Damn, you do learn something everyday! The entry about Wayne Mueller absolutely floors me! I had no idea. This is coming from a guy that was high school classmates with Wayne, car pooled together to ACC for summer classes and partied/lived in same apartment complex with Wayne during his stint at A&M.

Wayne is a great guy and runs a hell of a business.

Robertson and Bullard both pitched at San jac under Wayne graham.

Jason was drafted by Pittsburg and developed a bone spur in his pitching elbow. The Pittsburg doctors not only didn't correctly remove the spur they botched his rehab and ended up setting him further back and required another surgery.

Ashame because I think he could have sustained a long career in the bigs with that middle relief role. Arm was just never the same after that

Rob Swain was our adopted Aggie back when you could do stuff like that. He came over a couple of times for dinner and told some great stories (my brother and I were in junior high at the time). He also had a broken jaw in college - I did not know it is what ended his career.

My folks were also good friends with Terry Taylor's dad. We had a couple of fun visits with his family. Terry knew full well what a special season he had as a junior and had to jump to the minors.

Finally, I was supposed to be in a wedding as a groosman but had to leave before the ceremony. Andy Duke stood in for me. Since I was still in high school at the time and idolized the complete '89 team, this was a pretty big deal to me

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since this is a history thread for aggie baseball...a general question that came up in the stands a couple of weeks ago...when was the program integrated? and who were among the first players to do so?

I think most A&M fans are familiar with the answers for the football program. I have no idea for the baseball program

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This post brought the curiosity out of me, so I decided to look a little further. Here is a known timeline of A&M and intergration:

1963: Three African-American students enroll in summer courses
1964: Corps of Cadets integrates
1967: Three African-Americans receive track scholarships & two joined the football team

Mike Frazier played for the Aggies starting in 1972, so that's only a possible four season gap for baseball. According to this picture of the 1968 team there were no African-Americans present then which would narrow the first player, if it's not Mike Frazier, to the 1969-1971 seasons.

I'm ' 71, and there were none prior to that.

Chance Capel?

Just saw this thread and the discussion on the Katt's. I was in the same class as Bruce, have met him later on in life. Our high school team beat Bruce his senior year somehow, probably one of the few losses he ever had in high school. Unfortunately, was also in the era of only the district champs going to the play-offs, so New Braunfels didn't even get to move on. We lost to South San and Cliff Gustafson 3 years in a row in regionals, and he then went to tu after my senior year, so I got to have him bedevil my 4 years at A&M also.

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Chance Capel?

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That list of 52 was only those players that reached the major leagues; Chance didn't make it past high A.

Oohh. My bad.

Ackar. You got anything on Stan Hollmig? With Philies for a short time. Two sport athlete. Football and baseball. Late 40s. Aggie athletic hall of fame. Is not a and m home run king anymore because so many more games are played now. But still leads in home runs per game percentage.

I do, Agneck! My focus has been on collecting all of the Aggie-related vintage cards (pre-1980). To date, Im missing just one Hollmig card.

https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=DC704136B67EF502&id=DC704136B67EF502%21145


Almost all of his cards in the 50s are TOUGH finds.

Agsncws is right; his cards are hard to find. Only two of his cards mention Texas A&M, and I'm still looking for both. One of those does pop up occasionally but is usually part of a set.

Kyle Kessel, Basketball Player



Kyle was drafted by the New York Mets in the 60th round of the 1994 draft out of high school and signed, but he still came to Texas A&M to play his second love, basketball, for coach Tony Barone. For the Aggies, he set the all-time assists record for a freshman with 161 during the 1994-1995 basketball season. Not satisfied with that, he then set the assists record for a sophomore with 183. His 344 career assists is 11th all-time for the Aggies. After the 1995-1996 season, Kyle decided to concentrate solely on his baseball career. After a trade to the Houston Astros farm system, Kyle accelerated through the minors to AAA in 2001, but he struggled at that level and moved on to play in the independent leagues. After his professional career, Kyle joined his dad in running one of Illinois' best basketball training organizations, Kessel Heat.

