That's the old ballgame Shreveport, chapter 27 -- champs, near-misses

     Chapter 27
Best teams, best seasons

     In its pro baseball history, Shreveport teams won eight league championships -- either regular season or playoffs -- and some came close. Here is a recap of the best seasons, a playoff history, and the near-misses:

The champions

1919

     In a foreshadowing of Texas League split seasons to come (starting in the late 1970s), the Shreveport Gassers won the first-half TL title to assure themselves of a playoff spot in September. They were fifth in the second-half season, won by Fort Worth.

      Fort Worth would begin a stretch of six consecutive TL championships in 1920, but these Gassers gave Shreveport its first title (and its only one until 1942).

      Shreveport won the title series with the Panthers, four games to two (with one tie). 

      Available statistics from baseballreference.com show that it was an unspectacular Gassers lineup. A 37-year-old first baseman, Harry Swacina, had the highest batting average on the team -- .287 in 119 games. Outfielder Jim Brown (.268) hit 11 home runs, seven more than anyone else.

      The hitting stars of the playoffs were Bernie Hungling, also a first baseman, who went 10-for-27 (.370), and second baseman Chick Knaupp, whose home run sparked the clinching Game 7 victory. 

      The finals pitching heroes were Buddy Napier, who won two games (including the opener) and went 10 innings in the 2-2 tie in Game 6, and Gus Bono, who relieved Sam Lewis in the seventh inning of Game 7, pitched out of a two-on jam after the Panthers had scored five runs to cut Shreveport's lead from 6-0 to 6-5. Bono retired the last seven batters he faced.

      The attendances for Shreveport's four home games: 3,891, 3,888, 4,000 and 4,787. 

      The Gassers players and manager Billy "Cap" Smith each received $306 from gate receipts of the first four games. Knaupp collected $355.90 when fans "passed the hat" after his Game 7 home run, and a banquet on the roof of the Hotel Youree, each player and Smith received a $50 bill from W.H. Rowe. Plus, appreciate fans gave Smith -- managing his fourth pennant-winning team -- an engraved gold watch and chain, a charm and a knife. 

1942

  

     Shreveport's first Texas League championship in 23 years took some spectacular turns: 

     (1) A 19-inning victory in Game 5 at Fort Worth in the first-round playoff series. The Sports led 3-0 after 6½  innings; the Cats tied it with two in the seventh and one in the eighth; and then came 10 scoreless innings (ninth through 18th) in which both teams wasted chances. In the 19th, right fielder Joe Cavosie's RBI single broke the tie and Al Bronkhurst, the third Sports pitcher, finished with his fifth scoreless inning. 

Salty Parker

     (2) A Game 7 victory, 8-2, vs. the Cats, with Gordon Maltzberger pitching a five-hitter and a shutout for the first seven innings; manager-third baseman Salty Parker and second baseman Stanley Sonnier each had three hits; the crowd was estimated at 6,000. (The Fort Worth manager was Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby.)

     (3) Down 3-1 in games in the championship series with Beaumont, three consecutive shutout victories -- 3-0, a three-hitter by Maltzberger; 3-0, a six-hitter by Doyle Lade; and 4-0, a two-hitter by Maltzberger (on one day's rest) in which he drove in the first two runs on a second-inning single up the middle. 

     So, the Sports' pitchers shut out the Exporters for the final 33 innings of the series.

     First baseman Chuck Baron had three hits and shortstop Tony York hit two doubles. 

     The pennant clincher on Sept. 23 drew more than 10,000 fans to Texas League Park; the overflow was roped off from the playing field down each foul line. 

     In Shreveport's first Dixie Series (vs. the Southern Association champion Nashville Vols), the Sports won Games 1 and 3 (Lade and Maltzberger were the winning pitchers), with 7,500 fans for Game 3 at TL Park.

     But Nashville took Games 4-5-6 (and its third consecutive Dixie Series title). In Game 5, Lade had a 1-0 and a one-hitter after six innings, but faltered. Maltzberger pitched a strong seven innings in Game 6, but the Vols managed a 2-0 victory. 

1952   

     A last-place team at the end of June made a remarkable turnaround, surged into the playoffs in September and, after finishing third in the regular season, won eight of nine Texas League playoff games -- a sweep against Fort Worth, a 4-1 edge against Oklahoma City -- to take the championship. And the Sports won Games 1 and 3 of the Dixie Series before three final losses to the Memphis Chickasaws.

     It was Shreveport's first TL title in 10 years, but two more followed in the next three seasons.

     With a 40-46 record and buried in last place, 7½ games out of first and 3½ out of seventh, the Sports went on a 20-6 streak and were in first place by July 23. That extended to a 26-7 run -- winning 11 of 12 series -- before they cooled off. 

Mickey Livingston

     Going into September, a playoff spot was uncertain; they were fourth, only two games ahead of San Antonio. But a seven-game winning streak put them in and after the franchise's best finish in 10 years, player-manager Mickey Livingston signed a contract to return in 1953.

     In the playoffs' first round, Shreveport again met Fort Worth -- as it had in 1948 and 1949. The second-place Cats had won the season series 13-10, but this time the Sports rolled in four games.

     Left-hander Fred Baczewski, who had a 6-4 record after coming to the Sports for the Triple-A Los Angeles Angels, pitched a five-hitter to win Game 1 at Fort Worth 3-1; his pitching opponent was Elroy Face (future Pittsburgh Pirates' ace reliever). In Game 2, Jim Willis also pitched a five-hitter in a 7-0 shutout, and Livingston and Harry Elliott hit two-run homers in the seventh and eighth innings.

