1939 Coach Disch last year – Bibb Falk continues to build on the Disch Legacy. 

 The team goes undefeated in the SWC for the first time in 20 years .

Coach Bibb Falk –  1940- 1967

• 20 conference titles

• 478-176-10 record

• 2- National Champions (1949 and 1950)

• Falk played football at Texas in the 1920’s and was All-Southwest Conference. 

• In 1924 he finished 2nd to Babe Ruth for the hitting crown and he was a great outfielder making only 3 errors .

• He is a member of the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, and he is an  inductee into the Texas Hall of Honor. 

1940- Field Coach is Bibb Falk 20-4 record, But Billy Disch is still the official head coach.

SWC Champions

Bobby Moers is an All-American in basketball, All-SWC in baseball, and a football lettermen. He received an award from the Texas student body as the outstanding Texas athlete in 1940.

1941- 14-3 Coach Falk

Longhorns are only one game up on the Aggies, but the team wins the series at A & M and the SWC. Stone, Hatton, Layden, Bostick, Moore, Deutsch, and Smith make the All SWC team. Layden led the conference in batting with a .397, and Moore led pitching with a 7-1 record.

1942- 13-6 Coach Falk/blair cherry pending

In 1942 at the age of 42, Falk turned over the Texas Longhorn baseball team’s helm to Blair Cherry and enlisted in the Army Air force as a private.

Teams lost heavily to the Armed forces teams, and the SWC was weak due to the war effort. Captain Jack Stone led the team.

The military draft has a negative impact on recruiting for intercollegiate sports. 

1943- 10-7  Coach Blair Cherry

1944- 8-10 Coach Blair Cherry

Bobby Layne chose to sign with Texas because of his deep respect for Coach Billy Disch and his desire to play for a great college baseball team. Coach Falk joins the military service, and Blair Cherry takes over as Coach temporarily.

Rooster Andrews is the only starter from the freshman team of 1942 available to play.

Interest in college sports is at its lowest point in 1944.

The Army and Air Force based teams beat the Horns 6 times.

Attendance plummets, and Texas has its first losing season since 1910.

Bobby Layne makes his first appearance in college baseball. Bobby Lane as a freshman is 5-0 

Bob Campbell is a team captain.

1945- 12-6 Coach Blair Cherry

SWC Champion

SMU, TCU, and Baylor decide to leave the SWC because of the war. . Because of the lack of college athletes, freshmen are declared eligible.

Texas wins the 24the. SWC Champion

TCU and SMU return to the SWC.

Political incorrect speech, George Raborn, a reporter for the Texan, described an Aggie pitcher as “looking like a typical sharecropper with hayseed in his hair.”

Grady Hatton – Longhorn team captain and played for Billy Disch and Bibb Falk. According to Hatton, I would not have been able to go straight to the major leagues had it not been for the fundamentals taught me by Billy and Bibb.

Since so many college teams drop sports for the war effort, Texas added military training centers such as Kelly and Rudolph air force base to their schedule.

 1946- 20-4 Bibb Falk returns from the war

Bibbs Longhorns won 128 conference games in a row. After the war, Texas teams established the conference record of 41 wins and two losses in three seasons.

Bobby Layne and Rooster Andrews roll their car, going to a friend’s house in Leander. Bobby Layne still throws a no-hitter against Southwestern. The next week horsing around, Bobby Layne sticks his foot through a window that requires stitches. The next day Bobby throws another no-hitter against the Aggies. Bobby was 19 years old

SWC Champion

Baylor returns to the SWC

Rooster Andrews is chosen as the student manager.

Bobby Layne throws two no-hitters.

1946 is the last time Longhorn baseball went undefeated in conference play.

Jackson was the leading hitter @.338. Bobby Layne was 12-1 pitching.

Jackson, Layne, Ortega, Captain Zeke Williams, and Zomlefer were consensus All-SWC performers. 

1947- 19-2 Coach Falk – Texas FINISHES 3rd in the College World series

In 1947 Murray wall joined the Texas team. The College World Series began in 1947.

 Ranked in the top 4 nationally, and the team qualified for the NCAA Western Regional Tournament in Denver.