Chris Clemons 1992-1994



Chris led the Aggies in appearances on the mound his freshman year with 18 while compiling a 7-1 record with a 3.51 ERA. The penultimate moment during his 6-2 sophomore campaign, again mostly out of the bullpen, came when Chris closed out Jeff Granger's CWS win over Kansas. Entering the 1994 season he was rated the #4 college pitching prospect in the country, and the #7 overall college prospect for the upcoming 1994 draft. For his junior year, he converted to the starting rotation and went 5-5 for a team that struggled after losing its top pitchers and hitters to the draft. He was still selected in the 1st round of the 1994 draft by the Chicago White Sox, and Chris was called up to the majors in 1997; he was the first Aggie to make his MLB debut in almost four years. After six years playing professional baseball, Chris finished his degree and got into coaching. He served a few years as the Baylor Bears' pitching coach under former A&M graduate assistant, Steve Smith; the Ags went 7-3 against the Bears during his tenure.

Trey Moore 1992-1994




Trey split time on the mound starting and relieving his freshman year posting a 2-2 record. As a sophomore, Trey locked up the end of the weekend starting rotation that featured all left-handers (Granger and Wunsch were the other two) by posting a 12-0 record with a 2.77 ERA. During the CWS, Trey got the start against LSU, but unfortunately, errors led the Tigers to four unearned runs allowing LSU to come back from a 7-2 deficit to give A&M their first loss in the series 13-8. Trey also spent time in 1993 as a 1B/DH and hit .314 with four home runs. The 1993 season earned Trey a preseason #5 college pitching prospect rating, one spot behind fellow teammate Chris Clemons. Just like Chris, Trey posted a 5-5 record during his junior year and was an early 2nd round selection in the 1994 draft by the Seattle Mariners. He made his MLB debut nine months after Chris, appearing for the Montreal Expos in 1998. After three season in the majors, Trey signed with the Hanshin Tigers in the Nippon League (Japan), and then played briefly for the Orix BlueWave. In 2012, Trey, as a pitcher, participated in the Mercy Project's Baseball Bash that set a Guinness World Record by playing 50 consecutive hours of baseball; the game featured 172 innings and 430 total runs scored.

A fellow Ag shared this with me, so I thought I would pass it along.

In 1947, A&M sported an ambidextrous pitcher named Roy Gibbens. According to the text, he fanned 14 batters in 15 innings.

Not to be a 'Debbie Downer'... but your statistics on the 1971 season are not accurate. The leading Aggie hitter was R.J. Englert (He had the team leading.400+ average)... and, for that matter, R.J. Englert is STILL the all-time career leading hitter in Texas A&M history (even though he only used a wood bat)... He also reached Triple-A ball with the Giants and Tom Chandler recognized him as the greatest Aggie hitter he ever coached. Although a very talented player, Dave Elmendorf missed nearly half the games in 1971 (18 games due to eye injury) and never hit .400 in a season for Texas A&M. R.J. Englert did and played in all of the games that 1971 season (31-9) and he was in the same outfield. He now lives in College Station and his omission from this thread is amazing, to say the least. (R.J. also STILL holds the consecutive game hit streak record for Texas A&M University).

I am very impressed with your collection, however, and I would be happy to add to it if YOU so desire.

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Not to be a 'Debbie Downer'... but your statistics on the 1971 season are not accurate. The leading Aggie hitter was R.J. Englert (He had the team leading.400+ average)... and, for that matter, R.J. Englert is STILL the all-time career leading hitter in Texas A&M history (even though he only used a wood bat)... He also reached Triple-A ball with the Giants and Tom Chandler recognized him as the greatest Aggie hitter he ever coached. Although a very talented player, Dave Elmendorf missed nearly half the games in 1971 (18 games due to injury) and never hit .400 in a season for Texas A&M. R.J. Englert did and played in all of the games that 1971 season (31-9) and he was in the same outfield. He now lives in College Station and his omission from this thread is amazing, to say the least. (R.J. also STILL holds the consecutive game hit streak record for Texas A&M University).

I am very impressed with your collection, however, and I would be happy add to it if YOU so desire.

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According to the media guide, Englert hit .400 in 1970 to lead the Aggies, Elmendorf hit .402 in 1971 to lead the Aggies, and Englert hit .420 in 1972 to lead the Aggies. When Elmendorf hit .402 in 1971, it was the 2nd highest season average ever at the time tied with Bob Long's 1969 mark; Mike McClure set the all-time high in 1965 with a .443 mark. Again, these stats are from the media guide which does have errors, but is the best information I have for some of these bios.

As for Englert being omitted from this thread, I don't have any of his baseball cards, or for that matter, am aware of any that exist.

Please feel free to share your collection as well.

