The Sophomore League was a Class D level minor league baseball league that operated from

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

through

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

. League franchises were located in

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

and

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 ...

. The league evolved from the

Southwestern League The Southwestern League was the name of four former minor league baseball leagues that operated in the Southwestern United States. The second league, also known as the ''Oklahoma State League'', was in operation for the 1904 season. The third l ...

, which played in 1956 and 1957. The name change was part of a systemic change. The circuit went from being one with almost no ties to

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), ...

to a league where every team was a minor league affiliate of a major league team.

History

The Sophomore League formed in 1958 as a six–team league, evolving from the Southwestern League. The Class D level Sophomore League began play on April 28, 1958, with the Artesia Giants (

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

affiliate),

Carlsbad Potashers The Carlsbad Potashers were a minor league baseball team based in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Carlsbad teams played as members of the Longhorn League from 1953 to 1955, Southwestern League in 1956 and 1957 and Sophomore League from 1958 to 1961, winn ...

(

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

), Hobbs Cardinals (

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

), Midland Braves (

Milwaukee Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bost ...

), Plainview Athletics (

Kansas City Athletics The history of the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans the period from 1901 to the present day, having begun as a charter member franchise in the new American League in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 for 13 seas ...

and San Angelo Pirates (

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

) as charter members. The Midland Braves won the Sophomore League championship in 1958, managed in part by

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

member

Travis Jackson Travis Calvin Jackson (November 2, 1903 – July 27, 1987) was an American baseball shortstop. In Major League Baseball (MLB), Jackson played for the New York Giants from 1922 through 1936, winning the 1933 World Series, and representing the Gia ...

. The Sophomore League expanded to eight teams in 1959, adding the

Alpine Cowboys The Alpine Cowboys are a professional baseball team based in Alpine, Texas, in the Big Bend (Texas), Big Bend region of West Texas. The Cowboys are a franchise of the Pecos League, which is not affiliated with a Major League Baseball organization. ...

(

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

affiliate) and

Odessa Dodgers The Odessa Dodgers were a minor league baseball team affiliated with the Los Angeles Dodgers. They played in the Sophomore League from 1959 to 1960 and represented Odessa, Texas. The Dodgers manager was Roy Hartsfield. Originally, the city of Ode ...

(

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

). On June 9, 1959, the San Angelo Pirates moved to

Roswell, New Mexico Roswell () is a city in, and the County seat, seat of, Chaves County, New Mexico, Chaves County in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Chaves County forms the entirety of the List of micropolitan areas in New Mexico, Roswell micropolitan area. As of ...

. The

Roswell Pirates Roswell may refer to: * Roswell incident Places in the United States * Roswell, Colorado, a former settlement now part of Colorado Springs * Roswell, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta * Roswell, Idaho * Roswell, New Mexico, known for the purported 194 ...

finished the season in Roswell. The San Angelo/Roswell Pirates finished 48–77 overall and in last place. The franchise folded after the season. The Alpine Cowboys won the 1959 Sophomore League championship. Baseball Hall of Fame member

Willie Stargell Wilver Dornell Stargell (March 6, 1940 – April 9, 2001), nicknamed "Pops" later in his career, was an American professional baseball left fielder and first baseman who spent all of his 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) ( 1962– 1982 ...

played in the Sophomore League in 1959 for the San Angelo Pirates/

, his first professional season. Stargell spoke of the difficulties he faced in playing in the league, with the region still having segregated restaurants and hotels. Stargell was threatened at gunpoint on one road trip. At age 19, Stargell hit .275 with 7 home runs and 87 RBI. As reported in

