THE TEAM THAT COULDN'T

Gogolewski's gem was one of the Rangers' last yielding only 21 hits and five earned DICK BOSMAN BEATS THE WHITE SOX, , while lost 19-16 highlights of the '72 season. The club its next /5 runs (1.02 ERA) to finish the season with a RANGERS' 15 shutouts games, and finished with a major-league worst 54-too -GAME LOSING STREAK: record and a 2.28 ERA. He led the league in innings record, 381/2 games behind the division champion (9), (329), and fewest hits per nine OCTOBER 1, 1972: Oakland A's. (5.3). :4,\S RANGERS 1, WHITE SOX 0 AT ARLINGTON

Notes Angeles Times, September 13, 1972: III, 1. BY MICHAEL HUBER "Gogolewski One-Hitter Too Much for Ryan, 3-o," Los Gogolewski are from this interview. Gogolewski on August 17, 2015. All quotations from 2 Author's interview with Bill News, September 13, 1972: 4.B. "Gogo I-Hitter Defeats Angels," Morning The Rangers hosted the Chicago 3 Merle Heryford, White Sox second, but Wood retired the side with no hits or on October 4 Ibid. 1,1972, three days before the end of the runs. In the top of the third, Rudy Hernandez singled Ibid. strike-shortened season' Last-place Texas had lost 15 to center with one but was stranded there. An 5 September 13, 1972: 43. Win, 3-o," Independent (Long Beach, California), 6 Don Merry, "Ryan Fans 15, but Rangers consecutive games, dating back to September 13, and later, after Bosman struck out , he only three times in that span did the Rangers score allowed back-to-back singles by and Muser. more than three runs. They came into this game with Then Johnstone flied out and Allen forced Muser at a record of 52-99. Chicago was in second place in the second to end the threat. Those two hits in the fourth West, 20 games above .5oo with a were the last given up by Bosman in the game. record of 85-65, but they had been eliminated from The Rangers got a hit by Vic Harris in the fifth the pennant race two days earlier. inning, but he was forced at second when Bosman On this Sunday afternoon, before an Arlington grounded to short. Bosman and Wood traded zeroes Stadium crowd of only 5,121, Chicago's Wilbur Wood inning after inning. In the bottom of the sixth, Wood was looking for his 25th win of the season. Facing faced the top of the order. Nelson singled to right him was Dick Bosman, who had an ERA of 3.83 but and again stole second base. Harrah walked. Rangers a record of only 7-10. Bosman had not won a game put on the sacrifice, and Ford for the Rangers since August. In his last start, on bunted. Wood fielded the ball and threw to first, September 25, he had pitched well, allowing only two where Orta was covering. With one out, Texas had runs on five hits in eight innings, but runners at second and third. Billings was intentional- and the California Angels bested Bosman and the ly walked to load the bases. Wood prevailed, though, Rangers 2- 1. striking out Larry Biittner and getting Tom Ragland The game against the White Sox started off well to ground into a force out, short to second. for Bosman. Three up and three down in the top The only other play of note occurred in the top of the first, including a of leadoff batter of the seventh inning. Johnstone was called out on Lee Richard. In the Rangers' first inning, leadoff strikes and argued the call. Home-plate umpire Bill batter Dave Nelson walked and stole second base. Kunkel ejected the Chicago . He was re- lifted a fly ball to center for an out, and placed by . Nelson motored to third base after the catch. Ted The rest of the game consisted of the Ford then singled to right field, and the Rangers had facing three batters each inning and giving up no a quick i-o lead. Dick Billings lined to walks or hits. In the top of the ninth, Orta reached Allen, who threw to first to up Ford for on an by Texas Harris, but he the third out. was caught stealing on the next play. Kelly struck Bosman struck out the side (Tony Muser, Jay out and Muser fouled out to third baseman Ragland Johnstone, and Allen) in the second. Wood was to end the game, which was completed in 1 hour 58 equally effective. His defense made two errors in the minutes.

