I saw more games in 1947 than I did in 1946, and I believe I'm more familiar with the players then. But I want to put down all that I remember about the '46 roster.
1B. Bob Moyer. He led the Texas League in home runs with 24. Bob was with Dallas again in '47, but I'm not sure he ever rose above AA ball. I saw him playing for Temple in '52, a team in the class B Big State League.
2B. Gene Markland. As I recall the Rebels began the season with J. P. Wood at second. Wood hit well but Markland was better defensively. The team improved with Markland there.
SS. Eddie "Red" Borom. Great speed and hustle. Red was with the Detroit Tigers world champions in '45.
3B. John "Red" Davis. This Red had a little Major League experience earlier.
LF. Al Carr. Actually Nick Gregory began the season here but broke an ankle or something and was out for the season. By playoff time, as I recall, Carr was established in left. In '47, playing for the Shreveport Sports, Gregory led the league in homers.
CF. Clint Conatser. A very good ballplayer. Clint was with the Boston Braves on their World Series team of 1948.
RF. Hal Hirshon. His batting average was not great but was a good clutch hitter. He decimated the Fort Worth Cats in the playoffs. Hal was a star end for UCLA before the war.
C. Harvey Riebe. Very good catcher and went on up. He had some time in the majors later on.
Subs. I don't remember much about the backup players. Infielder Frank Carswell, a good hitter, may have been there, and I seem to recall Clem Cola as a back up catcher.
Mgr. Al Vincent. Recently voted into the Texas League Hall of Fame, Al also won league championships with Tulsa and Beaumont. Al was a coach for the Philadelphia Phillies when I watched them play the Houston Colt .45s in 1963.
I'll save the pitchers for next time.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
My First Professional Ball Game
The first professional game I ever saw was in April of 1946 when I was eleven. At that time I was taking art lessons at the art museum in Dallas' Fair Park. Each Saturday morning I would catch a bus a few blocks from our home in Grand Prairie and ride it to Oak Cliff. There I would take a streetcar downtown and transfer to one going to Fair Park. Afterwards, I would repeat the process backwards.
I think the bus stop in Oak Cliff was only a couple blocks from Rebel Stadium. This day I walked to the ballpark after leaving the streetcar, likely the Sunset car, on the way home from art class. The Pittsburgh Pirates and the Chicago White Sox were playing an exhibition game. I remember having a seat under the roof behind home plate. My parents must have been generous that day; after that I was in the cheaper seats.
Luke Appling was likely the only player on either side I'd ever heard of. But these guys were Major Leaguers and I was extremely excited to see them. Sox first-baseman Hal Trosky hit a home run, but at the time I didn't realize what a feat it was to clear the fences in Rebel Stadium. Ralph Kiner likely played but you couldn't prove it by me. I had never heard of him at the time.
I only saw two games there in 1946. The other time was during the Texas League season and I believe we saw the Rebels and the San Antonio Missions. A classmate's dad worked for the Times Herald and he occasionally came up with free tickets to this or that. They invited me along that night.
I think the bus stop in Oak Cliff was only a couple blocks from Rebel Stadium. This day I walked to the ballpark after leaving the streetcar, likely the Sunset car, on the way home from art class. The Pittsburgh Pirates and the Chicago White Sox were playing an exhibition game. I remember having a seat under the roof behind home plate. My parents must have been generous that day; after that I was in the cheaper seats.
Luke Appling was likely the only player on either side I'd ever heard of. But these guys were Major Leaguers and I was extremely excited to see them. Sox first-baseman Hal Trosky hit a home run, but at the time I didn't realize what a feat it was to clear the fences in Rebel Stadium. Ralph Kiner likely played but you couldn't prove it by me. I had never heard of him at the time.
I only saw two games there in 1946. The other time was during the Texas League season and I believe we saw the Rebels and the San Antonio Missions. A classmate's dad worked for the Times Herald and he occasionally came up with free tickets to this or that. They invited me along that night.
Sunday, March 4, 2007
My Very Favorite Team Once
When the 1946 baseball season began I was eleven years old. For the first time I began following a baseball club day after day, almost entirely by radio, and that club was the nearby Dallas Rebels of the Texas League. By season's end they were a very good team, finishing second to the Ft. Worth Cats but demolishing the Cats in the playoffs and sweeping the Atlanta Crackers to win the Dixie Series. To me every Rebel was a hero.
I followed major league baseball that year too, but without the same intensity. Those teams were all afar, way up North. And most of all there was no local radio coverage. Still I had a favorite team there yoo. Probably because of the John R. Tunis novels I'd read, that favorite was the Brooklyn Dodgers. Or maybe it was the name.
The following season, 1947, was was a good one as well for the Rebels. The high point was defeating the Cats four games to three in the playoffs, but we (they) lost to the Houston Buffs for the league title. The next April my family moved away from the Dallas area, and that was that.
Those were important times for me, and baseball was very important to me during those times. There are a lot of good memories. From the beginning of the Texas League season in 1946 until we moved to Wyoming in the spring of 1948, covered the time I went from not-quite-twelve to not-quite-fourteen. An important stage of life indeed. In this blog I'm going to write all I can remember concerning the Rebels, the Texas League, and baseball, and some about me. Hopefully, someone will happen onto this blog and have something to add.
I followed major league baseball that year too, but without the same intensity. Those teams were all afar, way up North. And most of all there was no local radio coverage. Still I had a favorite team there yoo. Probably because of the John R. Tunis novels I'd read, that favorite was the Brooklyn Dodgers. Or maybe it was the name.
The following season, 1947, was was a good one as well for the Rebels. The high point was defeating the Cats four games to three in the playoffs, but we (they) lost to the Houston Buffs for the league title. The next April my family moved away from the Dallas area, and that was that.
Those were important times for me, and baseball was very important to me during those times. There are a lot of good memories. From the beginning of the Texas League season in 1946 until we moved to Wyoming in the spring of 1948, covered the time I went from not-quite-twelve to not-quite-fourteen. An important stage of life indeed. In this blog I'm going to write all I can remember concerning the Rebels, the Texas League, and baseball, and some about me. Hopefully, someone will happen onto this blog and have something to add.
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