Big State League

{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2022}} {{Infobox sports league | title =Big State League | current_season =  | current_season2 =  | last_season =  | upcoming_season =  | logo = | pixels =  | caption = | formerly = | sport =[[Minor League Baseball]] | replaced = | owner = | ceo = | chief operating officer = | director = | president =[[Walter Morris]] (1947–1950) Howard Green (1951–1955) Hal Sayles (1956–1957) | commissioner = | fame =  | motto = | inaugural =1947 | teams =22 | singles = | country =[[United States of America]] | venue = | confed =  | folded =1957 | champion = | most_champs ='''2''' [[Corpus Christi Clippers]] (1955-1956) [[Texarkana Bears]] (1947, 1950) [[Wichita Falls Spudders]] (1949, 1953) | classification =[[Class B (baseball)|Class B]] (1947–1957) | qualification = | tv = | sponsor = | related_comps =[[Texas League]] | founder = | levels = | promotion = | relegation = | domestic_cup = | website = }} The '''Big State League''' was a mid-level, [[Class B (baseball)|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]] (1947, 1950) and [[Wichita Falls Spudders]] (1949, 1953) each won two league championships.

==History== It saw much change in its 11-year lifetime, with no team serving as a member in every single season. Waco came the closest, serving from 1947 to 1956. The league was known as an offense-oriented circuit.

The league debuted at the height of the short-lived [[World War II|postwar]] minor league baseball boom, in [[1947 in baseball|1947]], with eight clubs, all unaffiliated with [[Major League Baseball]] [[farm system]]s. Original teams were the: [[Austin Pioneers]], [[Gainesville Owls]], [[Greenville Majors]], [[Paris Red Peppers]], [[Sherman–Denison Twins]], [[Texarkana Bears]], [[Waco Dons]] and [[Wichita Falls Spudders]].<ref name="encyc">{{cite book |title=The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball |editor1=Lloyd Johnson |editor2=Miles Wolff |edition=Third |publisher=[[Baseball America]] |date=2007 |isbn=978-1932391176}}</ref>

Two clubs, [[Texarkana, Texas|Texarkana]] and [[Greenville, Texas|Greenville]], won more than 100 games in 1947, and four league members exceeded 100,000 in attendance. But beginning in [[1953 in baseball|1953]], the Big State League's teams struggled to reach six figures in that category. Only [[Corpus Christi, Texas|Corpus Christi]] drew over the 100,000 mark during the league's final five seasons, doing so on two occasions. The league was further weakened when a traditionally strong member, [[Austin, Texas|Austin]], moved up to the AA [[Texas League]] in [[1956 in baseball|1956]].

The league began the [[1957 in baseball|1957]] campaign with only six clubs: the [[Victoria Rosebuds]], [[Corpus Christi Clippers]], [[Beaumont Pirates]], [[Abilene Blue Sox]], [[Port Arthur Redlegs]] and [[Wichita Falls Spudders]].<ref name="encyc"/> Its ranks were reduced to four when [[Wichita Falls, Texas|Wichita Falls]] disbanded in May, while the [[Port Arthur, Texas|Port Arthur]] team moved to [[Temple, Texas|Temple]] that same month before folding in August. Of the surviving teams, [[Victoria, Texas|Victoria]], a [[Brooklyn Dodgers]] farm team, outlasted Corpus Christi, [[Beaumont, Texas|Beaumont]] and [[Abilene, Texas|Abilene]] to win the league's last pennant and playoff championship.

J. [[Walter Morris]] served as League President from 1947 through 1950, Howard Green, took over from 1951 through 1955 and Hal Sayles was in charge the final two years, 1956–57.<ref name="encyc"/>

