In 2017 the Houston Astros cheated and took home a World Series title. Was that why they won? We will never know. No players were ever punished. Only the Astros manager, A.J. Hinch, and general manager, Jeff Luhnow, were punished.

Both were fired by the Astros and the team was fined $5 million and lost draft picks. Many will say that was a light punishment. Others will disagree. I am not here to argue one way or the other on the 2017 team. I am here to tell you it wasn’t the first time Houston cheated.

1914 Houston Cheated

Granted the team I am referring to existed long before the Astros did, and we are not talking Major League Baseball. Instead, I am referring to the 1914 Houston Buffaloes of the Texas League.

Back then the Texas League was a Class B League in Minor League Baseball. The system was based on the total population of the leagues teams with A being the highest level. The Buffaloes were a great team in the 1910s winning 3 championships before the 1914 season.

The 1914 team was the oldest in the league, at an average age of 29. Several players had Major League experience with the St. Louis Browns such as Buddy Napier, Chuck Rose, Dode Criss, and Pat Newnam. However, none were successful at the major league level. But they made for a solid Class B league team and won pennants in Houston.

What Happened

Heading into the last day of play on September 7, 1914, Houston was in a battle with the Waco Navigators for the league title. Both teams played a double header on the last day of the season with nearly identical records. Waco needed to win both of its games against Dallas and hope for Houston to drop 1 of 2 against Galveston. And that was exactly what was happening until…[1]

Waco won both of its games against Dallas that day. Houston won the first game versus Galveston, but Game 2 looked like a loss. So, Houston did what Houston does, it cheated. The team started stalling, noticeably. And with Houston trailing Galveston in the 4^th inning, while it was still light out according to many, the game was called due to darkness. Thus, allowing Houston to retain its title.[2]

The following day in the Houston Post the President of the Buffaloes Ottos Sens was quoted, “I am more than gratified at the outcome.” He went on to praise the manager and the fans, but he saw no issue with how the season ended.[3]

Club Secretary-Treasurer Doak Roberts was also quoted in the paper, “That the Houston ball club should win its third consecutive pennant is a source of profound gratification for me…All the credit belongs to Newman, the boys, and the fans. I am satisfied with the conduct of the club in general…”[4]

Protests Come Flying In

However, if you look at the Houston paper the day after the season ends, you will see articles about protests from several teams. But these protests were about games earlier in the season. Waco was attempting to protest games from June in which Houston played Austin. On June 28, Houston and Austin played a double header. With Houston up big in Game 1, the two teams agreed to cut the game to 7 innings so they could get in Game 2 before darkness. The Houston paper claimed that Waco might protest that the first game did not go 9 innings, which according to the paper was, “said to be a baseball law,” but nothing could be found in the league rule book. But the paper points out that any protest needed to be issued 24 hours after the game.[5]

In fact several teams were protesting the 7 inning games. Waco was also concerned with the failure of Houston to finish the second game of the double header vs Galveston. According to the Waco Times-Herald, the Houston team had been “loafing”, and the team was upset because thetheres still light in Waco when they received word of the game being called.[6] Of course the Houston writers claim that, “people fail to understand the sudden change of climate in the Bayou City.”[7]

Results

President of the Texas League Davidson threw out all fist games of double headers that were 7 innings. This was for all clubs, so several games were thrown out. This led to the two teams tying for the title. Davidson backed up his position by saying he did not make the rules and could not make them. Instead, he stated that he was just making sure all teams abided by the rules.[8]

Despite why the tie came about, the quotes for the year go to Waco manager Ellis Hardy. He was quoted as saying,

No one can make me believe that I won the pennant, but I feel that I should have won it. I don’t want to win the pennant on technicalities. I would rather have the pennant go to Houston under the present circumstances, with all the dishonor that goes with it….The calling of the second game between Houston and Galveston during the fourth inning yesterday was a disgrace and will always be a stench in the nostrils of the fair-minded lovers of the game.[9]

Not to be outdone by the Houston paper, he was quoted in the Waco paper as well, “It’s never so dark at the end of one inning that one more inning could be played if necessary. I wonder if anybody believes that if Houston’s winning the pennant had depended upon the playing of that game it would have been called at the end of the fourth inning?”[10]

Today

In the end the two teams both shared the 1914 Texas League Championship, but the people in Waco still feel they were robbed of a title. Even in 1953 the Waco News-Tribune was still barking about the shared title, although the writer Jinx Tucker did get some of the details wrong saying that Houston tried to play a triple-header on the last day of the season and called off the third game due to darkness.[11] Regardless, Waco was shorted the chance to earn the title outright. If the league only had a playoff system in play for 1914 we could have seen who would have really come out on top.