     Back home in Shreveport, the Sports cruised to 7-2 and 6-2 victories in Games 3 and 4 before crowds of 7,567 and 5,964 at Texas League Park. Hugh Sooter pitched a seven-hitter in Game 3; Chico Garcia led the offense with a double and two singles. Elliott's first-inning home run, and later home runs by Bill Evans and Joe Szeleky backed the strong seven-inning pitching of Bud "The Whale" Lively in Game 4.

     In the TL championship series, the Sports beat Oklahoma City -- fourth in the regular season but a winner over first-place Dallas in the playoffs. Shreveport won the opener 8-4 before a paid crowd of 8,311 at home as Elliott hit three doubles and a single, and Baczewski and Bill Tremel pitched. After a rainout, OKC pulled even, taking Game 2 8-4 in 14 innings before 8,521.

     Shreveport then won three games -- and the title -- in Oklahoma City, around two postponements for rain and cold. It was 5-4 in Game 3, with Evans' sacrifice fly in the eighth inning breaking a tie and Lively closing with a clutch relief job. In Game 4, Baczewski pitched out of several jams and Garcia's RBI triple gave the Sports a 2-1 victory. Game 5 was easier, 7-2, as Szeleky started it with a three-run homer in the first, Grant Dunlap added a solo homer and two-run triple, and Willis cruised with a six-hitter. 

     In the Dixie Series, Shreveport faced a Memphis team with a similar season path -- from last place in the Southern Association in late July, to an extra-inning victory that edged New Orleans for a playoff spot, and then a run to the playoff championship.

     Shreveport won Game 1 in Memphis 8-3 as Baczewski pitched a six-hitter for his fourth playoff win. Dunlap hit a double and two singles; Elliott had a single and a ninth-inning home run.  The Sports led 1-0 in the first inning of Game 2, but were routed 14-3.

     In Game 3, Sooter scattered nine hits, but Memphis scored only once, and manager Livingston tied it with a seventh-inning homer. Then Garcia, who had cooled off after hitting .486 in the TL playoffs, doubled in the winning run in the bottom of the eighth, scoring Joe Koppe after his third single of the game.

     But the Sports did not win again, although they were one out from a 3-1 series lead. They led Game 4 2-1 with two outs in the ninth after Lively pitched a three-hitter through eight innings and Dunlap hit a go-ahead homer in the seventh. But Memphis' tying run scored on shortstop Koppe's throwing error, and a bloop double to left gave the Chicks the eventual 3-2 margin.

     In Game 5, Memphis solved Baczewski, and Tommy Hurd stopped the Sports on five hits in a 9-1 decision. The last two games in Shreveport drew 7,008 and 6,158. 

     Memphis then went home and its four-run first inning was too much for the Sports to overcome. Dunlap hit a two-run homer for Shreveport, but the Chicks were Dixie Series champs with an 8-5 victory.    

1954     

     This was the only regular-season championship Shreveport Sports team in the Texas League -- a first-place team from July 6 to the pennant clincher on Sept. 4.

     But a fourth-place Fort Worth team that finished nine games behind Shreveport spoiled the playoffs for the Sports, winning their best-of-seven first-round series in five games.

     It was the fifth consecutive Shreveport playoff trip in which it faced Fort Worth in the first round. This time the Cats were hot -- 22 victories in the season's final month carried them from sixth place into the playoffs. 

     Meanwhile, Shreveport's momentum had faded, and Houston, six games behind at the end of August, closed in on first place. 

Mel McGaha

     But an 8-1 victory at Beaumont -- in which player-manager Mel McGaha went 3-for-4 with a home run, double and stolen base -- gave the Sports a four-game lead with three to play. Shreveport finished 90-71; Houston was 89-72.

     So dominant were the Sports that they won the season series with each of the seven TL opponents. In an oddity, they had a 12-11 series edge against the other three playoff teams -- Houston, Oklahoma City and Fort Worth.

     But the Cats set the tone for the playoffs in Game 1, winning 3-2 in 12 innings on a day of celebration in Shreveport -- a victory parade for the Sports preceded the game and McGaha was honorary "Mayor of the Day."

     Fort Worth left-hander Karl Spooner pitched a four-hitter, but the Sports had no hits the final eight innings and the Cats handed Joe Piercey the pitching loss on a double, Spooner's bunt hit and a following squeeze bunt in the 12th.

     Shreveport's only success came in Game 2 when John Andre -- "Pitcher of the Year" in the TL -- not only pitched a five-hitter but also hit a home run for the game's first run and added two singles in a 7-1 victory.

     Fort Worth then ended Shreveport's season with victories of 9-5, 9-8 in 11 innings, and 2-0 as Spooner's seven-hitter outlasted Andre, who pitched shutout ball after two first-inning runs. 

     The Game 4 loss was the most painful for the Sports, who blew leads of 4-0, 6-2 and 8-6, and gave up two runs in the eighth and two in the ninth as the Cats rallied to tie it, then scored the winner in the 11th on a double, two walks and a Shreveport error on a potential double-play grounder.

1955

     Billy Muffett pitched the first no-hitter in Texas League playoffs history, clinching Shreveport's semifinal series with San Antonio, and that was the most spectacular feat of the Sports' comeback stories as they won the league championship.

     They were a third-place team that did not clinch a playoff spot until Muffett's two-hit shutout against those same Missions in the first game of a doubleheader on the last day of the regular season.

     Then in the playoffs, they trailed San Antonio, two games to one, before winning the final three games. In the league championship series, the comeback was even greater -- from a 3-1 games deficit to three final victories.