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Both pitchers pitched well enough to earn the vic- Nelson and Ford provided the offense for Texas, MINOR-LEAGUE BASEBALL IN THE tory. Each had pitched a and allowed with a walk, , and in the first inning. only three hits, all singles. Wood had walked three Two of the key Rangers players (Bosman and Ford) DALLAS-FORT WORTH 'REA and Bosman had issued one free pass. Wood got 12 were linked after this season as well. On May to, 1973, groundball outs in the game, and Bosman struck out they were traded by the Rangers to the Cleveland BY BRUCE BUMBALOUGH at least one White Sox batter in every inning except Indians for Steve Dunning. The 1973 season the sixth, for a total of 13. was Ford's last in the major leagues. Minor-league baseball in the Dallas-Fort Worth integration of the major leagues in 1947, the death The victory for Bosman was his only complete In defeating the White Sox, Texas had ended its Metroplex is virtually synonymous with knell for black baseball sounded in Texas. Play con- game and shutout of the season. The three hits he 15-game losing streak (which would remain the fran- in the region. The small parts tinued into the 195os as the major and minor leagues gave up were the fewest since he allowed one hit in chise record through 2015). They beat the Kansas City not connected to the Texas League are the rise and slowly integrated, but eventually black professional six innings on June 6. Wood, with a record of 24-17, Royals in their next game, on October 3, but they lost fall of black baseball in the area and the brief sojourns baseball died out.' finished second in the 1972 American League's Cy their final game of the season to the Royals, 4-o, to of the Fort Worth and Dallas teams in other leagues. Cleburne, Dallas, Fort Worth, and Frisco have Young Award vote. (The winner was Cleveland's give them too losses for the season. (The Metroplex is the local sobriquet for what the US all hosted Texas League teams at some point in the Gaylord Perry.) In this loss, he failed for the sev- In 1972 the Washington Senators had left the government calls the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington league's history and each has won at least one cham- enth straight time in his quest for victory number nation's capital to become the . They Metropolitan Statistical Area.) pionship. Dallas was also very briefly a member of 25.2 After the game, Chicago manager brought their manager, Ted Williams, with them. Black baseball came and went in a span of about the Southern League in 1899. Both Dallas and Fort gave Wood the rest of the season off, meaning that Williams managed the Senators for three years (1969 3o years. In 1916 Fort Worth's Hiram McGar worked Worth played in the American Association in 1959. A he did not play in the White Sox' final three games. to 1971), and after this one awful 1972 season in Texas, to form the Colored Texas League. He also man- team representing both cities played in the American the Hall of Famer hung up his uniform. aged the Fort Worth Black Panthers. Dallas had a Association in 1960-62 and the team in the league. The Black Panthers played at in 1963. In 1964 Dallas had an entry in the PCL and Sources McGar Park, just south of the old Panther Park in Fort Worth in the Texas League. From 1965 to 1971 In addition to the sources mentioned in the notes, the author consulted baseball-reference.com, mlb.com, Fort Worth. The old Panther Park was located in the Dallas-Fort Worth played in the Texas League.2 and retrosheet.org. Northside of Fort Worth between the West Fork of Under the minor-league playoff system, the league the and North Throckmorton Street champion could be, and often was, a team that fin- near NW Seventh Street. It is not known how long ished lower than first place in the regular season. Notes the league lasted or how the Black Panthers fared in The Texas League would sometimes split the season union struck from April i to April 13,1972. The 86 games lost were not made up, baseball-reference.com/bullpen/r972_strike. The players their efforts. In 192o McGar was again involved in to create greater interest in the pennant races. At so most teams played 154,155, or 156 games. Both the Rangers and White Sox finished the season with 1.54 games played. organizing a black league. The Dallas Black Giants times the decision to split the season came during the "Sox Lose ,-o, Wood Ends Season," Chicago Tribune, October z, 1972. and the Fort Worth Black Panthers were a part of season itself if one team was running away with the the Texas Negro League. The league lasted to 1927. race. If the owners did split the season and one team In 1929 another league was born. Again Dallas and won both halves, that team was declared the cham- Fort Worth belonged. At one game in Dallas, possi- pion. If two teams each won a half, a playoff deter- bly at Riverside Park, some 8,000 fans turned out to mined the champion. Texas League officials adopted watch the Black Giants and Black Panthers play. In the Shaughnessy playoff system in 1933. Under that the later incarnations of the black leagues, the Black system the first- and fourth-place teams were paired Panthers played at Panther Park and LaGrave Field. in one bracket and the second- and third-place teams That league died in 1932 during the Great Depression, in another. The winners of those brackets played for and fans of black baseball saw only barnstorming the league championship. That system has been re- traveling teams in the years. Two such barnstorming placed by divisions and half-seasons for playoff teams. teams were the Fort Worth Black Cats and the Dallas The remainder of this chapter will concentrate on Brown Bombers. The barnstormers played all over the years in which a Metroplex team emerged as the Texas and featured players who later played in the league champion. The years when Dallas, Fort Worth, Negro and the Negro American Cleburne, or Frisco were not champions are included League. With the arrival of and the when other significant events require mention. Brief

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