The Southwest International League was a minor league baseball league that operated from 1951 through 1952. The league was formed through the merger of the Sunset League and Arizona–Texas League in 1951. The league hosted franchises based in Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada and Texas.
History Formed in 1951 by a merger of the Sunset League and Arizona-Texas League, the Southwest International League played two seasons as a Class C level league. In 1951, the Tijuana players went on strike over not being paid on a regular basis. In 1952, the league fielded an all-black team, which was originally supposed to play half of its games in the US and half in Mexico, but eventually settled in Porterville, California as the Porterville Comets. Only 4 of the 6 entries survived the complete 1952 season, before the league permanently folded.
Cities represented Bisbee, AZ and Douglas, AZ: Bisbee-Douglas Copper Kings 1951 Ciudad Juarez, MEX: Juarez Indios 1951 El Centro, CA: El Centro Imperials 1951 El Paso, TX: El Paso Texans 1951 Las Vegas, NV: Las Vegas Wranglers 1951–1952 Mexicali, MEX: Mexicali Eagles 1951–1952 Phoenix, AZ: Phoenix Senators 1951 Porterville, CA: Porterville Comets 1952 Tijuana, MEX: Tijuana Potros 1951–1952 Tucson, AZ: Tucson Cowboys 1951 Yuma, AZ: Yuma Panthers 1951–1952
Standings & statistics 1951 Southwest International Leagueschedule President: Les Powers Team standingsWLPCTGBAttend ManagersEl Paso Texans8856.611–104,061 Art Lilly Juarez Indios8757.6041.068,000 Victor Manuel Canajes / Red Kress Phoenix Senators 8361.5765.065,320 Wayne Tucker Mexicali Eagles8163.5637.088,426 Virgilio Arteaga / Dee Moore Las Vegas Wranglers7271.50315.548,000 Newt Kimball Tucson Cowboys6875.47619.562,841Ken Meyers / Bud Dawson Tijuana Potros6579.45123.055,000 Luis Montes de Oca / Enrique Fernandez Bisbee-Douglas Copper Kings6480.44424.057,786Syd Cohen El Centro Imperials5985.41029.023,847Red Kress / Bud Beringhele Yuma Panthers5292.36136.050,557 Ray Viers / Don Jameson Playoff: Mexicali 4 games, Phoenix 1.
+Player statistics Player TeamStat TotPlayerTeamStatTot Raymon Vargas Juarez/El PasoBA.377Vince GonzalesJuarezW32 Eduardo Cruz JuarezRuns135Memo LunaTijuanaSO318 Ramon Vargas Juarez/El PasoHits229Memo LunaTijuanaERA2.52 Ramon Vargas Juarez/El PasoRBI149Manuel EcheverriaMexicaliPCT.824 14–3 Herman Lewis PhoenixHR23 Tony Ponce PhoenixCG38 1952 Southwest International League President: Harry Ledell Team standingsWLPCTGBAttend Managers Tijuana Potros8056.588–45,000 Fernando Paredes Mexicali Eagles7457.5653.535,239Dolf Luque / Virgilio Arteaga Las Vegas Wranglers7066.51510.053,200 William DeCarlo Yuma Panthers6268.47715.052,280 Lou Bekeza Porterville Comets 3959.398NA32,000 Chet Brewer El Centro Imps2847.373NA12,000 Bud Beringhele / Frank Gabler / Henry Savin Porterville Franchise started the season as Riverside–Ensenda, became Riverside–Porterville, moved to Porterville April 25, then disbanded August 1.; El Centro disbanded July 13. +Player statistics Player TeamStat TotPlayerTeamStatTot Pete HughesTijuanaBA.366Joe OrrellTijuanaW21 Walter Tyler Porter/YumaBA.366 Silverio Rodriguez MexicaliSO209 Joe Clardy Las VegasRuns142Joe OrrellTijuanaERA2.01 Joe Clardy Las VegasRBI202Joe OrrellTijuanaPct.875; 21–3 Pete HughesTijuanaRBI131 Pete HughesTijuanaHR28 Refugio Bernal MexicaliHR28 Pete HughesTijuanaBB180
References McCann, M. (n.d.). Minor League Baseball History. Retrieved April 27, 2007, from https://www.webcitation.org/5knFLTb3g?url=http://www.geocities.com/big_bunko/total.htm