Stephen "Brook" Claybrook 1992-1995



Stephen was used mainly as a pinch runner and defensive outfield replacement his freshman year as he went one for two with three walks in his only five plate appearances. In early May on 1993, Brook dislocated his shoulder and missed every game until the regional championship. At the College World Series, Stephen had to fill in for an injured Lee Fedora who was hit by a bad hop during batting practice before the first game against Kansas; Stephen responded with two singles that day. After his senior year, Brook was selected in the 15th round of the draft by the Cincinnati Reds who had drafted him earlier out of high school. Stephen spent three seasons playing all of the outfield positions during his professional career.

John "Jerry Curl" Curl 1992-1995



After leading his high school team to the Indiana Baseball State Title, John came to Aggieland and saw action mainly as a DH his freshman year. For the 1993 season, John hit .297 with seven home runs and 30 RBIs alternating between DH and first base. In the College World Series, John drove in the first run of the series for the Ags against Kansas; he later walked and scored on a Rob Trimble single. For his junior year, John repeated his .297 mark with ten doubles and two home runs. After an All-Conference senior year hitting 18 home runs, John was drafted in the 12th round by the Toronto Blue Jays. He spent seven years in professional baseball including a productive season in AAA for Las Vegas in 2000, but he never got the call.

Robert Harris 1992-1995



Robert earned the SWC Freshman of the Year award in 1992 after posting a .314 batting average with two home runs. Despite missing several games at the start of his sophomore campaign after getting hit in the face in the season opener, Robert smacked 12 home runs and improved his batting average to .325; his three-run home run to help the Ags beat Texas clinched an outright SWC Conference title for the Aggies. After again improving his average to .337 and earning the Marion Pugh MVP award, Robert was drafted in the 9th round of the 1994 draft by the Oakland Athletics, but he elected to return for his senior season. By the time he left campus, Robert was ranked in the Top 10 all-time list for games, at bats, hits, run, triples, home runs, RBIs, total bases, walks, and he holds the all-time assists record with 634. The Athletics again drafted Robert during the 1995 draft, and he spent one season playing professional baseball.

Are these statistics about the hitters for 1971 in the 1972 baseball Media Guide??? Usually, since baseball ends at the end of the school year, that's where one finds them in prior years. If so, I would like to see yours. I can't remember what I hit that year. I just remember what happened during the 1971 season.

The oldest media guide I have is from 1973 which only shows the players, the 1972 stats, and some all-time lists and lettermen.

Here is a link to the 2015 guide: 2015 Media Guide - if you go to page 77, it shows the leading batting average by year. I can check that with what the 1973 guide shows for top season averages when I get home to see if there are any discrepancies.

Well, I'm glad you didn't say you had a 1972 baseball media guide... because mysteriously, there never was one released. I have all of them back to 1960. As I said on here in a previous post, I remember the 1971 season very well... R.J. Englert, our left fielder, was our leading hitter!!! Several of us made All-SWC that year.

The 1973 Spring Media guide only lists the top batting average ever which is McClure. I don't think the baseball media guide listed more than the top 3 averages in a season ever until in the 2000s, so who knows how accurate. The funny thing is that the 2015 media guide lists batting averages for players averaging 2.5 or more at bats per game. They list Elmendorf with 92 at bats in 1971 when the minimum should have been 100 (40 games * 2.5 at bats/game).

If you have extra media guides and want to help me fill any holes, I need x-1972, 1974-1976, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1996, and 2010-2012.

Chad Alexander 1993-1995



Turning down the first selection in 2nd round of the 1992 draft, Chad started 19 games as a true freshman where he hit back to back home runs, one of which was a grand slam. He improved his hitting to a .306 average while starting 44 games his sophomore year in the outfield. For his junior year, Chad broke the single season hit record with 106 (currently 2nd) while batting .387 and scoring 79 runs (4th all-time). He finished the season one home run behind John Curl with 17 and drove in the 10th most runners in a season with 70. That season earned him a 3rd round selection in the 1995 draft by the Houston Astros. Chad spent ten years in pro baseball with seven spent in AAA, but despite repeated success, he never got a chance to prove himself at the major league level.

Kevin Beirne 1994-1995




The son of Houston Oiler Jim Beirne, Kevin started five games and went 0-1 during his first season at A&M. Before taking the mound, Kevin also started several games as a wide receiver for the Aggie football squad. He was selected in the 11th round of the 1995 draft, a round ahead of John Curl and Justin Atchley. By 2000, Kevin was the 3rd of 4 Aggies to make their major league debut within a span 63 days; he was also the 2nd of 2 Aggies to make their MLB debut with the White Sox that year, joining Kelly Wunsch. After three seasons in the majors, Kevin moved overseas to play four years with various teams in the Nippon League. Kevin is now a fulltime pitching coach working with former MLB standout closer Tom House.