From 1947-1967 Bibb Falk chose not to have a captain on the team.

Tom Hamilton is an All American and holds the Texas season record for slugging percentage (.878) and batting average of .417.

Horns lose to Brooke Medical Center 5- 3.

A record 7,000 fans attend the Baylor game. Bobby Layne holds Baylor to 4 hits and scores the only run of the game.

Texas represents the SWC in the NCAA, beating the Sooners but losing to the California Bears in the Western region. Bobby Layne lost his first game of the year. California wins the NCAA championship.

On July 8th, 1947 there was a “Disch Day” celebrating the Longhorns inaugural NCAA championship tournament, and “Disch Field” or the Austin Pioneers.

1948- 20-2 Coach Falk- SWC champs

This team chooses not to play in the National Championship tournament due to summer job commitments.

SWC Champion

Bobby Layne Sets A Record by defeating  28 SWC Teams As A Pitcher. Bobby Layne is the only player in UT history that was All SWC in both baseball and football for 4 years in a row.  

Zomlefer was the leading hitter at .359. Layne, Gorin, Watson, Hamilton, Hunt, and Zomlefer were consensus All SWC.

 The catcher Allen Winter is told during the Ohio State game that his wife delivered their first child.  Coach Bibb was in double shock since he did not even know that Winters was married.

Texas beats Oklahoma’s starting pitcher Darrell Royal

The 1946-1948 teams post a 41-2 record in SWC play.

1949- 23-7 Coach Falk- National Champions

For the first time in Longhorn baseball history, two Longhorns are selected as All Americans- Murray Walls and Tom Hamilton.

Jim Ehrler gets the victory in the championship game. Jim and Charles Goren yielded only five runs in 27 innings.

Tom Hamilton becomes the first recipient of the series’s most outstanding player, hitting three home runs. It was the first year that the award was presented.

Frank Womack was also a hero for the Horns. Six times he opened up the inning with a hit, and he scored four of those times. Texas beats the Milwaukee Brewers 5-1

Dan Watson was a three time All-SWC catcher

Hamilton, Kneuper, Shamblin, Wall, and Watson were consensus All- SWC.

 Jim Shamblin was 5 for 6 in the 1949 National Championship game.

Texas record of no losses at Clark Field ends after three years.

 Frank Womack participates  in three championship seasons. He is All -SWC in baseball and the Captain of the basketball team in 1951

Bibb Falk predicts the 1950 the Longhorns will be back playing for the National Championship. Pitching was the key with Murray Wall, Charlie Gorin, and Jim Ehrler.  Jim Ehrler was the leader in batting and fielding. 

1950- 27-6 FIRST TEAM TO WIN BACK TO BACK NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Murray Wall, Charlie Goren, and Frank Womack were the best pitching combination in the nation. In the College World Series, Jim Ehrler pitches a no-hitter against Tufts. It was the first no-hitter in the history of the College World Series. 

Texas was the first team ever in the College World Series to win the national championship back to back. Bob Brock was the Longhorns leading hitter In the College World Series and set a record for total bases.

Horns only lost one game in conference play. Falk lost several players to the professional league right before the season started. 

Jim Ehrler pitches the first  no hitter ever in the NCAA tournament against Tufts.

They are left to right Bob Brock with National Championship trophy, Irv Waghalter, Kal Segrist, Falk, and Ben Tompkins.

Ben Tompkins played baseball in 1950; however, he was better known as the quarterback on the Texas Longhorns 1950 Southwest conference championship squad. In the CWS tournament, Jim Ehrler pitched a no-hit and no run game against Tufts and then pitched six innings of relief in the 1950 national championship game. The first year to have CWS in Omaha, Nebraska.

Wall, Gorin, Segrist, Tompkins, Womack are consensus choices for the All SWC team. Segrist was the leading hitter with a .378. Wall was 10-4 as the pitcher

1951- 15-4 Coach Falk

SWC Co Champions- Team only had three lettermen return. 

The Texas Longhorns had a 50 game conference home winning streak at Clark field. The streak dated back to April 10th 1943.  They won  90 of the last 100 collegiate games and 58 of 60 games at home .

