View source for Big State League

{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Infobox sports league
| title                   =Big State 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               =[[Walter Morris]] (1947–1950)<br/> Howard Green  (1951–1955)<br />Hal Sayles (1956–1957)
| commissioner            = 
| fame                    = <!--what the league is famous for...the "claim to fame"...avoid use if possible-->
| motto                   = 
| inaugural               =1947
| teams                   =22
| singles                 = 
| country                 =[[United States of America]]
| venue                   = 
| confed                  = <!-- or | continent = or | continents = -->
| folded                  =1957
| champion                = 
| most_champs             ='''2'''<br/> [[Corpus Christi Clippers]] (1955-1956) <br /> [[Texarkana Bears]] (1947, 1950)<br /> [[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'''<br />[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59881016/1947-big-state-league-schedule/ schedule]

{|class="wikitable" 
! Team standings!!Won!!Lost!!Pct!!GB!!Attend!!Managers 
|- 
|[[Texarkana Bears]]||101||53||.655||-||140,333|| Vern Washington  
|- 
|[[Greenville Majors]]||100||54||.649||1.0||154,356|| Harry Davis, Jr. 
|- 
|[[Wichita Falls Spudders]]||92||61||.601||8.0||92,553|| Bobby Goff 
|-
|[[Paris Red Peppers]]||80||74||.519||21.0||112,449|| Lloyd Rigby  
|- 
|[[Sherman-Denison Twins]]||69||85||.448||32.0||81,550||[[Guy Sturdy]] 
|- 
|[[Gainesville Owls]]||65||87||.428||35.0||60,971|| Leroy Gilchrist  
|- 
|[[Austin Pioneers]]||55||99||.357||46.0||106,099||[[Beau Bell]] 
|- 
|[[Waco Dons]]||52||101||.340||48.0||52,577||[[Red Barkley]] 
|- 
|Total attendance || || || || || 800,888 
|} 
'''Season highlights'''<br/>
Playoffs: [[Texarkana Bears]] beat the [[Paris Red Peppers]] 4 games to 0.; [[Wichita Falls Spudders]] over the [[Greenville Majors]] 4 games to 2.<br/> '''Finals''':[[Texarkana Bears]] 4 games to 2 over the [[Wichita Falls Spudders]].<br/> 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'''<br/>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59881086/1948-big-state-league-schedule/ schedule]
{|class="wikitable" 
! Team standings!! Won!! Lost!! Pct.!! GB!! Attend!! Managers 
|- 
|[[Sherman-Denison Twins]]||94||51||.648||-||117,046|| Jose Rodriquez  
|- 
|[[Wichita Falls Spudders]]||84||62||.575||10.5||130,138|| Marcus Carrola 
|- 
|[[Waco Pirates]]||82||64||.562||12.5||82,762||[[Buster Chatham]] 
|- 
|[[Austin Pioneers]]||79||67||.541||15.5||163,666||[[Prince Oana]] 
|- 
|[[Gainesville Owls]]||69||77||.473||25.5||80,479|| Babe Peebles / Jackie Reid  
|- 
|[[Paris Panthers]]||62||85||.422||33.5||72,636||[[Homer Peel]] 
|- 
|[[Texarkana Bears]]||60||83||.420||33||70,508|| Ed Borom  
|- 
|[[Greenville Majors]]||52||93||.359||42.5||67,334||[[Buddy Hancken]] / Nat Love  
|- 
|Total attendance|| || || || ||784,569 
|} 
'''Season highlights'''<br/>Playoffs: [[Sherman-Denison Twins]] 4 games [[Austin Pioneers]] 1 ; [[Wichita Falls Spudders]] 4 games [[Waco Pirates]] 0 <br /> '''Finals''':[[Sherman-Denison Twins]] 4 wins [[Wichita Falls Spudders]] 3 wins.<br> 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'''<br/>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59881124/1949-big-state-league-schedule/ schedule] 
