, league =

Lone Star League The Lone Star League was the name of three American minor professional baseball leagues located in the state of Texas during the 20th century. The leagues operated from 1927–1929 (as a Class D circuit), 1947–1948 (Class C) and 1977 (Class A ...

(1977) , conference = , division = , past league = {{plainlist, * Gulf States League (1976) *

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 ...

(1958–1961) *

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 ...

(1956–1957) *

Gulf Coast League The Florida Complex League (FCL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in Florida, United States. Before 2021, it was known as the Gulf Coast League (GCL). Together with the Arizona Complex League (ACL), it forms the l ...

(1926) * Southwest Texas League (1910–1911) , pastmajorleague = {{plainlist, *

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

(1961) * Detroit Tigers (1960) * Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers (1957–1959) , pastnames = {{plainlist, *Victoria Rosebuds (1977) *Victoria Cowboys (1976) *Victoria Rosebuds (1957–1961) *Victoria Eagles (1956) *Victoria Rosebuds (1910–1911) , pastparks = {{plainlist, * Riverside Park *Toro Stadium *Cardinal Park , classchamps = , leaguenum = 3 , leaguechamps = {{hlist, 1926, 1957, 1959 , divisionchamps = The Victoria Rosebuds were a minor league baseball team in the Double-A

located in

Victoria, Texas Victoria is a small city in South Texas and county seat of Victoria County, Texas. The population was 65,534 as of the 2020 census. The three counties of the Victoria Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 111,163 as of the 2000 censu ...

, between 1958 and 1961

History

On May 27, 1961, the club was transferred to Ardmore, Oklahoma, because of attendance woes. Club owner Tom O'Connor, Jr., a local rancher, suffered a heart attack in 1961, and without his continued support, the team was unable to remain in Victoria. Two weeks later, on June 10, 1961] Victoria received another club struggling at the gate, the

Rio Grande Valley Giants The Rio Grande Valley Giants was an American minor league baseball franchise in the Double-A Texas League located in Harlingen, Texas, that played from the beginning of the 1960 season through June 10, 1961. As its nickname implies, the team was a ...

, who transferred from Harlingen, Texas. The Rosebuds had originally moved to Victoria from Shreveport, Louisiana, after the 1957 season. Both the Ardmore Rosebuds (who drew a total of almost 49,000 fans for the season) and Victoria Giants (a total of 43,000) disappeared from the TL map in 1962, succeeded by the

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. Frank ...

and El Paso Sun Kings. Several other minor league teams also called themselves the Victoria Rosebuds, including teams in the Southwest Texas League from 1910 to 1911, the original

in 1926, the

in 1957, and the Lone Star League in 1977. However, the Rosebuds/Giants' four years in the Texas League during the 1958 to 1961 period (along with a return to the Texas loop in 1974 for one season as the ''Victoria Toros'') represented the highest-level minor league team to represent the city. Victoria has always been by far the smallest market base in its respective leagues. The Texas League Rosebuds competed in a league against Houston and Dallas, with less than 20,000 inhabitants in Victoria. In 1910, the city supported the Rosebuds with a population of less than 5,000. The Rosebuds' most successful season was in 1959, when they won the TL's regular-season championship before falling in the playoffs to the San Antonio Missions. The team was managed by "Pistol Pete" Reiser, the former star Dodger

centerfielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the c ...

, who won the 1959 Texas League Manager of the Year Award and ''

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 ...

'' Minor League Manager of the Year Award for his efforts.

Outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

Carl Warwick, a future major-leaguer, was the league Most Valuable Player, while

Carroll Beringer Carroll James "C. B." Beringer (August 14, 1928 – January 17, 2011) was an American professional baseball player and coach. The native of Bellwood, Nebraska, was a right-handed pitcher during a 13-season minor league career before finally reachin ...

, later a long-time MLB

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

, was the TL's Pitcher of the Year. A number of major league stars advanced from the Rosebuds, including Frank Howard and Tommy Davis In 1977, Victoria was represented in the Class A

by a team nicknamed the Rosebuds. Although the team finished under .500, at 38–42, the Rosebuds compiled the best overall record in the league's North Division and drew 14,000 fans. The league lasted only that one campaign before disbanding. The Rosebuds played their games in

Riverside Stadium The Riverside Stadium is a football stadium in Middlesbrough, England, which has been the home of Middlesbrough since it opened in 1995. Its current capacity is 34,742, all seated, although there is provisional planning permission in place t ...

, which was built in 1946. Riverside Stadium is still in use by the Victoria Generals in the

Texas Collegiate League The Texas Collegiate League (TCL) is a collegiate summer baseball league made up of teams from the states of Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. The league's headquarters are in Coppell, Texas. Uri Geva, owner of the Brazos Valley Bombers, is the lea ...

and by the University of Houston–Victoria Jaguars.

Notable Victoria alumni

* Tommy Davis (1958) 3 x MLB All-Star; 2 x NL batting title (1962–1963) * Nino Espinosa (1974) * Frank Howard (1959) 4 x MLB All-Star; 2 x AL home run leader (1968, 1970); 1970 AL RBI leader; 1960 NL Rookie of the Year *

Byron McLaughlin Byron Scott McLaughlin (born September 29, 1955) is an American former professional baseball player, alleged counterfeit shoes manufacturer and convicted money launderer. His baseball career spanned nine seasons, four of which were spent in Ma ...

(1976) *

Dave McNally David Arthur McNally (October 31, 1942 – December 1, 2002) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher from 1962 through 1975, most notably as a member of the Baltimore Orioles dy ...

(1961) 3 x MLB All-Star *

Johnny Pesky John Michael Pesky (born John Michael Paveskovich; February 27, 1919 – August 13, 2012), nicknamed "The Needle" and "Mr. Red Sox", was an American professional baseball player, manager and coach. He was a shortstop and third baseman during a ...

(1960, MGR) MLB All-Star *

Pete Reiser Harold Patrick Reiser (March 17, 1919 – October 25, 1981), nicknamed "Pistol Pete", was an American professional baseball outfielder and coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB), during the 1940s and early 1950s. While known primarily f ...

(1959, MGR) 3 x MLB All-Star; 1941 NL batting title * Pete Ward (1961)

References

*Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., ''The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball'', 1997 edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America.

External links

Statistics from ''Baseball-Reference''
Defunct Texas League teams Rosebuds Defunct baseball teams in Texas Baltimore Orioles minor league affiliates Detroit Tigers minor league affiliates Brooklyn Dodgers minor league affiliates Los Angeles Dodgers minor league affiliates Baseball teams established in 1958 Sports clubs disestablished in 1977 1958 establishments in Texas 1977 disestablishments in Texas Defunct Big State League teams Defunct Florida Complex League teams Defunct Southwest Texas League teams