Full name | Disch Field |
---|---|
Location | Austin, Texas |
Coordinates | 30°15′41″N97°45′10″W / 30.2613°N 97.7528°W |
Owner | Edmund P. Knebel |
Capacity | 5,500 |
Construction | |
Opened | 1947 |
Closed | 1967 |
Construction cost | $250,000 |
Tenants | |
Austin Pioneers (Big State League) (1947-1955) Austin Senators (Texas League) (1956-1964) Austin Braves (Texas League) (1965-1967) |
Disch Field was a baseball field located in Austin, Texas, that opened in 1947 [1] and hosted many minor league teams and playoff series. The diamond is at the present time part of the park behind The Long Center for the Performing Arts and the Palmer Events Complex between W. Riverside Drive and Barton Springs Road in South Austin, along the Colorado River. The park includes an open area called Willie Wells Field, named for the Austin-born Negro league baseball legend. [2]
Disch Field was the first, followed by UFCU Disch-Falk Field, to be named after Billy Disch.
The Austin teams were quite successful while they called Disch Field home. The Pioneers went to the playoffs in 1948, 1949, 1951, 1952, and 1954. The Pioneers finished as runners-up to the Tyler East Texans in 1952, winning their only playoff series in their history that year in the first round against the Temple Eagles, 4 games to 1.[ citation needed ]
The new version of the Senators finished as the runners-up to the Corpus Christi Giants in the championship series in 1958 [3] and won the Texas League crown in 1959.[ citation needed ]
The Austin Braves went to the playoffs every year from 1965 to 1967, and the Braves won the Texas League crown in 1966.[ citation needed ]
On April 27, 1966, Austin Braves pitcher Pat House went 3-for-6 with two doubles and one single with eight RBIs. He also pitched a complete game giving up ten hits, four earned runs, striking out nine, and allowed one base on balls.
The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the state of Texas; the five North Division teams are located in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. The league temporarily operated for the 2021 season as Double-A Central before reassuming its original moniker in 2022.
The Corpus Christi Hooks are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. They are located in Corpus Christi, Texas, and are named for the city's association with fishing. The team is owned by the Houston Astros. The Hooks play their home games at Whataburger Field, which opened in 2005 and is located on Corpus Christi's waterfront.
Willie James Wells, nicknamed "the Devil", was an American baseball player. He was a shortstop who played from 1924 to 1948 for various teams in the Negro leagues and in Latin America.
The Philadelphia Stars were a Negro league baseball team from Philadelphia. The Stars were founded in 1933 when Ed Bolden returned to professional black baseball after being idle since early 1930. The Stars were an independent ball club in 1933, a member of the Negro National League from 1934 until the League's collapse following the 1948 season, and affiliated with the Negro American League from 1949 to 1952.
The Big State League was a mid-level, Class B level circuit in American minor league baseball that played for 11 seasons, from 1947 through 1957. Its member clubs were exclusively based in Texas. The Corpus Christi Clippers (1955-1956), Texarkana Bears and Wichita Falls Spudders each won two league championships.
The Sophomore League was a Class D level minor league baseball league that operated from 1958 through 1961. League franchises were located in New Mexico and Texas. The league evolved from the Southwestern League, which played in 1956 and 1957. The name change was part of a systemic change. The circuit went from being one with almost no ties to major league baseball to a league where every team was a minor league affiliate of a major league team.
The Laredo Apaches were a minor league baseball team from Laredo, Texas that existed in two different incarnations: 1949-53 and again in 1995.
The 1966 Major League Baseball season was contested from April 11 to October 9, 1966. The Braves played their inaugural season in Atlanta, following their relocation from Milwaukee. Three teams played the 1966 season in new stadiums. On April 12, the Braves ushered in Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium with the Pittsburgh Pirates taking a 3–2 win in 13 innings. One week later, Anaheim Stadium opened with the California Angels losing to the Chicago White Sox, 3–1 in the Angels' debut following their move from Los Angeles to nearby Orange County. On May 8, the St. Louis Cardinals closed out old Sportsman's Park/Busch Stadium I with a 10–5 loss to the San Francisco Giants before opening the new Busch Memorial Stadium four days later with a 4–3 win in 12 innings over the Atlanta Braves.
Schepps Palm Field was a minor league baseball venue located in Corpus Christi, Texas. It was home to the short-lived Corpus Christi Clippers of the Big State League from 1954 to 1957, and the Corpus Christi Giants from 1958 to 1959. The field was challenging to play on due to the widening cracks and hard surface.
The Austin Braves were a Minor League Baseball team in the East Division of the Texas League and were affiliated with the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves. Known as the Austin Senators from 1956 to 1964, they played at Disch Field. In 1965, they became the Austin Braves, finishing in last place with a record of 70–70. In 1966, the Braves finished in fourth place with a record of 67–73. In 1967, the team also finished in fourth place with a record of 69–71. In 1968, the Atlanta Braves moved the Austin Braves to Shreveport, Louisiana, where they played as the Shreveport Braves of the Texas League from 1968 to 1970, leaving the Greater Austin area without a professional baseball team until the Round Rock Express debuted in 2000.
The Magic Valley Cowboys were a minor league baseball team in the Pioneer League for a total of 17 seasons between 1952 and 1971. The team was based in Twin Falls, Idaho — the largest city within the Magic Valley region — and succeeded the Twin Falls Cowboys. The team played at Jaycee Field, located in the northeast corner of the city's Harmon Park.
The Austin Pioneers were a minor league baseball team based in Austin, Texas from 1947 to 1955. The Pioneers were founding members of the Class B level Big State League, qualifying for the playoffs in five seasons and hosting home games at Disch Field.
The Corpus Christi Clippers was a primary name of the minor league baseball teams based in Corpus Christi, Texas between 1910 and 1959. Corpus Christi teams played as members of the Southwest Texas League (1910–1911), Gulf Coast League (1926), Texas Valley League (1927–1928), Rio Grande Valley League (1931), Texas Valley League (1938), Rio Grande Valley League (1949–1950), Gulf Coast League (1951–1953), Big State League (1954–1957), Rio Grande Valley League (1949–1950) and Texas League (1958–1959).
The Texas City Texans were a minor league baseball team based in Texas City, Texas. Between 1951 and 1977, Texas City teams played as members of the Gulf Coast League from 1951 to 1953, Evangeline League in 1954, Big State League in 1955 and 1956 and the Lone Star League in 1977. Texas City won the 1953 league championship and hosted all minor league home games at Texan Park.
The Beeville Orange Growers was the initial moniker of the minor league baseball teams that were based in Beeville, Texas between 1910 and 1977. The Beeville Orange Growers played exclusively as members of the Southwest Texas League in 1910 and 1911, winning the 1911 league championship. The Beeville "Bees" played in the 1926 Gulf Coast League, with the name revived for the 1976 Gulf States League team. The Beeville "Blaze" played as members of the 1977 Lone Star League.
Minor league baseball teams were based in Brenham, Texas in three seasons between 1905 and 1915. The Brenham teams played as members of the South Texas League in 1905 and Middle Texas League in 1914 and 1915.
Minor league baseball teams were based in Galveston, Texas in various seasons between 1888 and 1955. The Galveston White Caps played as members of the Gulf Coast League from 1950 to 1953 and Big State League from 1954 to 1955. Earlier Galveston teams played ender various monikers in the Texas League between 1888 and 1937. Galveston teams won four league championships.
The McAllen Packers were a minor league baseball franchise based in McAllen, Texas. In 1938, the Packers played as members of the Class D level Texas Valley League, hosting home games at Legion Park.