{| class="wikitable" 
! Team standings!! Won!! Lost!! Pct!! GB!! Attend!! Managers
|- 
|[[Wichita Falls Spudders]]||90||58||.608||-||128,400|| Jack Bradsher  
|- 
|[[Texarkana Bears]]||86||61||.585||3.5||96,522||[[George Archie]] 
|-
|[[Austin Pioneers]]||86||62||.562||4.0||188,193||[[Prince Oana]] 
|- 
|[[Waco Pirates]]||76||72||.514||14.0||95,825||[[Buddy Hancken]] 
|- 
|[[Sherman-Denison Twins]]||70||78||.473||20.0||77,474||[[Lloyd Brown (baseball)|Lloyd Brown]] / [[Pete Appleton]] 
|- 
|[[Greenville Majors]]||66||82||.446||24.0||58,500||[[Red Davis]] 
|- 
|[[Gainesville Owls]]||59||89||.399||31.0||66,544||Ray Taylor / [[Lon Goldstein]]
|- 
|[[Temple Eagles]]||58||89||.395||31.5||72,624||[[Barney White]] / [[Homer Peel]] 
|- 
|Total attendance|| || || || ||784,082 
|} 
'''Season highlights'''<br/> Playoffs:[[Waco Pirates]] over the [[Wichita Falls Spudders]] 4 games to 2; [[Texarkana Bears]] over the [[Austin Pioneers]] 4 games to 1.<br/>'''Finals''': [[Waco Pirates]] 4 games to 1 over the [[Texarkana Bears]].<br>  [[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" 
! Team standings!! Won!! Lost!! Pct!! GB!! Attend!! Managers 
|- 
|[[Texarkana Bears]]||93||51||.646||-||83,604||[[George Archie]] 
|- 
|[[Gainesville Owls]]||82||63||.566||11.5||56,890|| James Adair 
|- 
|[[Wichita Falls Spudders]]||80||66||.548||14.0||103,439||[[Hack Miller]] 
|- 
|[[Temple Eagles]]||74||70||.514||19.0||105,081||[[Lou Finney]] 
|- 
|[[Greenville Majors]]||75||71||.514||19.0||50,511|| Bill Gann  
|- 
|[[Waco Pirates]]||72||76||.486||23.0||85,173||[[Buddy Hancken]] 
|- 
|[[Sherman-Denison Twins]]||54||91||.372||39.5||48,762||[[Homer Peel]] 
|- 
|[[Austin Pioneers]]||52||94||.356||42.0||116,941||[[Prince Oana]] /  David Sarver 
|- 
|Total attendance|| || || || ||650,401 
|} 
'''Season highlights:'''<br/>Playoffs: [[Texarkana Bears]] over [[Temple Eagles]] 4 to 2; [[Greenville Majors]] over [[Wichita Falls Spudders]] 4 to 2.<br>'''Finals''': [[Texarkana Bears]] over [[Greenville Majors]] 4 to 2.<br> 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'''<br/>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59881483/1951-big-state-league-schedule/ schedule]
{| class="wikitable"
! Team standings!! Won!! Lost!! Pct!! GB!! Attend!! Managers 
|- 
|[[Gainesville Owls]]||89||58||.605||-||50,771|| Hal Van Pelt 
|- 
|[[Temple Eagles]]||88||60||.595||1.5||112,022||[[Bill Herring]] / Jack Bradsher  
|- 
|[[Sherman-Denison Twins]]||79||68||.537||10.0||60,059||Bill Capps 
|-
|[[Austin Pioneers]]||75||72||.510||14.0||147,161||[[Tom Jordan (baseball)|Thomas Jordan]] 
|- 
|[[Waco Pirates]]||75||73||.507||14.5||61,371||[[Walt Tauscher]] 
|- 
|[[Texarkana Bears]]||71||77||.480||18.5||57,640||[[Prince Oana]] /<br/>Joe Phipps / Gabby Lusk 
|- 
|[[Wichita Falls Spudders]]||66||82||.446||23.5||73,415||[[Bruce Ogrodowski]] / Cecil McClung  
|- 
|[[Tyler East Texans]]||47||100||.320||42.0||41,541||[[Hal Epps]] /<br/> [[Joe Kracher]] / Gale Pringle 
|- 
|Total attendance|| || || || ||604,100 
|} 
'''Season highlights:'''<br /> Playoffs:<br> [[Gainesville Owls]] 4 games, [[Austin Pioneers]] 2; [[Sherman-Denison Twins]] 4 games, [[Temple Eagles]] 1.<br /> '''Finals''': [[Gainesville Owls]] 4 games, [[Sherman-Denison Twins]] 1.<br /> 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'''<br/>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59881527/1952-big-state-league-schedule/ schedule]