Opening game second baseman is Cliff Gustafson .

Top of the Charts

1952- 19-9 Coach Falk wins District 6 Playoffs and the college world series

The team makes the NCAA tournament but they are eliminated in the third round by the eventual champion Holy Cross.  The team was led by Luther Scarborough Who as a pitcher won nine out of 11 conference games.  

Cliff Gustafson played for this team but he broke his leg sliding the second base early in the season. Tanner led the team in hitting with

Texas beats Arizona to make it to the NCAA tournament, but is knocked out of the tournament by Holy Cross.

It was the first year in Texas baseball history the Longhorns  played only college teams.

Pace was the leading hitter for the year at .405, and Scarborough was the leading pitcher. at 10-3.

In honor of Billy Disch he was listed as the head coach in the media guide until 1952 even though he left the team in 1940 due to health reasons. Bibb Falk was the “Field” Coach.

1953- 24-7-1 Coach Falk District 6 Playoffs and National tournament

SWC Co Champion with SMU and finalist in the NCAA. Cactus correctly defined this year as “erratic at times, brilliant otherwise as the batmen came from behind to share the baseball title with SMU in a race clogged with upsets, surprises, and screwy baseball.”

Texas makes the finals of the 1953 College World Series championship game . J.L. Smith was selected the most outstanding player of the College World Series. He was the 2nd longhorn to win this award.

Longhorn pitchers struggled and only completed 6 games out of 33 played. Three or more pitchers appeared in 10 games. None had played for the varsity.

Falk was so upset with the team prior to the A & M game a reporter asked him if he had considered making reservations for Omaha. Coach Falk replied “I wont’ need anything but a single room for myself because there’s no way these mullets and goons can make it up there.” Fortunately, Bibb Falk was proved wrong.

Texas participated in the College World Series appearance for the 3rd time in 4 years.  Linker and Jones pitched 4 games in 5 days. As bizarre as this season was the last game was the strangest. Coach Falk chose Tom Jungman to pitch for the National Championship game. Tom was an outfielder who had never thrown a pitch in a College game. The strategy failed and Texas lost to Michigan . J.L. Smith was named the most valuable player in the tournament playing 5 of the 6 games as a relief pitcher.  Boyd Linker pitched 19 innings without a run scored. 

In the first 7 years of the NCAA tournament Texas made 5 appearances.  USC was second with 3 appearances.

At the end of the year the players all in fun gave Falk a cigarette lighter inscribed “To the Big Leaguer from the Mullets and Goons, 1953.”

Mohr was the leading hitter .388 and Linker was the pitching leader at 8-2. Biesenbach, Spradlin, Eckert, Snow, Linker, and Mohr were consensus All SWC.

1954- 17-7-2 Coach Falk District 6 playoffs

The NCAA committee changes the rules for the selection process to the College World Series. The NCAA decided to add a playoff game to qualify for the NCAA . Texas was eliminated by Oklahoma State and did not qualify for the College World Series.

 “Disch Day” a plague bearing Disch’s profile in bronze was installed at Clark Field.

Texas won the SWC on a bizarre game against Waco.  The game was called due to darkness and the SWC rules said the game was over and each team got a 1/2 win.  The rule was changed the next year so that all games that could affect the SWC title had to be playoff.

Coach Falk breaks his leg and was on crutches the whole season. Dan Watson the catcher from the 1949 national championship team took pressure off of Falk by taking over the field duties.

Texas loses to Oklahoma A & M (State) in the NCAA tournament.

Brock was the leading hitter at .329 and Linker led the pitchers with a 8-1 record.

1955- 10-13 Coach Falk

1955 the Texas Longhorns finished with a losing record for the first time in decades. It was the first time since 1910 that the Texas Longhorns lost more games than they won. This was the worse team in the last 40 years with the worse record in 46 years.

Tommy Jungman and Stu Benson were selected to the SWC team and batter Tommy Snow led the team at batting with a .343 average.

Mark Batters a sports writer was upset with the Longhorn pitching giving up so many runs and paraphrase the following:

Take me out to the ball game

Take me out with the crowd

If the pitching isn’t crackerjack

Chances are you will never get back

 Jungman pitches a no hitter against Rice but his pitching record is 4-4 for the year.