     It was similar to Shreveport's regular season, a so-so start but a 30-18 record -- best in the league -- from July 22 to the end.

     The magic ran out in the Dixie Series against Southern Association champion Mobile, which swept four games.

     When Muffett pitched the shutout on the regular season's last day, it kept San Antonio from the winning the straightaway TL title; the Missions (93-68) finished a half game behind Dallas (93-67). 

     Among Shreveport's clutch performances in the playoffs:

     -- A 5-3, 10-inning Game 1 victory at San Antonio.

     -- Then after the Missions, who had beaten the Sports 15 of 23 times in the regular season, won Games 2 and 3 (12-6, then 4-0 at Texas League Park when a flu-bugged Muffett was the loser), Shreveport's comeback began with a thrilling Game 4 victory. They trailed 3-0 after 5½, led 4-3 after two-run home runs by Les Peden and Joe Koppe in the sixth, then fell behind 7-6 when Willie Tasby hit a two-run homer for Santone in the top of the ninth. But Koppe's two-out, two-run double delivered the victory in the bottom half.

      -- In Game 6, Muffett not only pitched the no-hitter (one walk, four strikeouts, only two batters over the minimum), he also hit a home run. Age 24, two years from making the majors (with St. Louis), his was the first no-hitter for a Sports pitcher since Ralph Erickson vs. Houston (3-0 victory) in July 1931.

      -- Against Houston, the Sports' first hero was outfielder Ev Joyner, who an 8-5 Game 1 victory hit an RBI triple in the first inning and a grand slam in the second, and in a must-win Game 5 in Houston delivered a three-run homer in the ninth inning to break a 1-1 tie. 

      -- John Andre, the TL's "Pitcher of the Year" as a 21-game winner the year before, pitched seven innings and hit a home run in Game 1.

      -- In Game 6, Muffett and reliever Gale Pringle (2⅔ innings) pitched the Sports to an 8-2 victory highlighted by 11 Shreveport walks.

      -- In Game 7, before 5,942 fans at TL Park, the Sports won the title with a 3-0 victory as shortstop Koppe hit a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first, second baseman Jack "Red" Hollis homered in the second, and Ray Knoblauch and Pringe combined on a 3-hitter to outpitch Houston knuckleballer Barney Schultz, who had pitched a four-hit, 3-0 shutout in Game 3 in Shreveport.

      In the Dixie Series, Mobile won Games 1 and 2 in Shreveport, 8-0 and 10-9 before crowds of 6,507 and 4,709. The Sports tried to pull out Game 2 as manager-player Mel McGaha hit two home runs and Les Fleming one, but Bears center fielder Ray Shearer -- whose two-double RBI double off the right-field wall drove in the decisive run in the ninth -- threw out Ev Joyner at home for the final out as he tried to score on J.W. Jones' single.

      Shreveport led Game 3 in Mobile by 4-0, but Muffett couldn't hold the lead, and the Bears won 11-6 after the Sports closed to 7-6. Mobile clinched the Series with a 9-2 Game 4 victory that include a three-run double by Herb Olson in the first inning and Jim Gentile's two-run homer in the third.

1990

     This did not seem to be the team that would end Shreveport's 34-year Texas League championship drought. But it did.

     It barely made the playoffs, winning the first-half East Division championship by .0068 with an unlikely stretch run. Trailing by 3½ games, it needed to beat Tulsa in five of the last six first-half games ... and did. 

     A 9-1 victory in the final game -- before 6,803 fans at Fair Grounds Field, the stadium's fifth-best game attendance to that point -- gave the Captains a 34-31 record and the slim margin over Jackson (35-32), with Tulsa just behind at 34-32.

     Then Shreveport faltered in the second half, with a 31-37 record. So as they were host to second-half champ Jackson for the East playoffs, the Captains had a 65-68 overall record.

     Then ... magic -- a sweep of Jackson, and after falling behind San Antonio two games to one in the championship series, three final victories. Two of those six playoff victories came on stunning two-out rallies in the ninth inning.

     Against old playoff nemesis Jackson, the Captains had 16 hits to breeze to a 13-5 Game 1 victory, with Rod Beck pitching six innings for the win.

     Game 2 was a classic Shreveport victory, 2-1.

     The Mets' Anthony Young, the TL's "Pitcher of the Year" with a 15-3 record, shut out the Captains on three hits through eight innings and also gave his team the lead with an RBI single in the eighth, an unearned run off Shreveport starter Eric Gunderson (five hits in eight innings). But in the bottom of the ninth, Ted Wood led off with a double, and was on third with two out. Kash Beauchamp beat out an infield topper with a headlong slide (the Mets disputed the "safe" call), scoring Ward with the tying run. A wild pickoff throw to first by Young moved Beauchamp to second and Dave Patterson's RBI single to center ended the Captains' first-round and Jackson playoff "jinx."

     The championship series began in Shreveport and the Captains took Game 1 6-0 as lefty Rafael Novoa gave up three hits in six innings and Wood and Juan Guerrero hit home runs. But San Antonio gained the series edge by winning Game 2 (1-0) and Game 3 (6-5 in 10 innings). The Missions' Dan Opperman, who lost twice to the Captains in the regular season, pitched 7⅔ no-hit innings before a disputed infield hit by Andres Santana; the next night four Shreveport errors bailed out San Antonio.

     When the series shifted to San Antonio, the key game in the Captains' title march was the first. The Missions led 4-0 after five innings and were up 4-3 in the ninth when Santana, after six foul balls, laced a two-out, two-run double and Shreveport's 5-4 victory evened the series.

