That's the old ballgame Shreveport, chapter 8 (Sports 1925-42)

 Chapter 8

The Sports (1925-42)    

1925 -- After the 1924 season, O.L. "Ollie" Biedenharn Sr. bought the team. He was operator of the Coca-Cola Bottling Co. that his family had founded and had bottling rights in Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas and Mississippi.

      He also bought the ballpark and made two significant changes: (1) the team nickname went from Gassers to Sports; (2) the park -- first known as League Park, then Gasser Park -- became Biedenharn Park.

     R.S. Tarleton was the team business manager from 1925 to 1928.

    1926 -- Sports' total attendance was 143,794, fourth-best in the league -- and the team finished in fourth place.

    1929 -- The Sports came close in the Texas League's first-half season, with a 46-33 record and second-place finish a half game behind Dallas (47-33). Their second-half record almost matched the first (45-33), but again they were second behind Wichita Falls. So the overall record was 91-66, but Dallas and Wichita Falls made the championship series.

    1930 -- Night baseball came to the Texas League, five years before the first major-league night game. Waco was the first TL team to be host for a game under the lights, on June 20, and the night debut in Shreveport's Biedenharn Park was on Thursday, July 10 -- postponed a day because the system was not quite ready.

    The Sports lost that first night to Houston, 9-5, and a little less than 4,000 spectators attended -- the largest weekday crowd in Shreveport in years.

    Six steel towers were erected around the ballpark with a total of 48 bronze weatherproof lamps, each 1,000 watts. The cost of the system was estimated at $22,000 and The Shreveport Times reported that the Sports would pay $25 a night for electricity for a routine game (then about two hours).

    On July 24, Shreveport also played in the first night game in San Antonio. Houston also installed lights that season, and Fort Worth did in 1931.

    The Shreveport ballpark that fall was used for high school and Centenary College football night games.

The season attendance was 76,331, down a little more than 30,000 from 1929.

After the season, Art Phelan resigned as manager after six seasons and Biedenharn sold the team to T.S. Hickman, the secretary-business manager in 1929-30. Biedenharn maintained ownership of the ballpark.

     1931 -- Jake Atz, who had managed the Fort Worth Panthers for 16 years  and seven consecutive TL championships (1919 -- first half of a split season when Shreveport won the playoffs,and then 1920-25), came in as field manager and the team's part owner (with T.S Hickman). But the team's awful play led to Atz resigning after a 66-94 season and sixth-place finish. Attendance suffered again, falling to 57,572.

     1932 -- The team was bought by the Caddo Baseball Association group, headed by B.A. Hardey, with Walter Morris -- once the Texas League president -- operating as business manager. Future Hall of Famer George Sisler, then 39, came in as a player (first baseman) and manager.

      Disaster struck on the night of May 4 when the ballpark burned down after a game with the Galveston Cubs.

      A night watchman, sweeping trash, heard a small explosion, fire quickly spread through the grandstand and all but the umpires' dressing room, the Negro bleachers and the club office was destroyed, including all of the Sports' equipment.

   It was first reported in The Shreveport Times that team officials felt play could be resumed at home in three weeks. But the next day, the estimate became eight weeks.

    Biedenharn was to receive a $35,000 insurance payment for the losses, but -- this was Depression time -- announced on May 10 that he would not rebuild the ballpark, saying he had lost $25,000 on baseball in Shreveport and would lose no more.

     The team's home game with San Antonio on May 6 was moved to Longview, Texas, and drew more than 2,000 spectators. (Longview soon would be take over the floundering Wichita Falls franchise.)

     Tyler -- like Longview and other East Texas towns booming because of the newly found and developing oil fields -- also wanted a team, and the Sports' games with San Antonio on May 7 and 8 were played there, before a reported total of 4,000 fans.

     Then with the Sports' record at 9-21, a disenchanted Sisler quit as manager.