{| class="wikitable" 
! Team standings!! Won!! Lost!! Pct!! GB!! Attend!! Managers 
|-
|[[Temple Eagles]]||85||62||.578||-||101,906||[[Salty Parker]] 
|- 
|[[Tyler East Texans]]||84||63||.571||1.0||73,337|| Bill Capps 
|- 
|[[Texarkana Bears]]||82||65||.559||3.0||79,275||[[Tony York]] 
|- 
|[[Austin Pioneers]]||81||66||.551||4.0||149,601||[[Tom Jordan (baseball)|Thomas Jordan]] 
|- 
|[[Paris Indians]]||79||68||.537||6.0||77,761||[[Red Davis]] 
|- 
|[[Wichita Falls Spudders]]||77||70||.524||8.0||95,240||[[Frank Mancuso]] 
|- 
|[[Longview Cherokees]]||71||76||.483||14.0||59,913||[[Clem Hausmann]] / [[Lou Fitzgerald]] 
|- 
|[[Waco Pirates]]||29||118||.197||56.0||32,966||[[Tedd Gullic]] 
|- 
|Total attendance|| || || || ||669,999 
|} 
'''Season highlights:'''<br/> Playoffs: [[Austin Pioneers]] 4 games, [[Temple Eagles]] 1; [[Tyler East Texans]] 4 games, [[Texarkana Bears]] 2.<br/> '''Finals''': [[Tyler East Texans]] 4 games, [[Austin Pioneers]] 0.<br /> 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'''<br />[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59881572/1953-big-state-league-schedule/ schedule]
{| class="wikitable" 
! Team standings!! Won!! Lost!! Pct!! GB!! Attend!! Managers 
|- 
|[[Wichita Falls Spudders]]||85||58||.594||-||71,247||[[Whitey Wietelmann]] 
|- 
|[[Tyler East Texans]]||81||63||.563||4.5||50,273|| Bill Capps  
|- 
|[[Texarkana Bears]]||78||68||.534||8.5||89,604||[[Chuck Hawley]] 
|- 
|[[Waco Pirates]] /<br />[[Longview Cherokees]]||77||68||.531||9.0||32,646||[[Buster Chatham]] 
|- 
|[[Temple Eagles]]||72||73||.497||14.0||66,341||[[Salty Parker]] / Len Goldstein  
|- 
|[[Greenville Majors]]/[[Bryan Majors]]||70||77||.476||17.0||30,051||Jim Adair / Clyde McDowell 
|- 
|[[Austin Pioneers]]||69||77||.473||17.5||73,229||[[Al Unser (baseball)|Al Unser]] 
|- 
|[[Paris Indians]]||48||96||.333||47.5||40,658||[[Red Davis]] 
|- 
|Total attendance|| || || || ||454,049 
|} 
'''Season highlights:'''<br/> Waco moved to Longview, May 22;  Greenville moved to Bryan, June 25.<br/> Playoffs: [[Wichita Falls Spudders]] 4 games, [[Longview Cherokees]] 0;[[Tyler East Texans]] 4 games, [[Texarkana Bears]] 1.<br/>'''Finals''': [[Wichita Falls Spudders]] 4 games, [[Tyler East Texans]] 3.<br/> 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'''<br/>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/39674719/1954_big_state_league_schedule/ schedule]
{| class="wikitable" 
! Team standings!! Won!! Lost!! Pct!! GB!! Attend!! Managers 
|- 
|[[Waco Pirates]]||105||42||.714||-||79,201||[[Jack Paepke]] 
|- 
|[[Tyler Tigers]]||92||55||.626||13.0||56,361||[[Salty Parker]] 
|- 
|[[Corpus Christi Clippers]]||87||60||.592||18.0||97,255|| Bill Capps  
|- 
|[[Austin Pioneers]]||79||67||.541||25.5||85,119||[[George Hausmann]] 
|- 
|[[Galveston White Caps]]||73||73||.500||31.5||34,205||[[Chase Riddle]] / Henry Robinson
|-
|[[Bryan Indians]] /<br/>[[Del Rio Indians]]||53||93||.363||51.5||34,217||Ray Taylor /<br/> [[Al LaMacchia]] / [[Chuck Hawley]]
|- 
|[[Harlingen Capitals]]||53||94||.361||52.0||47,825||[[Earl Caldwell]] / [[Sam Harshaney]] 
|- 
|[[Temple Eagles]]||44||102||.301||60.5||31,673||Fred Martin / <br/> Fred Campbell / Robert Moyer 
|- 
|Total attendance|| || || || ||465,856 
|} 
