The Wichita Falls Spudders were a minor league baseball team that formed in 1920 and played its last game in 1957. They were based in Wichita Falls, Texas .
18-778: The first Spudders team ran from 1920–1932 and played in the Texas League as an affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates , Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Browns . In 1927, they won the league championship and the Dixie Series , a postseason interleague championship between the winners of the Southern Association and the Texas League. That team moved to Longview, Texas in 1932 and became the Longview Cannibals . They moved to
36-577: A Class D league in 1902, moved to Class C in 1904 where it played through 1910 (except for 1906 as Class D again), played at Class B until 1920, and finally moved up to Class A in 1921. The Texas League, like many others, shut down during World War II. From 1959 to 1961, the Texas League and the Mexican League formed the Pan American Association . The two leagues played a limited interlocking schedule and post-season championship. By 1971,
54-715: A game. Ed Kneip was the Jackson Mets original general manager, helping to lead the charge to bring the team to Jackson. 1976 and 1977 were the only two years the Jackson Mets recorded losing records for the entire season until 1988. During the 1980s, the Jackson Mets emerged as one of the preeminent clubs in the Texas League. The team made the playoffs nine times between 1978 and 1987, including eight consecutive trips, and appeared in seven Texas League Championship Series, including five in row from 1983-87. They won three Texas League titles, in 1981, 1984, and 1985. Fans in Jackson responded to
72-656: The Big State League (1937–1953) and Longhorn League (1954). This team was affiliated with the St. Louis Browns (1948–1951), Boston Braves / Milwaukee Braves (1952–1953) and Washington Senators (1954). They moved away and became the Sweetwater Spudders for the 1955 season. The final Spudders team operated from 1956–1957 in the Big State League as an affiliate of the Brooklyn Dodgers . They disbanded halfway through
90-842: The Dixie League in 1933 and then the West Dixie League from 1934–1935 and the East Texas League from 1936–1939. They were affiliated with the Chicago White Sox from 1934–1939. The team disbanded after the 1939 season. A second team, also called the Spudders operated from 1941–1942 in the West Texas–New Mexico League as an affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds . The Third Spudders team operated from 1947–1954 as part of
108-639: The Pacific Coast League (PCL) moved to San Antonio to continue on as the Missions at the Triple-A level. The start of the 2020 season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic before ultimately being cancelled on June 30. As part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganization of the minor leagues, the Texas League was temporarily renamed to "Double-A Central" for the 2021 season. Following MLB's acquisition of
126-695: The Victoria Toros , after only one year in Victoria, Texas . Civic leaders in Jackson had mounted a campaign to build a new stadium for a minor-league club. At the time, Jackson had not fielded a club since the Jackson Senators last played in the Class C Cotton States League in 1953. Previous minor-league teams based in Jackson had played downtown at a field on the Mississippi State Fairgrounds , but
144-561: The 1957 season. Texas League 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
162-409: The 2021 season as Double-A Central before reassuming its original moniker in 2022. The Texas League was founded in 1902, although it traces its lineage back to a predecessor founded in 1888. The league was founded in 1888 and ran through 1892. It was refounded in 1895 and ran through 1899 (under the name Texas Association in 1895 and Texas-Southern League in 1896). The Texas League was revived as
180-584: The Texas League and the Southern League had both decreased to seven teams. They played an interlocking schedule with the Southern League known as the Dixie Association . The two leagues played separate playoffs. The Texas League has operated its own schedule since 1972. The term "Texas Leaguer" to describe a bloop hit, a soft fly ball that falls for a hit beyond the infielders' reach but too short for
198-761: The close of the 1990 season, the Mets organization announced their desire to move the Jackson Mets closer to the parent club. And so, the team's affiliation was moved to Binghamton, New York, where it became the Binghamton Mets in the Eastern League . For the 1991 season, the Houston Astros relocated their AA affiliate to Jackson. This team would be named the Jackson Generals (now located in Corpus Christi, Texas ; not
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#1732855464463216-590: The longest-tenured club to be based in the Jackson metropolitan area . For their entire sixteen seasons of existence, they competed in the Texas League as the Class AA affiliate of the New York Mets , until the club moved to Williamsport, Pennsylvania for the 1991 season and then to Binghamton, New York , for the 1992 season. The Jackson Mets came into existence in 1974 when the New York Mets moved their AA club,
234-419: The new park, which would be named Smith-Wills Stadium , was constructed on Lakeland Drive just east of Interstate 55 in the more suburban area of northeast Jackson. When the team opened play in 1975, the park still had no lights, an unpaved parking lot, no roof on its press box, and was temporarily locating its club offices in a trailer. In their first few years in Jackson, the Mets drew an average of 1,600 fans
252-430: The outfielders to catch, has been extant since at least 1903 and was common throughout American baseball in the 20th century and to some degree into the 21st. The source of the idiom is not known but among other theories has been attributed to Ollie Pickering 's feat in a Texas League game of April 4, 1901, in which he made seven such hits in succession. Talk of this singular feat is supposed to have spread widely, bringing
270-517: The rights to the names of the historical minor leagues, the league switched back to its historical name beginning with the 2022 season. League members Dixie Association PCL Other League Note: • An "^" indicates that team's article redirects to an article of an active team in a different league Jackson Mets The Jackson Mets were a professional baseball team based in Jackson, Mississippi , from 1975 through 1990. As of 2010, they were
288-544: The team's success: more than 112,000 people flocked to Smith-Wills Stadium in 1981, the year that future big-league manager Davey Johnson piloted the Jackson Mets to their first Eastern Division title. Continued winning seasons by the Mets kept attendance above the 100,000 mark for the next six years. Several future Major-League players spent part of their minor-league careers as Jackson Mets. The 1984 championship squad included Billy Beane , who hit 20 home runs , and Lenny Dykstra , who stole 53 bases. The Mets pitching staff
306-688: The term with it. Around the advent of the 21st century, the Texas League witnessed a great deal of change. Teams once known as the Jackson Mets , El Paso Diablos , Shreveport Captains , and Wichita Wranglers all relocated to new cities and bigger stadiums. In 2019, the San Antonio Missions relocated to Amarillo, Texas , becoming the Amarillo Sod Poodles . At the same time, the Triple-A Colorado Springs Sky Sox of
324-676: Was anchored by Calvin Schiraldi , who went 14-3, and also featured Rick Aguilera , Roger McDowell , Jay Tibbs , and Floyd Youmans . The 1985 team that repeated as champs was led by Dave Magadan , Randy Milligan , Mark Carreon , and Barry Lyons , all of whom hit over .300. In addition, at various points the Mets fielded future major-leaguers Lee Mazzilli , Mike Scott , Jeff Reardon , Hubie Brooks , Jody Davis , Darryl Strawberry , Kevin Mitchell , Terry Blocker , John Gibbons and Kevin Elster . At
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