The East Texas League was a Texas–based minor league baseball league that existed between 1916 and 1950. The East Texas League played as a Class D level league in 1916 and from 1923 to 1926. The league became a Class C level league from 1936 to 1940, 1946 and 1949 to 1950. The Tyler Trojans and Henderson Oilers each won three league championships.
Cities represented
Bryan, TX: Bryan Bombers 1949; Bryan Sports 1950
Crockett, TX: Crockett 1916
Gladewater, TX: Gladewater Bears 1936, 1949–1950
Greenville, TX: Greenville Staplers 1923; Greenville Hunters 1924–1926; Greenville Majors 1946 Henderson, TX: Henderson Oilers 1936–1940, 1946, 1949–1950 Jacksonville, TX: Jacksonville Tomato Pickers 1916; Jacksonville Jax 1936–1940, 1946 Kilgore, TX: Kilgore Braves 1936; Kilgore Rangers 1937–1938; Kilgore Boomers 1939–1940; Kilgore Drillers 1949–1950 Longview, TX: Longview Cannibals 1923–1926; Longview Cannibals 1936–1939; Longview Texans 1940, 1949–1950 Lufkin, TX: Lufkin Lumbermen 1916; Lufkin Foresters 1946 Marshall, TX: Marshall Indians 1923–1926; Marshall Orphans 1936; Marshall Tigers 1937–1940; Marshall Browns 1949–1950 Mount Pleasant, TX: Mount Pleasant Cats 1923–1925 Nacogdoches, TX: Nacogdoches Cogs 1916 Palestine, TX: Palestine Athletics 1916; Palestine Pals 1936–1940 Paris, TX: Paris Grays 1923; Paris North Stars 1924; Paris Bearcats 1925–1926; Paris Red Peppers 1946; Paris Panthers 1949–1950 Rusk, TX: Rusk Governors 1916 Sherman, TX: Sherman Twins 1946 Sulphur Springs, TX: Sulphur Springs Lions 1923; Sulphur Springs Saints 1924; Sulphur Springs Spartans 1925 Texarkana, TX: Texarkana Twins 1924–1926; Texarkana Liners 1937–1940; Texarkana Bears 1946 Tyler, TX: Tyler Trojans 1924–1926, 1936–1940, 1946, 1949–1950
History
1916
In 1916, the first East Texas League began play. A Class D level league, it folded on July 19, 1916. The "league champions", by default, were the Palestine Athletics and Lufkin Lumbermen, who both finished atop the league with a .609 winning percentage. The other teams in the league were the Nacogdoches Cogs, Rusk Governors, Jacksonville Tomato Pickers and a team based in Crockett, Texas that did not have a (known) nickname. Crockett, Nacogdoches and Rusk would never field a professional baseball team again. The Athletics dissolved following the season, with the next Palestine team showing up in 1925 as the Palestine Pals in the Texas Association. The Lumbermen dissolved as well, although a team with that name played in the West Dixie League in 1934.
1923–1926
The next incarnation of the league began play in 1923, and ran until 1926. After playing in the Texas–Oklahoma League in 1921 and 1922 as the Paris Snappers, the Paris Grays moved to the East Texas League and finished at the top with a 76–43 record in 1923, with the Longview Cannibals finishing last, with a 41–77 record. Other teams in the league that year were the Greenville Staplers who played in the Texas–Oklahoma League as the Greenville Togs in 1922; the Marshall Indians; the Mt. Pleasant Cats and Sulphur Springs Lions.
The Cannibals, Cats and Indians returned to the league in 1924. The Greenville, Sulphur Springs and Paris-based teams did as well, however they underwent name changes: the Greenville Staplers became the Greenville Hunters, the Sulphur Springs Lions became the Sulphur Springs Saints and the Paris Grays became the Paris North Stars. In its very first season of existence, league newcomer the Tyler Trojans were league champions with an 83–37 record. Another team, the Texarkana Twins, was new to the league as well.
Returning to the league in 1925 were the Tyler Trojans, Greenville Hunters, Longview Cannibals, Texarkana Twins, Marshall Indians and Mt. Pleasant Cats. The Sulphur Springs Saints became the Sulphur Springs Spartans for 1925, and the Paris North Stars became the Paris Bearcats. The Bearcats won the league championship with a 76–46 record. The Spartans disbanded on June 7 of that year, and because of that the Cannibals consolidated with the Mt. Pleasant Cats, playing as the Longview-Mount Pleasant Longcats until July 12, when the team permanently settled in Longview. The records on June 7 were Longview 18-27 and Mt. Pleasant 22-22.