Dallas was very good in '46. I learned from another old Rebel fan by e-mail that our record was 91 wins and 63 losses. That was good for second place, but not too close a second. The Ft. Worth Cats must have won a hundred, maybe more. If my memory is still good, San Antonio finished third and Tulsa fourth.
The Rebels had two players that led the league, Hank Oana with 24 wins and Bob Moyer with 24 home runs. I recall Dale Mitchell of the Oklahoma City Indians captured the batting title, hitting somewhere in the .330s-- or at least close to .330. Also, from the source mentioned above, I learned that Moyer drove in 102 runs. This could well have led the league.
Duke Snider played for Ft. Worth, as did the Van Cuyk brothers, Chris and Johnny. Both were pitchers. Lefties?
Both Mancuso brothers, Frank and Gus, were catching somewhere in the league, but I can't remember for which teams. Later on, Frank, living in Houston's East End, was for many years a Harris County Commissioner.
Salty Parker managed the Shreveport Sports. Ziggy Sears (I loved that name) was involved somewhere, I believe.
These are all the names I can bring back right now.
Dallas didn't have a strong start and my memory attributes that to infield defense. J.P. Wood could always hit, but when he was replaced by Gene Markland, 2nd base was strengthened defensively. At season's beginning Red Davis was playing short and Red Borom was at 3rd. When Al Vincent swapped positions for these two, the Rebels started to take off. Even when Nick Gregory had to be replaced in left due to an injury, the team continued to climb.
Our library surely has a 1946 Texas Almanac. I'll have to check it out and see if I can augment my memory with some more facts.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)