From the Annals of MLB – In 2004, after 43 seasons and losing their previous 7 playoff series, the Houston Astros finally won a postseason series by defeating the Atlanta Braves 12-3 in Game 5. The so-called “Killer Bees” led the way with Biggio (.400, 4 RBIs, 4 runs), Bagwell (.318, 5 RBIs, 5 Runs), Berkman (.409, 3 RBIs, 5 Runs) and Beltran (.455, 9 RBIs, 4 Home Runs) as the team scored 36 runs in the 5 game series. Alas, the Astros would go on to lose to the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS.
From the Annals of the Eighth Wonder – In 1999, the Houston Astros played their last game in the Astrodome. Predictably it was the last game of a divisional series loss to the Atlanta Braves. After winning the first game in Atlanta, the Astros lost 3 straight to Braves. The Braves held a 7-0 lead after a 5 run 6th inning. The Astros rallied to score 5 runs sparked by a 3 run homer by Tony Eusebio in the 8th inning. The Astros had a chance to tie in the bottom of the 9th. As Jeff Bagwell came to the plate, Red’s buddy the Big Dog remarked, “This is kind of a career-defining moment for Bagwell.” Bagwell failed to deliver. The Astros still had a chance with Ken Caminiti at the plate. Caminiti, who had carried the Astros in the series with 8 RBI’s and a .471 average, hit a long ball to the warning track in left field and the Astros run in the Eighth Wonder of the World was over. The blame largely fell on future Hall of Famers, Bagwell and Craig Biggio who combined for a total of 4 hits while batteing .154 and .105 respectively in the series.
From the Annals of the Freethinkers – In 1877, Dr. Levi James Russell was whipped for being an infidel and free thinker. Originally from Georgia, Russell had mined for gold in California, later graduated from the medical school of Pennsylvania College, returned to gold mining in Colorado and eventually moved to Harrisville in 1868. There he farmed and practiced medicine while also serving for several years as the chairman of the committee on medical botany of the Texas State Medical Association (now the Texas Medical Association). He also helped found the Little River Academy and in a move that would lead to his whipping became a charter member and president of the Association of Freethinkers of Bell County a group of agnostics, atheists and non-theists. As a result, he was expelled from the Masons and Knights of Pythias and ultimately assaulted for being an infidel. Undeterred, Russell continued his medical practice and his natural-science collection until his death in 1908 at Temple.
From the Annals of the Undeclared Wars – In 1964, Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson first began to come under pressure for his plan to escalate the undeclared war in Vietnam. Senator Gaylord Nelson (D-Wisconsin) began to speak out against preparation for additional troops in Vietnam. Nelson claimed that Congress did not intend the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution to endorse escalation into a full scale war in Vietnam.
The GOTR had been passed on August 7 in response to North Vietnamese patrol boats allegedly firing on U.S. warships in the waters off North Vietnam on August 2 and 4. Whether there was an attack and if so, whether it was provoked has been much debated, but the incident prompted Congress to pass the GOTR with only two dissenting votes in the Senate. The GOTR gave Johnson power to “take all necessary measures to repel an armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression.” Johnson apparently viewed the resolution as giving him a free hand and began a major escalation of the conflict which ultimately cost the U.S. 58,220 lives and achieved nothing.
From the Annals of the Insurrection – In 1862, insurrectionist troops under Confederate command surrendered Galveston to Union forces. Commander William B. Renshaw led a squadron of eight ships into Galveston harbor to force surrender. The rebel commander, Brig. Gen. Paul O. Hebert, had removed most of the heavy artillery from the island believing it to be indefensible. As the squadron approached, the Fort Point garrison fired on the federal ships, return fire dismounted the rebel cannon. Col. Joseph J. Cook, in command on the island, arranged a four-day truce while he evacuated his men to the mainland. The Union ships held the harbor. Union forces did not contral the town until the arrival of the Forty-second Massachusetts Infantry, led by Col. I. S. Burrell on December 25. Union control was short-lived as rebel forces recaptured the island and drove off the Union squadron about a week later.
