The Tyler Tigers were a
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 ...
baseball team based in
Tyler, Texas
Tyler is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the largest city and county seat of Smith County, Texas, Smith County. It is also the largest city in Northeast Texas. With a 2020 census population of 105,995, Tyler was the List of cities in Texa ...
, USA that played from 1954 to 1955 as members of the
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 ...
. They were managed by future major league manager
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 ...
in their inaugural season, reaching the playoffs only to lose in the first round.
Other highlights from the 1954 season include a perfect game tossed by pitcher Gale Pringle against the
Temple Eagles.
They did not complete the 1955 season, as they dropped out of the League – the second squad to do so that season, following the
Galveston White Caps. They played their final game of the season on June 29. Team owner J. C. Stroud cited poor attendance, personal ailing health and external pressure from other clubs to shut down the Tyler ball club as the impetuses for the team's dropping out.
Major league pitcher
Lou Lombardo spent part of the 1954 season with the team, going 1–2 in six games. He appeared in the big leagues in 1948, pitching for the
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
.
The team's games were announced by
KTBB.
References
{{reflist
Defunct minor league baseball teams
Baseball teams established in 1954
Baseball teams disestablished in 1955
1954 establishments in Texas
1955 disestablishments in Texas
Defunct baseball teams in Texas
Sports in Tyler, Texas
Defunct Big State League teams