| |
| |
|
|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
|
|
WHEREAS, In a fitting tribute to an outstanding career, |
|
|
baseball star Willie Wells was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall |
|
|
of Fame on February 7, 2011; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Willie James Wells was born in Austin in the early |
|
|
years of the 1900s and excelled in both football and baseball at |
|
|
Anderson High School; while still a teenager, he began his |
|
|
professional career with the Austin Black Senators of the Texas |
|
|
Negro League; his success there earned him a promotion to the St. |
|
|
Louis Stars of the Negro National League; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, In an era when shortstops were not known for their |
|
|
power, Mr. Wells made a reputation with both his bat and his glove; |
|
|
though not as large as most sluggers, he was an accomplished power |
|
|
hitter, and in 1926 he set the league record for home runs with 27; |
|
|
in addition, he was a skilled fielder at the most demanding |
|
|
defensive position; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Mr. Wells helped the Stars win championships in |
|
|
1928, 1930, and 1931; he went on to play for such famous teams as the |
|
|
Homestead Grays, the Kansas City Monarchs, the Chicago American |
|
|
Giants, the Newark Eagles, and the New York Black Yankees, being |
|
|
named an all-star eight times between 1933 and 1945; in the |
|
|
off-season, Mr. Wells played winter ball in Cuba, where he was a |
|
|
two-time most valuable player, and during the 1940s, he played for |
|
|
Veracruz, Tampico, and Mexico City in the Mexican League; it was |
|
|
there that he was given his nickname, El Diablo, because of the |
|
|
intensity he brought to the diamond; in his later years, he managed |
|
|
the Birmingham Black Barons and the Winnipeg Buffaloes; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Further notoriety was achieved by Mr. Wells when he |
|
|
became one of the first players to wear a batting helmet; after |
|
|
being hit in the head by a pitch in 1942, he soon began stepping into |
|
|
the batter's box with something that looked very much like a |
|
|
construction worker's hard hat on his head; such protective |
|
|
measures were practically unheard of at the time, and it would be |
|
|
decades before they would become mandatory; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, This exceptional athlete was one of many African |
|
|
American stars who were prevented from playing in Major League |
|
|
Baseball because of the league's prohibition against black players; |
|
|
by the time Jackie Robinson, to whom he had taught the finer points |
|
|
of the double play pivot, broke professional baseball's color line |
|
|
in 1946 and 1947, Mr. Wells was already near the age of 40, and his |
|
|
prime playing days were behind him; though his achievements were |
|
|
overlooked for years, he was finally elected to the National |
|
|
Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, in 1997, eight years |
|
|
after he passed away in Austin in 1989; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, This notable Texan delighted crowds in the United |
|
|
States, Mexico, and Cuba with his skill and determination on the |
|
|
ball field, and he is richly deserving of this prestigious honor; |
|
|
now, therefore, be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas |
|
|
Legislature hereby commemorate the induction of Willie Wells into |
|
|
the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and pay tribute to the memory of this |
|
|
legendary athlete. |
| |
|
|
Dukes |
|
|
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
|
Speaker of the House |
| |
|
|
I certify that H.R. No. 954 was adopted by the House on April |
|
|
7, 2011, by a non-record vote. |
|
|
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
|
Chief Clerk of the House |
| |