The Middle Texas League was a six–team Class D level minor league baseball league that played in the 1914 and 1915 seasons. The Middle Texas League featured franchises based in Texas. The Middle Texas League permanently folded during the 1915 season. Baseball Hall of Fame member Kid Nichols managed the 1914 Temple Tigers and Hall of Famer Ross Youngs played for the 1915 Bartlett Bearcats.
History The Middle Texas League began to play in the 1914 season as a new Class D level minor league. The president of the league was W.F. Blum, Jr. The Middle Texas League began play as a six–team league, hosting franchises from Bartlett, Texas (Bartlett Bearcats), Belton, Texas (Belton Braves), Brenham, Texas (Brenham Brewers), Georgetown, Texas (Georgetown Collegians), Lampasas, Texas (Lampasas Resorters) and Temple, Texas (Temple Tigers).
The Middle Texas League began play on May 8, 1914. The league played a spit–season schedule. In 1914, the Temple Tigers won the first–half standings and the Belton Braves won the second–half standings. The final overall standings featured the Bartlett Bearcats (22–59), Belton Braves (37–47), Brenham Brewers (50–34), Georgetown Collegians (50–30), Lampasas Resorters (35–51) and Temple Tigers (54–27). In the Championship playoff, the Belton Braves defeated the Temple Tigers 5 games to 1 to win the championship. Baseball Hall of Fame member Kid Nichols managed the 1914 Temple Tigers.
In its second season, with Hulen P. Robertson becoming the league president, the Middle Texas League began play on April 15, 1915. During the season, the Austin Reps/Representatives (2–5) moved to become the Taylor Producers on May 1, 1915, when floods forced the team to relocate from Austin. Taylor (15–23) then moved to Brenham on June 8, 1915, becoming the second team in Brenham, after the Brenham Brewers folded the day before. Both the Brenham Brewers and Schulenberg Giants disbanded on June 7, 1915. On June 19, 1915, the Middle Texas League permanently folded during the season. The final league standings featured the Austin Representatives/Taylor Producers/Brenham Kaisers (21–36), Bartlett Bearcats (29–26), Belton Braves (40–19), Brenham Brewers (12–31), Schulenburg Giants (23–18) and Temple Governors (32–27). The Belton Braves won both half seasons of the league standings and were league champions.
Baseball Hall of Fame member Ross Youngs played for Bartlett in 1915, hitting .264 in 59 games at age 18.
Middle Texas League teams Team name(s)City representedBallparkYear(s) activeAustin RepsAustin RepresentativesAustin, TexasRiverside ParkBartlett BearcatsBartlett, TexasBartlett Base Ball Park to Belton BravesBelton, TexasBelton Base Ball Park to Brenham Brewers (1914-1915)Brenham Kaisers (1915), (2)Brenham, TexasUnknown to Georgetown CollegiansGeorgetown, TexasUnknownLampasas ResortersLampasas, TexasUnknownSchulenburg GiantsSchulenburg, TexasUnknownTaylor ProducersTaylor, TexasRobinson ParkTemple Tigers (1914) Temple Governors (1915)Temple, TexasUnknown to
Standings and statistics 1914 Middle Texas League Team standingsWLPCTGB ManagersTemple Tigers5427.667- Kid NicholsGeorgetown Collegians5030.6253½ Jimmy CallahanBrenham Brewers 5034.5955½ Ike Pendleton Belton Braves3747.44018½ Leslie Mitchell / L.B. Hubbard /Bob Hart / Jack Forrester / Cal CalahanLampasas Resorters 3551.40721½ Jesse Estill / Luke Roberts Bartlett Bearcats2259.26732 Robert Roundtree / Brooks Gordon +Player statistics Player TeamStat TotPlayerTeamStatTot Fred Wende GeorgetownBA.380 J. Reems BrenhamW14 Ellis Boggess Temple Runs58 Frank Wolfram GeorgetownPct.833; 10-2 Fred Wende GeorgetownHits116 Ellis Boggess TempleHR16
1915 Middle Texas League Team StandingsWLPCTGB ManagersBelton Braves4019.678-Charles LawsonTemple Governors3227.5428 Luther Burleson / Frank RogersBartlett Bearcats 2926.5279 Ike PendletonAustin RepsTaylor Producers / Brenham Kaisers2136.36818 Jack Snipes / Billy DischSchulenburg Giants 2318.561- J.M. RobbinsBrenham Brewers1221.279- Arthur Wicks / John Tuller
+Player statistics Player TeamStat TotPlayerTeamStatTot Russ Breaux TaylorBA.358Nemo GainesBeltonW13 R. J. Williamson Belton Runs49Ray FrancisTempleSO106 R. J. Williamson BeltonHits79 H. A. Dennis BeltonPct1.000; 11-0 Tom Osborne TempleHR11
Baseball Hall of Fame alumni Kid Nichols, Temple (1914) Inducted, 1949 Ross Youngs, Bartlett (1915) Inducted, 1972
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