     With the franchise homeless, the Texas League decided to take the offer from a group of Tyler businessmen and moved the team there. Thus ended 18 consecutive seasons of TL ball in Shreveport.

     Pop Kitchens took over as field manager and completed a dismal 57-93 season.

     (From the East Texas Historical Journal, Volume 36, Issue I, Article 10, by Larry G. Bowman, professor of history at University of North Texas, "Cannibals and Sports: The Texas League comes to Longview and Tyler, Texas, 1932")

      1933 -- Shreveport, in a working agreement with the Detroit Tigers, joined the Dixie League and qualified for the championship series by finishing second in the regular season to the Baton Rouge Solons. The Sports won the first two games of the finals series, but Baton Rouge took four of the next five games (one was a tie halted by darkness), winning 2-1 to clinch the title. Shreveport workhorse pitcher Steve Larkin won one game, then lost 1-0 and 2-1 in his final two starts.

     1934 -- With Major B.A. Hardey and R.T. Andress as co-owners, the Sports moved to the six-team East Dixie League (three teams in Mississippi). But it drew little interest in Shreveport and, after a third-place finish (33-31 record) in the season's first half, the league persuaded Hardey to allow the team -- to move to Greenwood, Miss. (the official transfer date was July 17). The team's record was 12-9 then, but the renamed Chiefs faded badly (12-30 to season's end).

     1935 -- With Fred Nicholson as owner-president, Shreveport was part of the  West Dixie League, replacing Lufkin. Most of the league was based in East Texas and again little attention was paid to the Sports. On June 4, they were a dismal 8-30 when the franchise was shifted to Gladewater, Texas.

The team owner there was oilman Dick Burnett, who in 1948 bought the Dallas  franchise in the Texas League. He was one of the top promoters in baseball until his death (at age 57) of a heart attack while with his team in Shreveport on June 1, 1955.

     1938 -- A local stock company, headed by oilman Bonneau Peters, bought the Galveston franchise and players for $23,000. The Shreveport-TL Baseball Corporation, financed by prominent local citizens and businessmen, thus gained re-entry into the Texas League and also made plans for construction of a new stadium -- named Texas League Park -- near the same grounds where the previous park had stood until it burned.

     From 1938 to 1942 and again in 1946, the Sports had a partial working agreement with the Chicago White Sox.

     But, for the most part, from 1938 to 1957, "Mr. Pete" was an independent baseball operator, signing his own players and often keeping the team's finances afloat by selling his better players' contracts to major-league teams for then-hefty sums.    

Top players from the era

    OSCAR TUERO -- A Cuban-born right-handed pitcher, not big at 5-8, 158 pounds, his pro career ran from 1913 to 1941, and included three full seasons (1929-31, with records of 16-5, 17-6 and 7-16) in Shreveport and a few games in three other seasons (1932, one game in 1938, four games in 1941). Before he was with the Sports, he pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1918-20, with a 6-9 record in 58 games (19 starts). In 1921, he was 27-8 for Memphis (Southern Association), and spent seven consecutive full seasons in the Texas League -- four in Waco before Shreveport). Over 25 minor-league seasons, he had a 270-208 record. Died Oct. 21, 1960, in Houston, age 66, and is buried in Bunkie, La.

    EARL “HAP” COLLARD -- In his sixth pro season, 1929, the right-hander’s 10-2 record (.833) for Shreveport was the best winning percentage for a Texas League pitcher. He pitched in 18 games for 96 innings, with a 4.13 ERA, and spent part of that season with Seattle (Pacific Coast League). In came between his two major-league stints -- briefly in 1927 and ‘28 with Cleveland (American League) for a total of five games and 9⅓ innings in relief and no decisions and a full season in 1930 with the Philadelphia Phillies (6-12 record, 30 games, 15 starts, 127 innings). He also was in the Texas League before and after Shreveport -- 1925 with San Antonio, 1931 with Fort Worth. His career ended in 1932. Died July 9, 1968, in Jamestown, Calif., age 69.

