RIVERSIDE BASEBALL PARK

8C-K1545

Victoria Rosebuds (Texas League) 1958-1961

The Victoria Rosebuds were a minor league baseball team in the Double-A Texas League located in Victoria, Texas, between 1958 and May 27, 1961, when the club was transferred to Ardmore, Oklahoma, because of attendance woes. Two weeks later, on June 10, 1961, Victoria received another club struggling at the gate, the Rio Grande Valley Giants, who transferred from Harlingen, Texas.

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 and El Paso Sun Kings.

Victoria, Texas, has been represented in numerous organized baseball associations since 1910, including the Southwest Texas League, Gulf Coast League (not to be confused with the current Rookie-level GCL based in Florida), Big State League, Gulf States League, and Lone Star League.

However, the Rosebuds/Giants' four years in the Texas League during the 1958-61 period (along with a return to the Texas loop in 1974 for one season as the Victoria Toros) represented the highest level of minor league team to represent the city.

The Rosebuds' most successul season was in 1959, when they won the TL's regular-season championship before falling in the playoffs to the San Antonio Missions. The '59 Buds were managed by "Pistol Pete" Reiser, the former star Dodger centerfielder, who won the 1959 Sporting News Minor League Manager of the Year Award for his efforts. Outfielder Carl Warwick, a future major leaguer, was the league Most Valuable Player, while Carroll Beringer, later a long-time MLB coach, was the TL's top pitcher.

The Rosebuds played the final three months of the 1961 season in Ardmore before being dropped from the Texas League.

Unused 3 1/2" x 5 1/2" standard size chrome

Dist. by Gulf Coast News