{{Short description|Texas minor league baseball team}} {{Infobox sports league | title =Middle Texas League | current_season = <!-- do not wikilink --> | current_season2 = <!-- do not wikilink --> | last_season = <!-- do not wikilink --> | upcoming_season = <!-- do not wikilink; replace with current_season at the start of the new season --> | logo = | pixels = <!-- use a format of ##px, such as 120px --> | caption = | formerly = | sport =Minor League Baseball | replaced = | owner = | ceo = | chief operating officer = | director = | president =W.F. Blum, Jr. (1914)<br /> Hulen P. Robertson (1915) | commissioner = | fame = <!--what the league is famous for...the "claim to fame"...avoid use if possible--> | motto = | inaugural =1914 | teams =8 | singles = | country =United States of America | venue = | confed = <!-- or | continent = or | continents = --> | folded =June 19, 1915 | champion = | most_champs ='''2'''<br /> Belton Braves | classification =Class D (1914–1915) | qualification = | tv = | sponsor = | related_comps = | founder = | levels = | promotion = | relegation = | domestic_cup = | website = }}
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.
==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),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi|title=1914 Bartlett Statistics|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref> Belton, Texas (Belton Braves),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi|title=1914 Belton Braves Statistics|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref> Brenham, Texas (Brenham Brewers),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi|title=1914 Brenham Brewers Statistics|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref> Georgetown, Texas (Georgetown Collegians),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi|title=1914 Georgetown Collegians Statistics|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref> Lampasas, Texas (Lampasas Resorters)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi|title=1914 Lampasas Resorters Statistics|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref> and Temple, Texas (Temple Tigers).<ref name="auto2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi|title=1914 Temple Tigers Statistics|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?code=MIDT&class=D|title=Middle Texas League (D) Encyclopedia and History|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/texas-league|title=TSHA | Texas League|website=www.tshaonline.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ballparkdigest.com/20081105927/minor-league-baseball/news/middle-texas-league|title=Middle Texas League|first=Kevin|last=Reichard|date=November 5, 2008}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/l-MIDT/y-1914|title=1914 Middle Texas League (MTL) on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref><ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/standings/l-MIDT/y-1914|title=1914 Middle Texas League (MTL) Standings on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/stats/c-2ad88b62|title=Kid Nichols Coaching Records on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref><ref name="encyc">{{cite book |title=The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball |editor-first1=Lloyd |editor-last1=Johnson |editor-first2=Miles |editor-last2=Wolff |edition=Third |publisher=Baseball America |date=2007 |isbn=978-1932391176}}</ref> Baseball Hall of Fame member Kid Nichols managed the 1914 Temple Tigers.<ref name="encyc"/><ref name="auto2"/>
In its second season, with Hulen P. Robertson becoming the league president, the Middle Texas League began play on April 15, 1915.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/roster/t-ak10273/y-1915|title=1915 Austin Reps/Taylor Producers/Brenham Kaisers Roster on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref> 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.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/venues/v-162|title=Riverside Park in Austin, TX history and teams on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi|title=1915 Austin Reps/Taylor Producers/Brenham Kaisers Statistics|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref><ref name="encyc"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.milb.com/news/gcs-8704612|title=From Unknowns to Senators: A Central-Texas baseball timeline|website=MiLB.com}}</ref>
Baseball Hall of Fame member Ross Youngs played for Bartlett in 1915, hitting .264 in 59 games at age 18.<ref name="auto3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=youngs001roy|title=Ross Youngs Minor Leagues Statistics & History|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/ross-youngs/|title = Ross Youngs – Society for American Baseball Research}}</ref>
