April 7, 1959- Major League Baseball Comes to Victoria, Texas

[JJ McGraw]

I have lived in Victoria, Texas for 49 years, right after I graduated from Texas A and I University in 1976. I had been raised in Northern California up to and including high school, so attending major league games in the 1960’s -1972 at Candlestick park and the Oakland Coliseum( saw Vida Blue pitch his first season)was commonplace.
Shortly after I moved here, I became aware of the minor league team here in Victoria. They have had different names at different times, but the main team name was the Victoria Rosebuds. ( We now have a new minor league team, the Victoria Generals, that play at the same, but refurbished Riverside Park from 1947.)
For years , I have collected whatever I could find in the way of memorabilia pertaining to the Rosebuds( although it is pretty tough to find anything) and something last week on eBay caught my eye. It was a very nice condition 6 page , hard stock program dated April,7, 1959 when the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox played a game at Riverside Park here in Victoria.
I can’t imagine the euphoria baseball fans must have felt seeing stars like Ernie Banks playing ball here in town. Even Roger’s Hornsby was there signing autographs.
I knew I had to have this program and after some intense bidding…it was mine. Below are the pages from that program, but I also got online and looked up the Victoria Advoates coverage ( our local paper since 1846) and was pleased to find two days of coverage. Apparently , the Cubs won the game in 11 innings. What a game that must have been in a very intimate setting.
As a side note, while working on a project in 1994 in Los Angeles, Ernie Bank’s son was a regular on the show and when his Dad came to some network show, Joey got me a signed ball and a bunch of other items.
Anyway…..this is a part of the baseball experience long gone. In reading the article, these teams had played in Corpus Christi, Texas the day before.
It would have been amazing watching these stars up close and having so much interaction with them before and after the game. Enjoy.

[JJ McGraw]

The cover didn’t seem to fully download, so here it is again.

[JJ McGraw]

Here are some excerpts from the Victoria Advocate

[JJ McGraw]

At this time, the Rosebuds were a farm team for the Los Angeles Dodgers. A year before this game, in 1958, soon to be Dodger, Tommy James played for the Rosebuds and wore the uniform I show here the EFF replicated several years back.

[BaltOrioles]

Very cool program. Victoria stuff is tough to find.

I'm a Baltimore Orioles collector trying to put together a run of programs from all the Orioles minor league affiliates. Do you or anyone have a 1961 Victoria Rosebuds program/scorecard, while they were affiliated with the Orioles?

I have a from the 1961 Ardmore Rosebuds, after they moved out of Victoria, and an away program from late May when the Rosebuds played the Amarillo Gold Sox.

I've never seen a home 1961 program. Please post a picture if you have one.

[JJ McGraw]

Hi Alan,
The only programs I have are from 1958 and 1959. I do have some items from 1960 and 1961 ( when they became the Victoria Giants along with your Ardmore Rosebuds), then a schedule from when they were in the Lone Star League in 1977 and back to being known as the Rosebuds. I included a schedule from Wikipedia, although , they consider the Victoria Giants as a team that was brought to our city from Harlingen, and the “true” Rosebuds, as you know, moved to Ardmore.
I’ll bet that “VG” cap on the news clipping was Giant Orange on a black cap. I have no idea what the uniform looked like.

[JJ McGraw]

Here is a photo of the 1959 Champs

[JJ McGraw]

As I said, in the brief 1977 season, they were a part of a six team Lone Star League. Last Fall, before Ebbets Field Flannels changed their offerings , you could buy a cap and jersey for all six teams. Needless to say, at our house this past Christmas….it was a Rosebud Xmas.
I know they did not sell them all, but who knows where they ended up. As I’ve gotten older, something unique like this pops up, I don’t hesitate and pull that trigger.
They are absolutely 70’s baseball uniforms all the way!

[StraightRaceCards]

Pretty cool, thanks for sharing!

Those blue Victoria jerseys are amazing.

I always found it interesting that even teams like the New York Giants would come to random cities in Texas like Marlin (outside of Waco) for their spring training.

The more I learn, the more obscurities I find with our great state being connected to the sport we love.

[JJ McGraw]

I agree 100% ….Texas has an amazing baseball history. Watching the Cubs and Sox play an 11 inning game at Riverside Park must have been amazing….the intimacy of the ball park….and with Roger’s Hornsby present signing autographs…..and former New York Giants Alvn Dark and Bobby Thomson playing for the Cubs…..the WOW factor is pretty high on this one.

[Jay Wolt]

Love the old programs
I have a bunch & there always fun to read about the roster & local business ads
Thanks for posting the items

[JJ McGraw]

Thanks Jay, and believe it or not, some of the businesses are still around. Fosattis , started in 1886 , is the oldest delicatessen in Texas and the Clegg business became more mobile homes and trailers. When I was a teacher, I taught the daughter, now she helps run the business. Sadly, at the Victoria Generals games today, they don’t have a program like that. But I’m thankful we still have a ream.

[obcbeatle]

Cool stuff, thanks for sharing! I too lived in the Bay Area around the same time period (1965-1971) and saw many games at Candlestick, plus some at the Oakland Coliseum, then we moved to the South (FL, then GA). The first thing I noticed when I started middle school in FL was the heat/humidity! I remember my first day of PE when coach had us run a warm up lap. It was so bloody hot/humid I could barely finish the lap. Something that never happened to me when I lived in SF, where it was always cool/foggy till about 10:00am, then turned cool/sunny till 4:00pm, then the fog would start rolling back in again for the evening/night. Anyway, I imagine Victoria, TX must be as hot/humid as FL/GA. I just read about how hot it was in old Colt Stadium when the Houston Colts played there, till the Astrodome was built. I just can't imagine wearing those flannel uniforms in that kind of heat. Those athletes must have lost A LOT of weight when they wore/played in flannel. I spent most of my young adult life living in GA and went to many Braves games between 1981-2004. It was usually sweltering hot in Atlanta too. And they still play in an outdoor stadium! Granted the athletes now have it much better than those in the vintage era Anyway, sorry for the ramble, thanks for sharing the program and other memorabilia. I love the history of the game!

[JJ McGraw]

Hi Jerry, you are correct…it can be hot and humid here as well and in 1959, they were all still wearing flannel.
Since 2011, I’ve worked on several projects in the Atlanta metro area ( mostly out of Conyers , GA). I was lucky to attend a game at the last season at the old Braves park and have attended a few games at the new park Suntrust Park( at least at that time that’s what it was called). They had an interesting display of reproduction jerseys with a timeline, really well done,
However, I spend a lot of time on days off at Coolray Field , the home of the Gwinnett Stripers ( formerly the Gwinnett Braves). They have a beautiful fairly new park , parking is great and the atmosphere is as good as major league, with all the amenities, but not the hassle in parking, getting in, etc.
if you still are in the metro area, I highly recommend going to games there.
Below are some photos from both parks.