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

, Carlsbad Potashers player Gil Carter hit a home run in 1959 that was noteworthy due to its distance. "On a hot August night in 1959, former heavyweight boxer Gil Carter smashed a pitch through Carlsbad's high-elevated air and out of Montgomery Field. The ball carried over the left field wall, soared past two city streets and landed in a peach tree. A newspaper reporter later took an aerial photo from a plane and used the picture to estimate the ball traveled 733 feet. Carter's hometown paper, The Topeka Capital-Journal, said "the blast is considered the longest home run in baseball history."https://www.kansas.com/sports/other-sports/nbc-baseball/article28720216.html The official scorer estimated the home run to have traveled 650 feet. However, aerial photographs measurements put the distance at 700–733 feet, which would make it the longest home run ever hit in professional baseball. The ball itself was signed by Carter and he notes the distance of 733 feet. The Hobbs Pirates won the last two Sophomore League championships in 1960 and 1961. The Sophomore League presidents were Grady Terry, from 1958 to 1960 and C.F. Montgomery in 1960 and 1961.

Cities represented

Albuquerque, NM Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

Albuquerque Dukes The Albuquerque Dukes were a minor league baseball team based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. History The first Dukes team was formed in 1915 as part of the Class D Rio Grande Association. The team finished in third place with a 32-25 record. Fra ...

1960–1961 *

Alpine, TX Alpine ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Brewster County, Texas, United States. The population was 5,905 at the 2010 census. The town has an elevation of , and the surrounding mountain peaks are over above sea level. The university, hospi ...

1959–1961 * Artesia, NM: Artesia Giants 1958–1960;

Artesia Dodgers The Artesia Dodgers was the final nickname of the minor league baseball team based in Artesia, New Mexico. Artesia teams played from 1951-1955 and 1958-1961 as an affiliate of the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers. History The Artesia ...

1961 *

Carlsbad, NM Carlsbad ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Eddy County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 32,238. Carlsbad is centered at the intersection of U.S. Routes 62/180 and 285, and is the principal city o ...

1958–1961 *

El Paso, TX 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 ...

El Paso Sun Kings EL, El or el may refer to: Religion * El (deity), a Semitic word for "God" People * EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer * El DeBarge, music artist * El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American po ...

1961 * Hobbs, NM: Hobbs Cardinals 1958–1959; Hobbs Pirates 1960–1961 *

Midland, TX Midland is a city in and the county seat of Midland County, Texas, United States. A small part of Midland is in Martin County, Texas, Martin County. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, Midland's population was 132,524. It is the prin ...

: Midland Braves 1958–1959 *

Odessa, TX Odessa is a city in and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, United States. It is located primarily in Ector County, although a small section of the city extends into Midland County. Odessa's population was 114,428 at the 2020 census, mak ...

1959–1960 * Plainview, TX: Plainview Athletics 1958–1959 *

Roswell, NM Roswell () is a city in, and the seat of, Chaves County in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Chaves County forms the entirety of the Roswell micropolitan area. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 48,422, making it the fifth-largest city ...

1959 *

San Angelo, TX 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 (North America), Permian Basin to the northwest, Chihuahuan Desert ...

: San Angelo Pirates 1958–1959

Yearly standings

1958 Sophomore League
schedule
Playoff: Midland 3 games, Artesia 1 1959 Sophomore League
schedule
Playoffs: Alpine 2 games, Hobbs 0; Carlsbad 2 games, Midland 0.
Finals: Alpine 2 games, Carlsbad 0. 1960 Sophomore League
schedule
Alpine won the 1st half. Hobbs won the 2nd half.
Playoff: Hobbs 2 games, Alpine 1. 1961 Sophomore League
schedule
Hobbs won the 1st half. Albuquerque won the 2nd half.
Playoff: Hobbs 3 games, Albuquerque 0.

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...
alumni

, MGR, 1958 Midland Braves *

, 1959 San Angelo Pirates/

References

* McCann, M. (n.d.). ''Minor League Baseball History''. Retrieved April 27, 2007, from https://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/big_bunko/sophomore4761.htm&date=2009-10-25+13:34:15 {{Reflist Defunct minor baseball leagues in the United States Baseball leagues in Texas Baseball leagues in New Mexico Sports leagues established in 1958 Sports leagues disestablished in 1961

History

Cities represented

Yearly standings

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ... alumni

References

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...
alumni