The Pecan Park Eagle

Uncle Billy Disch
~ in his later years.

“Uncle Billy” Disch had a baseball destiny that could not be denied. Back in the early 20th century, he even managed the short-lived professional life of my birthplace home town Beeville Orange Growers (1910-11) as a 1911 replacement for Ted Schultz. 1911 Beeville went on to take the Class D Southwest Texas pennant by default when the Bay City Rice Eaters refused to play them in the championship series because of some unresolved bad blood issues over money and fairness that helped kill the league forever as one other result.

Billy Disch had just taken over as the head baseball coach of the Texas Longhorns in the spring of 1911, vacating his role in the same position at St. Edward’s University, also located in Austin. Uncle Billy would do his  duty with Beeville in 1911 and then stay on as the head man at UT through the 1939 season. He would finish with championships of one kind or another in 27 of his 39 seasons at UT and bank a career record of 512 wins, 180 loses and a winning percentage of .740.

Disch would stay active as an adviser to the UT baseball program through 1951. He would be inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1954 after passing away in 1953 at the age of 81. Disch-Falk Field, home of the UT Longhorns baseball team, was partially named in Disch’s honor.

Here’s how the Victoria (TX) Advocate reported Uncle Billy’s prospects as 1910 was about to to turn into 1911. At the time, Disch was still employed  by St. Edwards and the Victoria Rosebuds were members of that hard scrabble group they called the Southwest Texas League – and looking for a fireball Messiah like Billy Disch to lead them to victory in the minor league’s hinterlands:

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VICTORIA ROSEBUDS WILL GET A FLYING START NEXT SEASON

Billy Disch

Students returning here (Victoria) from St. Edwards College at Austin state that William Disch, the noted athletic director of the institution, upon whom Victoria had been counting to manage its baseball team next season,  has received like offers from several other towns of the Southwest Texas League, but had declined all of them. In the event, however, that he accepted any of them, which is highly improbable, he expressed Beeville as his choice. Disch has also been offered the position as athletic director of the state university (UT), and the students are of the opinion that he will accept it.

~ Victoria Advocate, Dec. 29, 1910, P 3.

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Uncle Billy Disch did accept the UT offer – and he did manage Beeville to its inglorious Southwest Texas League pennant in 1911. From there, his whole baseball life just seemed to play out like the unfolding of an unstoppable destiny.

Coach Billy Disch is also remembered by former players  for his four team rules:

“No chewing, no smoking, no drinking and no swearing.”

Do you think a UT ballplayer never broke any of those rules while playing for Uncle Billy back in the days of Prohibition?

Who knows, but I’ll bet they paid the price if they did and got caught..

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EXTRA! EXTRA!

HOW TO ORDER YOUR COPY OF “HOUSTON BASEBALL, THE EARLY YEARS: 1861-1961” ~

Don’t deny yourself, Order a copy today.

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Houston Baseball: The Early Years

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