DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Athletic Park — what folks around Wichita Falls came to call Spudder Park. Now, every good story starts somewhere ordinary. In the early 1900s, the citizens of Wichita Falls just liked their baseball.
Simple as that. Local games, local pride, the kind of thing that keeps a town stitched together on a summer afternoon. But Wichita Falls had a way of turning ordinary into something worth remembering.
In 1914, a man named Bob Carruth formed a team for African Americans — a team that would eventually carry the name the Black Spudders and compete in the Texas Colored League. That's where the story of this place really begins, before the big grandstand, before the famous names, before the oil money changed everything. And oh, the oil money.
It came in like a West Texas storm. The city was flush with an oil boom, and local businessmen William Harvey and W. Newton Maer looked at that influx of funds and decided baseball was exactly where they ought to put it.
In 1919, they purchased the Waco Navigators and hired Walter Salm to manage the team. Then the newly formed Wichita Falls Baseball Association went out and purchased a twenty-acre tract of land on 7th Street. On that land they built the Athletic Park Complex — and friend, they did not build it small.
Five thousand person grandstand. Five thousand seats under a Texas sky. The team needed a name, so they did it the democratic way — a public contest.
A resident named Grace Morse won it, and what she gave them was the Spudders. The Spudders joined the Texas League, and they played there from 1920 all the way through 1932. Now here's where you sit up a little straighter.
Both the Spudders and the Black Spudders shared those Athletic Park facilities. Two teams, one diamond, one grand old park. And the caliber of ball being played there?
Well. The marker mentions that Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Jerome "Dizzy" Dean played exhibition games at that park. You let that settle in for a second.
Right there in Wichita Falls, on that twenty-acre tract on 7th Street. The Spudders were no slouches in the standings either. They finished with a winning record ten times in the Texas League, and in 1927, they won the league championship outright.
That's the high-water mark, and it's a good one. But you can feel what's coming, can't you? The Depression has a way of showing up uninvited, and it did.
Slowing oil production didn't help matters. The profitability of both teams took a toll. In 1930, the Black Spudders were sold to Galveston.
The next year, 1931, the Spudders were relocated to Longview. Just like that, the park went quiet. Wichita Falls, though — Wichita Falls wasn't done with baseball.
In 1941, the Baseball Association came back. They purchased the Midland Cowboys of the West Texas-New Mexico League and moved them right back to that old park on 7th Street — the one locals had taken to calling, with no small amount of affection, Spudder Park. The team eventually moved to the Big State League and won that league championship in 1953.
They kept playing until the league itself closed in 1957. And after that, baseball did not return to Wichita Falls. The city later removed Spudder Park's grandstands and reworked the site for community recreation and events.
But here's the part that lands just right — they kept the original baseball diamond. City baseball games still get played on it. The grandstand is gone, the Spudders are a memory, Babe Ruth and Dizzy Dean are legend, but that diamond is still there.
Some things, a town just can't quite bring itself to pave over.
What the marker says
Wichita Falls citizens of the early 1900s enjoyed local games of baseball. In 1914, Bob Carruth formed a team for African Americans, later named the Black Spudders, in the Texas Colored League. As the city experienced an influx of funds due to an oil boom, local businessmen William Harvey and W. Newton Maer purchased the Waco Navigators in 1919 and hired Walter Salm to manage the team. The newly formed Wichita Falls Baseball Association purchased a 20-acre tract of land on 7th Street and built the Athletic Park Complex with a 5,000 person grandstand. The Spudders, named by resident Grace Morse in a public contest, joined the Texas League from 1920-1932. Both the Spudders and the Black Spudders shared the Athletic Park facilities. Baseball greats such as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Jerome "Dizzy" Dean played in exhibition games. The Spudders enjoyed success in the Texas League, finishing with a winning record ten times and winning the league championship in 1927. However, the Depression and slowing local oil production took a toll on both teams" profitability. In 1930, the Black Spudders were sold to Galveston. The next year, the Spudders were relocated to Longview. In 1941, the Wichita Falls Baseball Association purchased the Midland Cowboys of the West Texas-New Mexico League and moved them to what locals affectionately referred to as "Spudder Park." The team later moved to the Big State League, winning the league championship in 1953. Their league closed in 1957, and baseball did not return to Wichita Falls. The city later removed Spudder Park's grandstands and reworked the site for community recreation and events, including city baseball games on the original baseball diamond. (2023)