     RAYMOND "RIP" RADCLIFF -- A left-handed outfielder from Oklahoma, in his fourth pro season, he was the Texas League batting champion for the Shreveport Sports in 1931, with a .361 average. His 215 hits in 155 games included 41 doubles, seven triples and 12 home runs. By 1934, he had a brief major-league debut with the Chicago White Sox, then played nine full seasons (1935-43) in the majors -- the first five with the White Sox. He was a .311 career hitter (1,267 hits in 1,081 games, 42 home runs, 533 RBI) and five seasons batted better than .300, with a best of .342 with the St. Louis Browns in 1940 when he led the American League with 200 hits. Died May 23, 1962, in Enid, Okla., age 56.

   BUD BATES -- An outfielder, his first full pro season at age 21 was 1933 with Shreveport (Dixie League) and he hit .331 with 163 hits in 123 games, including 14 home runs. He started the next season with the Sports and after 18 games (.246 average) went to Beaumont (Texas League). He played 18 minor-league seasons -- including six Southern Association seasons (1938-39 with Memphis, 1940-41-42-46 with Atlanta)  and his only major-league time was 15 games with the Phillies in 1939 (15 games, .259 average). He then managed in the minors for 11 seasons, including Atlanta (SA, 1957-59). Died April 29, 1987, in Long Beach, Calif., age 75.

      MIKE TRESH -- At age 19, a catcher with the Sports in the Dixie League in 1933 who hit .300 in 70 games, he went on to Beaumont in the Texas League that season and again in 1934-35, then first reached the majors with the Chicago White Sox late in 1938. For the next nine seasons, he was the White Sox's top catcher and then a backup with them in 1948 and Cleveland in 1949, a .249 hitter in 1,027 MLB games. His son, Tom, was a New York Yankees' star (shortstop, then left field) in the 1960s. Mike died Oct 4, 1966, in Detroit, age 52.

    PAUL EASTERLING -- The bulky outfielder, a Texas League legend known as "Pound 'Em Paul," first played for Shreveport at age 27 in 1933 (Dixie League) -- 44 games, .293 average, eight home runs -- and then returned for short periods late in the 1939 season and a couple of weeks to start 1940. He was in the majors in 1929-30, 72 games with the Detroit Tigers (hit home runs in three consecutive games shortly after joining the team), and again in 1938 for four games with the Philadelphia A's; he hit .275 in 219 plate appearances. The bulk of his career was in the Texas League -- 16 seasons in all, 13 for the entire year -- mostly in Beaumont (five seasons, 1929-33) and Oklahoma City (four seasons), but also Tulsa, Dallas, Houston and the Sports. In a 1939 season split between OKC and Shreveport, he led the TL in hits (182); he had 30 and 36 home-run seasons for Beaumont; and hit 203 TL home runs. Died March 15, 1993, in Reidsville, Ga., age 87.

     GEORGE GILL -- A right-handed pitcher from Mississippi College, he broke into pro baseball with Shreveport (Dixie League) as a 24-year-old in 1933, with a 15-11 record and 3.39 ERA in 35 games and 228 innings, and was 6-8, 2.88 ERA, in 25 games and 147 innings for Shreveport/Greenwood in 1934. Reached the majors with Detroit in 1937 and had records of 11-4 and 12-9 his first two years with the Tigers, then was 1-13 in 1939 (briefly with Detroit, 1-12 with the worst St. Louis Browns team ever). Pitched in the minors in 1940-42, and after military service, 1946. MLB totals: 24-26 record, 5.05 ERA, 85 games (45 starts), 395⅓ innings. Died Feb. 21, 1999, in Jackson, Miss., age 90.

