The Rio Grande Valley League was a minor league baseball league, with franchises based exclusively in Texas. The Rio Grande Valley League had two incarnations, playing in 1931 and 1949 to 1950.
History
In 1931, the league initially featured the Corpus Christi Seahawks of Corpus Christi, the Harlingen Ladds of Harlingen, the McAllen Palms of McAllen and the San Benito Saints of San Benito. Corpus Christi moved to La Feria to become the La Feria Nighthawks in June. The league disbanded on July 30. McAllen finished in first place with a 55–37 record; they also won the league playoff against La Feria 3 games to 0. Johnny Rizzo, who played in the major leagues from 1938 to 1942, played for Corpus Christi/La Feria. Tex Covington managed McAllen.
The league returned as a Class D level circuit in 1949, featuring the Donna Cardinals of Donna, the Corpus Christi Aces, the Laredo Apaches of Laredo, the Brownsville Charros of Brownsville, the McAllen Giants and the Del Rio Cowboys of Del Rio. On June 6, Donna moved to Robstown to become the Robstown Cardinals. Charlie Engle managed Donna/Robstown for part of the season. Corpus Christi finished first in the standings and faced McAllen in the postseason, winning 4 games to 0. Brownsville matched against Laredo and won 4 games to 2. In the finals, Corpus Christi beat Brownsville 4 games to 0.
In 1950, the league became a Class C level circuit. Laredo, Corpus Christi, Brownsville, McAllen and Del Rio returned from 1949. Robstown became the Robstown Rebels. Donna and Weslaco featured the Donna-Weslaco Twins. Harlingen featured the Harlingen Capitals. On May 4, Donna-Weslaco disbanded; Robstown did the same on May 13. The playoffs had first-place finisher Harlingen beating Brownsville 4 games to 2. and Corpus Christi beating Laredo 4 games to 1. In the finals, Corpus Christi beat Harlingen 4 games to 1. Notably, Sam Harshaney managed Harlingen, Leonardo Alanís and Jack Smith managed Laredo, John Davis managed Corpus Christi and Fabian Kowalik managed Robstown. Monty Stratton, Joe Koppe, Dick Midkiff and Vicente Amor played in the league that year.
Cities represented Brownsville, TX: Brownsville Charros 1949–1950 Corpus Christi, TX: Corpus Christi Seahawks 1931; Corpus Christi Aces 1949–1950 Del Rio, TX: Del Rio Cowboys 1949–1950 Donna, TX: Donna Cardinals 1949 Donna–Weslaco, TX: Donna-Weslaco Twins 1950 Harlingen, TX: Harlingen Ladds 1931; Harlingen Capitols 1950 La Feria, TX: La Feria Nighthawks 1931 Laredo, TX: Laredo Apaches 1949–1950 McAllen, TX: McAllen Palms 1931; McAllen Giants 1949–1950 Robstown, TX: Robstown Cardinals 1949; Robstown Rebels 1950 San Benito, TX: San Benito Saints 1931
Standings & statistics
1931 Rio Grande Valley League schedule Team StandingsWLPCTGB Managers McAllen Palms5537.598--Tex Covington Corpus Christi Seahawks / La Feria Nighthawks 4946.5167.5Pat Withers / Ray PipkenHarlingen Ladds 4349.46712.0Paul Trammel San Benito Saints4055.42116.5Bishop Clements /Elgar Waitman Corpus Christi (20–23) moved to La Feria June 5. La Feria played its home games at Harlingen. The league disbanded July 30. Playoff: McAllen 3 games, La Feria 0.
+Player statisticsPlayer TeamStat TotPlayerTeamStatTot Johnny RizzoCorpus/La FeriaBA.385Adrian JohnsonHarlingenW14 Frank DensonMcAllenRuns99Adrian JohnsonHarlingenSO148 Frank DensonMcAllenHits109Horace HardyMcAllenPct.786; 11–3 Harry BondsMcAllenHR8 Frank DensonMcAllenSB70
1949 Rio Grande Valley League schedule Team StandingsWLPCTGBAttend Managers Corpus Christi Aces8951.686--97,192William Gann Laredo Apaches8060.5719.047,857William Cearley / Ishmael MontalvoBrownsville Charros 7565.53614.051,416Joseph KingMcAllen Giants7068.50718.022,598Frank Matthews / Philip KuykendallDel Rio Cowboys5880.42030.032,323Boyd SoRelle Donna Cardinals / Robstown Cardinals4593.32643.019,753Russell Frisch / Charlie Engle / Mimi Cavazos Donna moved to Robstown June 6. Playoffs: Corpus Christi 4 games, McAllen 0; Brownsville 4 games, Laredo 2. Finals: Corpus Christi 4 games, Brownsville 0.
+Player statistics Player TeamStat TotPlayerTeamStatTot Joseph KingBrownsvilleBA.354Gilberto GarzaLaredoW21 Lloyd PearsonCorpus ChristiRuns140Edward ArthurMcAllenSO178 Bernard PardueCorpus ChristiHits205Robert WiltseBrownsvilleERA2.08 Don PetschowBrownsvilleRBI146Harold JacksonMcAllenPCT.741 20–7 Don PetschowBrownsvilleHR28
1950 Rio Grande Valley League schedule Team standingsWLPCTGBAttend Managers Harlingen Capitols8662.581-80,001Sam Harshaney Laredo Apaches8462.5751.057,948Leo Najo / Jack Smith / Manuel SalvatierraCorpus Christi Aces 7964.5524.568,313Red Davis Brownsville Charros8067.5445.556,146Joseph King Del Rio Cowboys7669.5248.530,568Robert Hamric McAllen Giants42102.29242.032,473Boyd SoRelle / Philip Kuykendall Robstown Rebels1318.419NA6,637Fabian Kowalik Donna-Weslaco Twins420.167NA3,008Baldy Quinn Donna-Weslaco disbanded May 4; Robstown disbanded May 13. Playoffs: Harlingen 4 games, Brownsville 2; Corpus Christi 4 games, Laredo 1. Finals: Corpus Christi 4 games, Harlingen 1.
+Player statistics Player TeamStat TotPlayerTeamStatTot Lloyd PearsonCorpus ChristiBA.383Dick MidkiffDel RioW22 Joe KoppeCorpus ChristiRuns181William GuthrieHarlingenSO195 Lloyd PearsonCorpus ChristiHits207Dick MidkiffDel RioERA3.77 Jesse McClainHarlingenHits207Dick MidkiffDel RioPCT.733 22–8 Jesse McClainHarlingenRBI173 Jesse McClainHarlingenHR53
References The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball: Second and Third Editions