Texas has a rich tradition of having some of the best baseball players in the country.   But in 2003, Texas did not have anywhere for their college baseball stars to play in the summer.  As a result, players who wanted to play summer college league baseball had to travel to another part of the country to play in leagues like the Cape Cod, Alaska, and Northwoods.  That’s when former Dallas Baptist University Athletic Director Wayne Poage set out to change things.

Poage understood better than most what a great opportunity Texas had to keep its college baseball players home in the summer.  He knew that there was an abundance of talent as well as areas all around the Dallas Metroplex that would support local baseball teams.

To build his new league, Poage set out to find people interested in starting teams.  He worked his network of contacts and talked to anyone who would listen.  As a result, in the summer of 2004, Poage found himself at the head of an eight team summer college baseball league.

In that inaugural season, the Texas Collegiate League teams included the Granbury Generals, Highland Park BlueSox, Graham Roughnecks, Coppell Copperheads, McKinney Marshalls, Rutherford Wranglers, Mineral Wells Steam, and the Colleyville-Grapevine Lonestars.  In season number two, the team in Granbury was replaced by the Denton Outlaws and the Graham Roughnecks moved to Wichita Falls.

On the field, the Texas Collegiate League was a success.  Baseball fans in the Dallas area were treated to some top-notch baseball throughout the summer.  Unfortunately, the league was hurting financially.  To stop the flow of red ink, Poage turned to Dallas businessman Gerald Haddock.  Haddock, who had made his fortune in oil and gas drilling, as well as real estate, was a baseball fan, and he saw the potential of the league.  Along with his investment came a determination to run the league like a business.

In 2006, the Brazos Valley Bombers joined the league, which was now up to nine teams.  Brazos Valley was the first team from outside the immediate Dallas area to become members of the TCL. 

The on-field product continued to impress, but there was a growing divide between Haddock and the team owners.  Haddock wanted to run the Texas Collegiate League as a business and a profit center, but several team owners felt that Haddock’s profit was coming at their expense.

Following the 2007 season, the team owners met with Haddock and gave him an ultimatum; either let them run the league themselves or they were going to leave and go off on their own.  Haddock didn’t like either option and told the group that he would sue each of them if they left the league.  When several of the teams announced they were splitting from the league, Haddock was true to his word and filed suit.

Of the nine teams in the league at the time, three teams were more interested in competing on the baseball field than they were in fighting it out in court.  When Haddock indicated a desire to divest himself of the league, the owners of the Brazos Valley Bombers, Coppell Copperheads, and McKinney Marshalls made him an offer.  Haddock accepted, and the TCL had new owners.  Haddock remains involved, although his involvement is now of a more ceremonial nature.  The league’s championship trophy is named in his honor and his foundation continues to support the league.

The first thing the new owners set out to do was to change the league from a for-profit corporation into a cooperative owned by and run for the benefit of the team owners.  Brazos Valley Bombers owner Uri Geva was elected president and the new league set out to find more teams.

From the beginning, the new owners had a vision.  They wanted to run the financial side of their teams like minor league baseball clubs, with all of the marketing and promotions that comes with that business model, but they didn’t want to sacrifice the experience or development that the players would receive. 

For the 2008 season, the East Texas PumpJacks joined the league.  The PumpJacks, located in Kilgore, TX, further expanded the geographical reach of the league.

In 2009 the TCL added the Victoria Generals.  It was an exciting year.  The Coppell Copperheads won their third championship in six years and the league was poised for even further growth.

For 2010, the league has added two more teams and has expanded its schedule.  The Texas Tomcats are owned by the same group that owns the Victoria Generals and they will play their home games in Weimar, TX.  The Alexandria Aces, a former Continental League franchise, will play in Alexandria, LA; the first team to join the league from outside of Texas.

The vision of teams being profitable and players having a great experience remains the same for the Texas Collegiate League today.  According to TCL President Uri Geva, the league is also looking to continue their expansion.  Geva says that he can see a time in the near future when the league will have 12 teams across Texas and Louisiana.  Geva can also envision TCL games being broadcast on TV soon.

In a rather short time, the Texas Collegiate League has become one of the best run, most highly respected summer collegiate baseball leagues in the country.  Despite their humble beginnings and internal disputes, the league has emerged strong and is poised for growth.  There’s no doubt that the future is looking bright for the Texas Collegiate League.

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