Chad Allen 1994-1996





Like Kevin, Chad's father, Jackie, also played in the NFL. After hitting .411 at the plate and putting up an 0.79 ERA on the mound his senior year in high school, Chad started 49 games in the outfield hitting .293 and made 14 relief appearances with a 3.60 ERA his freshman year for the Ags. By the end of his junior year, Chad would transition away from the mound and improved his career batting average to .350, the 10th highest all-time. Chad was selected in the 4th round of the 1996 draft by the Minnesota Twins. He made a rapid climb to the major leagues, debuting in 1999. For the next seven years, he made appearances for the Twins, Indians, Marlins, and Rangers. Chad played one season in Japan for the Orix Buffaloes before leaving professional baseball as a player. Chad is currently serving as the hitting coach for the Twins AA affiliate New Britain Rock Cats.

There was a 1972 media guide. I have one. I have media guides back through 1955 except for 1957-1959, 1961-1962, and 1969. According to the 1972 media guide, Elmendorf hit .402 in 25 games (37 hits in 92 AB) and Englert hit .367 in 39 games (55 hits in 150 AB). That was for the entire season. In SWC games only, Elmendorf hit .371 in 9 games (13 hits in 35 AB) and Englert hit .367 in 18 games (29 hits in 79 AB).

In the section that lists SWC leaders, Elmendorf is listed as having 13 hits in 36 AB for a .361 average. This is different by one AB than what was listed previously. Englert is listed as having 29 hits in 80 AB. This is also different than what is listed in the A&M section. They show him with a .367 average; however, 29 for 80 is actually .363. I don't know why the SWC section has one more AB for each player than the A&M section.

In Englert's bio, it states "Two years All-SWC, led SWC in hitting as a sophomore, MVP for A&M as a junior, hit .367 last year."

Thanks 77

Aggie77, I'll give You $500 for that 1972 Aggie baseball media guide you say you have AND I'll throw in an autographed baseball signed by C.E. "Pat" Olsen and the most successful professional Aggie baseball player ever, Chuck Knoblauch, together on the sweet spot... Also, would you please show a picture of the cover on here (of the 1972 media guide)???. I captained the 1972 Aggie baseball team and I have never seen one, but would like very much to have it for my collection. My number is (281)222-9999(c)... Thanks.

Mr.Ackar07, your list on here doesn't have any cards (or write-up) of DOUG RAU, as well as ENGLERT... RAU is the most successful professional Aggie baseball pitcher ever (Since I had the pleasure of playing with him at A&M,, I have all of his baseball cards of his decade long major league career, if you need them)
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Mr.Ackar07, your list on here doesn't have any cards (or write-up) of DOUG RAU, as well as ENGLERT... RAU is the most successful professional Aggie baseball pitcher ever (Since I had the pleasure of playing with him at A&M,, I have all of his baseball cards of his decade long major league career, if you need them).

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Doug's cards that mention Texas A&M, there aren't many even though he has about three dozen cards, are on this page at post: 9:09a 03/09/2015

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Aggie77, I'll give You $500 for that 1972 Aggie baseball media guide you say you have AND I'll throw in an autographed baseball signed by C.E. "Pat" Olsen and the most successful professional Aggie baseball player ever, Chuck Knoblauch, together on the sweet spot... Also, would you please show a picture of the cover on here (of the 1972 media guide)???. I captained the 1972 Aggie baseball team and I have never seen one, but would like very much to have it for my collection. My number is (281)222-9999(c)... Thanks.

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Here's a photo of the cover of the 1972 Spring Media Guide that aggie77 has:

Dean Mitchell 1995-1996



Dean transferred to A&M from Navarro Junior College. In his two years with the Aggies, he split time starting and coming on in relief. After starting off 8-1 his junior year and leading the Ags in ERA, Dean would struggle a bit his senior year posting a 3-2 record; however, his career .786 winning percentage (11-3 record) is still good enough for 14th all-time. The Los Angeles Dodgers picked Dean in the 32nd round of the 1996 draft. He spent 6 years in professional baseball with the Dodgers and Texas Rangers reaching as high as AAA.

