The Central Baseball League, formerly the Texas–Louisiana League, was a
independent baseball league
An independent baseball league is a professional baseball organization in the United States or Canada that is not overseen by Major League Baseball and is outside the Minor League Baseball clubs affiliated to it.
The Northern League and Frontie ...
whose member teams were not affiliated with any
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
(MLB) franchises.
In 1991, potential owners, Dallas businessman Byron Pierce and U. S. Congressman
John Bryant, became frustrated that 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 ...
had no plans to expand into other
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
locations, and formed The Texas–Louisiana League. The league began play in 1994. After further expansion into
Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
and
Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
, the Texas–Louisiana League changed its name to the Central Baseball League. In 12 seasons, the league produced 10 different champions; Alexandria and Edinburg were the only teams to win a title twice.
After the 2005 season, the eight-team Central Baseball League disbanded. Five teams joined the
American Association American Association may refer to:
Baseball
* American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891
* American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997
* American Association of Profe ...
:
Pensacola
Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ci ...
,
Shreveport
Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population o ...
,
Fort Worth
Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...
,
Coastal Bend and
El Paso
El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...
; and one joined the
United League,
San Angelo
San Angelo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tom Green County, Texas, United States. Its location is in the Concho Valley, a region of West Texas between the Permian Basin to the northwest, Chihuahuan Desert to the southwest, Osage Plai ...
.
Edinburg also received a franchise in the
United League, unrelated to the now-defunct
Roadrunners
The roadrunners (genus ''Geococcyx''), also known as chaparral birds or chaparral cocks, are two species of fast-running ground cuckoos with long tails and crests. They are found in the southwestern and south-central United States and Mexico, us ...
of the Central League.
Teams
The following teams were, at one time, either a member of the Central Baseball League or the Texas–Louisiana League.
*
Abilene Prairie Dogs
The Abilene Prairie Dogs were an independent professional baseball team based in Abilene, Texas. They were members of the Texas–Louisiana League from 1995 to 1999, and returned in the North American League in 2012.
Team history
Texas–Loui ...
*
Alexandria Aces
The Alexandria Aces were a baseball team based in Alexandria, Louisiana. The last version of the Aces played in the United League Baseball in 2013. The Aces have played their home games at historic Bringhurst Field, which was built in 1933 for the ...
*
Amarillo Dillas
The Amarillo Dillas were a professional baseball team based in Amarillo, Texas, in the United States. The Dillas were a member of United League Baseball, an independent professional league which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball or Mi ...
*
Beaumont Bullfrogs
Beaumont may refer to:
Places Canada
* Beaumont, Alberta
* Beaumont, Quebec
England
* Beaumont, Cumbria
* Beaumont, Essex
**Beaumont Cut, a canal closed in the 1930s
* Beaumont Street, Oxford
France (communes)
* Beaumont, Ardèche
* Be ...
(also
Bayou Bullfrogs
In usage in the Southern United States, a bayou () is a body of water typically found in a flat, low-lying area. It may refer to an extremely slow-moving stream, river (often with a poorly defined shoreline), marshy lake, wetland, or creek. They ...
,
Lafayette Bullfrogs
Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to:
People
* Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette
* House of La Fayette, a French noble family
** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757â ...
)
*
Coastal Bend Aviators
The Coastal Bend Aviators were a minor league baseball team which played in Robstown, Texas, in the United States from 2003 to 2007. They were a member of the Central Baseball League, then the American Association and were not affiliated with a ...
*
Corpus Christi Barracudas
Corpus is Latin for "body". It may refer to:
Linguistics
* Text corpus, in linguistics, a large and structured set of texts
* Speech corpus, in linguistics, a large set of speech audio files
* Corpus linguistics, a branch of linguistics
Music
* ...
*
Edinburg Roadrunners
The Edinburg Roadrunners were a professional baseball team based in Edinburg, Texas, in the United States. The Roadrunners were a member of the United League Baseball, an independent professional league which is not affiliated with Major League B ...
*
El Paso Diablos
"El Paso Diablos" refers to two different professional baseball teams based in El Paso, Texas, in the United States. The most recent Diablos were a member of the South Division of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, whi ...
*
Fort Worth Cats
The Fort Worth Cats was a professional baseball team based in Fort Worth, Texas, in the United States. The Cats were a member of the South Division of the now disbanded United League Baseball, which was not affiliated with Major League Baseball. ...
*
Greenville Bluesmen
The Greenville Bluesmen were a minor league baseball team that played in Greenville, Mississippi. The team was a member of the independent Big South League from 1996–1997 and the independent Texas–Louisiana League from 1998–2001. The team ...