==Middle Texas League teams== {| class="wikitable" |- !Team name(s) !City represented !Ballpark !Year(s) active |- |'''Austin Reps<br>Austin Representatives''' |Austin, Texas |Riverside Park<ref name="auto"/> |{{by|1915}} |- |'''Bartlett Bearcats''' |Bartlett, Texas |Bartlett Base Ball Park<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/venues/v-195|title=Bartlett Base Ball Park in Bartlett, TX history and teams on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref> |{{by|1914}} to {{by|1915}} |- |'''Belton Braves''' |Belton, Texas |Belton Base Ball Park<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/venues/v-241|title=Belton Base Ball Park in Belton, TX history and teams on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref> |{{by|1914}} to {{by|1915}} |- |'''Brenham Brewers''' (1914-1915)<br>'''Brenham Kaisers''' (1915), (2) |Brenham, Texas |Unknown |{{by|1914}} to {{by|1915}} |- |'''Georgetown Collegians''' |Georgetown, Texas |Unknown |{{by|1914}} |- |'''Lampasas Resorters''' |Lampasas, Texas |Unknown |{{by|1914}} |- |'''Schulenburg Giants''' |Schulenburg, Texas |Unknown |{{by|1915}} |- |'''Taylor Producers''' |Taylor, Texas |Robinson Park<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/venues/v-2670|title=Robinson Park in Taylor, TX history and teams on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref> |{{by|1915}} |- |'''Temple Tigers''' (1914)<br> '''Temple Governors''' (1915) |Temple, Texas |Unknown |{{by|1914}} to {{by|1915}} |}
==Standings and statistics== ===1914 Middle Texas League=== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" !Team standings!!W!!L!!PCT!!GB!! Managers |- align=center |Temple Tigers||54||27||.667||-|| '''Kid Nichols''' |- align=center |Georgetown Collegians||50||30||.625||3½ || Jimmy Callahan |- align=center |Brenham Brewers ||50||34||.595||5½ || Ike Pendleton |- align=center |Belton Braves||37||47||.440||18½ || Leslie Mitchell / L.B. Hubbard /<br />Bob Hart / Jack Forrester / Cal Calahan |- align=center |Lampasas Resorters ||35||51||.407||21½ ||Jesse Estill / Luke Roberts |- align=center |Bartlett Bearcats||22||59||.267||32 || Robert Roundtree / Brooks Gordon |} {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+'''Player statistics''' !Player!! Team!!Stat!! Tot!!!!Player!!Team!!Stat!!Tot |- | Fred Wende ||Georgetown||BA||.380|||| J. Reems ||Brenham||W||14 |- | Ellis Boggess ||Temple ||Runs||58|||| Frank Wolfram ||Georgetown||Pct||.833; 10-2 |- | Fred Wende ||Georgetown||Hits||116 |- | Ellis Boggess ||Temple||HR||16 |} <ref name="auto1"/><ref name="encyc"/>
===1915 Middle Texas League=== {| class="wikitable" !Team Standings!!W!!L!!PCT!!GB!! Managers |- align=center |Belton Braves||40||19||.678||-||Charles Lawson<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/stats/t-bb10416/y-1915|title=1915 Belton Braves Statistics on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref> |- align=center |Temple Governors||32||27||.542||8 || Luther Burleson / Frank Rogers<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/stats/t-tg14910/y-1915|title=1915 Temple Governors Statistics on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref> |- align=center |Bartlett Bearcats ||29||26||.527||9 || Ike Pendleton<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/stats/t-bb10331/y-1915|title=1915 Bartlett Bearcats Statistics on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref> |- align=center |Austin Reps<br />Taylor Producers / Brenham Kaisers||21||36||.368||18 || Jack Snipes / Billy Disch<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/stats/t-ak10273/y-1915|title=1915 Austin Reps/Taylor Producers/Brenham Kaisers Statistics on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref> |- align=center |Schulenburg Giants ||23||18||.561||-|| J.M. Robbins<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/stats/t-sg14468/y-1915|title=1915 Schulenburg Giants Statistics on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref> |- align=center |Brenham Brewers||12||21||.279||-|| Arthur Wicks / John Tuller<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/stats/t-bb10560/y-1915|title=1915 Brenham Brewers Statistics on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref> |}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/standings/l-MIDT/y-1915|title=1915 Middle Texas League (MTL) Standings on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref><ref name="encyc"/>
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+'''Player statistics''' !Player!! Team!!Stat!! Tot!!!!Player!!Team!!Stat!!Tot |- | Russ Breaux ||Taylor||BA||.358||||Nemo Gaines||Belton||W||13 |- | R. J. Williamson ||Belton ||Runs||49||||Ray Francis||Temple||SO||106 |- | R. J. Williamson ||Belton||Hits||79|||| H. A. Dennis ||Belton||Pct||1.000; 11-0 |- | Tom Osborne ||Temple||HR||11 |} <ref name="encyc"/>
==Baseball Hall of Fame alumni== *Kid Nichols, Temple (1914) Inducted, 1949<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/roster/t-tt14913/y-1914|title=1914 Temple Tigers Roster on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref> *Ross Youngs, Bartlett (1915) Inducted, 1972<ref name="auto3"/>
==References== {{Reflist|2}} {{Professional Baseball}} Category:Defunct minor baseball leagues in the United States Category:Baseball leagues in Texas Category:Defunct professional sports leagues in the United States Category:Sports leagues established in 1914 Category:Sports leagues disestablished in 1915