Texas League

Sport	Baseball
Founded	1902
Ceased	2020
Replaced by	Double-A Central
Country	United States
Last champion(s)	Amarillo Sod Poodles (2019)
Most titles	Houston Buffaloes (16)
Classification	Double-A (1946–2020) Class A1 (1936–1942) Class A (1921–1935) Class B (1911–1920) Class C (1904–1905, 1907–1910) Class D (1902–1903, 1906)
Official website	www.milb.com/texas

The Texas League was a Minor League Baseball league which operated in the South Central United States from 1902 to 2020. It was classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams were actually based in the state of Texas in its final season; the five North Division teams were located in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. The league maintained its headquarters in Fort Worth.

The league was founded in 1888 and ran through 1892. It was called the Texas Association in 1895, the Texas-Southern League in 1896 and again as the Texas League from 1897 to 1899. It was revived as a Class D league in 1902, moved to Class C in 1904 where it played through 1910 (except for 1906 as Class D again), played at Class B until 1920, and finally moved up to Class A in 1921. The Texas League, like many others, shut down during World War II. From 1959 to 1961, the Texas League and the Mexican League formed the Pan American Association. The two leagues played a limited interlocking schedule and post-season championship. By 1971, the Texas League and the Southern League had both decreased to seven teams. They played an interlocking schedule with the Southern League known as the Dixie Association. The two leagues played separate playoffs. The Texas League operated its own schedule from 1972 to 2020. The league ceased operations after the 2020 season in conjunction with Major League Baseball's reorganization of Minor League Baseball.

The Texas League's name is well known due to its association with a particular aspect of the game. A bloop single that drops between the infielders and outfielders has been called a Texas Leaguer since the 1890s, despite no evidence that it originated in the Texas League, or was any more common there than elsewhere.^[1]

History

Near the end of its run, the Texas League witnessed a great deal of change. Teams once known as the Jackson Mets, El Paso Diablos, Shreveport Captains, and Wichita Wranglers all relocated to new cities and bigger stadiums.

In 2019, the San Antonio Missions relocated to Amarillo, Texas, becoming the Amarillo Sod Poodles. At the same time, the Triple-A Colorado Springs Sky Sox of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) moved to San Antonio to continue on as the Missions at the Triple-A level.^[2]

The start of the 2020 season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic before being cancelled on June 30.^[3]^[4]

The league ceased operations after the 2020 season in conjunction with Major League Baseball's reorganization of Minor League Baseball.^[5] All eight of the Texas League's teams continued on in professional baseball as members of the Double-A Central.^[6]

Texas League timeline

League members Dixie Association PCL Other Defunct League

In 1971, the Southern League and Texas League were each down to seven teams, so they formed the Dixie Association for one season. They played interlocking schedules but held their own separate playoffs.