San Antonio Tejanos

Texas-Louisiana League (1994)

Tombstone

Born: 1994 – Texas-Louisiana League founding franchise
Folded: Postseason 1994

First Game: May 27, 1994 (L 3-2 @ Amarillo Dillas)
Last Game: September 5, 1994 (L 7-0 & L 3-0 @ Amarillo Dillas)

Texas-Louisiana League Championships: None

Stadium

V.J. Keefe Memorial Stadium

Ownership & Affiliation

Owner: Texas-Louisiana League

Major League Affiliation: Independent

Attendance

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Print Download

Source: The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.), Lloyd Johnson & Miles Wolff, 2007

Background

The San Antonio Tejanos were a failed independent baseball franchise that played during the 1994 debut season of the now-defunct Texas-Louisiana League (1994-2001). The Tex-La league played mostly in older, outmoded ballparks in small cities left behind over the years by the Class AA Texas League. Places like Alexandria, Amarillo and Beaumont.

The Tejanos were an exception to this model. But not in a good way. San Antonio already had the Missions, the long-standing Texas League farm club where many top prospects of the Los Angeles Dodgers passed through on their way to Dodger Stadium. And the Missions had just moved into a brand new ballpark for the 1994 season. The Tejanos took up residence at V.J. Keefe Stadium, an obsolete stadium that the Missions left behind a few months earlier. Add to that a lineup of anonymous castoffs and undrafted players and there was no obvious reason for local fans to choose a Tejanos’ game over a trip to see the Missions. And they didn’t. They independent team took a bath at the box office and left town after one season.

The Tejanos’ best known name was field manager Jose Cruz, the former Houston Astros All-Star outfielder. The Tejanos did have one player on the roster would went on to make the Big Leagues. Relief pitcher Todd Rizzo went on to appear in a dozen games for the Chicago White Sox in 1998 and 1999.