Amarillo Gold Sox
Amarillo Gold Sox | |
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Minor league affiliations | |
Previous classes |
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League | Texas League (1959–1963; 1965–1974; 1976–1982) |
Previous leagues |
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Major league affiliations | |
Previous teams |
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Minor league titles | |
League titles | 1948, 1952, 1961, 1976 |
Division titles | 1969, 1971, 1976 |
Second-half titles | 1980, 1981 |
Team data | |
Previous names |
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Previous parks | Potter County Memorial Stadium (1959–1963; 1965–1974; 1976–1982) |
The Amarillo Gold Sox was the name of an American
Team history
Amarillo's first minor league club, the Gassers, appeared in 1923. While the minor leagues weathered the economic troubles of the Great Depression, Amarillo was frequently unrepresented in professional baseball.
But in 1939, Amarillo joined the WT-NM League as the Gold Sox when the loop expanded from six to eight clubs. The Gold Sox played in the league until the circuit suspended operations due to World War II on July 5, 1942. In 1946, the postwar West Texas–New Mexico League was reborn as a Class C league and the Gold Sox returned to the field. In 1948, led by skipper Buck "Leaky" Fausett, the team won its first league playoff title. (It would win the playoffs again in 1952.)
In 1953, Alvin Lakind played for the team and batted .300; his grandson Jared Lakind went on to play minor league baseball 60 years later.[1][2] In 1955, Amarillo won the regular-season pennant and led the WT-NML in attendance, but it was a Pyrrhic victory, as the league folded for good at the close of the season. The Gold Sox, however, remained alive by moving up to the Western League as an unaffiliated club. It enjoyed success on the field, winning the 1956 regular-season title, and at the gate, leading the league in attendance in its final season, 1958.
In
But after only one season without professional baseball, in 1976, the Amarillo Gold Sox returned to the circuit, as the San Diego Padres moved their Double-A farm club from Alexandria, Louisiana. In their first season back in the Texas League under their old nickname, the Gold Sox won the West Division title and playoff championship, but a series of last-place teams and only one other division title followed through 1982. The Gold Sox moved to Beaumont, Texas prior to the 1983 season and became the Beaumont Golden Gators. In 1981 the Gold Sox roster included future major leaguers Tony Gwynn, Mark Thurmond, Andy Hawkins and Dave Dravecky.
In 2009, an Amarillo age 7 and under select baseball team affiliated with the YMCA paid homage to the former team by continuing the Gold Sox name. The team has stayed together for several seasons and is now a 12u USSSA team.[3]
Name trademark controversy
On December 3, 2010, it was announced that an expansion team in the
However, on December 8, 2010, it was reported that the Amarillo team will not legally be able to use the Gold Sox name as the collegiate woodbat
On December 10, 2010, the editorial page of the Amarillo newspaper of record, the Amarillo Globe-News, said, "It would be in the Amarillo team's best interest to look for another name".[8]
See also
- Amarillo Sox
References
Notes
- ^ "Lakind named Sun Baseball Player of the Year" - Houston Chronicle
- ^ "Alvin Lakind Register Statistics & History" | Baseball-Reference.com
- ^ Amarillo Gold Sox 7-and-under website Archived 2011-05-15 at the Wayback Machine (soon to change to new official pro team website)
- ^ Gold Sox to bat in city again, Amarillo Globe-News @ Amarillo.com, December 3, 2010
- ^ A blast from the past, Amarillo Gold Sox return, KVII-TV website ConnectAmarillo.com, December 3, 2010
- ^ Gold Sox baseball tickets available, Amarillo Globe-News @ Amarillo.com, December 6, 2010
- ^ Gold Sox name out for team, Amarillo Globe-News @ Amarillo.com, December 8, 2010
- ^ Editorial: Watch out for name snag, Amarillo Globe-News @ Amarillo.com, December 10, 2010
Sources
- Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 1997 edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America.
External links
- Amarillo Gold Sox 9-and-under website (soon to change to new official pro team website)
- American Association official website