    STEVE LARKIN -- A right-hander, he was the Dixie League's winningest pitcher for Shreveport in 1933 with a 22-7 record (.759 percentage) and 2.89 ERA and in 40 games was a workhorse (280 innings). It was easily the best of his seven pro seasons. The next year he pitched in two games (one start, six total innings) for the American League champion Detroit Tigers. He was in the Texas League with Beaumont in 1934 and '35 and Fort Worth in 1937. He served with the U.S. Army in Greenland during World War II, and died May 2, 1969, in Norristown, Pa.,  age 68.

       CLAUDE PASSEAU -- The right-hander from Mississippi (Moss Point and Millsaps College) would become a frontline pitcher (162-150 record, 3.32 ERA, in 13 major-league seasons), a five-time All-Star with some notable moments. In 1933, at age 24 in his second pro season, he was with Shreveport (Dixie League) -- 16 games, 7-4 record, 4.33 ERA, 106 innings. Solid at 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, his lack of control led to an early release by Detroit. Picked up by Pittsburgh, he was a 20-game winner for Des Moines (Western League) in 1935 and pitched one game, three innings, for the Pirates that year. A throw-in in a trade to the Phillies, he made the majors to stay in 1936 and averaged 15 wins and 252 innings per year from 1936-39 (Phillies) and 1939-46 (Cubs). Notably, after a complete-game shutout two days earlier, he is best known for giving up -- in his third inning -- Ted Williams' game-winning, three-run homer in the 1941 All-Star Game in Detroit, but also for a one-hit shutout in Game 3 of the 1945 World Series. That season for the National League champion Cubs, he won 17 games (five shutouts) and his 2.46 ERA was second-best in the NL, and he gave up only four home runs in 227 innings. A ruptured disk late in the 1946 season curtailed his career; he managed in the minors in 1948-49, but was a longtime successful farmer and John Deere dealership owner in Lucedale, Miss., and also the county sheriff. Died Aug. 30, 2003, in Lucedale, age 94.

    JAKE WADE -- A left-handed pitcher, he was 21 years old with Shreveport (Dixie League) in 1933, with a 9-9 record and 5.09 ERA in 30 games and 182 innings. He was in the majors for eight seasons (1936-39, 1942-46), all in the American League (six teams). Totals: 27-40 record, 5.00 ERA, 171 games (71 starts), 668 innings. Died Feb. 1, 2006, in Wildwood, N.C., age 93.

       DON ROSS -- A shortstop, his pro career began at age 19 with Shreveport (Dixie League) in 1933 when he hit .286 in 98 games. His 123 hits included 14 doubles, 11 triples, seven home runs. After three years with Beaumont (Texas League), he first made the majors in 1938 with Detroit and after three seasons in Montreal (International League) and a brief stay with the 1940 Brooklyn Dodgers was a mostly backup infielder for seven MLB seasons, 498 games, mostly with Detroit, a .262 hitter. Died March 28, 1996, in Arcadia, Calif., age 81.

     ROY CULLENBINE -- He was the starting right fielder for two World Series teams (1942 Yankees, 1945 champion Tigers), a two-time All-Star with nine full seasons (1939-47) in the majors, 1,072 hits and a .276 average. His pro career began at age 20 in 1934 with the Shreveport Sports (East Dixie League) -- 112 games, 119 hits (30 doubles, 11 triples, 11 home runs), .283 average. He was with six MLB teams, starting and ending with Detroit (in his home state, Michigan). Died May 28, 1991, in Mount Clemens, Mich., age 77.

    BENNY MCCOY -- A second baseman, sometimes outfielder, and a lefty hitter, his first pro season was 1934 with the Shreveport Sports (East Dixie League) -- 126 games, 146 hits (29 doubles, 10 triples, 12 home runs), .281 average. After three years in the Texas League, he was in the majors for a short time with Detroit in 1938 and '39, then full seasons with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1940 and '41. MLB totals: 337 games, .269 average, 16 home runs, 156 RBI. Died Nov. 9, 2011, in Grandville, Mich,  age 96.