Bibliography

[1] “Texas League Race Ends with Games Today: Waco and Houston Neck and Neck With Odds on Local Aggregation to Win the Rag.,” The Houston Post, 07 Sept. 1914, p. 5.

[2] “Houston Quitters Claim the Pennant,” Waco Tribune-Herald, 08 Sept. 1914, p. 4.

[3] Otto Sens, “Magnates Praise Champs: Both Local Owners Speak Highly of Newman and His Cohorts,” The Houston Post, 08 Sept. 1914, p. 5.

[4] Doak Roberts, “Magnates Praise Champs: Both Local Owners Speak Highly of Newman and His Cohorts,” The Houston Post, 08 Sept. 1914, p. 5.

[5] “Concerning Protest: Waco’s Protest, if Filed, Would Be Too Late Under League Ruling,” The Houston Post, 08 Sept. 1914, p. 5.

[6] “Houston Quitters Claim the Pennant,” Waco Daily Times-Herald, 08 Sept. 1914.

[7] “Waco Fans Road on Losing the Pennant,” The Houston Post, 08 Sept. 1914.

[8] “President Davidson Issued Statement as to His Position,” The Houston Post, 09 Sept. 1914, p. 4.

[9] “Hardy Doesn’t Want Flag: Waco Leader Caustic Over Houston’s Finish but Disapproves of the Protest,” The Houston Post, 09 Sept. 1914, p. 4.

[10] “Houston’s Rage Over Davidson’s Decision: Hardy’s Poser,” Waco Daily Times-Herald, 09 Sept. 1914, p. 7.

[11] Jinx Tucker, “Waco Teams Finish on Top Only 3 times in History,” Waco News-Tribune, 14 April 1953, p. 7.

Stay tuned for more posts on baseball history in Texas.

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Colton Davis was lights out for Canberra on the mound Saturday pitching a near complete game shutout. Davis went 8.2 innings giving up just 5 hits and 4 walks on 109 pitches. Jon Kennedy came in and got the final out for the victory. Davis was named Finals MVP.

Armond Upshaw led the offense for the Cavalry going 3-for-6 with a run scored. George Callil and Miles Simington both chipped in with 2 hits each. Simington drove in 3 of the Cavalry’s 5 runs. Two of those RBI came in the 2^nd when he homered off of Perth starter Jone-Hae Won, who took the loss.

This is the 4^th straight loss in the finals for Perth, who last won a title back in 2014-2015. The Canberra Cavalry win for just the 2nd time in team history.

Check out all the action from the ABL.

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David Reyes threw 7.0 innings giving up just 1 run on 4 hits to pick up the win for Mexico. Adrian Gusman and David Gutierrez both pitched scoreless innings to finish off the game. Ronnie Williams went 4.0 innings giving up 3 runs to take the loss.

Reynaldo Rodriguez led the offensive attach for Mexico going 3-for-4 and scoring a pair of runs. Michael Wielansky (1-for-5) and Japhet Amador (1-for-3) both drove in a pair of runs in the 8-1 victory. Billy Hamilton scored twice and stole a pair of bases in the 2^nd inning.

Puerto Rico has today off while Mexico will take on Venezuela in the nightcap.

2025 Caribbean Series Standings:

Stay tuned here for more updates on the Caribbean Series.

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Dominican pitchers dominated today shutting out the returning champs. Brooks Hall started and gave up just 3 hits in 5.0 innings. Alex Colome picked up the win with an inning of scoreless relief.

Venezuelan pitchers were on as well. It wasn’t until the 7^th that the Dominicans finally got on the board. Max Castillo pitched 6.0 shutout innings for Venezuela before giving way to the bullpen. Alex Scherff took the loss, giving up both runs on 2 hits in 1.0 inning of work.

The scoring started when Francisco Mejia tripled to right field scoring Jose Marmolejos. Venezuela was a hair away from getting out of the inning when Marmolejos grounded into a force play. The play at first went to replay as it was bang-bang, but Jose was called safe. He would score on the triple giving the Dominican a lead.

Mejia scored the second run of the game on a wild pitch by Scherff finishing off the scoring. The win also gave Dominican manager Albert Pujols his first Caribbean Series win.

Puerto Rico plays Mexico tonight in Game 2.

The Dominican will come back tomorrow to face Japan. Venezuela will face off with host Mexico tomorrow night.