==Cities represented== *[[Abilene, Texas]]: [[Abilene Blue Sox]] 1956–1957, moved from [[West Texas–New Mexico League]] 1946–1955 *[[Austin, Texas]]: [[Austin Pioneers]] 1947–1955 *[[Beaumont, Texas]]: [[Beaumont Exporters]] or Beaumont Shippers (depending on source) 1956; [[Beaumont Pirates]] 1957 *[[Bryan, Texas]]: [[Bryan Majors]] 1953; [[Bryan Indians]] 1954 *[[Corpus Christi, Texas]]: [[Corpus Christi Clippers]] 1954–1957 *[[Del Rio, Texas]]: [[Del Rio Indians]] 1954 *[[Gainesville, Texas]]: [[Gainesville Owls]] 1947–1951 *[[Galveston, Texas]]: [[Galveston White Caps]] 1954–1955, moved from [[Florida Complex League#Gulf Coast League|Gulf Coast League]] 1950–1953 *[[Greenville, Texas]]: [[Greenville Majors]] 1947–1950, moved from [[East Texas League]] 1946; Greenville Majors 1953 *[[Harlingen, Texas]]: [[Harlingen Capitals]] 1954–1955, moved from [[Florida Complex League#Gulf Coast League|Gulf Coast League]] 1951–1953 and [[Rio Grande Valley League]] 1950 *[[Longview, Texas]]: [[Longview Cherokees]] 1952–1953 *[[Lubbock, Texas]]: [[Lubbock Hubbers]] 1956, moved from [[West Texas–New Mexico League]] 1938–1942, 1946–1955 *[[Paris, Texas]]: [[Paris Red Peppers]] 1947, moved from [[East Texas League]] 1946; [[Paris Panthers]] 1948; [[Paris Indians]] 1952–1953 *[[Port Arthur, Texas]]: [[Port Arthur Sea Hawks]] 1955–1956, moved from [[Evangeline League]] 1954 and [[Florida Complex League#Gulf Coast League|Gulf Coast League]] 1950–1953; [[Port Arthur Redlegs]] 1957 *[[Sherman, Texas]] and [[Denison, Texas]]: [[Sherman–Denison Twins]] 1947–1951 *[[Temple, Texas]]: [[Temple Eagles]] 1949–1954; [[Temple Redlegs]] 1957 *[[Texarkana, Texas]]: [[Texarkana Bears]] 1947–1953, moved from [[East Texas League]] 1946 *[[Texas City, Texas]]: [[Texas City Texans]] 1955; [[Texas City Exporters]] 1956 *[[Tyler, Texas]]: [[Tyler East Texans]] 1951–1953; [[Tyler Tigers]] 1954–1955 *[[Victoria, Texas]]: [[Victoria Eagles]] 1956; [[Victoria Rosebuds]] 1957, moved to [[Texas League]] 1958–1961 *[[Waco, Texas]]: [[Waco Dons]] 1947; [[Waco Pirates]] 1948–1953, 1954–1956 *[[Wichita Falls, Texas]]: [[Wichita Falls Spudders]] 1947–1953, moved to [[Longhorn League]] 1954; [[Wichita Falls Spudders]] 1956–1957

==Standings & statistics==

===1947 to 1952=== '''1947 Big State League''' [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59881016/1947-big-state-league-schedule/ schedule]

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! Team standings!!Won!!Lost!!Pct!!GB!!Attend!!Managers |- |[[Texarkana Bears]]||101||53||.655||-||140,333|| Vern Washington |- |[[Greenville Majors]]||100||54||.649||1||154,356|| Harry Davis, Jr. |- |[[Wichita Falls Spudders]]||92||61||.601||8||92,553|| Bobby Goff |- |[[Paris Red Peppers]]||80||74||.519||21||112,449|| Lloyd Rigby |- |[[Sherman-Denison Twins]]||69||85||.448||32||81,550||[[Guy Sturdy]] |- |[[Gainesville Owls]]||65||87||.428||35||60,971|| Leroy Gilchrist |- |[[Austin Pioneers]]||55||99||.357||46||106,099||[[Beau Bell]] |- |[[Waco Dons]]||52||101||.340||48||52,577||[[Red Barkley]] |- |Total attendance || || || || || 800,888 |} '''Season highlights''' Playoffs: [[Texarkana Bears]] beat the [[Paris Red Peppers]] 4 games to 0.; [[Wichita Falls Spudders]] over the [[Greenville Majors]] 4 games to 2. '''Finals''':[[Texarkana Bears]] 4 games to 2 over the [[Wichita Falls Spudders]]. Vern Washington of the [[Texarkana Bears]] led all hitters with a .404 batting average. [[Buck Frierson]] of the [[Sherman-Denison Twins]] led the league in four categories: 188 runs scored, 248 hits, 197 RBI and 58 home runs. [[Vallie Eaves]], [[Texarkana Bears]] pitched his team to 25 wins and Nathaniel Love of the [[Greenville Majors]] struck out 192 opposing batters. [[Jim Walkup (right-handed pitcher)|Jim Walkup]] of the [[Paris Red Peppers]] led the league with a 3.72 ERA.<ref name="encyc"/>

