Wichita Pilots

Texas League (1987-1988)

Background

After the Wichita Aeros (1970-1984) pulled up stakes for Buffalo, New York in late 1984, Lawrence-Dumont Stadium went without pro ball for the next two summers. The game returned in 1987 when the Beaumont Golden Gators of the Texas League moved to town. Out of town owner Larry Schmittou and his partners were top minor league baseball operators of the era. Schmittou’s group, based out of Nashville where they owned the Class AAA Nashville Sounds, also owned teams in Huntsville, Alabama and Greensboro, North Carolina at the time.

The Pilots were a San Diego Padres affiliate and the Padres had a rich farm system at the time. The 1987 Pilots team, under field manager Steve Smith, was superb. Future Hall-of-Famer Roberto Alomar (19 years old) and older brother Sandy Alomar Jr. (21) both spent the entire season in Wichita before debuting together in San Diego in 1988.

Ace pitcher Greg W. Harris hurley a no-hitter against the Midland Angels at Lawrence-Dumont in August. Three weeks later, Harris pitched a one-hit shutout through eight innings in the Pilots’ decisive extra innings victory in Game 6 of the 1987 Texas League Championship Series against the Jackson Mets. Roberto Alomar knocked in the decisive run in the 11th inning that night.

Midway through the 1988 season, Schmittou’s group put the Pilots up for sale. In an interesting twist, the man they sold the team to was Bob Rich of Buffalo, New York, the same man who moved the Aeros out of town four years earlier. (Rich also owned the Wichita-based National Baseball Congress amateur tournament at the time). Rich re-branded the team as the Wichita Wranglers prior to the 1989 season.

Trivia

When the Pilots bested the Jackson Mets in a best-of-seven series to claim the 1987 Texas League crown, it marked the first time since 1970 that no team from Texas appeared in the Texas League championship series.

Wichita Pilots Shop

Links

Texas League Media Guides

Texas League Programs

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