After 11 years participating in the conference championship, the string was broken in 1955.

6000 fans attend the A & M game, and many  fist fights occur between the fans. Even Jack Pardee -the future All pro LA Ram- got in a fight with Buck Lansford  who played football for Texas .

1956- 5-15

 1956 is worse than 1955 season and the worse in 85 years of Longhorn baseball.

Texas hits the cellar in the SWC and has the worse year in the history of Longhorn baseball. The only highlights were Harry Taylor set a school record in strike-outs, and George Gainley team batting championship of .360.

Taylor ties Luther Scarborough’s ten complete games record.

The team was last in fielding in the SWC and 4th in hitting. Jerry Good was the only Horn to make the SWC team. A

against SMU, there were 16 bases on balls and four wild pitches. Sadly, Taylor led all Longhorn pitchers with a 3-10 record.

John Woodman leads the team in batting with a .313 average in 1956 and a .413 in 1958. He is All SWC two years in a row.

1957- 20-7 Coach Falk – District 6 playoffs and national tournament

In 1957 the Longhorns played better. This team and the 1958 team were two of the best hitting teams ever at Texas.

  .

Texas has two great pitchers in Harry Taylor and Howie Reed. This was the 31st time in 42 years that the Longhorns won the Southwest Conference championship. The Horns made the NCAA College World Series but were eliminated in the third round by Notre Dame.

SWC Champion

Good, Lowry, Moore, Myers, Reed, Taylor, and Woodman are all SWC. Taylor throws three shutouts on the way to an 8-1 Record.

Reed also had an 8-1 record. A sportswriter says, “Howard Reed is typical of the young men who prompted professional baseball to junk its policy of not signing college players before graduation.” Howard leaves Texas after his Sophomore year to turn professional. Good was the leading batter @ .378.

1958- 18-6 Coach Falk – SWC Champions, District 6 playoffs

1958 team batting average was .316 but the team lacked pitching and lost to to Arizona in the district playoffs.

38th SWC Championship. Team only lost one SWC game. In extended play the Longhorns beat Houston 

Texas celebrated its 1000th victory in the 61st year of Longhorn baseball. 

It is not often that a great pitcher is also a great batter, but in 1958 that was the case. George Myers won 12 games and a leading hitter on the team. 

Woodman led the team in batting with a .413 average, and Myers led in pitching with a 12-1 record. 

Texas played Arizona for the 5th time in 9 years to determine the NCAA tournament qualifier. Texas won the first four times but lost to Arizona in the playoffs in 1958.

1959- 13-7 Great start unsatisfactory ending to the season 

1959 Roy Menge was scholastically ineligible   

This team won 12 in a row before falling apart and losing the final four conference games.  

   Pete Embry (no picture) was the only longhorn drafted this year. 

Embry, McDonald, Myers, and Rod were All-SWC. 

Enderlin was the leading batter at .340. 

1960- 21-3 The Championship that should have been

Falk’s 1960 team was one of his best teams. With an all-American outfield of Wayne McDonald, Roy Menge, and Jay Arnette, Texas was 21-2 in SWC play. It was the Horn’s best record since the 1920s. Against TCU, Menge has 12 total bases, 8 RBI’s with two homers, one triple, and a single. Against Minnesota, Texas set a school record with 21 bases on balls.

As SWC Champions, this team had the best record since 1924, but a loss to 11-9 Houston in a sudden-death playoff game ended the season. Five players made the All SWC team. Roy Menge was the outstanding player in the SWC, and he was named to the All-American team. Both Roy Menge and Wayne McDonald played professionally. 

David Burleson sets a Texas career record winning record of 18-0

Wayne McDonald leads the team with a .365 batting average. 

Roy Menge was the outstanding player in the SWC and he was named to the All American team. Both  Roy and Wayne played professionally. 

1961- 26-6-2 The year Bibb stole the Conference title- district 6 playoff and made the national championship tournament

In 1961 Texas won 20 games for the first time since 1953. Chuck Knutson led the team. The team was undefeated the first 18 games with 104 extra-base hits and 263 bases on balls.