'''1948 Season Big State League''' [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59881086/1948-big-state-league-schedule/ schedule] {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! Team standings!! Won!! Lost!! Pct.!! GB!! Attend!! Managers |- |[[Sherman-Denison Twins]]||94||51||.648||-||117,046|| Jose Rodriquez |- |[[Wichita Falls Spudders]]||84||62||.575||10½||130,138|| Marcus Carrola |- |[[Waco Pirates]]||82||64||.562||12½||82,762||[[Buster Chatham]] |- |[[Austin Pioneers]]||79||67||.541||15½||163,666||[[Prince Oana]] |- |[[Gainesville Owls]]||69||77||.473||25½||80,479|| Babe Peebles / Jackie Reid |- |[[Paris Panthers]]||62||85||.422||33½||72,636||[[Homer Peel]] |- |[[Texarkana Bears]]||60||83||.420||33||70,508|| Ed Borom |- |[[Greenville Majors]]||52||93||.359||42½||67,334||[[Buddy Hancken]] / Nat Love |- |Total attendance|| || || || ||784,569 |} '''Season highlights''' Playoffs: [[Sherman-Denison Twins]] 4 games [[Austin Pioneers]] 1 ; [[Wichita Falls Spudders]] 4 games [[Waco Pirates]] 0 '''Finals''':[[Sherman-Denison Twins]] 4 wins [[Wichita Falls Spudders]] 3 wins. Vern Washington of the [[Texarkana Bears]] again led the league in hitting, this time with a .384 average. Donald Cena of the [[Waco Pirates]] scored 142 runs to lead that stat. The trio from [[Wichita Falls Spudders]] of Paul Brotherton with 218 hits, Jack Bradsher, with 152 RBI and Albert McCarty with 32 HR, led those departments. Thomas Finger of the [[Wichita Falls Spudders]] had 21 wins to lead all pitchers and Glenn Blackwood who split time with the [[Greenville Majors]] and the [[Wichita Falls Spudders]] led the league with 176 strikeouts. Rafael Rivas of the [[Sherman-Denison Twins]] had a 2.33 ERA.<ref name="encyc"/>

'''1949 Big State League''' [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59881124/1949-big-state-league-schedule/ schedule] {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! Team standings!! Won!! Lost!! Pct!! GB!! Attend!! Managers |- |[[Wichita Falls Spudders]]||90||58||.608||-||128,400|| Jack Bradsher |- |[[Texarkana Bears]]||86||61||.585||3½||96,522||[[George Archie]] |- |[[Austin Pioneers]]||86||62||.562||4||188,193||[[Prince Oana]] |- |[[Waco Pirates]]||76||72||.514||14||95,825||[[Buddy Hancken]] |- |[[Sherman-Denison Twins]]||70||78||.473||20||77,474||[[Lloyd Brown (baseball)|Lloyd Brown]] / [[Pete Appleton]] |- |[[Greenville Majors]]||66||82||.446||24||58,500||[[Red Davis]] |- |[[Gainesville Owls]]||59||89||.399||31||66,544||Ray Taylor / [[Lon Goldstein]] |- |[[Temple Eagles]]||58||89||.395||31½||72,624||[[Barney White]] / [[Homer Peel]] |- |Total attendance|| || || || ||784,082 |} '''Season highlights''' Playoffs:[[Waco Pirates]] over the [[Wichita Falls Spudders]] 4 games to 2; [[Texarkana Bears]] over the [[Austin Pioneers]] 4 games to 1. '''Finals''': [[Waco Pirates]] 4 games to 1 over the [[Texarkana Bears]]. [[Frank Saucier]] of the [[Wichita Falls Spudders]] led the league in hitting with an average of .446 and his teammate Al McCarty scored 132 runs. [[Frank Carswell]] of the [[Texarkana Bears]] had the most hits with 229 and also led in RBI with 145. Conklyn Meriwether of the [[Greenville Majors]] had 27 HR. 3 pitchers had an even 20 wins: Elwood Moore and [[George Estock]] of the [[Austin Pioneers]] and Sidney Peterson of [[Wichita Falls Spudders]]. William Pierro of the [[Waco Pirates]] struck out 275 batters and [[John Whitehead (baseball)|John Whitehead]] of the [[Sherman-Denison Twins]] led with a 2.73 ERA.<ref name="encyc"/>