      IRV STEIN -- A right-hander who pitched one game in the majors, in his second season (1932) -- three innings for the Philadelphia Athletics. In 1934, he was with Shreveport (East Dixie League) -- 9-10 record, 2.79 ERA, 21 games, 145 innings. He was in the Texas League for five years, Tulsa (1936-39) and Oklahoma City (1940) with a 62-66 record in that period. He pitched some in the International and Pacific Coast Leagues and mostly in the Southern Association and wound up with a 10-10 record for Baton Rouge (Evangeline League) in 1946. Died Jan. 7, 1981, in Covington, La., age 69.

    EDDIE LOPAT -- He became a major-league star in his native city, "Steady Eddie" as one of the New York Yankees' dependable starting pitchers for seven seasons and five consecutive World Series titles (1949-53). His best season was a 21-9 record in 1951. The slow-throwing left-hander -- born Edmund Walter Lopatynski -- also was known as "The Junkman." But he was only 20 and 21 years old when he was a struggling pitcher -- converted from first base -- briefly for the Shreveport Sports in 1938 (1-2 record in three games) and 1940 (0-3 in 15 games). It was a long road to the majors, but he got there as a starter for the Chicago White Sox in 1944. Traded to the Yankees in 1948, he was 109-51 for them in his first seven years -- and 4-1 in the World Series. In 340 regular-season MLB games -- with 318 starts -- he had a 166-112 record. He pitched through 1956 and later managed in the majors, in 1963 and for 52 games in '64 with the Kansas City Athletics. Died June 15, 1992, in Darien, Conn., age 73.

    RUDY YORK -- His Shreveport stay was brief, 12 games in 1933 (Dixie League) as a second baseman from Alabama at age 19, and hit he hit .354. He had a brief major-league debut with Detroit in 1934, was the Texas League's MVP for Beaumont in 1935 and grew into MLB stardom beginning with Detroit in 1937. In 13 seasons -- most with the Tigers -- he hit .275 with 277 home runs (he was the AL champion in 1943 with 34), drove in at least 100 runs in six seasons and had between 87 and 98 four more years, played on three World Series teams (1940 and '45 Tigers, 1946 Red Sox). For Boston in '46, he hit two grand slam in one game (vs. the St. Louis Browns) and hit two game-deciding World Series home runs. He then was a major-league hitting coach and Red Sox interim manager one game in 1959. Died Feb. 5, 1970 (cancer), in Rome, Ga., age 56.

  VALLIE EAVES -- A right-handed pitcher from Oklahoma, he was with Shreveport early in a career that spanned more than 20 seasons. With the Sports, he was 6-8 in 1938 and their ace in 1939 -- 21-10 record, 2.77 ERA, 42 games (36 starts) and a Texas League-best 165 strikeouts. His long journey began in the majors, with the 1935 Philadelphia Athletics when he was 1-2 in three starts (and 14 innings). He returned to the big leagues for bits of four more seasons, all in Chicago -- two with the White Sox, two with the Cubs -- and in 24 games (14 starts) had a 4-8 record. In 18 minor-league seasons, his record was 227-172; he was 25-5 for Texarkana (Big State League) in 1947, 26-10 for Lufkin-Leesville (Gulf Coast) in 1950 and, at 41, 19-11 for Brownsville (Gulf Coast) in 1953. He died April 19, 1960, in Norman, Okla., age 48.

    PETE FLEMING -- In 1938, the outfielder had the best of his nine minor-league seasons, leading the Shreveport Sports in batting average (.299), hits (182), doubles (39), triples (11) and home runs (24). It was his second year in a row in the Texas League; he batted .326 for Galveston in '37. He played in the American Association in his last two seasons, then retired as a player.

