Tombstone
Born: 1976 – Gulf States League founding franchise
Folded: August 12, 19761UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL. “BR Cougars Have Folded”. The Daily Review (Morgan City, LA). August 13, 1976
First Game: June 1, 1976 (L 2-0 vs. Beeville Bees)
Last Game: August 11, 1976 (L 7-2 @ Rio Grande Valley White Wings)
Gulf States League Championships: None
Stadium
Alex Box Stadium
Opened: 1938
Demolished: 2010
Ownership & Affiliation
Owner: Billy Blythe
Major League Affiliation: Independent
Attendance
Background
The Baton Rouge Cougars were a star-crossed independent minor league team that played part of one season in 1976 before disbanding.
The Cougars were part of the Gulf States League, which was a new Class A league organized for the 1976 season. The Gulf States League was part of the National Association, the umbrella organization for all minor league baseball clubs with Major League working agreements. But the GSL was the one league in the NA that was explicitly independent. None of the six teams, which were located in Texas and Louisiana, had a Major League parent club. The GSL was a destination of last resort for minor league castoffs and undrafted free agents.
The Vanishing Owner
The whole league struggled mightily in 1976, but the Cougars had an especially rough time of it. Team owner Billy Blythe bolted town after a couple of months to parts unknown. Paychecks stopped arriving for the ballplayers and coaches around the time Blythe vanished. Louisiana State University evicted the ball club from its stadium for back rent in early August. A judge in Harlingen, Texas issued an arrest warrant for Cougars manager Matt Batts for failing to pay a local hotel bill during a Cougars road trip. The warrant was tossed when league officials explained that hotel bills were the responsibility of the home team.
On the field, the Cougars were among the best teams in the league. But with no paychecks, no ballpark and no owner, the players themselves voted to disband the club on August 11, 1976 with two weeks remaining in the regular season.
Aftermath
Two Cougars pitchers later went on to appear in the Major Leagues. Tom Brown made six appearances as a September call-up with the Seattle Mariners in 1978. The big success story was Terry Leach, who was a 22-year old rookie out of Auburn University with the Cougars in 1976. Leach was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in January 1976, but the pick was voided (for reasons I can’t discover – anybody know?). That left Leach without an organization following his 1976 graduation from Auburn, so he latched on with Baton Rouge and the GSL, appearing in 5 games with a 2-0 record. Leach would go on to pitch for 13 seasons in the Major Leagues from 1981-1993 and win a World Series ring with the Minnesota Twins in 1991.
Links
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5 Responses
Hello, my dad was the owner, Bull Blythe. He said there’s more to the story and what was stated in your article wasn’t the whole truth. He is open to talking if you would like to speak to him. I’m posting his email below.
Thanks Amanda! I sent you/Bill a note this morning to connect
Drew
I really enjoyed those few months in the GSL.
I like the LSU fans and we had a real good ballclub Corpus Christi was are rival.
I don’t know what happen but Billy and Matt were good to me I’m sorry it ended.
I agree with Curt. I have no regrets. The Cougars was probably the closest and best team, both on and off the field that I played on, in my 7 years associated with professional baseball. I’m my opinion, each player was either released by other teams, overlooked, never given a chance or lost in the game of numbers. Matt Batts molded the team, recognized each of our baseball potential and personalities that made up the team’s chemistry and at one time that year, the winningest team in baseball. In those few months, we were all given a chance to play everyday and to prove ourselves.
Billy Blythe promoted the team and absolutely put the fans in the seats. As a minor league independent team we had everything. Billy and Matt treated me well.
To this day, the experience, the friendship, Baton Rouge, the people, the fans leave me with fond memories and great stories. And boy! Did we have some stories!
Dave is correct, it gave all of us a chance. No regrets, it will be with us all our lives.