80 36" steel buffalo medallions rimmed Buff/Busch Stadium from 1928 to 1961.
The Houston Sports Museum enjoyed a nice open house crowd last Saturday at their location on the site of Buff Stadium last Saturday, June 19th. According to Curator Tom Kennedy, a good time was had by all during the 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM meet and greet autograph session with baseball figures from all segments of Houston’s baseball history. Jack Schultea was there representing Houstonians who went on to play pro ball. Larry Miggins attended as a former Buff from the 1940s and 1950s, but he also played a short while with the parent St. Louis Cardinals club – and he is now a member in good standing of SABR, the Society for American Baseball Research. J.C. Hartman was on hand as a transitional figure. Hartman was one of the few last Buffs who also then played for the new major league Houston Colt .45s. – Carl Warwick, a pinch-hitting hero with the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1964 World Series, also came as a former Colt .45. And all these guys were accompanied by former Houston Astro Jose Cruz, current Houston Astro Michael Bourn, and former Buff/Colt .45/ Astro Hall of Fame announcer Gene Elston. – What a lineup! – What a crowd! – What a day! – And what an opportunity for Houston to keep its history honored and growing.
Support Fingers: Here’s the catch, folks – and hopefully all of us who love baseball history can do our part to support the program. For the museum to succeed over time, the Finger Furniture store that preserves and protects it on this most special site of our minor league heritage must succeed in the retail sales market in this singular store location on the Gulf Freeway at Cullen. I probably don’t have to tell you how competitive the furniture business is in Houston. – For now, all we can do is think first of Finger’s when we need a furniture purchase – and spread the word to our friends as well. Store owner Rodney Finger has earned at least a “first look” Mulligan from all Houston baseball fans when it comes to that next furniture purchase. Please keep Finger’s in mind.
Museum Donations: As a result of the little publicity I’ve given to the Houston Sports Museum, a woman up in Livingston has contacted me about donating her father’s scrapbook to the museum. Her dad was an outfielder named D.L. “Country” Smith and he played with the Houston Buffs for a short while back in the late 1930s. He also took the time along the way to put together a scrapbook with photos and letters from Branch Rickey and former Buffs President Fred Ankenman. I’ve put the family in touch with Tom Kennedy for further exploration.
Those Buffalo Medallions:
This profile was my earliest and most lasting image of Buff Stadium.
The buffalo medallions that once rimmed the exterior walls at Buff Stadium came up again as part of HSM Curator Tom Kennedy’s talk to our Houston Chapter of SABR earlier this month. The eighty (80) thirty-six (36) inches in diameter medallions were the jewels in the royal crown of Houston baseball’s beautiful ballpark in the East End. A couple of these beauties now reside at the Houston Sports Museum as steely strong reminders of Houston’s thick and lasting baseball heritage.
Check the top photo here and you will see the configuration of how these medallions outlined the ballpark. Imagine the impression they made on the nine-year old kid that was me when I saw them for the first time in 1947. They were like magnets to me. Once in their presence, I couldn’t wait to get back. I was addicted to baseball from before I even heard the first crack of the bat.
It was an addiction from which I’ve never even tried to recover.
Houston, Baseball, & Other Musings.
The Pecan Park Eagle 