     The Captains got a break when Game 5 was rained out, with San Antonio leading 4-0 in the top of the fourth. 

     With that reprieve, Shreveport eased to a 7-1 Game 5 victory, beating Game 2 hero Opperman with a four-run sixth inning highlighted by Patterson's two-run double. Beck pitched a seven-hitter over eight innings with no walks, and the Missions' run was unearned.

     After another rainout, the first Shreveport TL championship clincher in 35 seasons came on Sept. 15 with a 3-1 victory.  Guerrero's two-run homer in the fourth inning and Beauchamp's homer in the eighth was all Gunderson needed. The lefty pitched a five-hitter with 12 strikeouts through eight innings, and Steve Reed closed it, but not before some excitement -- he loaded the bases and gave up a run. Beauchamp caught a fly ball to left for the final out, and Shreveport finally had a champion.   

1991 

     Unlike the uphill climb by the surprising 1990 Captains, this Shreveport team was a dominating force and the championship repeat was no surprise.

     This team's regular-season winning percentage (86-50, .632) was the best in Shreveport baseball history to that point (topped by the 1995 Captains), and it added the four playoff victories it needed.

     But like 1990, the Captains again had to rally from a 2-1 championship series deficit. Like 1990, they did so by winning the final three games against El Paso. But this time it was in front of the home crowd.

     Because they swept the two Eastern Division half-season titles -- by 12 games with a 45-23 record in the first half, and on the next-to-last day in the second half with a 12-inning, 2-1 victory against Arkansas (and with a 41-27 record) -- they advanced directly to the TL championship series.

     That opened in El Paso, and Steve Lienhard -- who pitched in 48 games for the Captains the previous season -- pitched the Diablos to a 6-3 victory. Shreveport's 11-4 Game 2 breeze was led by Steve Hosey's five RBI, starting with a two-run homer in the second. But El Paso ruled in Game 3, 5-3.

     At Fair Grounds Field, the Captains got even with a 2-0 victory as Dan Rambo pitched 7⅔ innings, giving up five hits, and Dan Lewis hit an RBI double in the fourth inning, then scored the second run. 

     The critical Game 5 went to Shreveport 1-0 as Larry Carter pitched seven innings -- the first five without giving up a hit -- to outduel Lienhard, and Kevin Meier and Jim Myers finished with an inning apiece. The Captains' run came in the fourth  on Lewis' single and, after an infield out, Scooter Tucker's two-out single. The key defensive play was Hosey, in right field, throwing out the potential tying run at the plate in the seventh.

     The clincher in Game 6 was a 5-1 victory, highlighted by Guerrero's two-run homer in the fifth that erased a 1-0 El Paso lead (the Diablos' only run in the three games in Shreveport). The Captains added three runs in the sixth, and Johnny Ard earned his second pitching victory of the series, with Jim Pena working the final 1⅔ innings. And the Captains' fans (2,543 paid) celebrated two titles in a row.

1995 

     This is considered the best Shreveport team ever -- with its 88-47 (.652) regular-season record, two runaway half East Division titles (by six games and then 12), and one loss in five Texas League championship series games.

     It never lost more than three games in a row all season, and lost only two series, both at Arkansas (in April and August). 

     In the TL title series, against Midland, it lost Game 2 on the road, 6-1, but the Angels scored only three runs in the four Captains victories. That included two shutouts -- both 1-0, with Jacob Cruz each time delivering an RBI single.

     In Game 1, Shawn Estes pitched a five-hitter over seven innings, and Marino Castillo and Shawn Purdy finished. Doug Vanderweele gave up only four hits in Game 3, finishing with six perfect innings.

     The Captains won Games 4 and 5 at home, 7-2 and 5-1, with Edwin Corps (5⅔) and Castillo (3⅓ innings) combining the first night and four pitchers -- Purdy as the closer -- working the clincher, with 2,834 paid in attendance.  

2010 

(American Association)

     The Shreveport-Bossier Captains won the first-half Southern Division title by five games, missed a sweep of halves when Pensacola edged them by a half-game, then won a see-saw South playoff series with the Pelicans with a come-from-behind Game 5 victory.

     Shreveport could not wrap up the series in Game 4, losing at home, then trailed 6-3 after 7½ innings of Game 5. But three runs in the eighth tied it, and the winning run scored on 42-year-old Jorge Alvarez's ninth-inning RBI single. 

     The Captains then swept Northern Division champ, the Sioux Falls Pheasants, in three games -- 3-1, 3-1 and 4-0 -- for the league title. Pitching ace Osvaldo Rodriguez (11-3 record in the regular season) won Game 1, and a major-league veteran relief pitcher, 40-year-old Hector Carrasco, wrapped it up with a Game 3 save (two innings). Carrasco also was the winning pitcher in the South finals' Game 5. 

They came close ...

1916

      The Gassers (84-61) made a run at Shreveport's first pennant, finishing a half-game behind Waco (84-60). Shreveport had a 3½-game lead going into August --after a 23-11 surge took it from fourth place to first -- but a 5-1 loss at Waco on Aug. 31 gave the Navigators the lead ... for good. 

      Still, it came to the final day, on Labor Day Monday, when a  doubleheader sweep at Fort Worth could have given Shreveport the pennant, but when it lost the opener 10-5, Waco clinched the title, although it lost a doubleheader against Dallas that day.

      Shreveport fans rewarded the team with a "Players' Day" the next day during a benefit game against an amateur team at League, and manager Syd Smith was presented an automobile. 

