’s boss invited dad and me to see the game with him from his first base line box and I was in “Buff Heaven.” It was my first experience with a playoff game and the Buffs won!

Houston leads the Series in wins, 2 games to 0.

ROUND TWO, GAME THREE: HOUSTON @ SAN ANTONIO, Thursday, 9/20/51: With Fred Martin again filling in for the still ailing Mizell, the Buffs crush the Missions, 11-5, at Mission Stadium. They are standing in the pennant’s doorway.

Houston leads San Antonio in the Series, 3 games won to none.

ROUND TWO, GAME FOUR: HOUSTON @ SAN ANTONIO, Friday, 9/21/09: Houston defeats San Antonio to complete a four-game sweep on their ride to the Texas League pennant. 5-3 is the final score as Jerry Witte’s 3-run homer in the 6th inning provides the winning margin. Octavio Rubert and Jack Crimian hold down the Missions one final time.

Houston wins the Series and the Texas League Championshp, four games won to none, over San Antonio.

By winning the Texas League pennant, the Buffs qualified to play the Birmingham Barons (83-71) the Shaughnessy Playoff winners of the Southern Association crown in the Dixie Series. The Dixie Series had been established in 1920 as the southern higher minor league equivalent of the World Series. In the years it was played (1920-1942, 1946-1958), the Dixie Series always featured the winners of the Texas League against the winners of the Southern Association.

Houston participated in eight Dixie Series contests, winning in 1928, 1947, 1956, and 1957 – and losing in 1931, 1940, 1951, and 1954. So, now that I’ve let the cat out of the bag, what happened in 1951? For one thing, Mizell got sick again. For another, they played pretty good baseball in Brimingham too, and the Barons caught Houston when they were dead tired. Here’s the gist of it, by game:

DIXIE SERIES, GAME ONE: BIRMINGHAM @ HOUSTON, Thursday, 9/21/09: An overflow crowd of 11,343 showed up at patriotic banter-covered Buff Stadium. In the pre-game, Buffs President Allen Russell even brought in a band. They played “Dixie” in honor of Brimingham – and “The Eyes of Texas” in honor of Houston.

Jimmy Pearsall, George Wilson, and Marv Rackley were the Barons’ big guns; famous major league vagabond Bobo Newson and Mickey Haefner were their top pitchers; and Red Marion (Marty’s brother) was the Birmingham manager.

Vinegar Bend Mizell was back, but Hollingsworth declined to start him in Game One. Octavio Rubert got the nod to face lefty Mickey Haefner of Birmingham. – The barons blast Rubert all over the place. Pearsall and Rackley both go four for four, and Jerry Witte of the Buffs cracks two doubles, but to no avail. Birmingham wins the opener, 7-3. Haefner picks up the win; Rubert is tagged early and ends up with the eventual loss.

Brimingham leads the Dixie Series in games won, 1-0.

DIXIE SERIES, GAME TWO: BIRMINGHAM @ HOUSTON, Friday, 9/22/09: Vinegar Bend Mizell finally starts for the Buffs against Ralph Brickner of the Barons. Second baseman Ben Steiner scores the only run of the game in the bottom of the first, coming home from second base on a sharp single up the middle by Buffs center fielder Roy Broome. Mizell just dominates the Barons today, striking out 14 and allowing only four hits in pacing the Buffs to a 1-0 victory

Birmingham and Houston are tied in Dixe Series games won, at one each.

DIXIE SERIES, GAME THREE: HOUSTON @ BIRMINGHAM, Sunday, 9/30/09: 16,681 fans mostly Birmingham fans show up for Game Three to watch Fred Martin of Houston square off against the legendary Bobo Newsom of Birmingham. The game is scoreless until the top of the 6th, when Roy Broome triples and Eddie Kazak is then walked intentionally by the Bobo to set up a double play situation with Larry Miggins coming to bat.

Mr. Miggins has other plans. He launches a deep home run over the wall in left field to give the Buffs a 3-0 lead that will hold up as the final score, with a little relief help from Mike Clark.

Houston leads Birmingham in Dixie Series games won, 2 to 1.

DIXIE SERIES, GAME FOUR: HOUSTON @ BIRMINGHAM, Monday, 10/01/51: Al Papai of the Buffs faces Jim Wallace of the Barons in Game Four. It’s another pitcher’s duel, but Jim Wallace of the Barons breaks it up in the late innings with a home run that gives Birmingham a 3-2 win.

Houston and Birmingham are tied in Dixie Series games won at two a piece.

DIXIE SERIES, GAME FIVE: HOUSTON @ BIRMINGHAM, Tuesday, 10/02/51: Birmingham home-boy Bobby Bragan, manager of the Fort Cats, creates a minor stir when he tells a local newspaperman that Hollingsworth and the Buffs should win because they are playing AA ball with AAA talent. Hollingsworth is briefly enraged by Bragan’s remarks, but quickly gets back to the business at hand. – Mizell starts for Buffs again against Brickner. Going into the bottom of the 6th, Mizell is in command of a 2-0 lead and looking good when, suddenly, he gets sick on the mound and has to be taken out. It’s never known from there if his illness was a new one – or just a flare up of the old one that kept him out of most of the post-season. All we know for sure is – his second illness proves fatal to the Buffs. With Mizell out of the game, Birmingham tees off on relievers Fred Martin and Jack Crimian for a 4-3 rally win over the Buffs.

With the Series going back to Houston, Birmingham leads in games won, 3 to 2.

DIXIE SERIES, GAME SIX: BIRMINGHAM @ HOUSTON, Thursday, 10/04/51: Black Mike Clark gets the nod to face Mickey Haefner as the Dixie Series moves back to Buff Stadium. Unfortunately, Haefner picks this date to pitch the greatest game of his career. Haefner has a perfect game going for him through seven innings and enough runs to win the game and Series, but he tires in the eighth. The Buffs get to Haefner for two runs and three hits, including a double by Jerry Witte, but its too little, too late. Haefner puts a cap on the ninth and Birmingham wins the 1951 Dixie Series, four games to two over our Houston Buffs.

I heard the last out on my bedside Philco radio. When we lost, I turned it off and skipped the post-game comments of Loel Passe for the first time in history. All I wanted to do was quietly cry myself to sleep, which I did. I didn’t read the sports pages the next morning or even talk about the game or series. It was another two weeks before I picked up the morning paper again. I wanted to make sure that Clark Nealon and the other writers were done with baseball and were now covering football. I didn’t want to hear about or discuss the Buff’s’ loss with anyone. I would use football to take my mind off the hurt until spring, when it was time for the real game to take over the land again with all the new hope it always brings.

Tags: Baseball, History, Houston Buffs
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »