The Temple Eagles were a minor league baseball team based in

Temple, Texas Temple is a city in Bell County, Texas, United States. As of 2020, the city has a population of 82,073 according to the U.S. census, and is one of the two principal cities in Bell County. Located near the county seat of Belton, Temple lies in t ...

. From 1949 to 1954, the Eagles played exclusively as 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 ...

, winning the 1952 league pennant and qualifying for the playoffs in three seasons. Temple hosted home minor league games at the American Legion Park

History

Minor league baseball began in Temple, Texas with the 1905

Temple Boll Weevils The Temple Boll Weevils were a minor league baseball team which played their home games at Woodson Field in Temple, Texas as a member of the Texas League from 1905 to 1907. Local newspapers took to calling them the "Cotton Bugs," a nickname coined ...

, who played as members of the Class C level

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 ...

. Several other minor league teams later played in Temple, preceding the Temple Eagles, including the "Temple Tigers" and "Temple Governors", who played as members of the Class D level

Middle Texas League The Middle Texas League was a six–team Class D (baseball), 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 folde ...

in 1914 and 1915, the Temple Governors who continued play in the

Central Texas League The Central Texas League was a minor league baseball league that played from 1914 to 1917. The Central Texas League played as a six–team Class D (baseball), Class D level league and consisted of teams based exclusively in Texas. The Central Texa ...

in 1916 and 1917 and the "Temple Surgeons" who played in the

Texas Association The Texas Association was a sports league of Minor League Baseball, minor league baseball teams in Texas that operated from 1923 through 1926. An earlier league, initially known as the Texas-Southern League, used the same name from mid-1896 throu ...

between 1924 and 1926. In 1949, minor league baseball returned, as Temple "Eagles" franchise was formed and joined the Class B level

. The Eagled joined with the Austin Pioneers, Gainesville Owls, Greenville Majors, Sherman–Denison Twins, Texarkana Bears,

Waco Pirates The Waco Pirates were a minor league baseball team based in Waco, Texas who played in the Big State League from 1947–1956. They were an affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise. The team actually began as the Waco Dons in 1947 but changed t ...

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 fellow league members. In their first season of play in the eight–team Big State League, the 1949 Temple Eagles finished the season in last place. Temple ended the regular season with a 58–89 record, placing eighth. Amputee and former All–Star major league pitcher

Monty Stratton Monty Franklin Pierce Stratton (May 21, 1912 – September 29, 1982) was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). He was born in Palacios, Texas (some sources state Wagner, Texas) and lived in Greenville, Texas, for part of his life. ...

pitched briefly for Temple in 1949. Stratton pitched for Temple in the same year that the motion picture

The Stratton Story ''The Stratton Story'' is a 1949 American biographical film directed by Sam Wood that tells the true story of Monty Stratton, a Major League Baseball pitcher who pitched for the Chicago White Sox from 1934 to 1938. The film is the first of three ...

was released nationwide in theaters, starring

Jimmy Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military pilot. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality h ...

as Stratton. With a prosthetic leg, Stratton pitched 4 innings in one game for Temple in 1949, taking the loss in the game after giving up 4 unearned runs. Continuing play in the 1950 Big State League, the Temple Eagles finished the season with a 74–70 record to place fourth, drawing 105,081 fans in attendance. In 1951, the Eagles had a record of 88–60 to place second, finishing 1.0 games behind the 1st place Gainesville Owls. Temple had home season attendance of 112,022 in 1951. The 1952 Temple Eagles finished with a 85–62 record and won the Big State League pennant, finishing 1.0 game ahead of the Tyler East Texans and drawing 101,906 fans for the season. In the playoffs, Temple was defeated 4 games to 1 by the Austin Pioneers. Temple followed with a 72–73 record in 1953 to place 5th in 1953. Temple's 1954 season resulted in a last place finish, as the Eagles ended the season in eighth place with a record of 44–102 and finished 60.5 games behind the 1st place Waco Pirates, playing the season under managers Fred Campbell, Bob Moyer and Fred Martin. The Temple Eagles franchise folded after the 1954 season in which they had season attendance of 31,673. The Big State League continued play in 1955 with the Port Arthur Seahawks franchise replacing Temple in league play. Temple has not hosted another minor league team.

The ballparks

Early Temple teams played home games at Woodson Field. The site is still in use as a football and soccer facility for Temple High School. Woodson Field is located at 670 West Elm, Temple, Texas. The Temple Eagles played their minor league home games at American Legion Park in Temple, Texas.

Year–by–year records

Notable alumni

The following Temple alumni advanced to the major leagues in their careers: * John Bottarini (1949) *

Lou Finney Louis Klopsche Finney (August 13, 1910 – April 22, 1966) was an American professional baseball player. He spent fifteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) playing for the Philadelphia Athletics (1931; 1933–1939), Boston Red Sox (1939–19 ...

(1950, MGR) * Lon Goldstein (1951–1952), (1953, MGR) * Fred Martin (1954, MGR) *

Salty Parker Francis James "Salty" Parker (July 8, 1912 – July 27, 1992) was a Major League Baseball infielder, coach and manager. Born in East St. Louis, Illinois, he batted and threw right-handed, stood tall and weighed . His professional baseball care ...

(1952–1953, MGR) *

Homer Peel Homer Hefner Peel (October 10, 1902 – April 8, 1997) was an American professional baseball player and manager during the first half of the 20th century. His career lasted for a quarter century (1923–42; 1946–50), including 21 years as an out ...

(1949, MGR) *

Earl Reid Earl Percy Reid (June 8, 1913 – May 11, 1984) was a professional baseball player. He was a right-handed pitcher for one season (1946) with the Boston Braves. For his career, he compiled a 1-0 record, with a 3.00 earned run average, and two ...

(1950) * Hal Schacker (1950) *

Tom Simpson Thomas Simpson (30 November 1937 – 13 July 1967) was one of Britain's most successful professional cyclists. He was born in Haswell, County Durham, and later moved to Harworth, Nottinghamshire. Simpson began road cycling as a teenager b ...

(1949) *

(1949)

* Bill Tremel (1951) *

Tommy Warren Thomas Gentry Warren (July 5, 1917 – January 2, 1968) was an Oklahoma Muscogee Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher. He was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Warren is one of many ballplayers who only appeared in the Major League Baseball, majo ...

(1953) * Barney White (1949, MGR), (1950-1951)

References

{{reflist, 2

External links