Baylor is one game behind Texas after winning the first makeup game. In the second game at the top of the 6th, the game is called due to darkness with the score 9-9. 

Baylor thinks the second game’s remainder will be played the next day- the day that final exams start at Baylor. The Baylor administration forgot that the league had a rule that stated: ” games that cannot be played before the beginning of final exams shall not be made up and the conference championship shall be determined based on games played.” Since Texas had a one-game lead over Baylor and the tie game was not recorded, Texas won the conference. 

In desperation, Baylor considers either delaying their entire exam schedule, moving the game to a lighted field one mile away, or playing the game after exams. Coach Falk’s response to these suggestions is, ” I am going to take a shower and get me something to eat and then go home.” Baylor had no recourse, So Texas wins the conference and eventually qualifies for the NCAA tournament, and the Baylor Coach quits. 

Longhorns beat Arizona in the District 6 title, but a dismal showing at the NCAA’s . The team was two and out losing to USC and Western Michigan. 

 Knutson becomes first All-American since 1950 hitting .378 with 10 home runs.

1962- 22-7 the year of the Game District 6 playoffs and the college world series

One of the greatest comeback games in the history of Texas baseball as Texas beats Texas A & M for the Southwest Conference championship.

Team starts slow but ends fast.  Longhorns were SWC champions but they had to work at it.  Beat the Aggies with one of the largest come-from-behind victories in Longhorn baseball history.  Down 9-2 the Longhorns tied the game 10-10 and then a double by Buddy New and a double by Gary London gave the Longhorns the SWC crown.   Texas beat Arizona the number 1 seed in regional play to make the NCAA tournament.  The team fought gallantly with the help of three great pitchers- Hartenstein, Myer and Belcher before being eliminated 4- 3 in 10 innings by Santa Clara. 

Texas finishes 3rd in College World Series 

Buddy New a baseball Cinderella story

Bill Little commentary: Only the best

April 15, 2010

Bill Little, Texas Media Relations

It was a simple correlation, this competition that lies within us all, according to that sage philosopher Augie Garrido………

It was a day that would change Buddy New’s life forever……..

The bottom of the eighth began harmlessly enough when Lew Brazelton drew a leadoff walk. Then to the plate stepped Buddy New, who had been inserted at first base Falk said “to give him a chance to letter.” The left-handed hitting New drove a pitch to the top of the cliff in right center, 365 feet away, and as the Aggies scrambled to get it, New (who admittedly was no speedster) huffed and puffed his way around the bases. Brazelton scored in front of him, and when New slid safely home with what would be an inside-the-park home run, it was suddenly 9-5. The rally continued, even with two outs, and the eighth inning ended with the Aggies leading by only a run at 9-8…………..

There were two out in the bottom of the tenth when it happened, and not one — not then and not now — could ever figure out exactly how what happened next happened. With a short fence in right field, anything hit down the line and in the ball park would likely go for a single. But this was a day of destiny for our friend Buddy New.

New ripped a ball down the right-field line that somehow took a nosedive toward the ground at the end of its flight and bounced with one huge hop up and over the ten-foot fence for a rare ground rule double. And that was where he stood when catcher Gary London hit a ball soaring. ……..

 Buddy New, a young man inserted at first base to give him a chance to letter, had two hits against A & M and helped win the SWC for the Horns, and for his “contributions” he was selected to the Longhorn Hall of Honor.

Pat Rigby is an All American and leads the team in batting average (.371)

Rigby, Belsher, Kasper, Knutson, and London earned All-SWC.

1963- 24-7-1 the closest battle for SWC Championship in History- National championship tournament

Texas is plagued with 6 major injuries that hurt the teams performance but that did not break their will.

front row: Steckler, Crutchfield, Ross, Denman, Clark, Radcliffe, Burleson, Coach Falk

second row: Knutson, Bandy, Masterson, Bethea, Hartenstein, Myer, Londao, Thompson

third row: Moresund, New, Masterson, Ormand, Peterson, Collier, Thrash, Poling

fourth row” Howell, Kasper, Merriam, Bell, Gardner

Texas wins 14 of 15 last games

4 teams could have won the SWC the last week of the SWC baseball season. 

