The Ballinger Cats were a

Longhorn League The Longhorn League was the name of a Minor league baseball circuit that operated from through in the Southwestern United States. In , it was renamed the Southwestern League and operated through before changing its name to the Sophomore Leagu ...

baseball team based in

Ballinger, Texas Ballinger ( ) is a city in Runnels County, Texas, United States. The population was 3,619 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Runnels County. Downtown Ballinger features historic 1800s buildings with shops and restaurants. History Ba ...

, United States that played from 1947 to 1950. They were affiliated with the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

in 1948. As well, they played their home games at Ballinger Rec. Park that season. In their first year of existence, 1947, they won the league championship under manager Stuart Williams. Multiple major league players spent time either playing and/or managing for the team, including Bill Atwood, Lindsay Brown, Charlie English, Buddy Hancken,

Roy McMillan Roy David McMillan (July 17, 1929 – November 2, 1997) was an American professional baseball player, coach and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a shortstop from 1951 to 1966, most prominently as a member of the Cincinnati Reds, wh ...

and 46-year-old

George Milstead George Earl Milstead (June 26, 1903 – August 9, 1977) was a professional baseball pitcher. A left-hander, he played three seasons in Major League Baseball from 1924 to 1926 with the Chicago Cubs of the National League. He pitched in 36 games d ...

.George Milstead minor league statistics
/ref> Ballinger was home of

minor league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

teams from the 1920s to its disbandment in the late 1950s. The Ballinger Browns were affiliated with the bygone

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

in the 1930s and early 1940s. Today, the Ballinger Cats name is back but they are members of the Central Texas Collegiate League, a woodbat summer league of collegiate level players.

References

Baseball teams established in 1947 Baseball teams disestablished in 1950 Defunct minor league baseball teams 1947 establishments in Texas 1950 disestablishments in Texas Defunct baseball teams in Texas Longhorn League teams {{Texas-baseball-team-stub