Texas-Southern League

The Texas-Southern League was a minor baseball league that existed in 1888 and 1897.

The 1888 league had five teams: the Dallas Hams, Galveston Giants, Houston Babies, New Orleans Pelicans and San Antonio Missionaries. Dallas was the league champion. Notable players included George Stallings, Bill Joyce, Warren Wallace Beckwith and George Bradley, among others, played in the league that season.

The 1897 league consisted of eight teams: the Dallas Steers, Fort Worth Panthers, Galveston Sand Crabs, Sherman Orphans, Shreveport Grays, Austin Senators, Houston Magnolias and San Antonio Missionaries. Austin, Houston, San Antonio and Shreveport disbanded on August 6. First-place finisher Dallas faced second-place finisher Fort Worth in the playoffs, which was initially set to be a 15-game series but ended after game 13 with Fort Worth leading Dallas seven games to six. Fort Worth was declared the champion several months later. Notably, Ice Box Chamberlain and Harry Steinfeldt played in the league that season.

Sources indicate that a league played by that name in 1881 and 1897, though information about those leagues, if they existed at all, is sparse.