'''1950 Big State League''' {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! Team standings!! Won!! Lost!! Pct!! GB!! Attend!! Managers |- |[[Texarkana Bears]]||93||51||.646||-||83,604||[[George Archie]] |- |[[Gainesville Owls]]||82||63||.566||11½||56,890|| James Adair |- |[[Wichita Falls Spudders]]||80||66||.548||14||103,439||[[Hack Miller]] |- |[[Temple Eagles]]||74||70||.514||19||105,081||[[Lou Finney]] |- |[[Greenville Majors]]||75||71||.514||19||50,511|| Bill Gann |- |[[Waco Pirates]]||72||76||.486||23||85,173||[[Buddy Hancken]] |- |[[Sherman-Denison Twins]]||54||91||.372||39½||48,762||[[Homer Peel]] |- |[[Austin Pioneers]]||52||94||.356||42||116,941||[[Prince Oana]] / David Sarver |- |Total attendance|| || || || ||650,401 |} '''Season highlights:''' Playoffs: [[Texarkana Bears]] over [[Temple Eagles]] 4 to 2; [[Greenville Majors]] over [[Wichita Falls Spudders]] 4 to 2. '''Finals''': [[Texarkana Bears]] over [[Greenville Majors]] 4 to 2. Frank Carswell of the [[Texarkana Bears]] was the leading hitter with an even .400 average. His teammate [[Lou Fitzgerald]] scored 138 runs and their teammate Milan Vacelich had 144 RBI. The [[Waco Pirates]] slugger John Powers busted 39 four baggers. Junior Bunch had 19 wins for the [[Temple Eagles]]. The strikeout leader, Jodie Phipps of the [[Texarkana Bears]] struck out 173 batters. Carmen Ferullo of the [[Wichita Falls Spudders]] led the league with a 2.89 ERA.<ref name="encyc"/>

'''1951 Big State League''' [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59881483/1951-big-state-league-schedule/ schedule] {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! Team standings!! Won!! Lost!! Pct!! GB!! Attend!! Managers |- |[[Gainesville Owls]]||89||58||.605||-||50,771|| Hal Van Pelt |- |[[Temple Eagles]]||88||60||.595||1½||112,022||[[Bill Herring]] / Jack Bradsher |- |[[Sherman-Denison Twins]]||79||68||.537||10||60,059||Bill Capps |- |[[Austin Pioneers]]||75||72||.510||14||147,161||[[Tom Jordan (baseball)|Thomas Jordan]] |- |[[Waco Pirates]]||75||73||.507||14½||61,371||[[Walt Tauscher]] |- |[[Texarkana Bears]]||71||77||.480||18½||57,640||[[Prince Oana]] / Joe Phipps Gabby Lusk |- |[[Wichita Falls Spudders]]||66||82||.446||23½||73,415||[[Bruce Ogrodowski]] / Cecil McClung |- |[[Tyler East Texans]]||47||100||.320||42||41,541||[[Hal Epps]] / [[Joe Kracher]] / Gale Pringle |- |Total attendance|| || || || ||604,100 |} '''Season highlights:''' Playoffs: [[Gainesville Owls]] 4 games, [[Austin Pioneers]] 2; [[Sherman-Denison Twins]] 4 games, [[Temple Eagles]] 1. '''Finals''': [[Gainesville Owls]] 4 games, [[Sherman-Denison Twins]] 1. Les Goldstein of the [[Temple Eagles]] led all hitters with a .376 average and his teammate Frederick Bell had 216 hits. Bobby Phillips of the [[Wichita Falls Spudders]] scored 128 runs and Dean Stafford of the [[Sherman-Denison Twins]] led the league in both RBI, with 151 and home runs with 32. Lee Roy Jones of the [[Austin Pioneers]] and [[George O'Donnell]] of the [[Waco Pirates]] had 22 wins each and Robert Upton of the [[Gainesville Owls]] led in strikeouts with 209 and also with an ERA of 2.54.<ref name="encyc"/>

