Texas-Southern League

The Texas-Southern League was a sports league of minor league baseball teams that operated from 1895 to 1899, primarily in Texas.[1]: 168  During the 1896 season, the league renamed itself as the Texas Association. History of the Texas-Southern League / Texas Association prior to 1900 follows.

For the league that operated during the 1920s, see Texas Association.
Texas-Southern League
SportBaseball
Founded1895
Ceased1899
No. of teams
  • 8 (1895–1897)
  • 6 (1898)
  • 4 (1899)
CountryUnited States
Last
champion(s)		Galveston Sand Crabs
(1899)
Most titles
  • Galveston (1+1⁄2)
  • Fort Worth Panthers (1)
  • Houston Buffaloes (1)
  • San Antonio Bronchos (1⁄2)

History
The league's inaugural schedule, as published in The Galveston Daily News on April 8, 1895

In 1895, the league began with eight teams: the Austin Senators, Dallas Steers, Fort Worth Panthers, Galveston Sand Crabs, Houston Magnolias, San Antonio Missionaries, Sherman Orphans, and Shreveport Grays.[1]: 168  In early August, the Austin, Houston, and San Antonio teams disbanded; Shreveport also dropped out, so the league would have an even number of teams remaining.[1]: 168  The league played a split season, with Dallas winning the first half, and Fort Worth winning the second half.[1]: 168  In a postseason series, Fort Worth defeated Dallas, seven games to six.[1]: 168 

In 1896, the league again began with eight teams: the returning Austin, Fort Worth, and Galveston teams were joined by the Dallas Navigators, Denison Indians, Houston Buffaloes, San Antonio Bronchos, and Sherman Students.[1]: 171  The Students disbanded in June and were replaced by the Paris Midlands.[1]: 171  In early August, four teams (Dallas, Denison, Fort Worth, and Paris) disbanded.[1]: 171  The league played a three-part split season, with Fort Worth, Houston, and Galveston each winning segments.[1]: 171  Fort Worth dropped out of the playoffs, leaving Houston to defeat Galveston for the championship, five games to two.[1]: 171  Notable players in the league included Kid Elberfeld and Harry Steinfeldt.

The 1897 league consisted of eight teams: the returning Austin, Galveston, Houston, Paris, and San Antonio teams were joined by the Dallas Defenders, Fort Worth Colts, and Sherman-Denison Tigers.[1]: 173  During July, the Sherman-Denison team moved to Waco, while Austin, San Antonio, and Houston dropped out of the league in August.[1]: 173  The winners of the two split seasons, San Antonio and Galveston, were declared league co-champions.[1]: 173  Notable players in the league included Warren Wallace Beckwith.

The 1898 league had six teams: the Austin, Galveston, Houston, and San Antonio teams were joined by the Dallas Colts and Fort Worth Panthers.[1]: 178  At the end of April, Fort Worth disbanded and Dallas was dropped from the league, while in May, Austin and San Antonio disbanded.[1]: 178  Austin and Galveston each won a half of the split-season, but no playoffs were held and no champion was declared.[1]: 178 

In 1899, the final season of the league, four teams competed, all of which returned from the prior year: Austin, Galveston, Houston, and San Antonio.[1]: 180  Galveston won both halves of the split season, and was declared league champion.[1]: 180 

Results by season
SeasonLeague nameTeamsClassSeason datesSplit season winnersPlayoffs
1895Texas-Southern League8BApril 20–September 2Dallas Steers
Fort Worth Panthers		Fort Worth over Dallas (7–6 games)
1896Texas-Southern League
Texas Association†		8CApril 18–September 5Fort Worth Panthers
Houston Buffaloes
Galveston Sand Crabs		Houston over Galveston (5–2 games)
1897Texas Association8CApril 17–August 22San Antonio Bronchos
Galveston Sand Crabs		None held; Galveston & San Antonio co-champions
1898Texas Association6CApril 9–May 16Austin Senators
Galveston Sand Crabs		None held; no champion declared
1899Texas Association4CApril 16–July 5Galveston Sand Crabs
Galveston Sand Crabs		None held; Galveston champion

† Name changed during July

Notes

Records from baseball's early years, especially in the minor leagues, are often incomplete, with frequent changes in team names and locations.

Some early seasons of the Texas League, which began operation in 1888, are listed as the Texas-Southern League in online sources.[2]

References
  1. Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles (2007). Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (third ed.). Baseball America. ISBN 9781932391176.
  2. "1888 Texas-Southern League". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.