   JAKE JONES -- A power-hitting right-handed first baseman born and raised in northeast Louisiana (Epps), he was a Shreveport Sport for three years and 330 regular-season games (1940-42). In 1941, he was the Sports' first Texas League home-run champion (24) in 20 years (and listed as "Murrell" in the league record book). He hit .284 and drove in 82 runs that year, and also made his major-league debut with the Chicago White Sox. In '42, he was in 50 games for the eventual league playoff champion Sports. He played in the majors in parts or all of eight seasons, the best of which was 1947 (19 home runs for the White Sox and, after a trade, Red Sox). On his first day with Boston, he hit home runs in both ends of a doubleheader, ending the second game with a tie-breaking grand slam. But he was already a hero, a highly decorated U.S. Navy pilot in World War II when he shot down seven Japanese airplanes. After his return to baseball, he was in the majors from '46 to '48, then back in the Texas League with San Antonio in 1949. His MLB totals: .229 average, 23 homers, 117 RBI. He was a .289 minor-league hitter. During the Korean War, he was recalled to service and was a flight instructor. Died Dec. 13, 2000, in Delhi, La., age 80.

    GUY CURTRIGHT -- An outfielder from Missouri, he was in his sixth minor-league season (five at Henderson, Texas) when he joined the Shreveport Sports in 1939. He played three seasons for them, then made the major leagues at age 30 with the Chicago White Sox. For Shreveport, he hit .324 in 46 games his first year, then .261 and .291 -- .283 overall in 329 games. In 1941, he totaled 34 doubles and 14 home runs. He set a major-league rookie record with a 26-game hitting streak in 1943, a record that stood for 54 years (Nomar Garciaparra broke it). He was with the White Sox for four seasons, but only as a regular his first year. In 331 MLB games, he hit .276. He came back to Shreveport in 1947 for his final 73 games as a pro, batting .229. He had a long and successful high school coaching career in the Chicago area and died Aug. 23, 1997, in Sun City Center, Fla., age 84.

BOB KENNEDY -- He became a prominent baseball name and the prelude to 15 major-league seasons as a player was 1939 when he was the Shreveport Sports' third baseman. That year he batted .284 (26 doubles, seven triples, eight home runs) in 130 games and was with the Chicago White Sox for three games. He stayed in the majors from 1940 through 1957 -- except for military service in 1943-45 -- mostly as a strong-armed reserve outfielder (switched from third base after World War II), a .254 hitter in 1,484 games.  He was 1-for-2 in the 1948 World Series for the champion Cleveland Indians, and caught the fly ball that ended the Series. He became a scout, farm-system director, "head coach" for the Chicago Cubs' "cradle of coaches" in 1963-64-part of '65 and the first Oakland Athletics' manager (1968). He then was a general manager and front-office executive, and his son Terry was an All-Star MLB catcher. Bob died April 7, 2005, in Mesa, Arizona, age 84.

   HUGO KLAERNER -- A right-handed pitcher, lifetime resident of Fredericksburg, Texas, his pro career got a late start (age 24) and, in his second season (1934), included three starts (0-2 record) for the Chicago White Sox. Near the end of his 10-year career, he was a Shreveport Sports regular in 1939-40-41 (111 games, 626 innings), with records of 9-16, 16-16 and 5-13. He was also in the Texas League with Oklahoma City in 1936 (15-12 record) and 1942 (four games). Died Jan. 3, 1982, in Fredericksburg, age 73.

   JIM BRILLHEART -- Twice a Shreveport pitcher (1923, 1939-42), the left-hander from Virginia -- James Benson --  was a 300-game winner in the minor leagues. His pro career lasted from 1921 to 1951, and in 1,042 regular-season games, he had records of 309-266 in the minor leagues (29 seasons) and 8-9 in the majors. In his second pro season, he was MLB's youngest player (18) for the Washington Senators. The next year, he had a 4-11 record for a woeful Shreveport Gassers team. After two more MLB stints ('27 Cubs, '31 Red Sox), his best seasons were in the Texas League for Oklahoma City from 1935-38 (between 17 and 19 wins each year), then 18 wins in 1939 for OKC and Shreveport. His Sports records (at ages 37-38) included 14-7 for a playoff team in '41 and 12-9 for the TL playoff champs in '42. From 1943 through '47, he pitched for San Diego, then was its manager in 1948. Died Sept. 2, 1972, in Radford, Va., age 68.

