American Professional Soccer League (1993-1994) A-League (1995-1996) USISL A-League (1997-1998) National Professional Soccer League (1997-2000) USL A-League (2000-2004) USL First Division (2005-2009) USSF Division 2
The Altoona Rail Kings were a low-level professional baseball team that began play in 1996, amidst the “independent” baseball boom that saw non-Major League affiliated leagues and teams sprout up all across the United States. The team played two summers at Veterans Field in 1996 and 1997 before getting displaced by the impending arrival of a Pittsburgh Pirates Class AAA farm club, the Altoona Curve, set to begin play in 1998. The Rail Kings moved away to Huntington, West Virginia in 1998 and went out of business soon thereafter.
The Baton Rouge Kingfish were an East Coast Hockey League team that played seven seasons at the Riverside Centroplex between 1996 and 2003. The team had compelling intra-state rivalries with the Lafayette-based Louisiana IceGators and the New Orleans Brass. But seven straight seasons of declining attendance led the Kingfish to close their doors in 2003. The team had only slight accomplishment in competition, winning just one playoff series in seven seasons.
Amarillo, Texas was a mainstay on the Class AA Texas League circuit from 1959 through 1982. Yellow City went through several Texas League clubs during the era, starting with the original Gold Sox, followed by the Sonics, the Giants and finally the latter-day Gold Sox. Today we’ll take a loot at the Gold Sox re-boot that took the field at Potter County Memorial Stadium from 1976 until 1982.
The Texas Terminators were an Austin-based indoor football team that played for a single season in the Indoor Professional Football League from April to August 1999. The Terminators made their home at the Travis County Exposition Center, a 6,000-seat rodeo barn with no air conditioning. The team was stocked with former University of Texas Longhorns, including record-setting quarterback James Brown and running back Butch Hadnot. After a superb regular season, the Longhorns hosted the IPFL championship game in August 1999 in what would prove to be the team’s final game.
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