Over the last five years, I have been working on a collection of baseball cards featuring former players, coaches, and students, and I thought it time to share with my fellow A&M baseball enthusiasts. Sporadically, over the next indefinite timeline, I hope to share with you scans of my collection along with the history of the players and students depicted on the cards. Before I begin though, I thought I should share some facts about my collection.

My collection consists of baseball cards that meet one of the following three conditions:

1) The card mentions Texas A&M or Aggies in some capacity on the card.

2) The card features the player in their Texas A&M uniform.

3) The card features a certified autograph from the manufacturer.

Over the last few years, in order to accommodate a few more players, I have added a fourth rule that applies to other non-baseball sports cards:

4) The card mentions that they played baseball at Texas A&M.

With those stipulations in mind and a list of almost 700 former players and students, I compiled a list of over 8,500 cards which I was then able to narrow down to 2,500 that met one of the four criteria. I have now been able to acquire over 1,300 of those cards featuring 170 different players, coaches, and students spanning from 1909 to 2015. I have also been able to acquire cards that mention Texas A&M in four different languages:

English:

Spanish:

French (Canadian):

And Japanese:


There may be a Korean issued baseball card out there, but I have yet to find one. Please note that a few pictures will show what looks like identical cards, but there are some subtleties between them that make them a unique parallel or variation that the card collecting community deems as a different card.

To begin, let's start with Texas A&M University:



Texas A&M opened in 1876, and fielded its first baseball team in 1894. Not much about the team is known, including who coached the team, except for the fact that they went 3-1 on the year, all against local high school teams; A&M would not field another team until 1904. Since then, Texas A&M has produced 112 consecutive teams entering the 2015 baseball season. All told, the Aggies have an overall record of 2,524-1,428-42, good for a .636 winning percentage (through the 2014 season). The Ags have yielded 52 major league players through signings and drafts directly out of A&M. There have also been several other players/students to make an MLB roster outside of those going pro directly out of campus. The above card shows the campus circa 1993.

Head Coach Charles Moran 1909-1914



"Uncle Charlie" left behind a mediocre and brief MLB career and stepped onto the A&M campus in 1909 to coach both the baseball and football teams. In his 6 years at the helm of the baseball team, Moran guided the Aggies to a 48-46-5 record; he also compiled a 38-8-4 record with the football team. Shortly after leaving Texas A&M, Moran became an MLB umpire, serving exclusively in the NL, until the 1939
season. He was part of 4 World Series umpiring crews, including the 1927 Yankees sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was elected into the Texas A&M Athletic Hall of Fame in 1968.

Harry "Rip" Collins 1916-1919



Rip Collins was a four sport star at Texas A&M, but was described as "having a million dollars worth of talent and 25 cents worth of enthusiasm." Even so, Collins turned into an adequate MLB pitcher for the Yankees, Red Sox, Tigers, and Browns. During his tenure at A&M, all under the tutelage of D.V. Graves, Collins helped guide the Aggies to an overall 48-24-3 record. Collins eventually retired to Bryan, TX where he resided until his death in 1968.

You want me to autograph mine ?

C. E. "Pat" Olsen 1921-1923



This is the only non-certified autograph and non-sports card item in the collection, but when I found it, I could not pass up the opportunity to add this to my collection; besides, the check has an image of a baseball player on it, so it almost counts as a baseball card! No other man is as synonymous with the Texas A&M baseball program as Pat. After a three year stint with the Aggies, Olsen fielded several different offers from major league teams before signing with the New York Yankees. Despite never making a major league roster, Olsen roomed with Lou Gehrig during one spring training, and remained close friends with many of the Yankee players including Babe Ruth after his return to civilian life. After retiring from baseball, Olsen began a long and successful career in the oil and gas business. His success allowed Olsen and his wife to give generously back to A&M over their lifetime, and eventually Pat was chosen as the name sake for the home of Texas Aggie baseball, Olsen Field, where the Ags have played since 1978. During his lifetime, Pat Olsen attended over 400 World Series games over a span of 70 years. He even attended a post game celebration of Don Larsen's 1956 perfect game in which he was able to acquire a signed game used ball of Larsen's that was inscribed "No Hit Game, World Series Oct. 8, 1956" and was later a featured item in the legendary auction house Sotheby's 2004 baseball memorabilia auction; it went for almost $25,000.

Roy "Beau" Bell 1929-1931 & Head Coach 1951-1958



Beau Bell led the Aggies in 1931 to their first SWC Champions title while also becoming the first Ag to garner All-American honors. After his career at Texas A&M as a player, Beau went on to play for the Browns, Tigers, and Indians over a 7 year MLB career. In 1936, while playing for the Browns, Beau finished 13th in MVP voting while compiling 100 runs, 212 hits, 40 doubles, and 136 RBIs while posting a .344 batting average. In 1937 he improved his hits and doubles to 218 and 51 respectively while finishing 17th in MVP voting. Beau eventually returned to the Texas A&M campus as the head coach in 1951 and immediately took the Ags to their first College World Series appearance where the Ags went 1-2, beating Ohio St. 3-2 for their lone victory. The Ags would make the playoffs under Beau's guidance again in 1955 but ended up going 1-2 against Arizona in the first round of the playoffs and were eliminated. During those playoff years, he led the Ags to their 6th and 7th SWC Champions titles.

Henry "Cotton" Pippen



I'm not convinced Cotton Pippen actually played or attended Texas A&M, or, for that matter, 100% confident he didn't either. Most of the A&M facts listed on the internet are from this exact baseball card. The card says he lettered in 2 sports at A&M, but he does not appear in any A&M guides. I was able to talk to his grand niece, and she says that he has a degree from the Texas School of Mines (now known as UTEP), but did not know if he attended Texas A&M or not. Until I can prove otherwise, this card stays in the collection. If anyone here has any support for or against him being an Aggie, I would greatly appreciate it.

I've posted some of Ray Katt's baseball cards below. Both of his children graduated from A&M (as well as both of his children's spouses). He had four grandkids that graduated from A&M (including myself). His son Bruce Katt (as stated above) was a very successful pitcher for the Aggies in the 70's. I'm pretty sure "Grandpa" was at A&M for the '45 season and then lost his scholarship win all of the previous scholarship players came back from the war. He had to go join the Merchant Marines after leaving A&M. He tried out for the New York Giants in Landa Park in New Braunfels, TX and made the team. He won a world series with the NY Giants in 1954 when the Giants swept the Cleveland Indians.