The Austin Pioneers were a minor league baseball team based in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

from 1947 to 1955. The Pioneers were founding members of the Class B level

Big State League The Big State League was a mid-level, Class B level circuit in American minor league baseball that played for 11 seasons, from 1947 through 1957. Its member clubs were exclusively based in Texas. The Corpus Christi Clippers (1955-1956), Texark ...

, qualifying for the playoffs in five seasons and hosting home games at

Disch Field Disch Field was a baseball field located in Austin, Texas that opened in 1947 and hosted many minor league teams and playoff series. The diamond is at the present time part of the park behind The Long Center for the Performing Arts and the Palmer ...

. The Pioneers were preceded by the 1915 Austin Representatives and succeeded by the 1956

Austin Senators The "Austin Senators" is the name of various minor league baseball teams based in Austin, Texas, United States which played on-and-off between 1898 and 1964. Different incarnations of the Senators have played in the Texas League (1888–1890, 1905, ...

History

Preceded in Austin by the

, the Austin Pioneers were founded, owned and operated by Edmund P. Knebel, a local bottler of

7-Up 7 Up (stylized as 7up outside North America) is an American brand of lemon-lime-flavored non-caffeinated soft drink. The brand and formula are owned by Keurig Dr Pepper although the beverage is internationally distributed by PepsiCo. 7 Up comp ...

and Nu-Grape soft drinks. Knebel had Disch Field constructed for the Pioneers. Knebel sold the team after the 1955 season, when the franchise moved to the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

and renamed the

. The Pioneers began play in the Big State League in 1947, joining the Gainesville Owls, Greenville Majors,

Paris Red Peppers The Paris Red Peppers Minor League Baseball team played in the East Texas League in 1946 and the Big State League In 1947. The Peppers were based in the United States city of Paris, Texas, and were affiliated with the St. Louis Browns of the Ameri ...

Sherman–Denison Twins The Sherman–Denison Twins were a minor league baseball team representing the Texas cities of Sherman, Texas, Sherman and Denison, Texas, Denison, which played in the Big State League (1947–1951) and Sooner State League (1953). History The tea ...

, Texarkana Bears,

Waco Dons Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and Interstate 35, I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin, Texas, Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the List ...

and

Wichita Falls Spudders The Wichita Falls Spudders were a minor league baseball team that formed in 1920 and played its last game in 1957. They were based in Wichita Falls, Texas. The first Spudders team ran from 1920–1932 and played in the Texas League as an affiliat ...

as charter members. The Pioneers never finished higher than 3rd place in the Big State League standings during their nine seasons of play in the league. Austin qualified for the playoffs in five Big State League seasons and advanced to the Finals in 1952. Minor league baseball began in Austin with the 1888

. The Pioneers were preceded in minor league play by the 1915 Austin Representatives and succeeded by the 1956

The ballpark

The Austin Pioneers played minor league home games at

. Located next to the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...

, the ballpark was built for the beginning of the 1947 season, financed by Pioneers' owner Edmund Knebel. Named after collegiate coach

Billy Disch William John Disch (October 15, 1872 – February 3, 1953) was an American baseball player and coach. He served as the head baseball coach at the University of Texas at Austin from 1911 to 1939 and as an advisory coach for 12 seasons afterwards ...

, the original ballpark was demolished in 1975. Today,

UFCU Disch–Falk Field UFCU Disch–Falk Field is the baseball stadium of the University of Texas at Austin. It has been home to Texas Longhorns baseball since it opened on February 17, 1975, replacing Clark Field as the home of the Longhorns. The stadium is named ...

is a collegiate field, located on the campus of the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

Timeline

Year–by–year record

Notable alumni

John André John André (2 May 1750/1751''Gravesite–Memorial''
Westmi ...

(1952) *

Beau Bell Roy Chester "Beau" Bell (August 20, 1907 – September 14, 1977) was an American professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1935 to 1941 for the St. Louis Browns, Detroit Tigers, and Cleveland Indians. Bell ...

(1947, MGR) MLB All-Star * Fred Campbell (1949) * Aubrey Davis (1947) *

George Estock George John Estock (November 2, 1924 – November 7, 2010) was an American professional baseball pitcher who spent one season () of his 13-year career in Major League Baseball with the Boston Braves. Born in Stirling, New Jersey, he threw and ba ...

(1947–1949) *

Ángel Fleitas Ángel Félix Fleitas Husta (1914-2006) was a Major League Baseball shortstop. Playing career He made his major league debut at age 33 for the Washington Senators, playing in 15 games and going 1-for-13 at the plate. Prior to his major l ...

(1952) * Sam Harshany (1947) *

George Hausmann George John Hausmann (February 11, 1916 – June 16, 2004) was a second baseman in Major League Baseball. He played for the New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan a ...

(1954–1955, MGR) * Tex Hughson (1948) 3x MLB All-Star;

Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame The Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame was instituted in 1995 to recognize the careers of selected former Boston Red Sox players, coaches and managers, and non-uniformed personnel. A 15-member selection committee of Red Sox broadcasters and executives, p ...

* Tom Jordan (1951–1952, MGR) * Tom Kirk (1953) *

Al LaMacchia Alfred Anthony LaMacchia (July 22, 1921 – September 15, 2010) was a professional baseball player and scout. He was a right-handed pitcher who spent 14 years in the minor leagues where he accumulated a record of 159–117 and spent parts of thr ...

(1952–1953) *

Al Monchak Alex Monchak (March 5, 1917 – September 12, 2015) was an American baseball shortstop who played briefly for the Philadelphia Phillies during the 1940 season. Listed at , , he batted and threw right-handed. He was primarily known as the first-ba ...

(1948) * Prince Oana (1948–1950, MGR) *

Al Unser Alfred Unser (May 29, 1939 – December 9, 2021) was an American automobile racing driver, the younger brother of fellow racing drivers Jerry and Bobby Unser, and father of Al Unser Jr. He was the second of four men ( A. J. Foyt, himself, Rick ...

(1953, MGR)

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

Baseball Reference
Defunct baseball teams in Texas Baseball teams established in 1947 Baseball teams disestablished in 1955 1947 establishments in Texas 1955 disestablishments in Texas Baseball teams in Austin, Texas Defunct minor league baseball teams Defunct Big State League teams