'''1952 Big State League''' [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59881527/1952-big-state-league-schedule/ schedule] {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! Team standings!! Won!! Lost!! Pct!! GB!! Attend!! Managers |- |[[Temple Eagles]]||85||62||.578||-||101,906||[[Salty Parker]] |- |[[Tyler East Texans]]||84||63||.571||1||73,337|| Bill Capps |- |[[Texarkana Bears]]||82||65||.559||3||79,275||[[Tony York]] |- |[[Austin Pioneers]]||81||66||.551||4||149,601||[[Tom Jordan (baseball)|Thomas Jordan]] |- |[[Paris Indians]]||79||68||.537||6||77,761||[[Red Davis]] |- |[[Wichita Falls Spudders]]||77||70||.524||8||95,240||[[Frank Mancuso]] |- |[[Longview Cherokees]]||71||76||.483||14||59,913||[[Clem Hausmann]] / [[Lou Fitzgerald]] |- |[[Waco Pirates]]||29||118||.197||56||32,966||[[Tedd Gullic]] |- |Total attendance|| || || || ||669,999 |} '''Season highlights:''' Playoffs: [[Austin Pioneers]] 4 games, [[Temple Eagles]] 1; [[Tyler East Texans]] 4 games, [[Texarkana Bears]] 2. '''Finals''': [[Tyler East Texans]] 4 games, [[Austin Pioneers]] 0. Bob Van Enman of the [[Wichita Falls Spudders]] led in hitting with a .387 average. His teammate [[Billy Queen]] scored 157 runs while [[Buck Frierson]] of the [[Paris Indians]] had 222 base hits. Roy Sanner of the [[Texarkana Bears]] had 165 RBI and Dean Stafford of the [[Paris Indians]] /[[Tyler East Texans]] busted 47 home runs. [[John André (baseball)|John Andre]] of the [[Austin Pioneers]] led the league with 25 wins and Gale Pringle of the [[Tyler East Texans]] had 164 strikeouts and a 2.93 ERA.<ref name="encyc"/>

===1953 to 1957=== '''1953 Big State League''' [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59881572/1953-big-state-league-schedule/ schedule] {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! Team standings!! Won!! Lost!! Pct!! GB!! Attend!! Managers |- |[[Wichita Falls Spudders]]||85||58||.594||-||71,247||[[Whitey Wietelmann]] |- |[[Tyler East Texans]]||81||63||.563||4½||50,273|| Bill Capps |- |[[Texarkana Bears]]||78||68||.534||8½||89,604||[[Chuck Hawley]] |- |[[Waco Pirates]] / [[Longview Cherokees]]||77||68||.531||9||32,646||[[Buster Chatham]] |- |[[Temple Eagles]]||72||73||.497||14||66,341||[[Salty Parker]] / Len Goldstein |- |[[Greenville Majors]]/[[Bryan Majors]]||70||77||.476||17||30,051||Jim Adair / Clyde McDowell |- |[[Austin Pioneers]]||69||77||.473||17½||73,229||[[Al Unser (baseball)|Al Unser]] |- |[[Paris Indians]]||48||96||.333||47½||40,658||[[Red Davis]] |- |Total attendance|| || || || ||454,049 |} '''Season highlights:''' Waco moved to Longview, May 22; Greenville moved to Bryan, June 25. Playoffs: [[Wichita Falls Spudders]] 4 games, [[Longview Cherokees]] 0;[[Tyler East Texans]] 4 games, [[Texarkana Bears]] 1. '''Finals''': [[Wichita Falls Spudders]] 4 games, [[Tyler East Texans]] 3. Albert Neil of the [[Wichita Falls Spudders]] led five different offensive categories: .356 BA, 185 hits, 126 runs, 137 RBI and 39 home runs. [[Pat Scantlebury]] of the [[Texarkana Bears]] won 24 games and struck out 177. Jodie Phipps of the [[Bryan Majors]] had a 2.19 ERA.<ref name="encyc"/>

