TL1 Texas League

2014 Texas League Hall of Fame Class Announced

Published on June 26, 2014 under Texas League (TL1) News Release


At the meeting of the Texas League Board of Directors on June 24th at Little Rock, the following eight men were elected to the Texas League Hall of Fame.

The Texas League began recognizing special achievements by league members with the election of 40 men to the initial Hall of Fame class at the All Star game meeting at Midland, TX in June, 2004. The members of the 2014 class increase the membership to the TL Hall to 121.

Those honored with membership in the Texas League Hall of Fame are a wide ranging group, including former players, executives, owners, umpires, broadcasters and groundskeepers.

A complete list of the current membership in the Texas League Hall of Fame may be found in the Texas League web site at texas-league.com in the history section.

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John Bischoff, Catcher

Bischoff was likely the finest hitting catcher in the early years of the Texas League. In eight complete seasons in the league, 1921-24 and 1927-30, Bischoff had a career batting average .301, amassing 789 hits in 2618 at-bats. The 5' 7", 140 pound native of Edwardsville, Illinois, possessed uncommon speed for a catcher, particularly in his earlier seasons in the loop, collecting 19 triples and 46 stolen bases in his first three seasons while at Wichita Falls. He also had a keen eye at the plate, walking more times than he struck out in his TL career. A fine defensive backstop, Bischoff led the league in fielding percentage in 1924 while with the league champion Fort Worth Panthers and in total chances in 1922 with Wichita Falls. In addition to being a member of the 1924 championship Fort Worth club, Bischoff was with the 1929 pennant winning Dallas Steers.

Jim Elder, Broadcaster

A former minor league umpire, Jim Elder began his career as a broadcaster in 1960 with the Little Rock Travelers as a statistician and side-kick to play-by-play man Bud Campbell. When Campbell moved to another station in 1965, Elder became the voice of the Travelers through the 1993 season, except in 1970, when he was the Trav's concessions manager. One of the league's longest serving broadcasters, Elder was probably the last to do road games by ticker tape recreation from a studio in Little Rock. Elder developed a range of sound effects that he used during his recreations that he continued to do well into the 1980's. Elder's radio career with the Travelers spanned 34 years, 27 of them after the club joined the Texas League in 1966.

Mark Howie, Third Base, First Base

Mark Howie was a career .330 hitter in three Texas League seasons. However, it was Howie's final season in the league, in 1991, during which he truly excelled. Playing in 130 games that year, the right-hand hitter produced a league-leading .364 batting average, with 123 RBI, driving in runs at a rate of nearly one a game. In addition to leading the league in batting average in 1991 with the second highest Texas League mark since 1959, Howie also led the loop with 136 singles and 188 total hits. The Louisiana was a participant in the 1991 All Star game, hitting clean-up and collecting two of the five hits the West squads had in the game. Howie was named the MVP of the initial Double A All Star Game in 1991. He was also elected to the Texas League's post-season all star team following the 1991 season.

J. Con Maloney, Owner

A loyal and supportive member of the Texas League, Con Maloney purchased the Jackson franchise from the New York Mets in 1982, remaining the majority owner of the club until 1998, when he sold the team to Ryan-Sanders Baseball. Con continued as a minority owner of the club through 1999, then after its move to Round Rock through the 2004 season, amassing a total of 24 years in the loop. A respected voice among league owners, Maloney, who had been a state senator in Mississippi, served as the interim president of the league in 1990 and 1991 after the death of Carl Sawatski, as well as on a number of important Double A and Minor League Baseball boards and committees. During his stewardship of the Jackson Mets and later the Generals, his club was in post-season play 10 times, reaching the championship series eight times, while winning four Texas League titles.

Taylor Moore, Owner

Taylor Moore purchased a minority share of the Shreveport club in 1974, becoming the majority owner of the team in 1976, a stake he held until 1999, when the Captains were sold to Mandalay Baseball, effectively running the franchise for 26 years. During his tenure, Moore worked with the city of Shreveport to build what would become the first modern park in the league in more than a generation. The facility, Fairgrounds Field, was designed with a modern television studio that allowed the club to have a regular slate of games broadcast locally for many years. The studio also served as the location for the production of local sports shows, as well as for the production of local advertising and other local sporting events. A member of various Texas League, Double A and Minor League boards and committees during his tenure, Moore's club's reached the championship series five times, winning the Texas League title three times.

Al Papai, Pitcher

A Texas League workhorse and one of the best pitchers of his generation, Papai amassed a 103-66 record over six full seasons that included three seasons during which the 6' 3" right-hander won more than 20 games. His initial season in the loop in 1947 saw the 30-year-old post a 21-10 record, with a league leading 27 complete games. Three seasons later, Papai returned to Houston and was even better, leading the loop with a 23-9 record, and, again, with 22 complete games. After leading Houston to league titles in 1947 and 1951, Papai finished his career with clubs that were, at best, mediocre. Yet in 1955, on an Oklahoma City club that would finish 70-90, he had one of his finest seasons at the age of 38. While the Indians struggled through the season, Papai sparkled, producing a 23-7 record, with a 2.65 ERA. Noted for completing what he started, the Illinois native had 117 complete games in the more than 180 games that he started in his six full seasons in the Texas League. Papai was also a workhorse in post-season play, particularly in 1947 when he helped lead the Buffs to a Dixie Series title, going 4-1 in three post-season series, including 2-0 in Houston's six game Dixie series win over Mobile.

Albie Pearson, Outfielder

A diminutive and speedy center fielder, the 5' 5" Pearson had one of the finest single Texas League seasons of his era. In addition to leading the loop with a .371 average, Pearson crafted a league best .456 on-base percentage, adding 75 walks to the 178 hits he gathered in just 122 games. More than just a contact hitter, Pearson had 42 extra base hits in his 480 at-bats in 1956, while he struck out just 33 times. A wide ranging fielder, Pearson also had a strong arm, leading all outfielders in '56 with 21 assists. Pearson would go on to a successful career with the Los Angeles Angels after winning the American League Rookie of the Year with the Washington Senators in 1958.

Anthony Young, Pitcher

A 38th round draft pick by the New York Mets in 1987, three years later, Anthony Young produced one on the most dominant seasons by a Texas League pitcher in recent league history. A post-season all star and the 1990 Texas League Pitcher of the Year, Young led the loop in wins with 15, winning percentage with a .833 mark and a 1.65 ERA, which was 62 points lower than the pitcher directly behind him. Young's ERA in 1990 was the lowest in the League since Fort Worth's Johnny Van Cuyk posted a 1.42 average in 1946 and remains the 8th lowest ERA to lead the league since the statistic began being published in 1916.

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