'''Season highlights:'''<br> Bryan moved to Del Rio, July 28.<br/>Playoffs: [[Waco Pirates]] 4 games, [[Austin Pioneers]] 2; [[Corpus Christi Clippers]] 4 games, [[Tyler Tigers]] 1.<br> '''Finals''': [[Waco Pirates]] 4 games, [[Corpus Christi Clippers]] 3.<br /> 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'''<br />[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59881629/1955-big-state-league-schedule/ schedule]
{| class="wikitable" 
! Team standings!! Won!! Lost!! Pct!! GB!! Attend!! Managers 
|- 
|[[Corpus Christi Clippers]]||93||48||.660||-||102,788||[[Connie Ryan]] 
|- 
|[[Waco Pirates]]||74||69||.517||20.0||53,961||[[Stan Wentzel]] 
|- 
|[[Texas City Texans]]||71||67||.514||20.5||35,402|| Bones Sanders 
|-
|[[Port Arthur Sea Hawks]]||64||74||.464||27.5||71,063||[[Lou Fitzgerald]] /<br/>Earl Perry / Jack Bumgarner  
|- 
|[[Harlingen Capitals]]||65||79||.451||29.5||55,418||[[Ford Garrison]]
|- 
|[[Austin Pioneers]]||58||85||.406||36.0||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:'''<br/> Galveston withdrew June 12; Tyler withdrew July 1.<br/> Playoffs:[[Corpus Christi Clippers]] 4 games, [[Harlingen Capitals]] 1; [[Waco Pirates]] 4 games, [[Texas City Texans]] 3.<br/> '''Finals''': [[Corpus Christi Clippers]] 4 games, [[Waco Pirates]] 0.<br/>  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'''<br/>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59881714/1956-big-state-league-schedule/ schedule]<br /> 
{| 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||5.0||57,117||[[Lloyd Gearhart]] / [[Al Barillari]] 
|-
|[[Waco Pirates]]||78||62||.557||5.0||39,096||[[Monty Basgall]] 
|- 
|[[Wichita Falls Spudders]]||76||64||.543||7.0||60,891||[[Danny Ozark]] 
|- 
|[[Abilene Blue Sox]]||73||67||.521||10.0||83,700|| Alfred Evans  
|- 
|[[Lubbock Hubbers]]/[[Texas City Texans]]||59||81||.421||24.0||53,900|| Bill Krueger / Jay Haney 
|- 
|[[Beaumont Exporters]]||57||83||.407||26.0||35,000||[[Ford Garrison]] 
|- 
|[[Victoria Eagles]]||56||84||.400||27.0||35,639||James Basso /<br/>[[Lou Fitzgerald]] / [[Stubby Greer]] 
|- 
|Total attendance|| || || || ||477,968
|} 
'''Season Highlights:'''<br/> Lubbock transferred to Texas City July 8; Beaumont moved to Texas City July 2, and returned, July 8.<br> Playoffs:[[Corpus Christi Clippers]] 4 games, [[Wichita Falls Spudders]] 1.; [[Port Arthur Sea Hawks]] 4 games, [[Waco Pirates]] 3.<br/> '''Finals''':[[Port Arthur Sea Hawks]] 4 games, [[Corpus Christi Clippers]] 3.<br/> 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'''<br/>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59881759/1957-big-state-league-schedule/ schedule]
{| class="wikitable" 
! Team standings!! Won!! Lost!! Pct!! GB!! Attend!! Managers 
|- 
|[[Victoria Rosebuds]]||75||49||.605||-||42,378||[[Lou Rochelli]] 
|- 
|[[Corpus Christi Clippers]]||69||58||.543||7.5||56,871||[[Joe Just]] / Jack Wilkinson 
|- 
|[[Beaumont Pirates]]||61||63||.492||14.0||56,342||[[Monty Basgall]] 
|- 
|[[Abilene Blue Sox]]||61||66||.480||15.5||29,995||Burl Storie  
|- 
|[[Port Arthur Redlegs]] /<br/>[[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:'''<br /> Playoffs: In a shortened format, the [[Victoria Rosebuds]] beat the [[Corpus Christi Clippers]] 4 games to 1.<br> Wichita Falls withdrew May 23.<br> Port Arthur (20-15) moved to Temple May 30. Temple withdrew August 20.<br /> 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]]