'''1954 Big State League''' [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/39674719/1954_big_state_league_schedule/ schedule] {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! Team standings!! Won!! Lost!! Pct!! GB!! Attend!! Managers |- |[[Waco Pirates]]||105||42||.714||-||79,201||[[Jack Paepke]] |- |[[Tyler Tigers]]||92||55||.626||13||56,361||[[Salty Parker]] |- |[[Corpus Christi Clippers]]||87||60||.592||18||97,255|| Bill Capps |- |[[Austin Pioneers]]||79||67||.541||25½||85,119||[[George Hausmann]] |- |[[Galveston White Caps]]||73||73||.500||31½||34,205||[[Chase Riddle]] / Henry Robinson |- |[[Bryan Indians]] / [[Del Rio Indians]]||53||93||.363||51½||34,217||Ray Taylor / [[Al LaMacchia]] [[Chuck Hawley]] |- |[[Harlingen Capitals]]||53||94||.361||52||47,825||[[Earl Caldwell]] / [[Sam Harshaney]] |- |[[Temple Eagles]]||44||102||.301||60½||31,673||Fred Martin / Fred Campbell Robert Moyer |- |Total attendance|| || || || ||465,856 |} '''Season highlights:''' Bryan moved to Del Rio, July 28. Playoffs: [[Waco Pirates]] 4 games, [[Austin Pioneers]] 2; [[Corpus Christi Clippers]] 4 games, [[Tyler Tigers]] 1. '''Finals''': [[Waco Pirates]] 4 games, [[Corpus Christi Clippers]] 3. Dean Stafford of the [[Galveston White Caps]] and the [[Corpus Christi Clippers]] led the league in hitting with a .362 average, hits with 212, had 171 RBI to go with 38 home runs. John Wilkinson of the [[Temple Eagles]] and [[Corpus Christi Clippers]] scored 151 runs. James Vitter of the [[Corpus Christi Clippers]] had 23 wins, while Gayle Pringle of the [[Tyler Tigers]] struck out 212 with a 2.58 ERA.<ref name="encyc"/>

'''1955 Big State League''' [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59881629/1955-big-state-league-schedule/ schedule] {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! Team standings!! Won!! Lost!! Pct!! GB!! Attend!! Managers |- |[[Corpus Christi Clippers]]||93||48||.660||-||102,788||[[Connie Ryan]] |- |[[Waco Pirates]]||74||69||.517||20||53,961||[[Stan Wentzel]] |- |[[Texas City Texans]]||71||67||.514||20½||35,402|| Bones Sanders |- |[[Port Arthur Sea Hawks]]||64||74||.464||27½||71,063||[[Lou Fitzgerald]] / Earl Perry / Jack Bumgarner |- |[[Harlingen Capitals]]||65||79||.451||29½||55,418||[[Ford Garrison]] |- |[[Austin Pioneers]]||58||85||.406||36||50,536||[[George Hausmann]] |- |[[Tyler Tigers]]||36||37||.493||NA||26,443|| Jodie Phipps |- |[[Galveston White Caps]]||28||30||.483||NA||19,600||[[Jodie Beeler]] |- |Total attendance|| || || || ||415,211 |} '''Season highlights:''' Galveston withdrew June 12; Tyler withdrew July 1. Playoffs:[[Corpus Christi Clippers]] 4 games, [[Harlingen Capitals]] 1; [[Waco Pirates]] 4 games, [[Texas City Texans]] 3. '''Finals''': [[Corpus Christi Clippers]] 4 games, [[Waco Pirates]] 0. Lynn Vandehey of the [[Texas City Texans]] led the league with a batting average of .377 and also led in total hits with 195. The [[Corpus Christi Clippers]] trio of [[Ed Charles]] with 135 runs scored, Dean Stafford with 159 RBI and Keith Little hit 47 home runs to lead those categories. Rene Vega of the [[Corpus Christi Clippers]] had 28 wins and a 2.69 ERA. [[Don Rowe]] of the [[Waco Pirates]] had 226 strikeouts.<ref name="encyc"/>

