Tombstone
Born: 1972
Affiliation Change: 1976 (San Antonio Dodgers)
First Game: April 14, 1972 (L 5-2 vs. Midland Cubs)
Last Game: September 6, 1976 (W 6-2 @ Midland Cubs)
Texas League Championships: None
Stadium
Dimensions (1976): Left: 325′, Center: 400′, Right: 325′11976 San Antonio Brewers Program
Marketing
Radio:
- 1976: KMAC 630
Radio Broadcasters:
- 1976: ?
Ownership & Affiliations
Owners:
- 1972-1973: ?
- 1974-1976: Jack Williams
Major League Affiliations:
- 1972: Milwaukee Brewers
- 1973-1975: Cleveland Indians
- 1976: Texas Rangers
Attendance
Background
Fun fact: despite its misleading name, this five-season entry in the Class AA Texas League during the mid-1970’s was not really a farm club of the Milwaukee Brewers.
OK, so that’s not quite 100% true. San Antonio was a Milwaukee farm team for one season during the summer of 1972. To commemorate the new Player Development Contract with Milwaukee, San Antonio dropped its long-time local nickname – the ‘Missions’ – to become the Brewers that year. But Milwaukee pulled out after just one season and the team’s local owners didn’t bother to update the name … for the next four years. The Cleveland Indians (1973-1975) and Texas Rangers (1976) served tours as San Antonio’s Major League sponsors during that time.
Weirder still, Milwaukee set up a new Texas League affiliate in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1973, known as the ‘Captains‘. Which meant that for the next couple of summers, the Milwaukee Brewers would dispatch their top prospects to Louisiana to compete against a team called the ‘Brewers’ that was made up of players employed by their American League East divisional rivals, the Cleveland Indians.
Things finally got sorted out in 1977 when San Antonio changed its name to the ‘Dodgers’ to recognize the club’s new Player Development Contract with the L.A. Dodgers.
Notable Names
Future Major League stars who played in San Antonio during the Brewers era included:
- Two-time American League home run champion Gorman Thomas (’72)
- Jim Kern, one of Major League Baseball’s most dominant relief pitchers of the late 1970’s (’73)
- Pitcher Larry Andersen (’74) went on to a 17-year Major League career
- Future Hall-of-Fame pitcher Dennis Eckersley won 14 games for San Antonio in 1974
- Pitcher Jim Clancy (’76) won 140 Major League games and was an All-Star in 1982 with Toronto
San Antonio Brewers Shop
Editor's Pick
The Texas League Baseball Almanac
By David King & Tom Kayser
Since forming in 1888, the Texas League has produced some of the most beloved American baseball players and seen more than its fair share of colorful events. In 1931, Houston pitcher Dizzy Dean pitched and won both ends of a double-header in Fort Worth, throwing a three-hit shutout in the second game. In 1906, center fielder Tris Speaker pitched for Cleburne to beat Temple 10-3. In 1998, Arkansas’ Tyrone Horne hit for the “homer cycle” in San Antonio, finishing to a standing ovation. “The Texas League Baseball Almanac” delivers day by day the record-breaking events, personal triumphs and memorable games that helped to shape baseball in the region. Join authors David King and Tom Kayser on a nine-inning trip down one of minor-league baseball’s most historic institutions, both in season and off.
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Links
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