Keep it here for updates.

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But this year they are bringing in 2 new imports with the hopes of putting them back in the winner’s circle.

Moises Nunez

Nunez is a Venezuelan catcher with experience at the international level with Venezuela. He played in the U-23 Championships in 2024 representing his home country, and has also played in several amateur leagues in Venezuela, but this will be his first pro team. He seems to have a lot of upside at age 18.

Billy Kittrell

Kittrell brings professional experience to the Lions this season. The 31-year-old has spent time with the Salem-Keizer Campesinos and Portland Mavericks the past three seasons. He played 4 years of NAIA ball at Lyon College and even holds a MBA from the University of South Alabama.

Best of luck to both of the new Lions this upcoming season. We will be here reporting on the team as they work to regain the title they last had 2 decades ago.

I am also working on getting both to do a short interview for the site. Stay tuned!

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In Game 1, Perth jumped on top of the Cavalry 2-0 in the top of the 2nd. It started with a Tim Kennelly 2-run shot to left. But the lead did not last long. In the bottom half of the inning, George Callil gave Canberra a 3-2 lead on a homerun to left off of Perth starter Tucker Smith.

Kennelly led the Heat offense driving in 3 runs while going 3-for-4. He hit his 2nd homerun of the game in the Top of the 8th.

But Canberra did not stop in the 2^nd. They scored 2 more in the 3^rd, once in the 4^th, and a pair of runs in each of the 5^th and 6^th.  While Callil hit the only home run, Miles Simington and Ray Zuberer both went 3-for-4 to pace the Cavalry bats. Simington and Cam Warner both drove in a pair of runs as Canberra pounded out 14 hits.

Jack Mahoney went 5.0 innings and picked up the win despite giving up 6 runs. Jon Kennedy picked up the save giving up a single run in the 9^th.

The two play again tonight (4AM EST) and once again you can watch it online through Baseball+.  

Stay tuned for updates from Game 2 and possible Game 3 of the ABL Championship Series.

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Adrian Almeida pitched 5.1 innings to pick up the win. Jesus Vargas took the loss.

Lara now heads to Mexicali for the Caribbean Series to take on the Dominican Republic in Game 1 at 4:30 PM EST Friday afternoon.

The Bravos started off with a 2-0 lead in the series and then folded. It was a great chance to reach their first Caribbean Series and win their first LVBP title.

Stay tuned here for daily updates of the Caribbean Series.

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Game 7 was tied 5-5 into the 9^th inning when Junior Caminero hit an absolute blast over the center field fence. A 454-foot home run, with an epic celebration, gave the Leones a 6-5 lead in the top of the 9^th inning.

Caminero took around 50 seconds to round the bases. It started with a long celebration with his teammates before he even touched first base. He continued as he stopped on 3^rd base, and then just before touching home and celebrating once again with his teammates.

His home run gave Escogido its 17^th LIDOM title, and first for manager Albert Pujols.

The Leones will now head to Mexicali to face off with Venezuela in its first match of the Caribbean Series on Friday at 4:30 PM EST.

Keep it here for updates on all the Caribbean Series action this weekend.

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They will now head to Mexicali for the Caribbean Series where they hope to repeat what they did in 1992 and 1978 which was bring home the title. Isan Diaz was named the series MVP. He homered on Friday night and finished with a .450 average with 3 doubles and 5 RBI.

The Indians, representing Puerto Rico, will take on the winner of the Jalisco/Culican series in Mexico. Their first match will be Friday night at 11PM EST

Don’t forget you can catch the entire Caribbean Series in English on MLB Network.

Stay tuned for daily updates on the Caribbean Series this weekend.

The post Mayaguez Wins 20th LBPRC Title appeared first on BaseballdeWorld.

Jalisco won Game 5 by a single run to breaking a 2-2 with a walk off win on Sunday night. With the game tied, Mateo Gil, son of former MLBer, Charros manager, and multiple-time champion with the Tomateros Benji Gil, singled up the middle scoring Jose Angel Cecena just ahead of the throw by the Tomateros Rudy Martin. Trevor Clifton picked up the win in relief.

Check out the play here. Game 6 is tonight.

We will keep you updated as the Caribbean Series nears this weekend.

EL HÉROE TAPATÍO ??‍

Mateo Gil produce con este batazo y los @charrosbeisbol se ponen arriba en la Serie de México 3-2 ??#LigaARCO #SerieDeMéxico ??? pic.twitter.com/PUvetrCxKZ

— Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacífico (@Liga_Arco) January 27, 2025

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