It was Falk’s 17th SWC championship in 21 years 

College World Series Appearance- tied for 3rd. Horns tried to come back after losing to Missouri on an error.  They almost did!   After going down by 7 runs in the early innings,  the Horns fought back but 4 errors cost them the game . Horns lost 8-10 and were eliminated from the CWS.

Chuck Knutson  is an All American and leads the team with a .378 batting average

Texas wins 14 of 15 last games

4 teams could have won the SWC the last week of the SWC baseball season. 

It was Falk’s 17th SWC championship in 21 years 

College World Series Appearance- tied for 3rd

Bill Bethea and Butch Thompson are All-Americans.

Bill Bethea is a coaching staff member from 1969- 1989. During his tenure UT won 18 SWC championships, attended the NCAA College World series 14 times, and won two National Championships. 

1964- 16-7-1  Coach Falk

For three years in a row Texas won the SWC on the last week of the season. That string ended this year.  In the last inning of the last game with two men out and the bases loaded an Aggie hits a double and deprives the longhorns a trip to the CWS.  Orlando Sims the Texas publicist says about the Aggie-Texas games in 1962, 1963, and 1964 “Each of the three games was decided in the last inning of regulation play, two of them with two out…competent defensive play, some great and courageous pitching, and some timely hitting figured for both teams.”

Horns set a record of 160 games without being shut-out, but this team struggled all year long.  Lack of hitting and errors were the reasons Horns tied with Baylor for 2nd place in the SWC.

Hartstein (Twiggy) was a 5’11 and 155-pounder who pitched with his head and not his arm, retiring batters using superb controlled pitching.

1965- 18-7

SWC rules make the conference less competitive in inter-conference play —SWC Champion- national championship tournament. In addition by the 1960s winning a Southwest conference championship was more challenging because other schools baseball skill set were more competitive making the conference more balanced.

Texas wins its 40 SWC championship in 50 years, but it was a struggle the whole season.

Pitcher John Collier lead the team with a 10-2 season and is co-player of the year in the SWC. Gary Moore lead the team in hitting with a .327 average.

Joe Hague, James Scheschuk, Gary Moore, Forrest Boyd make the All-SWC team.

Topping the Charts in 1965

While other conferences allowed fall training and during the season 52 games, the SWC did not allow Fall training and only 24 games in a season. Other conferences were honing their baseball skills a longer period of time than Texas and Coach Falk was NOT happy.

Winning under these circumstance is difficult for any  SWC team in the NCAA tournament.   In fact 3 of the 5 years the SWC team  loses in two straight games in the NCAA tournament.  This year Texas won 11 SWC games by one run.

1965- College World Series Appearance- Texas loses the first two games and exits the tournament.  Starting in the 60’s Falk said “ I never had any stars…that’s why I never had a team captain..”

1966- 21-9-2 Coach Falk -the coin flip determined the SWC champion.

Falks last year is a great one. The team won the SWC individual batting championship and placed five players on the All SWC team. His final record is 476 wins out of 652 games played.

Texas long scoring streak ends at 199 games with a 9-0 defeat by Texas A&M.

SWC rules committee changes rules to allow SWC teams more games, but it is still not enough. Each team is given 15 more practice days, and six more games are added to the schedule. Four teams tied for the SWC championship. The Longhorns win the Coin flip.

Rain forced the playoff games between Houston and Texas into the newly built “Eighth Wonder of the World” — The Astrodome. It was the first time that a collegiate baseball team played indoors.

Texas dominated Houston winning the first game 9-3 and 8-5 in the championship game. – the first college games ever played indoors.

Texas made the College World Series but was eliminated quickly. Gary Moore won his game against 3rd ranked Arizona but lost the next two to St. John’s and Oklahoma State. Texas tied for 5th in the NCAA standings.

Gary Moore was the only Longhorn on the All SWC team. 