1933

     Forced out of the Texas League after the home ballpark burned down the previous May and playing in a makeshift facility on the site, Shreveport moved into the Dixie League -- and came close to winning the championship.

    The Sports made the championship series by -- barely -- winning the second-half title; the margin was a half-game, Shreveport with a 37-25 record and Jackson at 37-26.

     But after the Sports won the first two games of a best-of-seven championship series, the first-half champion Baton Rouge Solons rallied for four victories (around a Game 6 tie).

     Shreveport won twice at home, 7-3 as Don Ross' three-run homer in the first inning -- after the first two men got on base -- gave them a big start, and 5-3 in Game 2 with another three-run first inning.

     Outfielder Hal Patchett was 5-for-9 with four RBI in the first two games and shortstop Oliver Blackeney was 6-for-8. But the Sports' offense produced little in the final five games.

     Steve Larkin, who had 22 pitching victories for Shreveport and soon would sign with Beaumont in the Texas League and then was sold to the Detroit Tigers, pitched the Game 1 victory. 

     Dick Stewart, 11-2 for the Solons since mid-June, pitched a two-hitter as BR won 5-1 at home in Game 3. Then Larkin lost Game 4 despite a three-hitter; Baton Rouge won 1-0, scoring on a double steal in the third inning. Left-hander Merritt Hubbell, brother of King Carl Hubbell, pitched a four-hitter for the Solons.

     Back in Shreveport for a doubleheader on Labor Day before an estimated crowd of 2,300, Baton Rouge won Game 5 by 5-2 after the Sports had a 2-0 lead after six innings. Shreveport led Game 6 by 3-1 after six; then Baton Rouge tied it with runs in the seventh and eighth innings, and the game was called by darkness, ending in a 3-3 tie.

     Baton Rouge clinched the championship the next day, winning 2-1 on a run in the eighth inning against Larkin. The Sports had two runners on with one out in the ninth, but could not score. Shreveport manager Gus Whelan, an infielder, was ejected from the game in the fourth inning.

1960

     No Shreveport team ever -- and few in pro baseball -- made a greater stretch run than these Sports. They came up a half-game short, losing 2-1 -- after a 1-0 lead -- in the regular season's last game.

     If they had won the game, at Nashville in the second game of a doubleheader, they would have finished a half-game ahead of Atlanta (87-67). As it was, Shreveport finished 86-67 -- with 25 victories in its last 29 games.

     The huge run began after a three-game losing streak at Mobile, the last on six Mobile runs after leading 5-0 in the last inning (first game of a doubleheader).

     The Sports then had winning streaks of eight and 13 games, with one loss (by one run) in between, so a 21-1 stretch, and 24-2 -- leaving them one game behind Atlanta (after trailing by 12, in fourth place, on Aug. 13). A week earlier, they had been in sixth place.

     They went on the road for their final week. Consecutive doubleheader sweeps at Memphis left them a game behind fading Atlanta. But a 1-0 loss to Memphis (before a paid attendance of 66) and a Crackers' victory left them two behind. 

       An open date and two consecutive rainouts followed, leaving time only for a final doubleheader at Nashville's Sulphur Dell. Meanwhile, Atlanta -- having rallied for an extra-inning victory against Birmingham and needing only one victory to clinch the title -- lost a doubleheader to Mobile. 

      When the Sports beat Nashville 4-3 in the first game on Sunday, Sept. 11, then learned that Atlanta had lost twice more to Mobile, it was a one-game season for Shreveport.

      But with a 1-0 lead in the sixth, relief pitcher Dave Wickersham -- who had been a star of the stretch run and got the save in the opener -- inherited a bases-loaded situation and walked in a run. In the seventh, a bloop single to right by catcher Johnny Edwards (a Cincinnati Reds' rookie star the next season) scored Ev Joyner from second base.

      Joyner had been a Sports' star in 1954-56 and then became a Shreveport resident, rode the Shreveport team bus home after the game.

      After that lengthy bus ride -- no day off in between -- the Sports opened the playoffs at home the next night against Little Rock, lost the first two games of the series and were eliminated in four games.

     Top stars on this Shreveport team were rookie shortstop sensation Dick Howser (.338 batting average), first baseman Jim McManus (the TL leader in home runs, 32 -- with 117 RBI), outfielder Leo Posada (league leader in RBI, 122), center fielder Jay Hankins (voted the team's most popular player), and pitchers Dan Pfister (7-1 in the stretch run, 13-5 overall), Bud Black (5-0 in August-September), and Wickersham (10-7, team-high 69 appearances).

                

1975

     Red-hot start, 12-game division lead in June, league record-tying 16 doubleheader sweeps, 49-16 record at home. 

     How did these Captains not win their division? 

     Well, they didn't.   

     They finished two games behind Midland in the TL West Division despite finishing 24 games above .500 (76-52). Few Shreveport teams, if any, had a more bizarre -- and rain-filled -- season. 

     They led Midland, then in third place, by 13 games in early June. And then several factors kicked in:

     -- Player promotions (by parent team Pittsburgh) to Triple-A, especially a couple of key pitchers and second baseman Mike Edwards.

     -- The wear-and-tear of three bus trips West to face division opponents (Midland, El Paso and San Antonio), 600- to 800-mile journeys (and back). That was a rare season; Shreveport most years was in the East Division.  

     -- A Texas League-record 31 rainouts (20 at home). Because of all the postponements, it meant a steady dose of late-season doubleheaders, straining the Captains' pitching staff (for example, doubleheaders each night of an Aug. 18-22 homestand with El Paso).

