Jackson Generals (1991-1999)

Texas League (1991-1999)

Background

In January 1990, the New York Mets placed the city of Jackson, Mississippi on notice. They expected city leaders to take action on renovation of Smith-Wills Stadium by April 1st or else the Mets would seek to end their 15-year support of Jackson’s Texas League franchise. The date came and went and the Mets made arrangements to move their Class AA operations to Williamsport, Pennsylvania of the Eastern League for the 1991 season.

Jackson Mets owner Con Maloney got to work seeking to keep pro baseball alive in Jackson. With the Mets gone, the ball club re-branded as the Jackson Generals in October 1990. The Houston Astros signed on as the Generals’ new parent club in early 1991.

On The Field

The Generals won two Texas League crowns during nine seasons as an Astros farm club.

The 1993 squad swept the El Paso Diablos in 3 games. 22-year old first baseman Roberto Petagine won Texas League MVP honors that year with .334 average 15 homers and 90 RBI. Petagine never made a huge impact in the Majors, but he did go on to become a major star in Japan in the early 2000’s.

The Generals defeated the Wichita Wranglers in a four-game sweep to claim the 1996 Texas League title.

Other notable Generals alumni included:

• Relief pitcher Todd Jones (’91-’92)
• Outfielder Bobby Abreu (’94)
• Reliever Billy Wagner (’95)
• Shorstop Carlos Guillen (’97)
• Outfielder/First Baseman Lance Berkman (’98)

Move To Texas & Aftermath

Following years of declining attendance, Con Maloney sold the Generals to retired Major League pitching great Nolan Ryan and his business partner Don Sanders in April 1998. As part of the sale, the Generals would move to Round Rock, Texas, a suburb of Austin, for the 2000 season. The Generals would play out the rest of the 1998 season and all of 1999 as lame ducks while Ryan group waited for their new ballpark to be ready in Round Rock.

After the Texas League’s departure, a pair of independent pro baseball clubs took up residence at Smith-Wills Stadium. The Jackson DiamondKats (2000) lasted only one season before folding. The Jackson Senators (2002-2005) had a little more staying power, but they were ultimately displaced by the return of affiliated Minor League Baseball to the region in 2005.

In May 2004, the Jackson suburb of Pearl, Mississippi broke ground of $28 million Trustmark Park. The new ballpark, opened in 2005, was constructed to host the relocated Class AA farm team of the Atlanta Braves in the Southern League. The Mississippi Braves began play in the spring of 2005.

Fun fact about the Mississippi Braves: the team’s current field manager at the time of this writing is Chris Maloney, the son of long-time Jackson Mets and Jackson Generals owner Con Maloney.

Somewhat confusingly, Minor League Baseball welcomed a new “Jackson Generals” club in 2011. The modern-day Generals represent the city of Jackson, Tennessee and compete against the Mississippi Braves in the Southern League.

Trivia

The 1999 Jackson Generals, who claimed total attendance of 99,240 fans, were the only Texas League franchise during the decade of the 1990’s to draw fewer than 100,000 fans in a season.

Voices

“Very honestly, my favorite name was Jackson Action. But I could find anybody else who liked it.”

– Con Maloney, Generals Owner, on the team’s 1990 re-naming. (Jackson Clarion-Ledger, 10/17/1990)

Jackson General Shop

Links

Texas League Media Guides

Texas League Programs

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