      ORVAL GROVE -- A right-handed pitcher from Illinois with good size (6-3, 196) for his era, he came to Shreveport at age 21 during the 1941 season -- sent there from Texas League rival Oklahoma City -- and was the top winner (17-7 record) for a Sports' playoff team. He had a fine 2.73 ERA in 34 regular-season games and 201 innings. He had been with the Chicago White Sox at the start of the 1940 season and also pitched in two 1941 games for them, then spent the entire 1942 to 1948 seasons with them, winning 43 games in the World War II years (1943-45). His MLB totals: 207 games (152 starts), 63-73 record and four saves. He pitched his last four seasons for Sacramento (Pacific Coast League). Died April 20, 1992, in Carmichael, Calif., age 72.

    DAVE PHILLEY -- His brief stint for the 1941 Shreveport Sports (six games, 1-for-10) was no indication of a long and productive baseball career for the East Texas resident. A switch-hitting outfielder, later also a third baseman and first baseman at times, he spent 16 full seasons (1947-62) in the majors with eight teams (a couple twice). After spending most of the 1941 season with Monroe, La., he made his MLB debut with the White Sox that year and, after military service for three years, was back with them for a short time in 1946. He was regarded as a  clutch hitter, and later in his career, one of the majors' best pinch-hitters, a .270 hitter overall with 7,000 plate appearances, 1,700 hits (84 homers, 729 RBI). He was an outfield regular for the 1954 American League champion Cleveland Indians, and went 1-for-8 in the World Series. He was a Class A manager for four years (1963-66), then a longtime baseball scout. Died March 15, 2012, in Paris, Texas -- he made his longtime home near there -- at age 91.

  VERNON "GEORGE" WASHINGTON -- The outfielder from Linden, Texas -- near Texarkana -- was a regular, and a star, for the Shreveport Sports from 1939 to the pennant-winning year of 1942. A lefty batter, he was ages 32-35 in those years, and in 544 regular-season games, he was a .307 hitter (boosted by .349 in 1941; his 181 hits led the Texas League), with 149 doubles, 28 triples and 25 home runs. He first played for Shreveport in his second pro season, 1932 (89 games, 14 homers, .350 average), and was a major leaguer for all of 1935 with the Chicago White Sox (108 games, .268, nine homers, 52 RBI) and 20 games in 1936. After World War II, he finished his 20-year minor-league career with five seasons for teams in east and central Texas (back in the Texas League for 36 games in Dallas in 1950), highlighted by a .404 average, 37 home runs and 143 RBI for Texarkana (Big State League) as player-manager in 1947 and an East Texas League batting title (.387) at age 42 for Gladewater in 1949. Died Feb. 17, 1985, in Linden, age 77.

    GORDON MALTZBERGER -- In 1942, the right-hander -- acquired late in the season in a trade from Dallas -- had one of the great playoff stretches in Shreveport baseball history. He beat Fort Worth in the decisive Game 7 of the first-round playoff series, then in the championship series, he pitched shutouts in Games 5 and 7 (a two-hitter) as Shreveport erased Beaumont's 3-1 lead in games and won its first TL title since 1919. That was his 10th season as a pro (most of them in the Southern Association); his regular-season record that year was 16-12.  In four of the next five seasons, he was a reliever with the Chicago White Sox -- 135 games, 20-13 record, 33 saves, 2.70 ERA, 293⅓ innings. He was 10-5 in 1944. His career ended with six seasons in a seven-year period (1948-54) for Hollywood in the Pacific Coast League; he was 18-10 in 1949. He then was a pitching coach and scout for a couple of major-league organizations. Died Dec. 11, 1974, in Rialto, Calif., age 62.