     --  A Midland team that heated up over the final 2½ months to win the race. The Cubs' pitching staff included four future star major-league pitchers -- Donnie Moore (14-8 that season), Mike Krukow (13-6), Dennis Lamp (7-5), and Hall of Fame reliever Bruce Sutter (5-7, 13 saves) -- and the offense was led by  slugging first baseman Wayne Tyrone (21 home runs, 82 RBI).

     -- The Captains reached a season-high 25 games above .500 at 56-31 on July 19 and still had a seven-game lead. But two doubleheader losses at Jackson in a two-week period began a slide; seven losses in a row left the lead at 1½  games going into August.

     -- The lead fluctuated between three games and percentage points in the next two weeks. But a 2-7 road trip west -- including four consecutive losses at Midland -- put the Cubs in first place on Aug. 14, the first time since Opening Day that Shreveport had not led.

     -- Still, after falling 2½  games behind, the Captains rallied to beat Midland three in a row, a doubleheader sweep on Aug. 26 -- the record-tying 16th sweep of the season -- put them a half-game ahead again. But when Midland won Shreveport's home finale, 6-2, on Aug. 27, the Cubs were back in first ... to stay.

     -- Then, consecutive losses at San Antonio -- 4-3 and a brutal 9-8 (when Santone scored seven runs in the eighth inning to erase an 8-2 Shreveport lead) -- effectively ended the Captains' chances. Three wins to close the season did not help; Midland clinched the division title on Aug. 31, the next-to-last day of the season.  

     -- Shreveport was 20-21 from July 19 on; Midland made up nine games in that stretch.

     -- Shreveport wound up playing six fewer games than Midland (81-53). The East champion, Lafayette, was 72-57.

1976

     It came down to a one-game showdown for the Texas League championship ... and the Shreveport Captains didn't win it.

     But the only reason they were in the TL championship series with Amarillo was that a week earlier they had won another one-game showdown -- the most dramatic game at the old Shreveport ballpark in a couple of decades.

     On Labor Day Monday (Sept. 6), the Captains were a half-game behind Jackson in the TL East, having lost their two previous games, including a ninth-inning lead -- and the game -- on that Sunday night.
To have a chance, Shreveport needed Jackson to lose a Monday day game at Lafayette. That happened; Jackson lost 2-0.

John Lipon

So it was down to the night game with Arkansas at SPAR Stadium, with everything on the line. Win, and the TL East Division title -- and a spot in the championship series -- was theirs. Lose, and the season was over.

     Manager John Lipon's Captains won 7-2, their 70-66 record edging Jackson (69-66) for the East title.
     Before a paid crowd of 1,286, Randy Sealy -- on his 22nd birthday and making his first start in several weeks in an injury-plagued season -- pitched the distance with a five-hitter and was backed by a 12-hit offense.
After Arkansas scored twice in the first inning, the Captains got four in the second -- two on Paul Djakonow's home run -- and rolled on. Second baseman Mike Edwards had four hits; Gary Hargis and Frank Grundler also hit home runs.

     In the championship series, Shreveport won Game 1 easily, 8-2, as lefty Doug Nelson pitched seven shutout innings and Edwards, Gary Hargis and Frank Grundler hit home runs.
But Amarillo bounced back for a 3-1 Game 2 victory, the Captains not scoring until the ninth inning and then, with two final outs, leaving the bases loaded.
The next night in Amarillo, Shreveport built a 6-1 lead, then held on as Chester Gunter pitched the final three innings in relief and escaped a last-inning jam.
The Gold Sox then ripped into Captains' pitching in the final two games, cruising to 13-8 and 10-5 victories.  

1985

    This was not a division champion -- not in either East Division half season -- nor a playoff team, but it was "close" (second place) in all regards. Its 33-33 first-half season left it 1½ games behind first-place Arkansas; the second-half record (39-31) left it three games behind Jackson. The overall record, 72-64, was one game behind Jackson in the East.

     But, significantly, it was the last Captains team for the next decade to miss the playoffs.

1996

     This "near miss" team was the first Captains team to miss the playoffs in 11 seasons. It just missed in both half-season East Division races -- with a 36-32 record, one game behind Jackson in the first half; with a 37-34 record, 1½ games behind Tulsa in the second half. Goodbye playoff streak.

    Small consolation: The last game of the season was a 28-2 victory at Arkansas.

1997

     This was a "down to the wire" Captains team, a winner -- barely -- in both halves of the East Division and, in the end, it lost the seventh game of the Texas League championship series -- 2-0 to San Antonio -- but not before erasing a three games-to-none series deficit.

     It took six consecutive victories, including a final-day doubleheader sweep of Tulsa (6-1, 5-1) to edge Arkansas by a half-game for the first-half East title. It was "easier" in the second half, the margin was 1½ games, but it took a last-day Tulsa loss for the Captains to clinch. With the pressure off, Shreveport routed 23-4 in the final regular-season game.

     Games 1 and 2 of the championship series in San Antonio were 6-0 losses and they lost Game 3, 2-1, on J.P. Roberge's walkoff home run off Edwin Corps in the ninth inning.

     The Captains came home to stay alive with a 1-0 Game 4 victory, decided on Calvin Murray's home run in the sixth inning and Darin Blood's four-hit pitching. In Game 5, they survived 5-4 on Keith Williams' two-run double in the eighth inning after San Antonio's four-run seventh erased a 3-0 Shreveport lead. 

     In Game 6, Troy Brohawn pitched a three-hitter and Shreveport even the series with a 3-0 victory, sparked by Kenny Woods' two-run single in the sixth.

