Beaumont Exporters

The Beaumont Exporters was the predominant name of a minor league baseball team located in Beaumont, Texas that played between 1920 and 1957 in the Texas League and the Big State League. Beaumont rejoined the Class AA Texas League (1983-1986) and evolved into today's Northwest Arkansas Naturals.

Beaumont Exporters
1920–1957
(1920-1942, 1946-1957)
Beaumont, Texas
Minor league affiliations
Previous classes
  • Class B (1920, 1956-1957)
  • Class A (1921-1942,1946-1955)
Previous leagues
Major league affiliations
Previous teams
Minor league titles
League titles (2)
  • 1932
  • 1938
Team data
Previous names
  • Beaumount Pirates (1957)
  • Beaumont Exporters (1953-1956)
  • Beaumont Roughnecks (1950-1952)
  • Beaumont Exporters (1920-1942,1946-1949)
Previous parks

Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Hank Greenberg (1931-1932), Whitey Herzog (1952), Carl Hubbell (1928), and Hal Newhouser (1939) played for the Exporters and Rogers Hornsby was the Manager in 1950.

Baseball history in Beaumont

The city of Beaumont was first represented between 1903 and 1905 by the Beaumont Oil Gushers, later renamed the Beaumont Millionaires in the South Texas League. It was later represented in the Texas League from 1912–1917 and 1919 as the Beaumont Oilers. After the Exporters folded, the city was later represented again in the Texas league from 1983–1986 by the Beaumont Golden Gators and in 1994 by the Beaumont Bullfrogs of the Texas-Louisiana league.

The Exporters first formed in 1920 and played at Magnolia Ballpark through 1929 and at Stuart Stadium thereafter. The team was ranked near the bottom of the Texas League standings during the 1920s. However, when the Exporters became an affiliate of the Detroit Tigers in the 1930s, its fortunes changed.

The 1932 club, featuring future Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg, won 100 games and swept the Dallas Steers in the playoffs. Greenberg led the league with 39 home runs and 123 runs scored, while pitcher Schoolboy Rowe, who would star with Greenberg on the 1934–1935 Tiger pennant-winners, posted a league-best 2.34 earned run average. The Exporters won another championship in 1938, behind pitcher Dizzy Trout, the league's MVP. In 1942, the team won the regular-season pennant, but fell in seven games in the playoffs. Then the entire Texas League suspended operations during World War II.

Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg

After the war ended, the New York Yankees replaced Detroit as the Exporters' parent club in 1946. A series of last-place teams was followed in 1950 with a championship club managed by Rogers Hornsby — but it was known as the Beaumont Roughnecks that season.

The Exporters name was restored in 1953, but no more titles followed. As an affiliate of the Chicago Cubs (1954) and Milwaukee Braves (1955), it trailed the other seven Texas League teams in attendance. The Exporters then moved to Austin in 1956.

A revised club known as the Exporters then entered the Class B Big State League in 1956 as a St. Louis Cardinals' affiliate. It struggled on the field, finished last in the BSL in attendance, and briefly transferred to Texas City, Texas, playing as the Texas City Exporters, during July before returning to Beaumont. The following year, 1957, Beaumont remained in the Big State League as the Beaumont Pirates, a Pittsburgh Pirates' farm club. The league then folded as an organized baseball circuit at the end of the 1957.

Beaumont remained without a minor league club until 1983 when the Amarillo Gold Sox, the Class AA Texas League affiliate of the San Diego Padres, relocated to become the Beaumont Golden Gators. The Golden Gators played from 1983-1986 before the franchise moved to Wichita, Kansas and became the Wichita Pilots in 1987. The franchise relocated to Springdale, Arkansas in 2008 to become today's Northwest Arkansas Naturals.[1][2][3][4]

Notable alumni

Baseball Hall of Fame alumni

Notable alumni

Season-by-season

(from Exporters' Baseball Reference Bullpen) (from Roughnecks' Baseball Reference Bullpen) (from Pirates' Baseball Reference Bullpen)

Year Record Finish Manager Playoffs
192081-704thJoe Mathes
192164-937thPat Newnam
192265-886thJoe Mathes
192371-776thFrank Edington (23-19) / Frank Kitchens (48-58)
192477-733rdAlbert Bernsen
192542-1088thAlbert Bernsen / Andy Woehr
192676-805thJim Galloway
192756-978thJim Galloway / Claude Robertson
192850-1068thClaude Robertson
192972-877thClaude Robertson
193068-846thDel Baker
193194-652ndDel BakerLost playoff for 1st half title
1932100-511stDel BakerLeague Champs
193373-795thBob Coleman
193481-693rdDutch LorbeerLost in 1st round
193590-692ndDutch LorbeerLost League Finals
193669-807thDutch Lorbeer
193782-775thAl Vincent
193899-571stAl VincentLeague Champs
193958-1038thAl Vincent
194088-723rdAl VincentLost League Finals
194158-947thGordie Hinkle
194289-581stSteve O'NeillLost League Finals
194670-835thJim Turner
194760-947th (t)Goldie Holt
194861-908thChick Autry
194955-978thChick Autry
195091-521stRogers HornsbyLost in 1st round
195184-774th (t)Harry CraftLost in 1st round
195277-847thHarry Craft
195365-898thAl Vincent
195477-847thLes Fleming (36-42) / Mickey Livingston (41-42)
195551-1108thMickey Livingston
1956*57-837thFord Garrison
195761-633rdMonty Basgall

* Team operated in Texas City, TX from July 2 to July 7, 1956

References
  1. "Beaumont, Texas Encyclopedia". Baseball-Reference.com.
  2. "Northwest Arkansas Naturals - BR Bullpen". www.baseball-reference.com.
  3. "Wichita Wranglers - BR Bullpen". www.baseball-reference.com.
  4. "Beaumont Golden Gators - BR Bullpen". www.baseball-reference.com.
  • Johnson, Lloyd, ed., The Minor League Register. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1994.
  • Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 1997 edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.