'''1956 Big State League''' [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59881714/1956-big-state-league-schedule/ schedule] {| class="wikitable" ! Team standings!! Won!! Lost!! Pct!! GB!! Attend!! Managers |- |[[Corpus Christi Clippers]]||83||57||.593||-||112,625||[[Sibby Sisti]] |- |[[Port Arthur Sea Hawks]]||78||62||.557||5||57,117||[[Lloyd Gearhart]] / [[Al Barillari]] |- |[[Waco Pirates]]||78||62||.557||5||39,096||[[Monty Basgall]] |- |[[Wichita Falls Spudders]]||76||64||.543||7||60,891||[[Danny Ozark]] |- |[[Abilene Blue Sox]]||73||67||.521||10||83,700|| Alfred Evans |- |[[Lubbock Hubbers]]/[[Texas City Texans]]||59||81||.421||24||53,900|| Bill Krueger / Jay Haney |- |[[Beaumont Exporters]]||57||83||.407||26||35,000||[[Ford Garrison]] |- |[[Victoria Eagles]]||56||84||.400||27||35,639||James Basso / [[Lou Fitzgerald]] / [[Stubby Greer]] |- |Total attendance|| || || || ||477,968 |} '''Season Highlights:''' Lubbock transferred to Texas City July 8; Beaumont moved to Texas City July 2, and returned, July 8. Playoffs:[[Corpus Christi Clippers]] 4 games, [[Wichita Falls Spudders]] 1.; [[Port Arthur Sea Hawks]] 4 games, [[Waco Pirates]] 3. '''Finals''':[[Port Arthur Sea Hawks]] 4 games, [[Corpus Christi Clippers]] 3. James Kirby of the [[Port Arthur Sea Hawks]] was the league's leading hitter with a .358 average and 190 hits. Joe Christian of the [[Corpus Christi Clippers]] scored 119 runs with 142 RBI. [[Danny Ozark]] of the [[Wichita Falls Spudders]] homered 32 times and tied with Rudolph Mayling of the [[Abilene Blue Sox]] in the home run category. Leverette Spencer of the [[Port Arthur Sea Hawks]] had 21 pitching victories and a league best 2.37 ERA. Ramon Salgado with the [[Waco Pirates]] and Herman Greene of the [[Corpus Christi Clippers]] also had 21 pitching wins. [[Evans Killeen]] of the [[Abilene Blue Sox]] had 236 Strikeouts to lead the league.<ref name="encyc"/>

'''1957 Big State League''' [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59881759/1957-big-state-league-schedule/ schedule] {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! Team standings!! Won!! Lost!! Pct!! GB!! Attend!! Managers |- |[[Victoria Rosebuds]]||75||49||.605||-||42,378||[[Lou Rochelli]] |- |[[Corpus Christi Clippers]]||69||58||.543||7½||56,871||[[Joe Just]] / Jack Wilkinson |- |[[Beaumont Pirates]]||61||63||.492||14||56,342||[[Monty Basgall]] |- |[[Abilene Blue Sox]]||61||66||.480||15½||29,995||Burl Storie |- |[[Port Arthur Redlegs]] / [[Temple Redlegs]]||48||56||.461||NA||25,484||[[Al Barillari]] |- |[[Wichita Falls Spudders]]||4||26||.013||NA||2,558|| Jack Wilkinson / [[Jodie Beeler]] |- |Total attendance|| || || || || 214,628 |} '''Season Highlights:''' Playoffs: In a shortened format, the [[Victoria Rosebuds]] beat the [[Corpus Christi Clippers]] 4 games to 1. Wichita Falls withdrew May 23. Port Arthur (20-15) moved to Temple May 30. Temple withdrew August 20. Tony Washington of the [[Beaumont Pirates]] led the last year of the league in hitting with a .356 average. He also led with 179 hits. [[Nate Peeples]] of the [[Corpus Christi Clippers]] scored 116 runs and had 99 RBI to lead those categories. [[Don Miles]] of the [[Victoria Rosebuds]] hit 28 home runs. In the pitching finalie, Chris Niclosi of the [[Victoria Rosebuds]] had 21 wins and 208 strikeouts and [[Dave Wickersham]] of the [[Beaumont Pirates]] had a 1.95 ERA to lead the league.<ref name="encyc"/>

==References== *Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, editors: ''The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball.'' Durham, North Carolina: [[Baseball America]], 1997. {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?code=BSTL&class=B Baseball Reference] {{Professional Baseball}}

[[Category:Defunct professional sports leagues in the United States]] [[Category:Defunct minor baseball leagues in the United States]] [[Category:Baseball leagues in Texas]] [[Category:1947 establishments in Texas]] [[Category:1957 disestablishments in Texas]] [[Category:Sports leagues established in 1947]]