Middle Texas League

The Middle Texas League was a six–team Class D level minor league baseball league that played in the 1914 and 1915 seasons. The Middle Texas League featured franchises based in Texas. The Middle Texas League permanently folded during the 1915 season. Baseball Hall of Fame member Kid Nichols managed the 1914 Temple Tigers and Hall of Famer Ross Youngs played for the 1915 Bartlett Bearcats.

Middle Texas League
ClassificationClass D (1914–1915)
SportMinor League Baseball
Inaugural season1914
CeasedJune 19, 1915
PresidentW.F. Blum, Jr. (1914)
Hulen P. Robertson (1915)
No. of teams8
CountryUnited States of America
Most titles2
Belton Braves

History

The Middle Texas League began to play in the 1914 season as a new Class D level minor league. The president of the league was W.F. Blum, Jr. The Middle Texas League began play as a six–team league, hosting franchises from Bartlett, Texas (Bartlett Bearcats),[1] Belton, Texas (Belton Braves),[2] Brenham, Texas (Brenham Brewers),[3] Georgetown, Texas (Georgetown Collegians),[4] Lampasas, Texas (Lampasas Resorters)[5] and Temple, Texas (Temple Tigers).[6][7][8][9]

The Middle Texas League began play on May 8, 1914. The league played a spit–season schedule. In 1914, the Temple Tigers won the first–half standings and the Belton Braves won the second–half standings. The final overall standings featured the Bartlett Bearcats (22–59), Belton Braves (37–47), Brenham Brewers (50–34), Georgetown Collegians (50–30), Lampasas Resorters (35–51) and Temple Tigers (54–27). In the Championship playoff, the Belton Braves defeated the Temple Tigers 5 games to 1 to win the championship.[10][11][12][13] Baseball Hall of Fame member Kid Nichols managed the 1914 Temple Tigers.[13][6]

In its second season, with Hulen P. Robertson becoming the league president, the Middle Texas League began play on April 15, 1915.[14] During the season, the Austin Reps/Representatives (2–5) moved to become the Taylor Producers on May 1, 1915, when floods forced the team to relocate from Austin. Taylor (15–23) then moved to Brenham on June 8, 1915, becoming the second team in Brenham, after the Brenham Brewers folded the day before. Both the Brenham Brewers and Schulenberg Giants disbanded on June 7, 1915. On June 19, 1915, the Middle Texas League permanently folded during the season. The final league standings featured the Austin Representatives/Taylor Producers/Brenham Kaisers (21–36), Bartlett Bearcats (29–26), Belton Braves (40–19), Brenham Brewers (12–31), Schulenburg Giants (23–18) and Temple Governors (32–27). The Belton Braves won both half seasons of the league standings and were league champions.[15][16][13][17]

Baseball Hall of Fame member Ross Youngs played for Bartlett in 1915, hitting .264 in 59 games at age 18.[18][19]

Middle Texas League teams
Team name(s) City represented Ballpark Year(s) active
Austin Reps
Austin Representatives		 Austin, Texas Riverside Park[15] 1915
Bartlett Bearcats Bartlett, Texas Bartlett Base Ball Park[20] 1914 to 1915
Belton Braves Belton, Texas Belton Base Ball Park[21] 1914 to 1915
Brenham Brewers (1914-1915)
Brenham Kaisers (1915), (2)		 Brenham, Texas Unknown 1914 to 1915
Georgetown Collegians Georgetown, Texas Unknown 1914
Lampasas Resorters Lampasas, Texas Unknown 1914
Schulenburg Giants Schulenburg, Texas Unknown 1915
Taylor Producers Taylor, Texas Robinson Park[22] 1915
Temple Tigers (1914)
Temple Governors (1915)		 Temple, Texas Unknown 1914 to 1915

Standings and statistics

1914 Middle Texas League
Team standingsWLPCTGBManagers
Temple Tigers5427.667-Kid Nichols
Georgetown Collegians5030.6253.5Jimmy Callahan
Brenham Brewers5034.5955.5Ike Pendleton
Belton Braves3747.44018.5Leslie Mitchell / L.B. Hubbard /
Bob Hart / Jack Forrester / Cal Calahan
Lampasas Resorters3551.40721.5Jesse Estill / Luke Roberts
Bartlett Bearcats2259.26732.0Robert Roundtree / Brooks Gordon
Player statistics
PlayerTeamStatTotPlayerTeamStatTot
Fred WendeGeorgetownBA.380J. ReemsBrenhamW14
Ellis BoggessTempleRuns58Frank WolframGeorgetownPct.833; 10-2
Fred WendeGeorgetownHits116
Ellis BoggessTempleHR16

[11][13]

1915 Middle Texas League
Team StandingsWLPCTGBManagers
Belton Braves4019.678-Charles Lawson[23]
Temple Governors3227.5428.0Luther Burleson / Frank Rogers[24]
Bartlett Bearcats2926.5279.0Ike Pendleton[25]
Austin Reps
Taylor Producers / Brenham Kaisers		2136.36818.0Jack Snipes / Billy Disch[26]
Schulenburg Giants2318.561-J.M. Robbins[27]
Brenham Brewers1221.279-Arthur Wicks / John Tuller[28]

[29][13]

Player statistics
PlayerTeamStatTotPlayerTeamStatTot
Russ BreauxTaylorBA.358Nemo GainesBeltonW13
R. J. WilliamsonBeltonRuns49Ray FrancisTempleSO106
R. J. WilliamsonBeltonHits79H. A. DennisBeltonPct1.000; 11-0
Tom OsborneTempleHR11

[13]

Baseball Hall of Fame alumni

References
  1. "1914 Bartlett Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
  2. "1914 Belton Braves Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
  3. "1914 Brenham Brewers Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
  4. "1914 Georgetown Collegians Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
  5. "1914 Lampasas Resorters Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
  6. "1914 Temple Tigers Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
  7. "Middle Texas League (D) Encyclopedia and History". Baseball-Reference.com.
  8. "TSHA | Texas League". www.tshaonline.org.
  9. Reichard, Kevin (November 5, 2008). "Middle Texas League".
  10. "1914 Middle Texas League (MTL) on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  11. "1914 Middle Texas League (MTL) Standings on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  12. "Kid Nichols Coaching Records on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  13. Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (Third ed.). Baseball America. ISBN 978-1932391176.
  14. "1915 Austin Reps/Taylor Producers/Brenham Kaisers Roster on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  15. "Riverside Park in Austin, TX history and teams on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  16. "1915 Austin Reps/Taylor Producers/Brenham Kaisers Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
  17. "From Unknowns to Senators: A Central-Texas baseball timeline". MiLB.com.
  18. "Ross Youngs Minor Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com.
  19. "Ross Youngs – Society for American Baseball Research".
  20. "Bartlett Base Ball Park in Bartlett, TX history and teams on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  21. "Belton Base Ball Park in Belton, TX history and teams on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  22. "Robinson Park in Taylor, TX history and teams on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  23. "1915 Belton Braves Statistics on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  24. "1915 Temple Governors Statistics on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  25. "1915 Bartlett Bearcats Statistics on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  26. "1915 Austin Reps/Taylor Producers/Brenham Kaisers Statistics on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  27. "1915 Schulenburg Giants Statistics on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  28. "1915 Brenham Brewers Statistics on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  29. "1915 Middle Texas League (MTL) Standings on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  30. "1914 Temple Tigers Roster on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
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