     But in the championship game, before 2,510 Sunday night fans at FGF, sidearming left-hander Will Brunson -- who also won Game 3 -- shut out Shreveport on three hits in eight innings and Jeff Kubenka closed with a 1-2-3 night.

         

Other playoff seasons ...

1941

     After a third-place finish gave Shreveport its first Texas League playoff spot since 1919, the Sports took on second-place Tulsa ... and were swept in three games. 

     Game 1 brought a Shreveport baseball record crowd of 9,000-plus to the park, but the Sports lost 2-1. Vernon Washington's two ground-rule doubles -- into the overflow crowd in the outfield -- were two of the Sports' six hits off the Oilers' Henry Wyse, who edged Shreveport ace left-hander J. Benson Brillheart.

     Shreveport was shut out by Emil Kush in Game 2, 2-0, and had only five hits in Game 3 at Tulsa with the Oilers winning 4-1 on two runs in the first inning and a home run by Rip Russell. 

1948 

     Fourth in the regular season, the Sports took the first game of the TL semifinals from first-place Fort Worth and won Game 4 to even the series at 2-2. But the Cats won the next two games to eliminate Shreveport.

    Howie Autman, the Sports' best pitcher late in the season, stopped the Cats on three hits for a 1-0, 11-inning victory in Game 1. Fort Worth got even by winning 4-3, also in 11 innings, in Game 2, then won 7-1 in Game 3. That 7-1 score was reversed in Game 4 with Red Mann pitching Shreveport's victory. But Fort Worth took the series by winning another extra-inning game, 5-3, and then beating Autman 6-3 in Game 6.

1949

     The same scenario as the year before: fourth-place Shreveport vs. first-place Fort Worth. But this series wasn't as competitive. Bob Milliken pitched a three-hitter in the Cats' 8-1 victory in Game 1 and a four-hitter in their clinching 5-0 victory in Game 5. Joe Landrum pitched Fort Worth to a 3-0 Game 2 victory, and they went three-up by taking Game 3, 10-5. Shreveport barely avoided a sweep when relief pitcher Jack Kraus blasted a three-run home run off Billy Loes in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 4-3 victory.

1979

    A Captains team that finished the season's first half three games below .500 solidified in the second half and won the East Division title with a 43-29 record, beating first-half champ Arkansas by five games.

    But as the regular season ended, injuries decimated the starting lineup -- four regulars were sidelined or hurting -- and the playoffs were a short stay in Little Rock: losses of 2-1 in 12 innings and 3-1, despite strong pitching efforts by starters Fred Breining and Bob Tufts, and reliever Pat Roy.

      Arkansas went on to win the TL championship.

1986

     In their first season at Fair Grounds Field, the Captains were a so-so 33-32 in the first half and 46-25 in the second half, a runaway East Division champion (by 11 games over first-half winner Jackson). Shreveport opened the best-of-three East playoffs with a 7-0 victory at Jackson as Charlie Corbell pitched a seven-hitter, Mackey Sasser went 3-for-4 and Charlie Hayes hit a two-run homer. But the Mets, who had won the previous two TL championships, ended the Captains' season with consecutive 5-1 victories.

1987

     Shreveport charged to the first-half East Division championship -- and the host spot for the East playoffs -- with a 40-26 record and 3½-game margin. The second-half record was good (38-31), but five games behind Jackson.

     The Mets again played spoiler, rallying to win the final two East Division playoff games at Fair Grounds Field, 8-7 and 5-1, after the Captains won Game 1, 6-3, with a spectacular finish -- a three-run homer by Romy Cucjen in the bottom of the 10th inning.

     The final game was halted for 30 minutes in the eighth inning by an on-field brawl and the fans in protest littering the playing field with cups and debris.

     Game 3 did not go according to form, pitching-wise. Jackson starter Kyle Hartshorn had been 1-5 against Shreveport in the regular season (although he was 7-0 vs. the Captains in '86 until a playoff loss), but this time pitched a three-hitter through seven innings. Captains starter Brian Ohnoutka had been 3-0 vs. the Mets, giving up one earned run in 30⅔ innings, but could not deliver this time, although he hit a home run for Shreveport's only run.

    Attendance for the three playoff games at FGF: 2,279, 4,011 and 3,791.

1988

     Shreveport again won the first-half East Division title and host spot for the East playoffs and finished only 2½ games behind Tulsa in the second half, but it was the Drillers' turn to eliminate the Captains. They did so with consecutive 2-1 decisions at Fair Grounds Field (attendance: 2,510 and 2,123).

     Shreveport lost despite solid starts by lefty Joe Olker, 15-2 in the regular season and 7-0 vs. Tulsa, and right-hander Dean Freeland. Deron McCue provided Shreveport's only offense, with home runs in each game.

1989

    The second-half East champions Captains -- qualifying with a thrilling end-of-season rush, nine victories in their last 11 games -- were bounced from the playoffs with two losses at Arkansas, 3-2 in 11 innings and 11-6.

     The Travelers, eventual TL champions, spoiled Shreveport's spectacular finish in which they first were the victims. The Captains won three of four games against Arkansas, including a 12-2, 5-3 doubleheader sweep, to edge the Travs by a half-game in the second-half race. This was after Shreveport won six of seven from Tulsa, including consecutive doubleheader sweeps.

     The Captains had hope in Game 1 when pinch-hitter Ted Wood's home run tied it in the seventh inning, but the bullpen faltered, and they led Game 2 by 6-4 after Dee Dixon's three-run homer in the fourth inning. But Arkansas pounded a string of Shreveport pitchers, starting with Rod Beck.

