Dallas–Fort Worth Spurs

The Dallas–Fort Worth Spurs were an American minor league baseball team in the Texas League from 1965–1971.[1] The team played in Turnpike Stadium in Arlington, Texas.[2]

The Spurs were created when the Triple-A Dallas Rangers moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1965.[3] With the opening of Turnpike Stadium, the Double-A Texas League's Fort Worth Cats, an affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, moved into the new venue and adopted the regional Dallas-Fort Worth designation and the Spurs nickname.[2]

The Spurs were affiliated with the Cubs (1965–1967),[4] Houston Astros (1968)[5] and Baltimore Orioles (1969–1971).[6][7]

As a Cubs' affiliate, the Spurs groomed future Major League players Don Kessinger,[4] Chuck Hartenstein,[4] Joe Niekro,[8] Fred Norman[8] and Bill Stoneman.[9] The club's one season in the Houston organization was lean in terms of prospects, with Fred Stanley and Danny Walton enjoying the longest big-league careers.[5] During their affiliation with Baltimore, the Spurs featured Don Baylor,[6] Bobby Grich,[6] Enos Cabell[7] and Wayne Garland,[7] along with managers Cal Ripken Sr.[7] and Joe Altobelli[6] and batboy Cal Ripken Jr.

The Spurs set many Texas League attendance records, especially after Turnpike Stadium expanded to a capacity of 20,500 in 1970.[10] The Dallas-Fort Worth area was considered a prime location for an expansion team or a re-located franchise. Indeed, Turnpike Stadium had been built specifically to attract a major-league team to the Metroplex. That dream nearly came to fruition when the National League expanded in 1969. But the league instead expanded to Montreal, with the Expos.[11]

Two years later, the struggling Washington Senators received American League permission to transfer to the area in 1972 as the Texas Rangers,[12] who moved into Turnpike Stadium (expanded and renamed Arlington Stadium).[13]