Ollie from Illinois: The Origin of the Texas Leaguer

With baseball spring training now in full swing, I think it is a fine day to discuss the origin of the "Texas Leaguer," which is defined at mlb.com as "a bloop that falls between an infielder and an outfielder for a hit." The origin of the term dates surprisingly far back in baseball history, to 1901, in fact, and is a reference to the rookie centerfielder who took the first at-bat in the history of the American League.

That player was Ollie Pickering, an Illinois native who was brought up from the Houston Mud Cats in the Texas League to play for the American League's Cleveland Blues. Pickering, who also played minor league ball for Fort Worth in 1892, registered a hit in each of his first seven at-bats in the major leagues. Every one of those hits turned out to be a bloop between the infield and the outfield. Thus, Pickering's teammates dubbed this particular kind of hit a "Texas Leaguer." And the rest is history.


Here's Sam Baker, the pride of Itasca, Texas, playing "Baseball."