      FLOYD SPEER -- A right-hander from Booneville, Ark., he was a 17-game winner (17-10, with a strong 2.17 ERA in 224 innings) in the regular season for the 1942 Sports, who wound up as Texas League playoff champions. He pitched two seasons in Shreveport -- 89 regular-season appearances -- going 7-8 in 1941 (159 innings). The next two seasons, 1943 and '44, he briefly made the majors, a total of three games and three innings for the Chicago White Sox. He spent most of his final 10 pro seasons in the minors, including Dallas (TL) for all of 1949 and a short time in 1950. In 16 minor-league seasons, his record was 189-131. Died March 22, 1969, in Little Rock, Ark., age 56.

     MERV CONNORS -- After reaching the big leagues in his fourth pro season and playing in 52 games for the Chicago White Sox in 1937-38 (.279 average, eight home runs, 25 RBI), the lifelong Californian was the Shreveport Sports' first baseman for most of the 1938 and '39 seasons. He batted .292 in 214 games, with 41 doubles, five triples and 38 home runs. His career ran from 1934 to 1953 -- he was back with the Sports for 14 games (.219 average) in 1948 -- and he hit 373 minor-league home runs in 2,019 games over 18 seasons. Died Jan. 8, 2006, in Berkeley, Calif., age 91.

    BOBBY COOMBS -- A small (5-9, 160) right-hander from Maine, he was a durable frontline starter and consistent winner in three seasons (1938-40) for the Shreveport Sports -- records of 12-11, 16-15 and 19-14, consistent ERAs (3.37, 3.22, 3.13). He worked 246 and 273 innings in '39-'40. His pro career began in the majors with the Philadelphia A's in 1933 (21 games in relief, 0-1 record) and he would not return to the majors until 10 years later (1943, New York Giants, nine games, 0-1 record). Most of his years were in the International League (Syracuse, 1934-35, and Jersey City, 1941-43). Died Oct. 21, 1991, in Ogunquit, Maine, age 83.

     JACKIE REED -- The right-hander from Boyd, Texas, was age 44 in 1939 and in the first of three seasons with the Shreveport Sports, he had the best winning percentage (.750, 9-3 record) by a Texas League pitcher. He was 16-16 and 8-11 in the next two years, winding up with Fort Worth in 1941 to complete a 21-year minor-league career in which his record was 294-227. Died Jan. 5, 1971, in his lifelong home area, Wise County, age 75.  

      TONY YORK -- A utility infielder from Texas, he spent the 1934-37 seasons in the Texas League (with Dallas and Tulsa), then came back for the 1940-42 seasons in Shreveport and was the Sports' regular shortstop in 1941. He batted .237, .243 and .255 in his Shreveport seasons -- 441 games, with 81 doubles, 11 triples and 35 home runs. His only major-league team was with the Chicago Cubs in 1944 (.235 in 28 games), and he played 13 minor-league seasons after that, through age 43 in 1956. Died April 18, 1970, in Hillsboro, Texas, age 57.

       JOE VITTER -- A New Orleans native and later longtime resident of Carthage, Texas, he was one of the Shreveport Sports' most popular players from 1938 to 1942. Mostly a utility infielder who also played some outfield, a smallish switch-hitter, he was on Texas League all-star teams in 1938, 1940 and in 1941. In 680 regular-season games for Shreveport, he batted .251 (his best season was .282 his first year). After leaving the Sports, he played for St. Paul for five seasons, then managed Class D teams in 1948-49. Died Feb. 19, 1995, in Denver, age 84.

    JOE GREENBERG -- The younger brother of Detroit Tigers superstar Hank Greenberg played third base in 1940 for the Shreveport Sports, hitting .308 in 91 games with seven home runs. He split the 1941 season between Shreveport and Fort Worth in the Texas League, the last of his five minor-league seasons.


Note: Walter Stephenson, C, 1938, 1941, listed in chapter 25, "They played and stayed."