From the Annals of the Republic – In 1842, President Sam Houston ordered Alexander Somervell to organize the militia and volunteers and invade Mexico. The call for volunteers was answered by about 700 men who were eager to avenge punitive raids made by Mexico earlier that year. The expedition left San Antonio on November 25 capturing Laredo on December 8. The expedition quickly began to break up as approximately 185 returned home. Somervell continued on and with a little over 500 men seized Guerrero. By December 19, Somervell realized that further action would likely be disastrous and ordered his men to disband and return home by way of Gonzales. A large contingent of 308 men disobeyed the order. This group commanded by William S. Fisher continued to Mexico on the predictably ill-fated Mier Expedition. That raid ended with the capture of the majority of the expedition and execution of seventeen men.
From the Annals of the Llano Estacado – In 1874, the Battle of Palo Duro Canyon put an end to most of ongoing conflict between the last of free-ranging Plains Indians and the U.S. Army. After the battle, most of the remaining southern Plains Indians (Comanches, Kiowas, Kiowa Apaches, Cheyennes and Arapahos) settled in reservations in Indian Territory. These tribes had camped in Palo Duro Canyon a regular wintering ground. Col. Ranald Mackenzie led his Fourth Cavalry Unit in the attack. Mackenzie reached the edge of Palo Duro Canyon on September 28 guided by the Tonkawas under Chief Johnson. Mackenzie planned to take the encampment by surprise at sunrise on September 28. Comanche leader Red Warbonnet, however, discovered the soldiers and fired a warning shot and was killed by the Tonkawas. The camps were scattered over the vast canyon floor. Mackenzie picked them off one by one with the Indians unable to rally together. The battle was really a series of skirmishes against a number of war parties from various tribes.
The battle resulted in very little loss of life as many of the outnumbered warriors and followers fled the canyon. One soldier and three Indians were killed. The main effect of the battle was to capture the winter supplies and an estimated 1400 horses. Without supplies and horses, the tribes were in an untenable position and were forced to return to the Indian Territory.
From the Annals of Television – In 1948, WBAP-TV in Fort Worth began operations with the showing of a speech by President Harry Truman. WBAP (now Channel 5- KXAS) was the first TV station in Texas. The original plans called for WBAP-TV to sign on the air at 7 p.m. on September 29. However, Truman’s whistle-stop campaign rally in Fort Worth prompted a change. WBAP launched two days early to broadcast Truman’s speech. The first image broadcast was a crowd shot taken from just west of the speaker’s platform at the Texas & Pacific terminal building on the southern edge of downtown Fort Worth. WBAP was an NBC affiliate but showed programs from ABC as well. WBAP somewhat oddly billed itself at “the first station south of St. Louis, east of Los Angeles and west of Richmond, VA.”
From the Annals of Maritime Engineering – In 1922, President Warren G. Harding authorized the creation of a harbor in Corpus Christi Bay. The need for a deep-water port for Corpus Christi was recognized after the Hurricane of September 14, 1919. Local business leaders realized that a deep-water port was a necessary to grow the local economy and sought federal approval. On September 14, 1926, seven years to the day after the devastating hurricane the new port was opened after completion of dredged channel through Corpus Christi Bay. Today the Port of Corpus Christi is the fourth largest port in the U.S. in terms of total tonnage.
Vintage postcard. 17 U.S.C.A. 170
From the Annals of Higher Education – In 1925, University Junior College (now San Antonio College) opened in San Antonio with an enrollment of 200 students. SAC is the oldest public junior college in Texas still in operation. The first classes met in the Main High School building. The school was initially under the administration of the University of Texas, but the state attorney general ruled in December 1925 that operation of a junior college by the University of Texas violated the state constitution. The college was renamed San Antonio Junior College and control was given over to the San Antonio board of education for the second year of operation. The school was given its current name in 1948, and relocated to a thirty-seven-acre campus on San Pedro Avenue in the Tobin Hill district. SAC is now operated by the Alamo Community College District. The college has an average semester enrollment of 22,028 credit students and an average annual enrollment of 16,000 other-than-credit students. San Antonio College is the largest single-campus community college in Texas.
Image of the Gnome Ranger – official mascot of SAC.
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