1993

     After three consecutive trips to the Texas League championship series, the Captains didn't make it out of the East Division finals this year -- and barely made it into the playoffs. Their worst-to-first story was spoiled when they got there.

     The Jackson Generals eliminated them in four games in the East (the division finals format changed from best-of-three to best-of-five). Jackson was the first-half champion when Shreveport finished last at 10 games below .500 (29-39), but the Captains' 37-31 record in the second half gave them first place, 1½ games ahead of Tulsa.

     It was a Captains team with the worst batting average (.247) in the TL, but the second-best ERA (3.44). In the four-game playoff series, they hit only .151 and totaled only four runs. And they were shut out -- at home -- in the final two games, losing both 6-0, with one hit in Game 3 and six in Game 4.

     The Generals hit home runs on consecutive pitches in the first inning of the clinching game. (It was foreshadowing for the 1994 playoffs.)

     Jackson won 3-1 in Game 1, but Shreveport managed a split on the road with a 3-2 victory in Game 2 as Rob Katzaroff's RBI single broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the ninth inning. Matt Davis' single and two walks preceded the winning hit.

1994

    For the second year in a row, the Captains were eliminated by the Jackson Generals in the East Division playoff series. But this time it took five games, and Game 5 was one of the most heartbreaking -- and toughest -- losses in Shreveport baseball history.

     Leading 1-0 from the top of the first inning in the decisive game, the Captains were one out from advancing to the Texas League championship series. 

     Jackson had not scored in 22 innings and had only two hits through eight innings off Shreveport pitcher Shad Smith. Then Tom Nevers and Jeff Ball hit consecutive home runs -- in a span of four pitches, off Smith and ace closer Stacy Jones -- to steal the victory (and the finals spot) for the Generals.

     The Captains won the first-half East Division race with a 38-30 record and while Jackson won the second half, Shreveport was 35-33 and finished with a 10-3 stretch. 

     In Game 1 at Fair Grounds Field, Smith -- who the year before had left his Game 1 starting role with a broken right index finger (he was hit while bunting) -- pitched 7⅓  innings, and the Captains' 7-0 victory began with their first three batters -- a leadoff homer by Calvin Murray, a double by Marvin Barnard and a home run by Joel Chimelis.

     But Jackson won Game 2-1 on Dennis Colon's pinch-hit double in the ninth off Jones, the TL regular-season saves leader with 34.

     At Jackson, the teams then traded shutouts -- the Generals winning 2-0 in Game 3, the Captains winning 4-0 in Game 4 as Lou Pote (8⅔ innings) and Jones (the final out) combined on a two-hitter.

     Then, the champagne was lined up, ready to be popped in the Captains' dressing room ... until two final swings by the Generals. The champagne moved to the Jackson dressing room.

1999

    The Captains won 20 of their first 30 games to surge ahead in the East Division and won the first-half title with a 38-29 record and a four-game margin. They fell to 32-40 in the second half, eight games out of first, and then fell in four games of the East finals to second-half champion Tulsa.

     Shreveport took Game 1 against Tulsa 3-1 as Michael Riley pitched 6⅔ innings of four-hit ball, with one walk and 10 strikeouts, and two relievers finished up. But Game 2 at Fair Grounds Field was an 8-4 Drillers' victory in 12 innings as the Captains missed a couple of late scoring chances and Tulsa won in the 12th on a squeeze-bunt RBI and Jason Grabowski's three-run homer.

     Tulsa then closed it out at home, winning 3-2 and 13-3.

2000

     It was one of the oddest seasons in the 30 years the team was nicknamed the Captains -- a 37-32 record was good enough for the first-half Eastern Division title (by two games). But the second half was a 21-49 disaster. So the team entered the East playoffs against Wichita with a 58-81 record.

     Still, the series' first two games were tight, but were each 1-0 losses at Fair Grounds Field. Luis Estrella pitched well for Shreveport in Game 1, but not as well as Enrique Calero of Tulsa, who gave up only one hit and a walk (both to Chris Magruder). In Game 2, the Wranglers' leadoff batter drew a walk, then scored on a double, and that was all 18-year-old Captains starter Jerome Williams allowed.  

     Shreveport stayed alive with a 9-3 Game 3 victory in Wichita as Mike Glendenning went 3-for-3 with three runs, but the Captains were eliminated in Game 4, 7-2.

2004

 (Central League) 

     Helped by two area pitchers -- starter Thad Markray (Springhill) and lefty reliever Trey Poland (Southwood-Shreveport and University of Southwestern Louisiana) -- the Sports took the first-half Eastern Division title. 

     Both pitchers signed with major-league organizations and left the team during the second-half race, but the Sports -- after falling behind, two games to one, against second-half champ Pensacola in the East playoffs -- won two road games to advance to the championship series.

     But the Edinburg (Texas) Roadrunners, champions in both halves of the West Division  and with the league's best overall record, swept the Sports in three games -- the first two in Shreveport.

    

2006 

(American Association)

     The Sports won the first-half Southern Division title, then had a blazing finish (17-4 in August) to challenge the Fort Worth Cats for the second-half title, but Fort Worth -- 16-7 in August -- finished in first, three games ahead of Shreveport.

     After taking a 2-1 series lead in the South playoffs, the Sports were eliminated with two losses in Fort Worth, 8-3 and 4-2.

     The only ex-major leaguer on the Shreveport team was first baseman/outfielder Todd Self, from Southwood High and the University of Louisiana-Lafayette. A year earlier he had his only major-league time, 21 games with the Houston Astros.