Rio Grande Valley League | |
Sport: | Minor League Baseball |
President: | George P. Blevins (1931) C.F.C. Ladd (1931) William R. Byrd (1949–1950) Kelly Nemeck (1950) |
Inaugural: | 1931 |
Teams: | 10 |
Country: | United States of America |
Continent: | or |
Continents: | --> |
Folded: | 1950 |
Most Champs: | 1 McAllen Palms (1931) Corpus Christi Aces (1949) Harlingen Capitols (1930) |
Classification: | Class D (1931, 1949) Class C (1950) |
The Rio Grande Valley League was a minor league baseball league, with franchises based exclusively in Texas. The Rio Grande Valley League had two incarnations, playing in 1931 and 1949 to 1950.
In 1931, the league initially featured the Corpus Christi Seahawks of Corpus Christi, the Harlingen Ladds of Harlingen, the McAllen Palms of McAllen and the San Benito Saints of San Benito. Corpus Christi moved to La Feria to become the La Feria Nighthawks in June. The league disbanded on July 30. McAllen finished in first place with a 55–37 record; they also won the league playoff against La Feria 3 games to 0. Johnny Rizzo, who played in the major leagues from 1938 to 1942, played for Corpus Christi/La Feria.[1] Tex Covington managed McAllen.
The league returned as a Class D level circuit in 1949, featuring the Donna Cardinals of Donna, the Corpus Christi Aces, the Laredo Apaches of Laredo, the Brownsville Charros of Brownsville, the McAllen Giants and the Del Rio Cowboys of Del Rio. On June 6, Donna moved to Robstown to become the Robstown Cardinals. Charlie Engle managed Donna/Robstown for part of the season. Corpus Christi finished first in the standings and faced McAllen in the postseason, winning 4 games to 0. Brownsville matched against Laredo and won 4 games to 2. In the finals, Corpus Christi beat Brownsville 4 games to 0.
In 1950, the league became a Class C level circuit. Laredo, Corpus Christi, Brownsville, McAllen and Del Rio returned from 1949. Robstown became the Robstown Rebels. Donna and Weslaco featured the Donna-Weslaco Twins. Harlingen featured the Harlingen Capitals. On May 4, Donna-Weslaco disbanded; Robstown did the same on May 13. The playoffs had first-place finisher Harlingen beating Brownsville 4 games to 2. and Corpus Christi beating Laredo 4 games to 1. In the finals, Corpus Christi beat Harlingen 4 games to 1. Notably, Sam Harshaney managed Harlingen, Leonardo Alanís and Jack Smith managed Laredo, John Davis managed Corpus Christi and Fabian Kowalik managed Robstown. Monty Stratton, Joe Koppe, Dick Midkiff and Vicente Amor played in the league that year.
Team Standings | W | L | PCT | GB | Managers | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
McAllen Palms | 55 | 37 | .598 | -- | ||
49 | 46 | .516 | 7.5 | Pat Withers / Ray Pipken | ||
43 | 49 | .467 | 12.0 | Paul Trammel | ||
San Benito Saints | 40 | 55 | .421 | 16.5 | Bishop Clements / Elgar Waitman |
Johnny Rizzo | Corpus/La Feria | BA | .385 | Adrian Johnson | Harlingen | W | 14 | |
Frank Denson | McAllen | Runs | 99 | Adrian Johnson | Harlingen | SO | 148 | |
Frank Denson | McAllen | Hits | 109 | Horace Hardy | McAllen | Pct | .786; 11–3 | |
Harry Bonds | McAllen | HR | 8 | |||||
Frank Denson | McAllen | SB | 70 |
Team Standings | W | L | PCT | GB | Attend | Managers | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Corpus Christi Aces | 89 | 51 | .686 | -- | 97,192 | William Gann | |
Laredo Apaches | 80 | 60 | .571 | 9.0 | 47,857 | William Cearley / Ishmael Montalvo | |
75 | 65 | .536 | 14.0 | 51,416 | Joseph King | ||
McAllen Giants | 70 | 68 | .507 | 18.0 | 22,598 | Frank Matthews / Philip Kuykendall | |
Del Rio Cowboys | 58 | 80 | .420 | 30.0 | 32,323 | Boyd SoRelle | |
Donna Cardinals / Robstown Cardinals | 45 | 93 | .326 | 43.0 | 19,753 | Russell Frisch / Charlie Engle / Mimi Cavazos |
Joseph King | Brownsville | BA | .354 | Gilberto Garza | Laredo | W | 21 | |
Lloyd Pearson | Corpus Christi | Runs | 140 | Edward Arthur | McAllen | SO | 178 | |
Bernard Pardue | Corpus Christi | Hits | 205 | Robert Wiltse | Brownsville | ERA | 2.08 | |
Don Petschow | Brownsville | RBI | 146 | Harold Jackson | McAllen | PCT | .741 20–7 | |
Don Petschow | Brownsville | HR | 28 |
Team standings | W | L | PCT | GB | Attend | Managers | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Harlingen Capitols | 86 | 62 | .581 | - | 80,001 | ||
Laredo Apaches | 84 | 62 | .575 | 1.0 | 57,948 | Leo Najo / Jack Smith / Manuel Salvatierra | |
79 | 64 | .552 | 4.5 | 68,313 | Red Davis | ||
Brownsville Charros | 80 | 67 | .544 | 5.5 | 56,146 | Joseph King | |
Del Rio Cowboys | 76 | 69 | .524 | 8.5 | 30,568 | Robert Hamric | |
McAllen Giants | 42 | 102 | .292 | 42.0 | 32,473 | Boyd SoRelle / Philip Kuykendall | |
Robstown Rebels | 13 | 18 | .419 | NA | 6,637 | ||
Donna-Weslaco Twins | 4 | 20 | .167 | NA | 3,008 | Baldy Quinn |
Lloyd Pearson | Corpus Christi | BA | .383 | Dick Midkiff | Del Rio | W | 22 | |
Joe Koppe | Corpus Christi | Runs | 181 | William Guthrie | Harlingen | SO | 195 | |
Lloyd Pearson | Corpus Christi | Hits | 207 | Dick Midkiff | Del Rio | ERA | 3.77 | |
Jesse McClain | Harlingen | Hits | 207 | Dick Midkiff | Del Rio | PCT | .733 22–8 | |
Jesse McClain | Harlingen | RBI | 173 | |||||
Jesse McClain | Harlingen | HR | 53 |