A founding member of the Texas League in 1888, the Fort Worth Baseball team represented the rough and tumble times of the late 1800’s.   The city had earned the nickname Panther City and the team adopted the name Panthers.  The club won Texas League championships in 1895, 1905, and 1906, but it wasn’t until the management team of W.K. Stripling, Paul LaGrave, and their fiery manager Jake Atz that a truly special era of baseball was seen in Fort Worth.

From 1919 to 1925 the Fort Worth Panthers won the regular season title seven straight years.    They lost the playoff of the 1919 season but for the next six years represented the Texas League in what became the Dixie Series.  The Dixie Series was a championship series between the league champions of the Southern and Texas Leagues.  Both leagues establishing themselves as some of the best in baseball.  In the early twenties the Series was quite a happening.  Amon Carter and other supporters would arrange special trains to transfer die-hard Panther fans to the contests.  Five of the six Series Championships were won by Fort Worth their only loss coming in 1922 to Mobile.

During the late teens and early twenties many major league teams trained in the south of Texas as well as Florida.  As they broke camps and headed north the major league teams would play spring exhibitions in Fort Worth.Ty Cobb and the Detroit Tigers, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and the New York Yankees, Rogers Hornsby and the St.Louis Cardinals all exhibited their skills in Fort Worth.

CATBITE:  The first two ballfields were located south of downtown near the T&P Rail station in an area called the Reservation and then Haynes Park.  In 1911 J.Walter Morris built Panther Park north of downtown on the west side of Main St.   Then, in 1926 W.K. Stripling and Paul LaGrave built a new Panther Park on the east side of Main St at seventh avenue and when Paul died in 1929 renamed it LaGrave Field.

The depression era saw a downtown turn in baseball attendance but Fort Worth continued their championship fortunes.   Led by Frank Snyder in 1930, Homer Peel in 1937, and Bob Linton in 1939, Fort Worth again gained championship banners and continued their success in winning all three Dixie Series playoffs.

1942 saw the return of Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby to Fort Worth, but this time as their manager.  The team finished third under ‘Rajah’s’ leadership but World War II would halt most minor league baseball after the year and for the next three years.   A new ownership would appear after the war in 1946 and lead to the next great era of Fort Worth Baseball.

CAT BITE:  Minor league baseball in the early part of the century was primarily independent baseball.  Clubs were scratching everywhere to find the best baseball talent available.  Branch Rickey changed all that by building the most powerful major league owned farm system in baseball.  First with the St. Louis Cardinals and then the Brooklyn Dodgers, Rickey provided first class facilities and first class instruction to all of the teams in the farm system.  This would allow for better player development and a powerful team at the major league level.

After the war Branch Rickey chose Fort Worth as one of the foundations for the Brooklyn Dodger farm systems.  It could have been known as the Dodger era but most just refer to it as the Bragan years.  Hall of Famer Duke Snider honed his skills in Fort Worth playing centerfield for the 1946 squad.  The “Duke” played 68 games at LaGrave Field.  Other future Dodgers included Eddie Chandler, Willard Ramsdell, Danny Ozark, Irv Noren, Carl Erskine, Bob Milliken, Joe Landrum, and many others.  The Brooklyn Dodgers themselves would make frequent spring stops in Fort Worth with the likes of Jackie Robinson, Gil Hodges, and PeeWee Reese giving the locals some excitement.

CAT BITE:  In 1949, the first Texas League game was broadcast on TV, by WBAP.  It was the Cats at LaGrave Field

In June of 1948 and not progressing as planned the team made a managerial change.  Brooklyn sent to Fort Worth a back up catcher who grew up in Birmingham, Alabama.  The team now known as the “Cats” won the Texas League regular season crown and two tough playoff series to win the last Texas League Championship seen in Fort Worth.  The catcher was our very own Bobby Bragan and “Mr. Baseball” would make Fort Worth his home.

CAT BITE:  Bobby’s catcher’s spot on the Brooklyn roster was taken by Hall of Famer Roy Campenella and this would be Bobby’s first managerial job.

The teams Bobby managed from 1948 to 1952 were outstanding.  Had it not been for a Joe Adcock homerun in the deciding game of the 1949 playoffs the Cats would have been back to back champions.  The early fifties saw tremendous baseball being played in Fort Worth and the first Televised baseball game in the south occurred in 1949 at LaGrave Field.

CAT BITE:  In May of 1949 the grandstands of LaGrave Field caught fire and were destroyed.  The next day the Cats played San Antonio with the stands still smoldering.  The Dodgers rebuilt it in 1950 and Branch Rickey felt it should still be dedicated to Paul LaGrave.

The late fifties saw the decline of minor league baseball.  Television opened all major league ballparks to households. Attendance was dwindling and change was only a short time away.  The Texas League would end up losing franchises in Beaumont, Houston, Oklahoma City, and eventually Dallas and Fort Worth.

CAT BITE:  In 1955 Fort Worth gained their first black player, a shortstop by the name of Maury Wills.  The team also had a unique distinction in which five ballplayers went on to major league managerial careers.  Dick Williams, George “Sparky” Anderson, Norm Sherry, Wills, and Danny Ozark all spent time as a major league managers.  Two others Joe Pignatano and Carroll Beringer became major league coaches.

The Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles at the end of the 1957 season, but not before they had to trade for the territorial rights of Los Angeles so they could play in the LA area.  Fort Worth and St.Paul were traded to the Chicago Cubs.  In 1959 Fort Worth and Dallas would leave the Texas League and move up to the AAA American Association.  The teams merged in 1960 in preparation of bringing major league baseball to the metroplex and the next four years were spent as a joint franchise called the Dallas/Fort Worth Rangers.  In 1964 Tommy Mercer and friends brought a Texas League team back to Fort Worth but it was decided the push for a major league franchise required Fort Worth and Dallas to join forces and they became the Dallas/Fort Worth Spurs in 1965.  A new stadium was built in Arlington, named Turnpike Stadium, and never again would baseball be played in downtown Fort Worth.

LaGrave Field was torn down in 1967 and with it the chance for dads, moms, sons, and daughters to share those special memories of the players, fans, and the city that made it so special.  Until now.