1967- 17-11 Coach Falks last year SWC Champions- district 6 playoff

Billy,

It is very kind of you to include our photo and description of the “4 In a Row” event we participated in. The event itself is, of course, significant. Having it occur as a part of Coach Bibb Falk’s 25th and last year as Head Coach of Texas Longhorn Baseball ( 20 Southwest Conference Championships in 25 years; First College Baseball Coach to win Back-to-Back National Championships { 1949 & 50} ) made the event even more special.

That entire 1967 Season, at Home and especially on the road, was a chance for every School we played to honor Coach Falk. It was a traveling Road Show. Every Player and Coach wanted their picture taken with him Everyone wanted to tell him what an honor it had been to be a part of his time in Southwest Conference Baseball; and for all he had meant to College Baseball. It was well-deserved praise; and in Coach Falk’s own gruff way, I believe he appreciated every word and photo of it

Prior to leading the Longhorn Baseball Program to incredible success, Coach Falk was an outfielder in the American League of Major League Baseball. Ty Cobb, one of the greatest players in the history of Professional Baseball and a member of Baseball’s Hall of Fame ( Cooperstown,) was a member of the American League’s Detroit Tigers during Falk’s time in the Big Leagues. Ty Cobb called Falk, “the finest defensive outfielder I have played against”. Quite a compliment from a player who had the well-earned reputation of “strongly disliking” ( some said hating ) every opponent.

Mr. Bibb Falk was one of the great Longhorn Athletic Coaches many of us had the privilege to have been a huge part of our lives and of the University’s history.

Thank you again for recognizing our incredible “4 In a Row”.

Bob Snoddy

Two Longhorn baseball records are conference first, and I believe both have not been broken in conference play and perhaps even in all of Division I College baseball.

The Longhorns are the only division I college baseball team to hit four consecutive home runs in a game. In the photo above are the four record-breakers: Bob Snoddy, James Scheschuk, Pat Brown, and Kelly Scott. I also believe that Odessa Permian’s Bob Snoddy and Pat Brown were the only duo from the same high school who led the Longhorns to back-to-back conference batting championships.

Bob Snoddy wins the SWC batting title (.392) 

 Tommy Moore, Bob Snoddy, and Pat Brown were named to the All- SWC team.

 Falk makes a plea to the SWC rules committee for Fall baseball games. He is rejected.

Falk tells Jack Gallagher, a sportswriter in Houston, that the lack of summer ball in Texas combined with SWC rules that did not allow Fall workouts may result in the SWC never winning another national championship. The SWC was the only conference in the nation that restricted Fall workouts for the teams. 

January 1967, the professional baseball league agreed not to sign college athletes until “all or most of their eligibility had been completed.”  

A college record was set when the Horns hit 4 consecutive home runs against Baylor.

Texas loses to Houston in the regional playoffs. The game is touted as a game between Texas tradition and Houston talent. Despite a brilliant pitching performance by Jimmy Raup, the season and Bibb Falk’s career ended.

Jim Raup tells a compelling story about the regional loss to Houston that will keep you spell bound until the end. The link is :

https://www.texaslsn.org/jim-raup-by-horns-sports

SWC Champion, but they lose to Houston in the district playoff.

Reflection

Player McDonald says that Falk believed in the science of the game, not the art. He charted pitches and conferenced with his pitchers and catchers, telling them where to pitch a guy and what his tendencies were. 

As a player at Texas, Bibb Falk was an All-SWC tackle and a great baseball player. 

He finished second to Babe Ruth in 1924 with a .352 batting average as a professional baseball player. He played almost error-less baseball. 

Coach Bibb Falk had a tough exterior but a generous heart.

Wayne McDonald and Bethea said that Bibb Falk was a great batting coach. He taught players how to adjust their hands, shoulders, and hips until everything was just right. 

Falk was always to the point with his players making comments to them like  

• “That’s all right, son. As bad as you are, you may never get another hit, anyhow.”

• “You can’t make chicken salad out of chicken bleep.”

• “You ain’t gonna hit nuthin’ that way…”

Under that tough veneer was a man who cared for his players and their baseball and life success. 

Coach passed away on June 8th, 1989, at the age of 90. Horns Up!!! 

Bibb Falk’s contributions to Longhorn traditions represent a portal to the past that reminds Longhorn fans that heritage shapes the present and empowers the future.