It was a sad thing to see – just as sad as the complete fall apart of the Houston Buffs Thursday night as the were shellacked, 11-4, by the Louisville Colonels. Then their weary muscles failed them, and they fell apart in the finale. They won the first two in brilliant fashion. They fought their way into the semi-finals and the promoters of the tournament stupidly forced the Oilers to have to win three games in one day to win the title. Twenty-one years ago at the end of the 1940 baseball season, the Baytown Oilers were fighting for the Houston Post tournament semi-pro championship. ~ “DEFEATED BUFFS BOW OUT” by FRED HARTMAN, BAYTOWN SUN, FRIDAY, SEPTEM~ The wonderful now late Fred Hartman of the Baytown described this last hurrah of the Houston Buffs best: The Kentuckians had prevailed as the 1961 American Association Champions of 1961. The Colonels bombed the Buffs 11-4 on 13 hits while Houston committed 7 errors in the field – 5 alone by shortstop J.C. On Thursday, September 21, 1961, Louisville was unstoppable on offense and Houston forgot what gloves and arms were for on defense. One more game of hurricane magic and the Buffs would be back into a winner-take-all game for the pennant. On Wednesday, September 20, 1961, the Buffs came out blasting, using a 2-HR game by Pidge Browne to crush the Colonels by 10-5 and narrow their deficit in the Series to 2-3. On Tuesday, Septemthe Buffs returned to their restored fence home and took the Louisvillians in 12 on a game-winning single by Pidge Browne in the bottom of the 12th. Louisville took Games 1, 2, and 3 at home, creating a hole from which the Buffs would not recover. In effect, the series between the Buffs and the Louisville Colonels signaled the end of Houston’s road dominance. Proud “old Buff” Stadium had weathered the storm, but the Buffs themselves were about to get blown away by a talented Louisville club. “Busch Stadium fences have been restored and the park is in first class condition ready for the Buffs return.” – Baytown Sun, 9/18/61. Even though local community spirit abounded for better results against Louisville in the finals in response to the Buffs counter-attack upon adversity by their capture of an all road game playoff series. It was also the end of the line for minor league success in Houston’s last season prior to becoming a major league city. The 1961 Houston Buffs had defeated the Indianapolis Indians, 4 games to 1, in Round One, playing all five games away from their home base because of the hurricane. 45s in 1962: Harry Craft was the last Houston Buffs manager to lead the club to a post-season series victory in their long minor league history. Pidge Browne and Jack Waters both homered in the 6-0 Game 5 as last Buffs Manager Harry Craft put one more feather in his “H” cap on his way to becoming the first major league manager of the new Houston Colt. Hartman, and finishing Game 5 with a 10 scattered hits shutout by young Dave Giusti. Tied at a game each when Carla struck, the Buffs played Games 3, 4, and 5 at the Indians home park with some powerful winds of their own, winning Game 3 by 5-4 on a 9th inning solo HR by Jim McKnight, taking Game 4 by 4-3 on a deciding HR by J.C. By necessity, Carla had forced the Houston Buffs and the Indianapolis Indians to play their entire first round playoff series for the 1961 American Association pennant in the Indiana city. The demons of nature had done something that no serious baseball game scheduler would have ever put forth as a plan. By nightfall, it had made its way through Houston, leaving a mass of destruction in its wake, including the outfield fences at “Busch” Stadium. Gone With The WInd: Minor League Baseball at Buff/Busch Stadium in Houston after one dance with Hurricane Carla, September 11, 1961.Īt 2:00 PM CST on Monday, September 11, 1961, Hurricane Carla slammed into the Texas coast near Port O’Connor as a Category 5 storm with winds of 173 MPH.
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