*
Jackson Senators
The Jackson Senators was the name of at least two minor league baseball teams that played in Jackson, Mississippi.
First team
The first known Jackson Senators club competed in the Delta League in 1904. Jackson also played as a member of the Cott ...
(also
Jackson DiamondKats
The Jackson DiamondKats played one year in the independent Texas-Louisiana League, struggling to a last place finish in 2000 (38-74) and finishing 6th of 8 teams in attendance (37,066). Managed by Steve Dillard, they had no All-Stars. Ryan Creek ...
)
*
Lafayette Bullfrogs
Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to:
People
* Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette
* House of La Fayette, a French noble family
** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757â ...
(also
Beaumont Bullfrogs
Beaumont may refer to:
Places Canada
* Beaumont, Alberta
* Beaumont, Quebec
England
* Beaumont, Cumbria
* Beaumont, Essex
**Beaumont Cut, a canal closed in the 1930s
* Beaumont Street, Oxford
France (communes)
* Beaumont, Ardèche
* Be ...
and
Bayou Bullfrogs
In usage in the Southern United States, a bayou () is a body of water typically found in a flat, low-lying area. It may refer to an extremely slow-moving stream, river (often with a poorly defined shoreline), marshy lake, wetland, or creek. They ...
)
*
Laredo Apaches
The Laredo Apaches were a minor league baseball team from Laredo, Texas that existed in two different incarnations: 1949-53 and again in 1995.
History
The original Apaches were one of the six charter franchises of the Class D Rio Grande Valley Lea ...
*
Lubbock Crickets The Lubbock Crickets were the first minor league baseball team to play in Lubbock, Texas after a 39-year hiatus. The Crickets joined the Texas-Louisiana League in 1995 as the first team not known as the Lubbock Hubbers. The team was named after ...
*
Mobile BaySharks
Mobile may refer to:
Places
* Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city
* Mobile County, Alabama
* Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S.
* Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels
* Mobile ...
*
Pensacola Pelicans
The Pensacola Pelicans were a minor league baseball team based in Pensacola, Florida. In various incarnations, they played in three different independent baseball leagues (leagues unaffiliated with Major League Baseball) from 2002 to 2010. They p ...
*
Pueblo Bighorns
The Pueblo Bighorns were a minor league baseball team which played in Pueblo, Colorado. They were a member of the Texas–Louisiana League, an expansion team owned and organized by the league's investors, and brought professional baseball back t ...
*
Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings
The Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings was a professional baseball team based in Harlingen, Texas, in the United States. The WhiteWings was a member of United League Baseball, an independent professional league which is not affiliated with Major Leagu ...
*
San Antonio Tejanos
The San Antonio Tejanos are a now-defunct baseball team which belonged to the Texas-Louisiana Baseball League, which later became the Central League. The team lasted for one year, and in 1995 moved to Laredo, Texas, becoming the Laredo Apaches
T ...
*
San Angelo Colts
The San Angelo Colts were a professional baseball team based in San Angelo, Texas, in the United States. The Colts were most recently a member of United League Baseball, an independent professional league which was not affiliated with Major Leagu ...
*
Shreveport-Bossier Sports
*
Springfield/Ozark Mountain Ducks
The Springfield/Ozark Mountain Ducks were a minor league team that previously played in Ozark, Missouri, a suburb of Springfield. The team was a member of the Texas-Louisiana League, later named the Central Baseball League from 1998 to 2003. The ...
*
Tyler Wildcatters
The Tyler WildCatters were a minor league baseball team located in Tyler, Texas. The team, which existed from 1994 to 1997, played in the independent Texas–Louisiana League, and was un-affiliated with any major league baseball team. Their home ...
Texas–Louisiana League champions
*1994 Corpus Christi
*1995 Lubbock
*1996 Abilene
*1997 Alexandria
*1998 Alexandria
*1999 Amarillo
*2000 Rio Grande Valley
*2001 Edinburg
Central Baseball League champions
*2002 San Angelo
*2003 Jackson
*2004 Edinburg
*2005 Fort Worth
References
{{Professional Baseball
Defunct minor baseball leagues in the United States
Defunct independent baseball leagues in the United States
Baseball leagues in Alabama
Baseball leagues in Arkansas
Baseball leagues in Colorado
Baseball leagues in Florida
Baseball leagues in Kansas
Baseball leagues in Louisiana
Baseball leagues in Mississippi
Baseball leagues in Missouri
Baseball leagues in Texas