Houma Hawks

Houma Hawks
Houma Hawks
Founded in 2003 ; Houma, Louisiana ;
Minor league affiliations
Class	Independent
League	Southeastern League (2003)
Major league affiliations
Team	None
Minor league titles
League titles	None
Division titles	None
Team data
Name	Houma Hawks (2003)
Ballpark	Southland Field
Owner(s)/; Operator(s)	Gus Brown, Jr.
General manager	Gus Brown III

The Houma Hawks were a baseball team based in Houma, Louisiana. In 2003 they were expansion members of the Southeastern League of Professional Baseball. They played their home games in Houma, Louisiana at Southland Field.

This was the second stint of a professional baseball team in Houma. From 1946 through 1952, the Houma Indians of the Evangeline League played as the communities first professional baseball team.

History

The team was officially announced to the public on October 24, 2002 at the Terrebonne Parish Courthouse Annex. The team was the brainchild of Gus Brown, Jr., the teams CEO and his son Gus Brown III, the teams’ general manager. For the inaugural season, the United Parcel Service was the teams’ primary sponsor. Locally, games were broadcast on KTIB 640-AM in Houma.

In May 2003 the name of the mascot was released following an internet poll to determine the name. "Parrain" the Hawk received 52 percent of the votes, while "Homer" the Hawk was in second place. On May 16, spring training commenced at Vandebilt Catholic High School.

The team would open exhibition play on May 24 with a pair of losses to Southern University before notching their first win against Gauthier and Amedee, an American Legion team by a score of 9-6 on May 26. The 72-game regular season would commence on May 30.

The team would open the 2003 season at home against the Pensacola Pelicans, and defeat the defending league champs by a score of 11-5 behind pitching ace Steven Locklar. Infielder Ray Crawford was 4-4 in the game with a pair of RBIs. Todd Brown also drove home a pair of runs in the home opener.

However, ownership failed to submit the proper workers' compensation paperwork to the state in order to use Southland Field. As a result, the Hawks would play home games at Morgan City High School stadium in Morgan City and at East St. John High School stadium in Reserve in June. By July, the team has even gone as far as to have eight home games at Pete Goldsby Park in Baton Rouge. By the end of the season, the team would simply play their "home" games at the visitors’ ballpark.

The team would disband after the 2003 season, and in January 2004, the former ownership would file suit against the Terrebonne Parish Recreation District 2-3, claiming a breach of contract after the team only was able to play three games at Southland Field after completing renovations.

2003 partial roster

Calvin Lee, pitcher
Raul Rivera, pitcher
Steve Locklar, pitcher
Steven Bourgeois, pitcher
Shane Landry, pitcher
Dustin Wagoner, pitcher
Ted Sutton, pitcher
Josh Kaplan, pitcher
Tharun Anderson, catcher
Ray Crawford, infield
Jaime Malvé, catcher
Todd Brown, infielder
Tony James, infielder
Eric Brown, outfielder
Larry Bethea, 1st base
Shawn Woodland, catcher
Nelson Villalobos Jr, Pitcher
Eric Martanovic, Pitcher
James Hamon, Pitcher
Travis Boyll, Pitcher
Wil Guidebeck, Utility

References

Staff reports. (October 25, 2002) "It's official: Houma becomes Hawks' nest." The Houma Courier.
Nathan, Juan Anthony. (May 2, 2003) "Hawks announce 13 signees, introduce mascot." The Houma Courier.
Nathan, Juan Anthony. (May 25, 2003) "Hawks ready to play ball in Houma." The Houma Courier.
McElory, Kelly. (May 27, 2003) "Hawks close exhibition play with win." The Houma Courier.
Nathan, Juan Anthony. (June 29, 2003) "Houma Hawks, where are you?." The Houma Courier.
Keys, Perryn. (January 11, 2004) "Claiming breach of contract, Hawks sue Recreation District 2-3." The Houma Courier.