John Codrington 1993-1997



A second generation Aggie, John joined the CWS team in 1993 and contributed out of the bullpen posting a 4-0 record. He saw limited action his sophomore year due to arm troubles, but still started six games for the Ags striking out a batter an inning. With arm troubles still persisting, John appeared in only five games before he was shut down in 1995. He spent the 1996 season recovering from Tommy John surgery and was granted a fifth year of eligibility due to that red shirt season. He was used in a relief role during his last year with the team, but went undrafted. He spent the summer of 1997 playing for the independent league Tyler Wildcatters of the Texas-Louisiana League before pursuing other careers.

John Sneed 1995-1997



An intimidating 6'6, John was a true freshman starter in 1995 posting a 6-3 record. During his sophomore season, despite a 7.15 ERA, John still managed to post an 8-3 record. He showed remarkable improvement his junior year going 5-0 while increasing his strike out rate to 10.7 per 9 innings and drastically cutting his walk rate. This earned him a 22nd round pick by the Toronto Blue Jays in 1997, and John stormed through his first three years in minors posting a 36-6 record with 460 strikeouts in only 385.0 innings. Sadly, John could not repeat that success in AA or AAA, and after seven professional seasons, he retired.

Awesome... hopefully, Aggie77 will call me on my offer. I read your RAU bio you put on this thread. Doug has an Aggie record 81 major league wins and is BEST KNOWN for receiving the gasoline soaked American Flag from what was to be future teammate, Rick Monday, who took it away from two guys trying to burn it in centerfield on TV. It was in 1976 and is called "The Greatest Play in Baseball History". (LaSorda has a lot of profanity filled clips).

Brian Benefield 1996-1997



A Galveston Junior College transfer, Brian exploded onto the A&M campus with a .352 average splitting time between second base and shortstop. Brian spent his summer with the Wareham Gatemen of the Cape Cod League and was teammates with Lance Berkman. Brian had the 4th highest average that summer in Cape Cod, and he carried that over to his senior year batting .319 with five homeruns. He was the first Ag taken in the 1997 draft as the Cleveland Indians took him in the 6th round; that pick made Brian the 7th ever pick from the newly formed Big XII Conference. Brian spent five years in professional baseball with the Indians and Kansas City Royals. Brian is best known among his teammates for always having an immaculate glove; he kept it perfectly clean and formed at all times.

Matt Blank 1996-1997



Matt Blank was teammates with Brian Benefield at both Galveston Junior College and during the summer with the Wareham Gatemen. When Matt came to campus for his junior season, he ended up throwing the eighth no-hitter in A&M history in only his second start; he shutdown Texas-Pan American 4-0 with twelve strikeouts. Matt went 7-4 his senior year with seven complete games and was taken in the 11th round by the Montreal Expos. He made his MLB debut less than three years later on the same day as Kelly Wunsch's debut. Matt made 22 major league appearances during his nine year professional career.

Johnny Hunter 1996-1997



Johnny transferred from Navarro Junior College and swatted .359 in his first season with the Aggies starting mostly in right field. For his senior year, he hit .347 and led the Aggies with 15 home runs (tied for 13th best in a season); that season earned him his 2nd all-conference honor, once in the Southwest Conference, and the other in the Big XII Conference. His .352 career batting average while at A&M earned him a tie for the 6th best career average by an Aggie. In 1997, he was selected in the 21st round by the San Diego Padres, but he only spent two of his seven professional seasons as an outfielder. In 1999, the Padres transitioned Johnny into a pitcher where he made it as high as AAA before retiring.



Coming up next week: Another trip to Omaha!

Love the info y'all are bringing. Interesting stuff.

We are now over halfway through the different former players and students in my collection. So far you have seen 87 of the 170 players and students I have cards for, but you have only seen 28% of the total cards in the collection. There will be quite a few guys coming up in the next several weeks that I have 20-50 cards for the mention Texas A&M.

I should be done in time for the Aggies to win the SEC Tourney!

Beau Bell is my great-uncle.

His brother, Woodrow Morris Bell '38 also played for the Aggies in 1937 and 1938. The highest he got was AA ball but he played for and coached the San Antonio Missions.

Awesome finds and thanks for posting that!

Beau was a hell of a player. Easily one of the best to ever come through this program.

Thanks for the compliment! My Father ('69) is a big afficienado of this stuff and I will pass it on to him.

I wish I could say it ran in the family but it must skip a few generations.