The Waco Pirates were a minor league baseball team based in

Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the ...

who played in 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 ...

from 1947–1956. They were an affiliate of the

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 ...

franchise. The team actually began as the Waco Dons in 1947 but changed their name when they became a Pirates affiliate. The team briefly moved to

Longview, Texas Longview is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, and county seat of Gregg County, Texas, Gregg County; a small part of Longview extends into the western portion of neighboring Harrison County, Texas, Harrison County. Longview is located in East Tex ...

on May 22, 1953 as a result of damage caused by the

1953 Waco tornado outbreak A deadly series of at least 33 tornadoes hit at least 10 different U.S. states on May 9–11, 1953. Tornadoes appeared daily from Minnesota in the north to Texas in the south. The strongest and deadliest tornado was a powerful F5 to ...

. The team finished out the season as the Longview Pirates before returning to Waco the following season. As the Longview Pirates, the team featured numerous

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), ...

players:

Brandy Davis Robert Brandon Davis (September 10, 1927 – June 12, 2005) was an American professional baseball player, manager, coach and longtime scout who spent 52 years in the game. In his playing days, the outfielder appeared in 67 games in Major League B ...

Bob Garber Robert Mitchell Garber (September 10, 1928 – June 7, 1999) was an American professional baseball player. The right-handed pitcher had a highly successful minor league career, twice winning 20 games and notching one 19-victory season, but made on ...

, Fred Green, Dick Hall and

Sonny Senerchia Emanuel Robert "Sonny" Senerchia (April 6, 1931 – November 1, 2003) was an American professional baseball player who appeared in 29 games of Major League Baseball with the Pittsburgh Pirates and later became a professional musician as well as ...

. The 1954 Pirates were recognized as one of the 100 greatest minor league teams of all time.

References

External links

Baseball-Reference
Baseball teams established in 1947 Pittsburgh Pirates minor league affiliates Defunct Big State League teams Baseball teams in Waco, Texas Baseball teams disestablished in 1956 Defunct baseball teams in Texas 1947 establishments in Texas 1956 disestablishments in Texas {{Texas-baseball-team-stub